Csr Key Issue in Nigeria

Nigeria is the largest country in Africa with a population of about 160 million people and more than 300 ethnic groups. By all indicators, discipline and enforcing policies within such a large and diverse population is a complex task. Consequently, morality becomes weak and in existence are deprivation, stagnation, poverty and corruption. Coporate social responsibility (CSR) simply refers to the consideration of people, planet and profit in corporate decision making. From a Nigerian perspective, corporate social responsibility does not play a significant role in Nigeria, the reason is perhaps, the fact that CSR is a relatively new concept and is yet to be a topic of wider public discussion in Nigeria. Hence, Nigerian organizations have several ethical problems in addition to a non-chalant government and the results are lack of and slow pace of economic development.

One of the key issues of CSR in Nigeria is that there is a general lack of commitment to ethical behaviour amongst Nigerians which has led to a breakdown in morals, work ethics, discipline and social responsibility among Nigerian citizens, Nigerian organizations and even the government on the whole. There have been several reported acts of corrupt and unacceptable practices in Nigeria and even by Nigerians outside the country. These cases are mostly, fraudulent activities by individuals or sometimes organizations, who constantly engage in false business plan and proposals to draw in people and rip them off. This has affected the reputation of all Nigerians, and organizations thus, making the achievement of national development goal difficult and likewise resulted in low performance of organisations in Nigeria.

A Nigerian, Ogundele (2000) carried out a study and reported that other countries in Asia, at the same level of economic development as Nigeria, at independence had produced entrepreneurs who responded positively to government economic policies, thus making their countries better...