Beyond Corruption: Rivers University Don Exposes Accounting–Finance Roots Of Governance Failure

Nigeria must reconstruct its governance architecture by first rebuilding the accounting and financial foundations upon which it stands, Professor ThankGod Chikordi Agwor has declared.

Delivering the 126th Inaugural Lecture of Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, the Professor of Accounting and Finance argued that the country cannot move from “managing failure” to governing for development, equity and public trust without restoring discipline to its financial systems.

The lecture, themed “Failure of Governance and Governance of Failure in Nigeria: Unveiling the Accounting–Finance Nexus,” examined what the scholar described as the systemic fragility embedded within Nigeria’s governance structure.

Agwor maintained that accounting and finance are not peripheral technical tools but the very infrastructure of governance.

“Where they are strong, governance is resilient. Where they are weak, governance fails — and failure becomes governed,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria’s governance crisis reflects not only institutional weakness but a deeper structural distortion within the accounting–finance nexus. He described the phenomenon as the “governance of failure” — a condition in which institutional arrangements do not merely tolerate dysfunction but actively manage, rationalise and reproduce it.

“Nigeria exhibits a more troubling phenomenon: the governance of failure. This refers to institutional arrangements and practices that do not merely tolerate failure but actively manage, rationalise and produce it,” he stated.

Despite its abundant natural and human resources, Nigeria, he noted, continues to struggle with institutional inefficiencies, entrenched corruption and declining public trust. While leadership failure, corruption and weak political will are frequently cited as explanations, Agwor argued that such narratives often obscure the deeper challenge of informational asymmetry and financial opacity.
“Without credible accounting data and enforceable financial discipline, governance becomes performative rather than substantive,” he said.

The inaugural lecturer pointed to troubling empirical patterns: recurrent fiscal deficits without credible fiscal discipline; repeated banking crises followed by regulatory forbearance; public enterprises sustained despite chronic losses; and audit reports that reveal irregularities without sanctions.

“These patterns suggest that failure itself has become institutionalised — rendered predictable, administratively manageable and politically survivable,” he observed.

He further explained that weak enforcement environments have produced what he described as a governance equilibrium that perpetuates failure. Public and civil servants, he argued, have rationally adapted to these conditions, sustained in part by predictable financial incentives that reward compliance with dysfunction rather than reform. “The result is a governance equilibrium that perpetuates failure.

Breaking this equilibrium requires restoring accounting and finance to their disciplinary roles,” he said.

Agwor warned that the normalisation of weak accounting practices — delayed audits, qualified audit opinions without consequences and routine budget deviations — represents the entrenchment of governance failure.

“This normalisation represents the governance of failure; a condition where governance systems adapt to dysfunction rather than correct it. Breaking this circle requires restoring accounting’s disciplinary role,” he advised.

Over the years, the scholar has advanced research bridging accounting, finance, governance and public policy, producing work that is empirically grounded, theoretically rigorous and socially relevant. His contributions, observers noted, have mentored scholars and practitioners who understand that accounting choices are not neutral technicalities but decisions that shape societal outcomes.

The lecture reinforced the argument that sustainable reform must go beyond rhetoric to institutional recalibration — placing transparency, credible financial reporting and enforceable fiscal discipline at the centre of governance reform.

For Agwor, the pathway forward is clear: rebuild accounting, restore financial integrity and reposition governance from managing failure to delivering development, equity and trust.

By Victoria Michael