Omotoniola Adeeyo with The Hutton Prize for Excellence gold medal

Ethical prize for African Corporate Social Responsibility research

This year’s Hutton Prize for Excellence has been awarded to Omotoniola Adeeyo, who graduated from her undergraduate degree in Law in 2013. The annual award encourages the next generation of young professionals to put ethical conduct at the forefront of business, government and the professions.

The prize was made to Omotoniola Adeeyo on the basis of her undergraduate dissertation about ‘Corporate Social Responsibility, Financial Institutions and Africa’. The decision to focus on Corporate Social Responsibility as a topic for her dissertation has strong links with Adeeyo’s sense of a shared responsibility towards shaping and improving the future of her home country of Nigeria.

Adeeyo said:“I chose Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) because it was the first step towards formulating my plan on how to contribute to my country. Throughout my time at Exeter, I thought of how to merge this with my study of law.”

She added: “By looking at the Corporate Social Responsibility programmes of a few financial institutions in London, I recognised that CSR could be the way to make a significant impact in Nigeria. I decided to research the present CSR framework in Nigeria, against that of the developed world and create a bridge that would lead to CSR playing a developmental role in my country.”

Dr Onyeka Osuji supervised Adeeyo and put her dissertation forward for The Hutton Prize for Excellence. The key aspect of her dissertation was the idea of the private sector contributing to economic development, through a tailored framework of corporate social responsibility.

The University judges were impressed by her well-researched, organised and critical account of African financial institutions. Adeeyo was also praised for her ability in identifying the flaws in corporate responsibility and the existing systems in Nigeria; and her well-structured argument for a socially responsive corporate governance system propped up by law.

The prize is a gold medal awarded on an annual basis to a Politics, Law or Business undergraduate or postgraduate from the University of Exeter who is able to demonstrate, propose and promote high standards of ethical conduct for the tangible benefit of society or individuals.

Omotoniola Adeeyo is currently studying in America for a Masters in Law at Duke University School of Law. On completion of her MA Adeeyo’s intention is to return to the UK, to work in the compliance department of a financial institution. After a few years of experience in compliance, she hopes to be armed with enough knowledge and experience to return to Nigeria and join the government bureau that regulates financial institutions.

Date: 21 January 2014

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