I was having a chat with a friend the other day and she said, “you know, this Business integrity thing is confusing: for example, Fashola is working and so Lagos is working but only because he focuses on excellence not because he is focusing on doing things with integrity”. She is not alone, so many of us think that Business integrity is an oxymoron: a contradiction in terms in that either you have excellent Business or you maintain excellent integrity because, Business doesn’t seem to mix very well with integrity. At best All you get is a wishy-washy Concept that results in below-standard performance. Is that the way you feel as well? Let us explore this point of view a little deeper on the assumption that the principal thing to pursue is excellence in Business . We should at least be agreed on what Business is and what it means to be excellent at it, not so?

Do a search on the web and you will find various definitions for Business .

For example we Are told it is a Commercial or Industrial Enterprise along with the people who constitute it; for example, \"he bought his brother\'s Business \". This view suggests a going concern divorced from its proprietor: something self-contained, with a Life of its own. Are businesses in Nigeria not thoroughly entangled with the Life of their owner which we Are quick to label as \"one-man Business \" meaning decisions rest on the whims and caprices of one person not policy, process or well laid down procedure. We especially find it hard to identify where the owner’s Funds end and Resources of the Business start. But this is still Business , not so?

Perhaps of wider understanding is the Concept of Business as a Commercial Enterprise : the activity of providing goods and Services involving Financial , Commercial and Industrial aspects; Nigerian businesses Are often seen as ‘Jack-of-all-trades’, some Business cards happily announce them as \"importer-exporter, buyer and seller of All types of goods and Services \" but I guess master of none supported by the very Naija idea that we can be “all-things-to-all-men” and credible at the same time. This is also Business , not so?

Related to the previous definition is that which looks at Business as occupation: the principal activity in your Life that you do to earn money; for example, \"he\'s not in my line of Business \". The predominant Nigerian view is that “man must do whatever it takes to survive”. As the popular phrase goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them!” so if you have to be a conduit for ill-gotten gains and shady deals, “ki ni Big Deal?” Survival is the name of the game not niceties like specialization – its strictly Business , not so?

Whether it’s the Hausa, “yaya kasuwa?” or the Yoruba, “se owo’n ya?” or the General pidgin, “how market now ?” the volume of Commercial activity is very important to us; \"business is good today\"; \"tings dey move market today\", the conversion of goods and Services into cash is what we know Business to be. The finer details of how to develop revenue generating Assets with attendant levels of Trust and Confidence built into them to create a sustainable going concern that employs many others and outlives the founder still elude us; but, “cash is King”, not so?

A good number of inquisitive people get told, \"it\'s none of your Business \"; \"mind your own Business \". A rightful concern or sense of responsibility also applies to Business – whom do you tell to mind their Business ? Investors , who want to know how you Are spending the money they have invested with you (transparency); clients who want to know why their jobs remain undone, despite the advance payments they have made (reliability); Banks who want to know if you Are who you say you Are before they agree to open an account for you let alone extend Credit to you (trustworthiness); the tax authorities who expect you to declare honestly and accurately the true nature and extent of your Commercial activities (accountability); your Staff who expect you to lead by example and put processes in place to ensure you live by your own publicly stated principles (honour) … just a few of the classes of people that Nigerian businesses would want to, “mind their own Business ”. Transparency, reliability, trustworthiness, accountability, honour and so on, Are these not components of Business integrity? Can they be divorced from excellent conduct of Business ?

In simple terms, Business integrity entails ensuring as a matter of principle that your Business is duly registered with the appropriate regulatory Agencies and compliant with applicable laws and regulations; having a track record of consistently living your ethical values regardless of changing circumstances; consistently discharging your obligations to the time, budget and standards agreed; consistently disclosing timely, comprehensive, accessible, and accurate Information about the nature and extent of your activities; consistently tolerating the scrutiny of your stakeholders around Information about your activities; putting processes in place to ensure that you comply with your own publicly stated principles; and, putting processes in place to ensure that the quality and efficiency with which you work consistently exceed expectations.

In fairness to my friend, common approaches to Business integrity often do not incorporate dimensions of excellence and performance could be limiting. For example, we could have defined integrity in the following way: integrity is the adherence to moral or ethical codes; possessing an unwavering character that does not change depending on the situation; bonds your character together; becomes a structure for your thoughts and actions; must be the starting point for everything you do. A person of integrity is fundamentally honest and truthful; has ethical consistency; sticks to principles and core values; takes responsibility for actions; is unimpaired by ethical distractions; has unwavering character; maintains integrity in All areas of Life . This approach fills us with dilemmas and debates about morality and takes our focus away from Business and the excellent performance of Business . Could this be why so many see Business and integrity as two things which Are each extremely valuable however becoming quite tepid when mixed together? Integrity in Business must not be sidelined to a question of morality but rather kept in the mainstream and more correctly treated as a Business imperative.

So now , back to the billion-naira question, do Business and integrity mix? Business integrity as we have defined it is the route to the Development of sustainable, performing businesses even in Nigeria ’s environment. A Business imperative and essential First step towards getting Nigerian businesses reshaped to become world-class and competitive.

The main lesson to draw from our findings is that we shouldn’t have Business on the one hand and then try to add integrity to it (much like adding condiments to food as an after thought after its been cooked bland) but rather we should through Business integrity principles establish, reshape and/or expand our Business ambitions with the quest for Professional excellence fuelling our driving for Commercial success: Business integrity is realizable even in Nigeria .

Soji Apampa is co-founder and consultant Executive Director at the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi). He is author of several academic papers in the fields of Corporate governance, Corporate compliance and political economy. Mobile +234 803 4022669, E-mail: sojiapampa@theconvention.org