RSU: Beyond Politics and Rhetoric 126th Inaugural Lecture Reframes Nigeria’s Governance Crisis Through Accounting and Finance
On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, the academic atmosphere at Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, was suffused with intellectual gravity as scholars, professionals, policymakers, and students converged for the institution’s 126th Inaugural Lecture.
The stately Dr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike Senate Building provided a fitting setting for a discourse that sought not only to interrogate Nigeria’s persistent governance challenges but also to unveil the structural mechanisms that silently sustain them. The occasion reaffirmed the university’s tradition of scholarship anchored in national relevance and public responsibility.
Presiding over the event, the Vice-Chancellor, Isaac Zeb-Obipi, welcomed the audience on behalf of the Governing Council, Management, Senate, Staff, and Students. In his opening remarks, he underscored governance failure as one of the most consequential issues confronting contemporary Nigerian society, noting that its effects are felt across political, economic, and social spheres.
He observed that prevailing explanations often dwell on symptoms rather than causes, thereby leaving the foundational drivers of governance failure largely unexplored.
The inaugural lecture, titled “Failure of Governance and Governance of Failure in Nigeria: Unveiling the Accounting-Finance Nexus,” was delivered by Thankgod Chikordi Agwor, Professor of Accounting and Finance.
In a rigorously argued presentation, Professor Agwor challenged conventional narratives that attribute Nigeria’s governance crisis solely to corruption, leadership deficits, or institutional weakness. While acknowledging the relevance of these factors, he contended that they obscure a deeper, more structural problem rooted in the country’s accounting and financial architecture.
According to the lecturer, the accounting-finance nexus constitutes the invisible framework upon which governance is built. Accounting systems, he explained, generate the financial information that guides policy formulation, resource allocation, and public accountability, while finance translates these figures into strategic decisions.
Where accounting systems are weak or distorted, governance inevitably falters. He argued that Nigeria’s reliance on cash-basis public sector accounting constrains fiscal transparency, facilitates inefficient spending, and weakens service delivery outcomes.
Professor Agwor further observed that audit institutions, rather than serving as instruments of accountability, have often been reduced to procedural formalities devoid of enforcement. In such an environment, audits become symbolic exercises, offering neither deterrence nor correction.
He extended his analysis to corporate governance, particularly within the financial sector, highlighting how poor financial reporting quality, earnings management, weak provisioning practices, and ethical lapses have undermined regulatory effectiveness and public trust.
Beyond diagnosis, the lecture offered a reform-oriented perspective. The speaker emphasized the need to strengthen accounting infrastructure, reinforce audit and enforcement mechanisms, and improve board competence across public and private institutions.
He framed governance fundamentally as stewardship, arguing that accountability, transparency, and financial discipline are indispensable to sustainable development. Drawing from biblical narratives, he contrasted the failure of Eli’s leadership with the administrative success of Joseph, using both accounts to illustrate how integrity and prudence determine governance outcomes.
In his closing remarks, the Vice-Chancellor reflected on the intellectual contribution of the lecture, noting its clear distinction between political, economic, and corporate governance, as well as between outcome-driven imperial governance and process-oriented organizational governance.
He affirmed that accounting and finance constitute the core infrastructure of governance, stressing that while accounting provides reliable figures, finance applies them to budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, risk management, and investment decisions.
Professor Zeb-Obipi concluded that Nigeria’s governance crisis persists largely because those entrusted with public authority often disregard the discipline and prescriptions inherent in sound accounting and financial practice. He urged governments and institutions to pay closer attention to this nexus if meaningful governance reform is to be achieved.
The lecture climaxed with the formal decoration of Professor Agwor as the 126th Inaugural Lecturer of Rivers State University.
The vote of thanks was delivered by Patrick Nwinyokpugi, Chairman of the University Lectures Committee, who expressed appreciation to the university community and guests for their participation and encouraged them to apply the insights gained beyond the academic space.
The 126th Inaugural Lecture thus stood as a timely and compelling intervention in Nigeria’s governance discourse, reaffirming the role of the university as a crucible for ideas capable of shaping policy, reforming institutions, and redefining the nation’s developmental trajectory.
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