Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) constitute over 96% of businesses in Nigeria and are critical to employment generation and economic development. However, mainstream management practices within these enterprises often rely on Eurocentric frameworks that inadequately reflect African contexts’ socio-cultural and institutional realities. This chapter interrogates the dominance of such models and advocates for a contextual decolonisation of SME management, using the lens of Organisational Social Capital (OSC). Through conceptual and theoretical analysis, the research uncovers how indigenous forms of knowledge, reciprocity, and associability act as strategic resources that enable SMEs to navigate institutional voids and market uncertainties. The chapter highlights the tensions between formal regulatory constraints and informal socio-cultural obligations, arguing that effective SME management must blend both. It advances the case for rethinking HRM in locally embedded and culturally relevant ways that decolonise thoughts around such fundamental issues. Ultimately, this work contributes to African-centred management scholarship by analysing propositions that foreground OSC as a driver of resilience, innovation, and sustainable enterprise growth in Nigeria.