Board Evaluation Practices and Governance Effectiveness in Nigerian Conglomerates: A Managerial Perspective

This study investigates board evaluation practices and their contribution to governance effectiveness in Nigerian conglomerate companies from a managerial perspective. Board evaluation, the structured assessment of individual director performance, committee effectiveness, and collective board functioning, is a requirement under the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria's governance code. Despite regulatory encouragement, many Nigerian conglomerates conduct evaluations in a cursory or non-transparent manner, limiting their value as governance improvement tools. This study draws on the resource dependence theory and board capital literature to examine the design and implementation quality of board evaluation frameworks in selected conglomerates. A qualitative research design is adopted, employing semi-structured interviews with fifteen board members, executive directors, and company secretaries across eight conglomerate groups. Thematic analysis identifies patterns in evaluation design, frequency, feedback utilisation, and the independence of evaluation facilitators. The study anticipates that conglomerates using external independent evaluators demonstrate more substantive governance improvements following evaluations compared to those using internally conducted assessments. Findings will assist board chairs, nomination committees, and the Financial Reporting Council in designing more rigorous and value-generating board evaluation frameworks. This research contributes to the professional governance literature relevant to the PGD practitioner audience. Keywords: board evaluation, governance effectiveness, conglomerates, corporate governance, management practice.