TOWARDS AN EFFECTIVE LEGAL REGIME FOR DEVELOPING NIGERIA THROUGH PHILANTHROPY

Abstract

Philanthropy is a person’s, organization’s, or other group’s effort, based on altruistic desire, to improve
the welfare of another person or group. Philanthropy can be used as a means for societal advancement. In
Nigeria, as in other countries, most citizens are capable of giving – financially, materially, or otherwise.
As major controllers of wealth in Nigeria, corporations are in good positions to give back to their host
communities which bear the brunt of the corporate activities. By giving back, the corporations can
contribute positively to the societal advancement of these communities. However, effective laws are
necessary to encourage and streamline philanthropic activities in the country. This paper critically
analyzes the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2004 (CAMA) and other relevant laws to determine the
effectiveness of the current legal regime on philanthropy and offer recommendations for strengthening the
laws. The analysis shows that CAMA promotes shareholder value, an ideology that encourages individual
freedom but which is antithetical to effective corporate social responsibility (CSR); also shareholder value
detracts from philanthropic acts that are beneficial to the society. The corporations can give back through
an effective CSR regime. The paper argues for the enactment of a CSR Act that will stipulate how the CSR
and philanthropic activities of corporations should be carried out to make them effective, as the present
situation where corporations pick and choose what they want to do, if they wish to do anything at all, is not
effective. Alternatively, the paper calls for an amendment of the CAMA to make effective CSR mandatory.
Finally, the paper recommends other ways in which the philanthropies of corporations, individuals, and
groups can be enhanced for societal advancement.