Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja
The President and Chairman Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD), Nigeria, Adetunji Oyebanji, said Directors need to be of sound body and mind to function effectively.
He stated this at the annual “Walk for Life event”, organised by the CIoD on Saturday in Abuja to keep Directors fit physically and mentally.
Oyenanji said they believe that Directors should be of strong body and mind so that they can perform their roles.
“Today we are here for what we call the Walk for Life. It’s an annual event done by the Chartered Institute of Directors in different parts of the country, not just in Abuja.
“The reason behind it is that we believe very strongly in the concept of a strong mind in a strong body. If the body is not in good shape, then the mind, especially the mind of directors that we are concerned about, you know, they will not be able to perform their role.
“We believe it’s good to set the tone to help them keep fit so that they’ll be able to play their roles effectively.”
Speaking on how Directors help to develop the country he said, “our members are primarily Directors, directors both in the public and private sector. And our institute is really about capacity building, training Directors who function in these different capacities to be able to do their jobs better.
“We have a lot of training programmes. We do a lot of seminars, basically to improve the capacity of Directors so that whether they’re in the public sector or in the private sector, running their organisations properly will obviously indirectly benefit the economy. And the economy will continue to grow from that perspective.”
On accountability and transparency in both public and private sector he said, “one of the key areas of focus of our organisation is advocacy. We spend a lot of time interacting with government and also the private sector, promoting the ideals of transparency, accountability.
“It’s a journey. It’s not a destination you get to. So we have to continue putting as much effort as we can, doing all these things that I spoke about earlier, including the training, the advocacy that we do, so that gradually we can change the fortunes of Nigeria.”
Chairman of the CIoD, Abuja Zone, Rose Eshiett said, “There’s no way you can take a decision without a clarity in your brain. So you need to work the body. It involves just not about thinking, it’s about the entire body. If you’re not fit, you cannot take a decision. So we encourage our members and even non-members to always take exercise seriously.
According to her, “Women are better leaders. You can see all around the world, women are taking leadership positions because they have empathy. Ans they also have that decision-making skill within them. They are naturally built to take decisions.”
The Director General and Chief Executive Officer(CIoD), Dr Taiwo Nolas-Alausa in his speech said,
“What we are doing here is not just Walk for Life. It’s about your health. How you take care of your health.
“My advice to Directors out there is to take care of their health, It’s not just about working, sleeping, eating. But they must ensure that they’re of good health status.