When business environment becomes alibi
An opinion on why Nigeria’s tough business environment shouldn’t be a complete excuse for poor management decisions and corporate governance failures. Read More:…
Nigerian businesses have long operated under a well-documented list of macroeconomic headwinds: a volatile naira, high diesel and energy costs, double-digit interest rates, and frequent regulatory changes from agencies like the CBN and SEC. These are real and well-established constraints that raise the cost of doing business and are routinely cited in earnings calls, investor briefings and trade association statements.
This commentary, appearing in similar form across Punch and BusinessDay, pushes back on how readily these macro factors are invoked to explain away company-specific failures. The core argument is that boardrooms and executives sometimes lean on "the business environment" as a catch-all alibi, deflecting scrutiny from poor strategic decisions, weak corporate governance, or mismanagement that are within a company's own control. Both pieces frame this as a governance and accountability issue rather than a purely economic one, though neither cites a specific company or incident — the critique is presented as a general pattern observed in Nigerian corporate life.