Environmental Factors Influencing Corporate Governance: The Nigerian Reality

Abstract

With the enthronement of democratic governance in Nigeria, there is the expectation that democracy would strengthen political institutions, regulatory institutions, and governance effectively, and by so doing, create an enabling environment for good corporate governance practices to thrive. This research uses data from World Bank Governance indicators for three countries, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt, and examines how institutional quality has changed from 1996 to 2012. The research methodology used in investigating this research is a cross-country research analysis. The findings of this research reveal that the adoption of democratic institutions has not significantly increased the institutional quality of political and regulatory institutions in Nigeria. On the contrary, there has been an increasing trend of political instability and violence; however, there appears to be significant improvement in freedom of the press, democracy has allowed pressed freedom to thrive.