Purpose: Following the outcry of several employers that many higher education (HE) graduates do not possess employability skills and therefore are not employable, the purpose of this paper, therefore, is to examine what the labour market (LM) actually demands from the higher education institutions (HEIs) and how the demands of the LM can be met by the HEIs in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on interviews and focus group with 28 university professors, executives of the students’ industrial work scheme (SIWES), industry executives, executive officers of the Directorate of Employment and the HE course/programme leaders that revealed substantial information about what the LM actually requires from the HE, and how the HE can meet the demands of the LM in terms of supply of quality graduates. Findings: The key findings reveal that with adequate teaching resources and competent teachers, graduate employability skills (technical and soft), which the LM demands from the HEIs, can be imparted to the students. Concerning LM and HEIs partnerships, it is found that understanding the demands of the LM by the HEIs can enhance the graduates’ outcomes and their prospects in the LM. Research limitations/implications: The study argues that the graduate employability is still relevant to the existing practice, but further engagement and research surrounding how the HEIs in the developing countries, especially Nigeria, can meet the actual demands of the LM in terms of competent graduates are needed to examine this range of HE. Originality/value: The study provides significant suggestions on the improvement needs of the HE teachers to inspire and motivate students to increase the knowledge (know-how), skills (how to do), self-efficacy (effectiveness) and qualities (technical and creative knowledge) required by the LM.

Stakeholders’ demand for companies to provide social, economic and environmental reports is increasingly becoming a fundamental requirement for companies. This paper investigates the factors that drive the choice of sustainability reporting in an emerging market economy context, with reference to Nigeria. Using data sourced from 3 different reports (annual accounts, sustainability reports and websites) of the top 50 large companies listed in the Nigeria Stock Exchange for the period 2015–2020 and a fixed effect panel regression model, our study makes three important findings. First, the study provides evidence that sustainability reporting is mostly influenced by the following company internal factors: size, profitability, ownership structure, listing age, leverage and auditor type. Second, the findings indicate that that size of firms, profitability and companies audited by Big-4 audit firms has a significant positive relationship with sustainability reporting in Nigeria. In contrast, ownership structure and the leverage position of firms affect sustainability reporting negatively. Finally, our study shows that the banking and oil and gas sectors take sustainability reporting more seriously than any other sectors in Nigeria. Contextualizing the findings within accountability and transparency, we provide evidence on the drivers and the relationship between the various drivers and sustainability reporting in Nigeria. This has implications for policymakers, future researchers and contributes to the literature of sustainability reporting in Nigeria. Even though this study used Nigerian data, it will increase pressure on firms in other developing countries to assess the context-specific determinants of sustainability reporting.

The problem of textile industry started with the economic recession of the 1980s and was aggravated by globalization coupled with poor infrastructure and Nigerians perception of made in Nigeria goods. This helped the foreign multi-national textile manufacturing giants to dominate Nigeria textile market leading to the collapse of many viable local textile mills with chains of effects such as expanded unemployment level, increased poverty rates with its associated social vices, reduction in government tax revenue and loss of investors’ funds in Nigeria. This study evaluated the producers’ make or buy decision and organizational shutdown in the textile industry as a means of resolving the issues. Descriptive survey research design used and the population consisted of 12 active textile companies with 714 management staff. 6 textile mills with 403 staff representing 50% of the population were used as sample size. The validity and reliability of the instrument were established. Primary data collected were analyzed using descriptive and regression analysis method at 5% level of significance. The result obtained concluded that the sub-variables of the independent—cost, capacity and quality control have significant impacts on Nigerian textile mills closure (R = .776, R² = .721, p < .05; R = .702, R² = .683, p < .05; R = .658, R² = .635, p < .05). The study recommended that instead of the complete shutdown of the textile mills, management of such organizations should have resort to buying from outside suppliers to meet customers demand and survive, maintain their staff, save investors’ fund and contribute their quota to the economy.