Why do Nigerians insist on calling themselves CEO/MD?

There are so many articles and columns in this and other publications on the ‘art of management’ that you would think by now the message would have come across and Nigerian businessmen would be among the most advanced and enlightened possible.
After all is not every bookstand in Nigeria dominated by books written by international management gurus or published by the worlds leading business schools? Bookshops in Nigeria seem to have the largest ‘self help’ and business advice sections that I have ever seen. In fact, apart from religious tracts, this seems to be the most popular reading material in the country. I almost feel like some weirdo when I am seen reading a novel. So, does all this theoretical knowledge mean Nigerian managers are active proponents of the latest and positive techniques and styles? I hesitate to answer. However, I recently interviewed a fictitious Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of a major Nigerian Company on how to run a business in Nigeria.
Why do so many Nigerians insist on calling themselves CEO AND MD? I suppose it leaves no one in any doubt about exactly who is the boss! Let me share it with you.
I was to conduct the interview at the Company HQ. Having arrived on time I entered the ‘outer’ office and filled in the visitors’ book, smiled at the mopol ready to gun down any assassins likely to burst in and nodded at the girl who was slumped over a computer keyboard. The PC seemed to have a screensaver stating that being a good Christian would ensure instant wealth and that a donation to some Pastor’s ‘God’s Way To Your First Billion Fund’ would accelerate the process. I was shown to an ‘inner outer’ office cum waiting room where I spent a very comfortable forty five minutes watching CNN with the five other people squashed on to the sofa. The smartly dressed Personal Assistant apologised for the delay and said that Oga would see me shortly. Sometime between shortly and longly I was ushered into the inner sanctum. A voice somewhere in the distance apologised for keeping me waiting and asked me to take a seat on one of the leather chairs. Eventually after the trek from his desk at the other end of the office whom we shall call ‘the Boss’ joined me. After a short wait when his PA had to run in and answer one of his six mobile phones we begun.
"Well, Keith, I am glad to have this chat. As you know I am a devotee of Peter Drucker and Tom Peters but it is important to remember these books are all very well but we should consider them in the context in which we operate. For example, in the last Harvard Review……. do you subscribe? You should, you know. Yes, in the last edition there was an article on ‘Managing by Influence’. Very interesting but obviously couldn’t work in our culture. I mean, my people expect me to behave like a CEO, like a Chief. They would be disappointed if I was to come down to their level. One has to consider my busy schedule as well. I simply don’t have time for extensive discussion and decision by consensus. If I let every manager have his say we wouldn’t get round to any conclusion. Whenever I can, I try to explain my decisions to help the younger managers develop and understand the process of business but I don’t really encourage them to question these things. After all it can be embarrassing for them if they don’t grasp the ideas quick enough and I have to put them in their place."
"The point is, Keith, and you have been here long enough to know this, is people here look up to strong leadership. My thirty years in business means I have the experience which younger people do not. It is very well for these young men to come back from Europe or the States with modern ideas but they simply can’t cut the mustard. That is obviously why so many of them don’t last. After a few months they are up and off, I wish them well. I don’t take all the decisions because I want to. In fact, they don’t understand the pressure this puts me under. After every foreign trip there are so many people waiting for me to agree this or that. Sometimes I think nothing gets done when I am not here but that’s just the way they look up to me. Occasionally I come back and some up and coming young man has done this or that without considering the consequences and I am forced to rescind the decision to save the company. But you know how it is, ‘Uneasy lies the head’ and all that."
"Yes, I certainly do agree that women should be an active partner in the business. Since I have been at the pinnacle we have recruited a number of females into senior positions. We have women in Human Resources and facilities management. I understand we now have a number of young ladies in the marketing department. No, I don’t believe we are ready for a female member of the Board. The point is you need consistency. I mean, most executive members of our Board have at least twenty five years experience in the company while we appoint Non-executives from the senior ranks of Nigeria, people who have been serving at the highest level for thirty or forty years. The distractions of family life and children make it difficult for a woman to achieve that. But, no, I don’t think that makes me anti-woman. After all didn’t I appoint my own daughter to run our Baby care Division?"
"Yes, running a major business in Nigeria is all about wisdom and experience. After all, without this I wouldn’t understand that our drop in Turnover is just cyclical and is a result of market forces out side our control and, of course, the economic decisions of Government. There is no need to make sudden changes. Operating in Nigeria is about holding your course and staying true to your philosophy. Some of the things our competitors have been doing are just gimmicks and pandering to fashion. Our less experienced managers can be seduced by this but it takes an older head to know this is a short term issue."
"So, you must excuse me now. I have enjoyed our chat but I have someone coming in to help finish my Autobiography. I would have written it myself but I just don’t have the time. As it is we have to get it to the printers as the launching is in just a few weeks. The governor is from the same village as me so I am expecting him to be Chairman of the occasion. The Vice-Chancellor of the University was my junior in school so he will be there. In fact he has pledged to put it on the mandatory reading list of the Business Studies and Philosophy and Ethics courses so they will buy a few hundred copies. I do hope you will attend."
I can’t wait.

- businessday