Business Continuity Planning and Organizational Resilience of Nigerian Commercial Banks During Disruptions

This study examines the relationship between business continuity planning and organizational resilience among Nigerian commercial banks in the context of recent operational disruptions including cybersecurity incidents and regulatory interventions. The Central Bank of Nigeria's framework for business continuity management has been progressively strengthened, yet implementation quality varies significantly across banks. The research targets business continuity managers, IT directors, and operations executives of eight commercial banks with national operations. A total of 85 respondents were selected through purposive sampling. Questionnaires measuring BCP framework comprehensiveness, testing frequency, and organizational resilience indicators were administered. Data analysis combined descriptive statistics and multiple regression. Findings indicate that banks with annually tested and board-approved business continuity plans demonstrate significantly faster recovery times from operational disruptions and lower financial loss exposure per incident compared to those with untested or outdated plans. The integration of BCP with enterprise risk management is identified as the most effective structural approach to building organizational resilience. The study also reveals that staff BCP awareness training, when conducted at least twice annually, significantly improves recovery response performance. The research concludes that Nigerian commercial banks must treat business continuity planning as a strategic management priority embedded in their governance and risk architecture. Keywords: business continuity planning, organizational resilience, commercial banks, Nigeria, risk management.