The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ethical

  • ‘Ethical compromises must be exposed’

    ‘Ethical compromises must be exposed’

    The chamber of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) was filled to the brim. In the council chambers was the Doyen of Accountancy in Africa, Akintola Williams, past presidents and other invited guests. The venue was the colourful investiture of the 49th president, Alhaji Kabir Alkali Mohammed.

    In an encounter with Mohammed you want to know what he has in stock for members and he opens up on the challenges and how some members soiled their hands in the past.

    Would it be business as usual? “As the conscience of the nation, we must be actively involved and, indeed, drive the process, for the renaissance of our nation’s value systems. We must continue to expose ethical compromises, and sanction deviants, whose conducts, if not checked, can demean and bring the hard earned, and towering goodwill of the profession to disrepute. We must stand up and be counted, on the side of equity and justice, both in words and in actions, such that the premium placed on the integrity of accountants will continue to be justified.”

    Mohammed continues: “Painfully, wealth is celebrated without recourse to source. If leadership is to continue to be for service, rather than for the pillage of the common wealth, we must inevitably redefine and enforce our value system. Pointedly, such a renaissance of our value system must begin with the institute and its members. We must lead by example. Accordingly, my theme for the year is ICAN: Redefining Values, reinforcing the brand. The historical public interest mandate, of the accountancy profession, is driven by strict adherence to the ideals of objectivity, integrity, technical competence and diligence, with great ethical disposition.”

    He, however, advises members to serve as role models and excellent examples for others. “As we savour the joy of this established ICAN tradition, benchmarked on global best practice, I regal in the saying that, ‘the history of free men, is never really written by chance but by their choice.’ The Institute made this proactive historical choice, nearly five decades ago. This cherished value is not a luxury but a necessity and an ideal, which we must strive to attain as a people, if we are to collectively fulfill the dream, and advance the cause of humanity.”

    Mohammed goes on to give credit to the Institute’s founding fathers who laid a formidable foundation for others to build on. “I salute our founding fathers, for the enduring legacy, their foresight, vision and strength of character, which gave birth to this cherished tradition of excellence, of whom we are all proud. The greatest honour we can give to them is treading the path of integrity and service, which they shrewdly charted. I will never depart from this honourable path, no matter the odds.”

    Happily, Mohammed goes down memory lane to recall how it all began as well as the people who motivated and inspired him. “First, I will dedicate my achievements to my parents, Malama Maimuna and Alkali Mohammed Salis and some elder statesmen. These include Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Mallam Turi Mohhamed Mamman Daura and Mallam Hassan Gafai, all my former bosses at the New Nigerian Newspapers Ltd, Kaduna, and my first employers fresh from secondary school.”

    Mohammed adds: “ As my role models and benefactor, they inspired, encouraged and used their good offices to ensure that my academic prowess was rewarded with a scholarship in 1972 from North Western state, with which I proceeded to the West Ham College (now East London University) for my Advance level certificates at the Chelmer Institute of Higher Education , Chelmford (now University of Essex) for the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administration just before going to the London School of Accountancy.”

    In 1978, Mohammed emerged as one of the best qualifying candidates at the London School of Accountancy in the final examinations of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK. “I was subsequently admitted into its esteemed membership and nothing has given me so much joy and professional fulfillment than this historic achievement. It is indeed a dream come true.”

    At this point, he goes down memory lane to recall some of the people who influenced his career positively. “Let, me also put on record the priceless roles, played by past presidents like Emmanuel Itoya Ijewere, Princess Agnes Adeniran, Sir Ike Nwokolo and Chief Adeboye Badejo in my professional career. Although, I became a member of ICAN in the late 80’s , one year after my return from the UK, my participation in its affairs, really started at the Bursary of the University of Sokoto, the Finace Department of the United Bank for Africa PLC and later the Finance and Accounts Department of NEPA.”

    While working at NEPA, Mohammed recalled that he encouraged all the staff to sit for ICAN examinations, persuaded the organisation to pay the annual subscriptions of qualified chartered accountants. “What must have really brought me to limelight within the Institute was when I formally approached it in 1992 to recommend to me ten Auditing and Accounting firms that I could engage for some accounting work and subsequent auditing of the accounts of NEPA. It was these modest contributions that attracted the attention of these past presidents, who subsequently visited my office to encourage me to press forward with the good work. Their high powered visit remains the watershed in my relationship with this noble Institute.”

    Indeed that was Mohammed’s journey to the ICAN Council, first as a government nominee and later as an elected member. “Besides leading to the formation of ICAN NEPA District Society and my active participation in other ICAN activities, their visit and subsequent interactions, brought me deserved visibility, which eventually culminated in my being the first elected chartered accountant from far northern Nigeria to become president in its 48 years history.”

    During the presidency of Mrs. Okpareke, Mohammed also got the opportunity to attend the revered National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies. “The experience was challenging, instructive and refreshing, as it further opened my eyes, to the great possibilities in this nation. As a nation, we are at a cross road with our societal values decaying at a fast pace. Today, the youths relish in vices as if living an honest life is a recipe for naivety or antithetical to human progress. Indeed, the ideals of integrity, transparency, diligence and trust, which define civilised societies, are observed not only in the breach by many, including professionals, but also are daily sacrificed for short term selfish monetary gains, by persons in fiduciary positions.”

     

  • National ethical challenge

    National ethical challenge

    These are trying times. Hardly does a day pass in the heart of the nation without an episode or event that makes one wonder aloud: what kind of a people are we? What principles drive us? What are our priorities? What do we cherish as a collective? Indeed do we have a collective sense of honour and shame?

    Last week it was about the gruesome lynching of four young students. We are now learning that one of the suspects had set these young men up because one of them was his creditor. Kidnappers are on the prowl across the country. Just this week the wife of the Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly was rescued from the wicked hands of youthful kidnappers. There was also the incident of the truckers who decided that the most effective way to demonstrate their anger was to block the express way and make innocent travellers suffer for fourteen hours.

    Some anthropological observations on the beliefs, norms and values of our pre-colonial antecedents appear to have been turned over on their heads. We were said to be communitarians who value the community without sacrificing the individual. We were supposed to be God-fearing and spiritually endowed folks who look after their brothers and sisters. And we were an industrious hard-working lot guided by the unwritten principle that only through the labour of our hands shall we survive and prosper. Were these myths made up to make us look good in the eyes of an unsuspecting world?

    No, it’s not all myth. Indeed, somewhere in the rural man-forsaken heartland of the various zones, these models of human accomplishments in social living still motivate conduct in some version. I once referenced the back-wood communities of Oke-Ogun, my beloved homeland, where humaneness still inspires and civility is a norm of behavior. To be civil is to be decent; to appreciate the goodness of cooperation, the pricelessness of others, the obligation of respecting them, and of course, the demand of performing civic duties religiously.

    Discipline is an enduring virtue of the collective existence of rural folks. This is explained by the fact of our early exposure to life, first, through the stringent teachings of traditional religions practiced by our ancestors. Which of our fore-parents was unaware of the imposing presence of the god of thunder who avenges wrong-doing with all the might of its fierceness? Swear falsely to an oath and prepare to die shamelessly. Or did we not grow up being taught about the requirements of Obatala even before we became Christians and Moslems? Our ancestors went through the yoke of an imperial majesty that was ruthless in its demand and unforgiving in its judgment. Liberated by the colonisers from both burdens, we ended up being exposed to the doctrines of the new religions they brought. We gladly embraced them and internalised their norms.

    But in the urbanised satanic corridors of political and business power, it’s dog-eat-dog mentality run amok. There the hardening of the heart is beyond reason, and it’s a ticking time bomb that portends catastrophe for everyone. It is not just the dregs of society; demonic forces have taken over the psyche of the powerful as well.

    From different tradition-based authorities, we accepted a republican arrangement which gives everyone the liberty and responsibility to participate in various capacities and at various levels in governance. It works perfectly when everyone takes the liberty and the responsibility seriously. Electorates ask penetrating questions and would-be representatives of the people canvas for votes without intimidation in a climate of peace. When the free flow of competing ideas is disturbed because someone or some groups arrogate illegal authority to themselves, the condition for a republican arrangement is violated. From there, it can only get worse unless steps are taken to confront it effectively. For it is a short course to imposition by default. This is just one example of the nation’s gradual but sure drift.

    How it has gotten so tragically rotten is anybody’s guess. But a more rewarding approach is an exploration of what it takes to avoid an impending crash and redirect our national train to a track of survival and prosperity.

    A major culprit is the ego which has become the be-all and end-all in all areas of our lives. Where everyone only looks out for self and no one worries about the collectivity without which the self cannot be, the result is an inadvertent annihilation of the self. More seriously, however, where the focus of the self is the greedy lust for material possession, regardless of considerations of desert, it’s easy to see the inescapability of a Hobbesian anarchy of the kind that has characterized the republic thus far.

    But a nation, like an individual, must have a sense of honor and a sense of shame. A true patriot, with a sense of belonging, naturally feels proud when her nation excels in the discharge of responsibilities integral to the reason of its existence and is considered a member in good standing in the comity of nations. Surely, nations cannot be judged with identical standards and an element of relativism is involved. What is expected of the United States in contribution to the relief of international suffering cannot be expected of Nigeria. But in the matter of democratic norms, freedom of expression, accountability, and a general civility that abhors a thuggish approach to governance, there is a universality of standards.

    Nigeria has lost its moral bearing and every citizen is implicated in the morass.

    To be troubled by such a demeaning standard of decency requires a concerted effort to combat the perpetrators. Political parties and political actors, including candidates are too engrossed in their vote-catching tactics to be effective partners in what must be a national effort to reinstate our national self-esteem. The suffering masses are turning against themselves when what is needed is a collective effort to save the nation from uncaring power grabbers that see Nigeria as their grandfather’s farm to be exploited at will. These locusts do not belong to just one sub-national group. Theirs is a coalition of an evil cabal that cuts across the thirty-six states plus Abuja. Yet there is no denying the fact that they are far fewer than the suffering masses whose common patrimony the members of the cabal are bent on looting and exploiting.

    The army of unemployed school leavers and university graduates parading the streets need to know that they have to fight their own battle. Why are septuagenarians and octogenarians still toiling for true democracy when the youth that really need Nigeria to do better for them to do well are engaged in collective self- immolation? They must be made to realise that their potential for growth is being wickedly hampered by the godless politicians who recruit them to do their dirty jobs for them.

    Nigeria needs to be saved from the corrupting grip of the political robbers. Nigeria needs to be saved from the deadly claws of daylight election robbers. And surely, Nigeria needs to be saved from the vampire mentality of political assassins and kidnappers. When a nation drifts so dangerously towards the cliff, the leaders are called upon to intervene. But when the leaders themselves are responsible for the drift, the followers have a collective responsibility to take their destiny in their hands.