CSR in Nigeria

A few thoughts after my trip to Lagos last month ...

I am not naive enough to believe that CSR heralds a new dawn for Nigeria. The general consensus was that most companies are stuck in the Ages of Philanthropy and Marketing. Nevertheless, CSR has the potential to advance transparency and to create a platform to discuss the ethics of business and government. It also has the potential to be corrupted, which sadly is already happening in some instances where corporate sponsorship of government ‘CSR projects’ is practiced as an indirect form of bribery.

Shell Nigeria's reputation seems as sullied as ever, 15 years after the Ken Saro Wiwa fiasco. It seems like a viscous cycle of destructive relations. According to Tony Attah, Manager of Sustainable Development and Community Relations, 90% of the oil spills in 2009/10 were as a result of saboteurs, vandals and those trying to steal oil from the pipelines. Also, the Nigerian government takes more than 90% of the earnings of the business through taxes, royalties and their own equities (it has a 55% equity stake in the company).

Of course, there are examples of good practice, such as the Global MOUs between companies and communities, and conservation projects like the Chevron preserved urban forest which I visited. Yet even here, one senses that these are fragile fortifications against a relentless tide of oil-slicked growth and car-jammed urbanisation. I was there during the scheduled first weekend of elections, but these were postponed due to printed ballot papers not arriving in time. The Nigerians take it all in their stride, as if fighting the behemoth of inefficiency is as futile as cursing the manic traffic.

One of the encouraging initiatives is the Social Enterprise Reporting Awards (SERA), run by Trucontact. It was refreshing to see reporting where a level of verification (including site visits) takes place, and where the UN Millennium Development Goals are used as criteria to judge "CSR Projects". On request, I helped to redesign the questionnaire for 2011 (initially literally on the back of a serviette/napkin), so that the awards will start measuring Strategic CSR, rather than the current Philanthropic & Promotional CSR focus. Judging against Transformative CSR (CSR 2.0) may be a little ambitious at this stage.

If all goes according to plan, I will be back in Lagos around 15-17 June to speak at the 1st Africa Roundtable Conference on CSR and November, and again in November to deliver more CSR training hosted by Trucontact.

CSR quest book

My spirits have lifted over the past few days. As I took a walk through Hampstead Heath Extension, with sun breaking through the newly greened trees and birds chirping happily, I felt a surge of gratitude and wellbeing. 

I was also feeling cheered by the prospect of my CSR Quest book going ahead after all, having been rejected by Greenleaf, then Earthscan, before being picked up again by Greenleaf. Despite the additional workload this will put on an already rather full plate, writing is after all my first love. This book will be even more meaningful, given that it is effectively a reconstructed and research-enhanced diary of my travels around the world, capturing anecdotal insights and the stories of those people and organisations I met along the way. I will just have to keep the ‘spiritual odyssey’ to a minimum, warns Greenleaf.

Animated Life (poem)

The last of my three new poems. Apologies for the deluge. It never rains, it pours (creatively speaking).

Animated Life

By Wayne Visser

Sometimes it seems that you’re not listening,

But I know that you can hear the birdsong in the forest

And the harrowing, anguished cry of a mother’s loss.

I know that the breathless sounds of passion reach you

And that lonely sighs of despair fill your ears.

I know that you are listening,

Because I am listening too

And we cannot but be moved

By the soundtrack of life.

Sometimes it seems that you’re not seeing,

But I know that you can see beauty through the artist’s eye

And ugliness in the cancer of rampant, selfish greed.

I know that the sight of carefree children reach you

And that poverty’s wasteland blots your vision.

I know that you are seeing,

Because I am seeing too

And we cannot but be enrapt

By the canvass of life.

Sometimes it seems that you’re not speaking,

But I know that you recount the tales of everyday heroes

And gossip about the vampires that suck society dry.

I know that words of poetry swirl in your mouth

And that shouts of abuse spill from your lips.

I know that you are speaking,

Because I am speaking too

And we cannot but be enchanted

By the story of life.

Sometimes it seems that you’re not breathing,

But I know that you can smell the sweet perfume of flowers

And the stench of rotten lies, like decomposing carcasses.

I know that the aroma of love intoxicates you

And the stink of hatred reaches your nostrils.

I know that you are breathing,

Because I am breathing too

And we cannot but be infused

With the scent of life.

Sometimes it seems that you’re not feeling,

But I know that your sky lights up with firework jubilation

And you languish sometimes in depression’s dark valley.

I know that the sloshing tide of contentment has lapped your shores

And the sludge of self-deprecation has mired your path.

I know that you are feeling,

Because I am feeling too

And we cannot but be bubbling

With the emotion of life.

Copyright 2011

Stripped (poem)

Another of three new poems.

Stripped

By Wayne Visser

Stripped of all the trappings, the clatter;

Bare without the wrappings, the chatter.

So much of me remains untouched, unseen;

So many worlds are still unfound that matter.

The way an unexpected music swell

Can sweep me, tumbling, in a frothy bliss;

Or how a skilfully crafted spell

Of words enchants as much as any kiss.

Unplugged, the silence is brimming with sound;

Unlocked, the horizon need know no bound.

So much to re-imagine, to re-dream;

So many universes spinning round.

The way tangled roots in a forest patch

Can reconnect me to life’s web, and tug

At my senses, giving me space to catch

My breath and feel revived by nature’s hug.

Unseen, the flames of quiet passion burning;

Unheard, the cogs of creation turning;

Untold, the lament of a heart’s yearning;

Stripped bare, the journey of a soul’s learning.

Copyright 2011

Secret of Success (poem)

A new poem. I hasten to add, I am not writing about myself.

Secret of Success

By Wayne Visser

You say you want to know (and others too)

The shining secret of my life’s success;

My ten-step, rags-to-riches recipe

And my ascendant path to happiness.

Do you mean the grail of heroes’ quest?

Is that the secret you were hoping for?

Tales of dreaming big and acting boldly;

Of stumbling upon fortune’s golden door?

Alas, the hidden truth (invisible

Behind the bright myth of a master plan)

Is that, no sooner is the mask removed,

Than cracks appear in the sun-bronzed tan.

My dark secret is that things fall apart

Almost nightly in the shadows of fame,

When the glaring spotlights of intrigue fade

And fragile self-esteem crumbles to shame.

My hushed secret is that the booming voice

Becomes a gnawing whisper of self-doubt

In the echoing caves of solitude;

An endless maze where only demons shout.

My small secret is that the starlit rise

Shines bright against a black, black empty sky;

And even as the peacock struts its plumes,

Its wings are clipped short and it cannot fly.

The secret of my success ... is failure

(If you, and others too, still want to know);

It’s scrambling across the yawning chasm

Between where I am and where I must go.

It’s waking up hungry for self-respect

And going to bed thirsty for respite

From the chattering voices in my head

That tease with vivid dreams of flight.

It’s stretching and striving and surviving

The onslaught of seeing the potential

At the edges of my unsettled state

Of relentless angst that’s existential.

It’s throwing a rope across the river

Daily, between what is and what could be;

It’s showing the world, not the best I’ve got,

But the best bits I want them to see.

To succeed in life is to fail and fail

And still keep giving more than you can take.

My secret of success, since you did ask,

Is to know what’s real from all that is fake.

Copyright 2011

New poem: Lagos Lives

I have a rare morning ‘off’, which for me means a morning when the pressures of delivering something for Cambridge and others has momentarily eased. I have grabbed the opportunity to walk down to the high street and enjoy a latte and some quiet reflection. It is a sublime day, with blue skies and sunshine – the bright unfurling of spring and promise of summer. And I wasn't the only one who had been enticed out by the warming rays. My muse appeared - coy as ever - after a long winter absence.

Lagos Lives

Lagos lives

Seeding and sprawling

Steaming and smoking

Grasping at the shoreline

Gasping at the skyline

Clinging to its oil-slicked ropes

And singing of its toil-stripped hopes

Praise be!

To the God who sets His people free

To the fiery preacher on TV

To the Sunday throng that still believe

Praise be!

To the beggar and the banker

To the fisher and the swanker

To the struggler and the smuggler

Praise be!

Lagos breathes

Coughing and crooning

Swaggering and swooning

Shouting at the winners

Flouting all the sinners

Unleashing hope with soaring psalms

And greasing all the outstretched palms

Praise be!

To the Son who died upon the tree

To the light that makes the blind to see

To the ear that hears each prayerful plea

Praise be!

To the leaders and the bleeders

To the hackers and the slackers

To the hopers and the jokers

Praise be!

Lagos moves

Churning and chugging

Squirming and slugging

Jamming on the highways

Cramming in the byways

Convulsing to the market mob

And pulsing to the music throb

Praise be!

To the Ghost who lit the flame in thee

To the Word of heavenly decree

To the Three in One and One in Three

Praise be!

To the movers and the shakers

To the moguls and the fakers

To the dealers and the healers

Praise be!

Lagos lives

And breathes

And moves

To a rhythm of its own

To an ancient mystic poem

To a purpose yet unknown

Lagos moves

And breathes

And lives.

Nigeria Reflections

Finally, I made it to Nigeria, a country I expected to visit much sooner than now, given its strategic importance in Africa and CSR. I got back from Lagos via Paris this morning. The CSR training for Trucontact went well and seemed appreciated. My hosts, Ken Egbas and colleagues, were gracious and generous. As it turned out, I saw very little on this first trip, beyond the training venue, my hotel and the crazy traffic in between.

I come away with mixed feelings. Certainly, the raw vitality and aggressive ambition (or is it just survival instinct?) is palatable. And as in so much of Africa, the culture and its people are colourful, hopeful and friendly. But there is also the malaise of powerlessness in the face of endemic corruption and greed among politicians, not to mention the inertia of crumbling state apparatus and economic injustice.

The greatest hope being clung to is rediscovering good, public-serving leaders, who remain a fantasy. The greatest source of faith is a Pentecostal brand of Christianity that gives its followers strength in knowing that God is on the side of the oppressed. What is somewhat depressing is knowing that Nigeria’s hardships are largely self-imposed, inflicted by the power-hungry on the opportunity-starved. The society is culturally robust, but morally and economically weakened by the cancers of raw greed and desperate need.

Informative 5-star review on Amazon of "The Age of Responsibility"

5.0 out of 5 stars - A fine and fascinating book, 1 April 2011

By Dr Mike (UK) (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Link to the review online

I have read quite a lot about the recent financial collapse and feared that this would be yet another overview and analysis of these events. However, I was pleased to find that it was much more than that.

The first part of the book is a summary of various ways that firms conduct themselves. the author sees these as evolutionary stages, but whether or not you agree with that is irrelevant, because you can read without that assumption.

Stage one is Greed. The firm works solely for its own profit, and this is justified by the trickle-down theory of wealth, which, from the examples given, appears not to be working too well. There are some obscene case studies here, such as Barings, Enron, Lehman Brothers, WorldCom and even the Dutch East India Company. Although executive greed is generally mentioned here, the same greed pervades the whole company structure, financial markets and banking too.

Stage two is Philanthropy, and is exemplified by Carnegie, Rockefeller, Buffet and Bill Gates giving most of their personal fortunes back to society. This exemplifies the trickle-down theory of wealth, but is at the cost of what their companies have done to society and the environment in the first place. Also, of course, too few companies or individuals do what Gates has done: most hang on to their wealth or distribute it only to their higher ranking employees.

Stage three is Marketing. One has only to look at oil, gas and tobacco to see examples "greenwashing" the worst exploits of a company to make it appear that all is well and good. Lobbying is the primary tool used.

Stage four is Management. Cadbury is an example of a firm that put welfare and sustainability at the forefront and to challenge the supremacy of shareholders in governing the direction a firm takes.

Stage five is Responsibility. Here a company tries to build sustainability into itself, as in Interface.

The author then builds a new model for Corporate Sustainable Responsibility (CSR 2.0) which builds on the mistakes inherent in the original CSR (CSR 1.0). This uses ideas such as Creativity, Scalability, Responsiveness, Glocality (think global, act local) and Circularity.

The whole book is buzzing with ideas, and would be worth buying just for the ten case histories examined in detail. Whether you are a die-hard capitalist or communist you will, I think, get a lot out of reading this book. It is all too easy to distort the message of capitalism and over simplify the issues of wealth distribution, pollution and sustainability into the mantra "capitalism works". Yes, it creates wealth, but society has to moderate its worst excesses just as it needs to do that for any individual in society. After all, a company has rights, by law, and should therefore have responsibilities too.

This is one of the best books I have read in the past year. Thoroughly recommended!