THE GOVERNANCE CIRCLE

  I ran into an old schoolmate recently. Let’s call him Anthony. We hadn't seen each other in years.   He was several years ahead of me at university, and back then, medical school was not kind to him. He resat most of his exams. More than once, I imagine, he must have wondered whether he was pursuing the right career. He's a doctor now. Working at a private hospital, well paid, living in a house that comes with the job. By every visible measure, he made it. But it's what he told me about how he made it that stayed with me. He said it was my older brother — his fellow medical student— who kept him going. Not through some rousing speech about perseverance. My brother never once sat him down and told him not to give up; he simply kept getting back up after his own setbacks, semester after semester, and Anthony watched him do it. That was enough. Somewhere in watching my brother refuse to quit, Anthony found the will to keep going himself. My brother has no idea he di...

  For decades, cybersecurity was neatly filed away in the corporate basement as an operational "IT problem."  Boards of directors set the strategic direction, reviewed financial statements, and left the technical jargon to the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). That era is officially over. In today’s digital-first business environment, a cyberattack is no longer a matter of if , but when .  When disaster strikes—whether through a crippling ransomware attack, a massive data breach, or supply chain infiltration—the fallout lands squarely on the boardroom table. Regulators, shareholders, and the public now expect directors to exercise active oversight over cyber risk.  To do that effectively, every corporate director needs cyber literacy. Cybersecurity is a Core Business Risk, Not Just an IT Issue Board members routinely evaluate financial, legal, and operational risks. Yet, cybersecurity is frequently treated as an exception—something too complex for non-techni...

Urban flooding brings ESG to our doorsteps In early June 2026, parts of Accra became unrecognizable. Roads in Kaneshie, Odawna, and around Kwame Nkrumah Circle became rivers within hours of a sustained downpour. Emergency responders worked through the night rescuing residents trapped by rising water. Businesses were destroyed. Transport ground to a halt.  Three weeks later, Lagos joined it. The Gbagada Expressway, the Oshodi axis, Lekki, Agungi were submerged as a multi-hour downpour overwhelmed every drainage system the state had invested in.  A section of the Nigerian Air Force base fence in Oshodi collapsed, crushing civilian vehicles. Flight operations at Murtala Muhammed International Airport were disrupted. Markets, schools, and businesses shuttered as floodwaters breached their walls. Experts put the potential economic loss at N500 billion from this single event.  This was not exactly a surprise. Earlier in April, Nigeria’s Hydrological Services Agency had placed L...

"...So cling to nothing too tightly, even yourself, / and when it’s time to let go, let go with grace, / for nothing is owned, only borrowed..." — James McCrae. James McCrae’s poem titled “ Instructions Before Visiting Earth ” seems to be having another viral moment these days. The man has unwittingly created a masterpiece on the art of living gracefully, one that is worth revisiting from to time.   The extract above inspired some thoughts which I would like to share in this piece to help anyone dealing with invasive dark thoughts. When we are in the depths of depression, our thoughts feel like heavy, permanent fixtures of our identity. We treat them as if they are solid truths—as if they are us . But what if we started treating them as guests? What if we acknowledged that our thoughts, our moods, and even our current mental states (even the happiest of them) are not possessions we own, but experiences we are simply borrowing for a time? Western education has us co...