The Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD) Nigeria has unveiled an initiative aimed at bridging the gap in knowledge and competency in the corporate governance space.
 
At the unveiling in Lagos, tagged ‘CIoD Mentoring Programme’, President and Chairman of Governing Council, CIoD, Tijjani Borodo, said the scheme was particularly essential for board experience among young directors, hence the need to upskill the next generation of directors.
 
He said the mentorship programme will enable young directors to acquire the necessary skills, knowledge and capabilities needed to address leadership challenges, build corporate governance structures for businesses, and cultivate the right ethical culture that guarantees organisational sustainability.
 
On the need for mentorship, Borodo emphasised the capacity development of young business leaders to be able to translate professional and/or entrepreneurial experiences to board readiness.
 
He said it is needed to increase the pool of young professionals with boardroom experience. He noted that it was needed to guide young professionals on how to break into the corporate board scene as first-timers.
 
Also, the CIoD boss said it was also necessary to break the societal misconception regarding the role of young people in participating in board roles.
 Chairman of the occasion, Dr Olusegun Osunkeye, who emphasised the institute’s mission to foster professional growth and development, shared his wealth of experience and knowledge in leadership and corporate governance.

While he defined what mentoring was, he gave the concept of mentorship and the relationship of mentoring by a guardian to a mentee to achieve professional growth.  He listed different types of mentors to include professional or trade, industrial, organisational, and reverse mentoring.
 
Explaining reverse mentoring, Osunkeye said with the rise of digital applications, younger employees could help the older ones with current trends in digital tools.
 
While he cited names of great leaders who have mentored others to become successful, he shared his experience with his mentor, Akintola Williams, with whom he said the relationship lasted for 60 years when he began his career in accounting under his tutelage.
 
Through him, he explained how he gained a professional career and guidance, part of which led him to become successful. Stating that mentoring could be formal and informal, he said there is a need for employers to develop mentoring programmes for their employees.
 
The move, Osunkeye said, aligns with the employees’ growth and organisational success. The keynote speaker, Nnamdi Okonkwo, who shared experiences and benefits of mentoring in the life of people in any field of endeavour, said “there is a need to work the net so that you can use the network.”
 
He shared that there are rewards for mentoring and mentorship.  He spoke on how he journeyed from secondary school all through as a banker, where he rose to the top level and got people mentored along the timeline.