Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, ICSAN, believes that the best time for any nation to borrow is at such a time as this, when most economic are affected by Covid-19, due to the reduced interest rate.

The Institute’s comment comes as Nigerians continue to express worry over the nation’s increasing debt profile in China and other countries.

According to its President, Bode Ayeku, there is nothing wrong with borrowing, as long as it is properly utilised for infrastructure and technological advancement rather than services or consumption.

Ayeku says this is the right time to borrow but the borrowing must not be used for consumption, for personnel, to serve the personal interest of persons or the maintenance of bloated structure.

He insisted there was nothing wrong if the present administration would borrow the money to develop infrastructure, create more jobs and provide other social amenities for the citizens.

According to him, many Nigerians were against the government’s borrowing because previous administrations borrowed money for frivolous things.

In his word, the sources of revenue are not as broad-based as it were, and when there is a drop in revenue, the ideal thing is to be disciplined with expenditure, saying the nations cost of governance is abnormal and the government needed to let stakeholders be aware that they cannot continue to spend money at the current rate.

Ayeku who recently emerged Vice President, Corporate Secretaries International Association, an international governance association, described the appointment as an opportunity for the Institute and the nation’s perspective of happenings globally.

According to Ayeku, his appointment shows that the institute had contributed tremendously globally, as it afforded the institute an opportunity to exchange ideas and development to enable it progress to be the global voice of good governance principles.

In his word, the only way a global organisation would allow a member Institute to aspire or to be elected to that office is that the member organisation would have been contributing tremendously to the progress of that institution.

Speaking on adoption of digitisation, the institute President charged the government on measures to adequately address its expenditure by the adoption of digitisation that would allow electronic means of conducting elections.

He urged the public sector organisations to move into the new digital-first reality environment to first require an assessment to provide one simple, yet crucial perspective provide bearings in a digital age.

According to him, employees thrive in a digitally enhanced work environment, quality training, practical on boarding processes, and user-friendly tools to bring the best out of teams.”

He said digital technology is changing how work is done, saying a fully digitised environment became a necessity for businesses to continue operation.

Ayeku who was speaking at news parley organised by the Institute in Lagos, believes incorporating corporate governance principles would help the nation navigate through the challenges of Covid-19 and the destruction in the aftermath of the EndSARS protests.

According to him, the principles of transparency, fairness, responsibility and accountability by private and public institutions on the current state of affairs to stakeholders and citizens would engender business continuity.

He called for massive investment in technology in the public sector across all levels, stressing the need for digitisation of all activities for proper record keeping and adequate utilisation of human resources in the case of business disruptions.

Ayeku who was speaking of endsars, says the revelations by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu over the amount of destruction occasioned by the EndSARS protests presented a transparent detail of the situation of things, saying such action informed the public and stakeholders on the impact of the carnage, and if need be, a justified inclusion in the state’s budget presentation for rebuilding.

According to him, by the singular act of the governor, people would have an understanding of what is happening, as no one expects the governor to wake up and say there is an additional variation of one trillion naira in the budget without cogent explanation.

He says by the act of the governor, he has had carried the people along and the visits he made showed he is not basing his actions on hearsay on the level of destruction and the strategies in place to revive the economy.

On the Institute’s forthcoming annual conference scheduled to hold from November nineteen to twenty at Muson Centre, Ayeku said the theme of the conference “Entrenching the Right Governance Framework for Economic Development and Sustainability” was chosen to reflect the current reality and development.

He said notable Nigerians such as Dr Christopher Kolade, and Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange, would be honoured for value addition to national progress.