ASSESSMENT OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT UNIT OF SKYE BANK ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA

This work assesses the contributions of the sustainability management unit of Skye bank on Environmental Management in Nigeria. The main aim was to investigate the role of the Sustainability Management Unit of Skye Bank Plc in Environmental Management in Nigeria. The environment has over the years faced adverse natural and human challenges including overpopulation, rapid loss of biodiversity, global warming and waste management. Urban managers in developing countries, in particular, face an enormous array of problems. Some of the most important ones are unemployment, land degradation, and waste management with the range of problems requiring immediate attention constantly increasing. In the midst of new initiatives and uncertain solutions to all of these and several other demanding situations, the quality of the environment is deteriorating. And this has made corporate organisations like Skye bank to take responsibility in ensuring that the environment is adequately protected and make it conducive for citizenry. In the research, Primary and secondary sources of data were employed. The primary data were sourced from collection of data from respondents through well-structured questionnaires, oral and face to face interview, one on one interview with executive managements and members of the board of Skye bank. Two sets of questionnaire were administered respectively to beneficiaries of Skye Bank’s CSR projects and staff of SMU of the bank. While, the secondary data were from textbooks written by renowned authors, advertising journals, write-ups etc. and Sustainability Management Unit Library at 3 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. The data were analyzed using stratified random sampling technique. The result revealed that 21 massive Corporate Social Responsibility projects were identified and executed for their host communities during the year under review from 2005 to 2015. The projects were scattered all over the six geo-political zones of the country. CSR projects were drawn from various sectors such as Security, Education, Healthcare, Sports Development, Housing, Welfare, Agriculture, Arts and Tourism and Civic Responsibility. The following recommendations were made in line with the objectives of the study that Skye Bank should increase its annual budget for CSR projects by approving 5% of its Net profit for the funding. Also Skye bank should adopt an inclusive engagement by involving the community Youths, Non-Governmental Organization, Civil society Organization, Community Based Organization, traditional rulers, law enforcement agencies to ensure smooth delivery of CSR projects in its host communities.