Experts have called for the adoption of turnaround management to ensure the revival of moribund assets in Nigeria.
This was the focus of the two-day annual conference of the Turnaround Management Association organised in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, which concluded in Lagos on Saturday.
The conference was held under the theme ‘Reviving moribund assets – The role of turnaround management in Nigeria’s economic recovery strategy.’ The 2025 conference was a gathering of turnaround professionals, banking sector representatives, SME stakeholders, policymakers, and development partners.
In her opening speech, the Executive Secretary of TMA-Nigeria, Cynthia Ofodile, said the association is seeking to cultivate and promote the profession of corporate renewal and change management.
“We recognise that sustainable recovery can only be achieved through partnership and shared vision. Together, we can redefine the future of corporate renewal in Nigeria, and together, we can turn setbacks into success stories,” Ofodile said.
The Chapter president, TMA-Nigeria, Dr Steve Ogidan, emphasised turnaround management as a tool for economic prosperity in the face of global headwinds and local uncertainty.
“In an era characterised by unprecedented global disruptions and persistent local economic challenges, turnaround management emerges not merely as a crisis intervention tool but as a strategic imperative for national economic prosperity.
“Turnaround management, when properly implemented at scale, can catalyse economic prosperity by rescuing viable and distressed enterprises, creating resilient business models adapted to new realities, preserving and creating economic employment, strengthening supply chains and economic linkages and building management capabilities for sustainable growth,” Ogidan enthused.
The chapter president added that turnaround management offers not just a lifeline for struggling businesses but a pathway to fundamental economic transformation.
“Turnaround management is more than a business discipline; it’s a mindset, a capability, and a pathway to prosperity,” Ogidan added.
While speaking at a panel discussion titled ‘Reviving moribund assets for economic growth: The role of turnaround management,’ Vice President (North) of the Turnaround Management Association-Nigeria, Adamu Gambo, revealed that Nigeria’s industrial capacity utilisation currently stands at about 55 per cent, while the Bank of Industry estimates N2tn worth of non-performing assets within the manufacturing sector.
“These are not just statistics,” Gambo said. “They represent factories with silent machinery, warehouses filled with unsold inventory, and communities without economic angles. But within this challenge lies a tremendous opportunity. If we could revive even 20 per cent of these assets, we could create hundreds of thousands of jobs and strengthen our industrial base”.
During the panel session, Chief Executive Officer of Quick Projects Ltd., Dr Victor Dickson, highlighted weak managerial capacity as a major cause of industrial collapse, stressing that access to finance alone cannot guarantee business success.
“Many businesses assume that capital is their main challenge,” Dickson noted. “But the real problem is management. A turnaround manager must assess not just technical capacity but also the operational and leadership strength to handle growth sustainably”.
Another panellist, CEO of Fingertips Enterprise Development Partners Ltd., Dr Haggai Gutap, attributed the high rate of non-performing loans among small businesses to poor financial literacy and a government free-money mindset.
“Many SMEs see intervention funds as grants rather than loans to be repaid,” he said. “Without proper business education and mentoring, even the best funding models will fail”.
Also speaking at the panel session, Managing Partner at A2 Consulting, Dr Naomi Omoduemuke, identified the cultural mindset of Nigerian entrepreneurs as a barrier to sustainability.
“If you fill key business roles with unqualified relatives, the organisation will eventually fail,” she said. “Entrepreneurs must adopt forward-thinking strategies, embrace technology, and engage consultants early before problems escalate”.
The second day of the two-day event on Saturday featured a keynote presentation by a lawyer and professor of Economic History at Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Adetunji Ogunyemi, titled ‘When turnaround maintenance fails: What should government do? Exploring legal and institutional remedies in turnaround management.’
Ogunyemi explained that four key legal remedies were available when turnaround projects collapse. They include contractual remedies, institutional and statutory remedies, litigation, and mediation through Alternative Dispute Resolution under the Arbitration and Mediation Act of 2023.
“The best institution to approach in matters involving public finance or official contracts is the court. When we are dealing with interpersonal issues, we can go to family, church, or mosque. But when it comes to government projects, the court is where clear boundaries are set between who is right and who is wrong,” he said.
Ogunyemi concluded that enforcing these legal measures is crucial to restoring accountability and deterring future failures in public project management.
“When government begins to apply these remedies consistently, contractors will sit up, and taxpayers’ money will no longer go to waste,” he concluded.
