On October 4, 1976, the Federal Government of Nigeria promulgated Decree No. 51 giving legal backing to the existence of the Council and Centre for Management Development which was established as far back as 1973. Under the Decree especially its section 2, the specific functions of the Nigerian Council for Management Development (NCDM) were spelt out as follows:
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• To advise the Honourable Minister in charge of National Planning on policies, plans and programmes for the enhancement of number, quality and effective utilization the managerial manpower resources of the country in all sectors of the economy;
  
• To formulate policies and guidelines for the coordination of management education and training activities throughout the country;
  
• To develop and promote high national standards of management education, entrepreneurial development and supervisory training;
  
• To keep and maintain a register of training institutions and their training programmes including their locations standards, durations, types and costs;
  
• To evaluate, from time to time, the training programmes offered by the institutions listed in the register mentioned in paragraph (d) above with a view to determining their competencies and whether they deserve financial support by the Council; and ·
• To provide a forum at which representatives of both public and private sectors and of management training institutions could exchange information and ideas on trends in management education and training.

FUNCTION OF THE CENTRE
The functions of the CMD which are spelt out in Section 16 of the Decree include:

1. The provision for the Council background information and other technical data necessary for the Council’s policy-making and coordinating functions;
2. Provision of management advisory and consultancy services to Nigeria enterprises;
3. Establishment and maintenance of an up-to-date library for management studies;
4. Publication of journals, research papers and books on modern management and supervisory techniques; and

The sponsoring, promoting and conduct of research into all aspects of management and allied subjects in relation to the Nigeria situation.

In addition to these functions, the Federal Government, from time to time, gave additional responsibilities to the centre. For example, in 1977, the Federal Executive Council directed the Centre to assist in the development of small-scale Industrial sub-sector of the economy through the design and provision of suitable training packages for small-scale industries in the nation.

Also in the fourth National Development Plan, 1981-85, the Government directed the Centre to place greater emphasis on designing programmes aimed at improving the performance of parastatals whose management problems seem to be quite serious.