Exploring the Institutional and Cognitive Adequacies to Support the Implementation of Sustainability Reporting Standards in Nigeria

The Board for Sustainability Reporting under the auspices of the International Accounting Standards Board recently released the Sustainability Reporting Standards to guide reporting entities in the preparation of holistic financial reports. This was in response to stakeholders growing concerns about the impact of certain qualitative variables, such as environmental degradations and upheavals, social dynamics, governmental policies and economic metamorphosis on the operations of these reporting organizations. The impacts of these variables on the establishment have hitherto not been properly measured by the traditional financial reports, being qualitative in nature, they could not be ascribed money measuring parameters. Their impacts however remain undeniable substantial and in many instances, overrun the profitability of these enterprises. This study adopts the qualitative strategies of narrative essay to explore participants’ views with regard to perceptions, cognitive and institutional adequacies of Nigerian practitioners in effectively implementing sustainability reporting standards in Nigeria. In tandem with qualitative approach, open ended interviews was conducted among faculties of universities and colleges in Nigeria, and the two dominant professional accounting bodies and training institutions in Nigeria. The interview protocols was administered in 3 Federal universities and specifically the faculty of management and business studies in north central Nigeria, state controlled universities and privately owned universities in Abuja, the federal capital. A further administration of the survey protocol was done at the mandatory professional workshop of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria. This workshop annually brings together over 2000 professional accountants from all over the country. The survey was administrated to 55 participants purposely selected to represents the sampling frames of the population of interest. These were all professional accountants in the public and private practices. Purposeful sampling as opposed to randomization is one of the features of the qualitative design. This is to avail the researcher targets sample that are information-rich in context of the phenomenon under study. Results indicate that Nigerians were prejudicial to the implementation of sustainability reporting as a practice, as participants had perceptions that standard is stereotyped as neo colonialism and lacking in indispensability. Participants further held the views that the board for sustainability is skewed against African membership and targeted to undermine the growing relevance of African economy by using environmental degradation as a negating factors. Participants furthers asserted that Nigeria do not have competent and skilled manpower to drive successful adoption of SR. The study recommended for more advocacies and professional development in the area of sustainability reporting and engaging stakeholders towards soaring up membership of Africans in international bodies.