6. Do Your Home Work – That was the firm message from Mrs Oby Ezekwesili to the ICAN Leadership when she exposed the Institute’s lack of preparedness in its bid to support the passing of the Whistle-blowing Bill into law. This message cuts across every facet of our lives – look well before you leap. Do your homework thoroughly. Understand your strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT Analysis) before taking on a challenge. A good understanding drastically reduces the risk of failure, believe me.
7. The Weakness of Public Opinion in Economic Policy Decisions – Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Emir (sorry, the Governor) of the Central Bank of Nigeria was unequivocal in registering his displeasure with the Institute (ICAN) for publicly rejecting his proposed N5,000 note. While Nigerians had cogent reasons for rejecting the plan, he stated clearly that the Nation will surely run into problems if economic policy decisions were decided on the altar of public opinion instead of sound economic reasoning. I agree with Him. Economic policies decisions should be taken in the best interest of the Nation, based on a futuristic outlook. It is not every time that the ‘we-no-go-gree” proponents are right.
8. Rochanomics – I also discovered that the Executive Governor of Imo State is an Economic Theorist. Owelle Rochas Okorocha has termed His own theory – Rochanomics. According to Him, Rochanomics is the economic theory for the supersonic transformation of the African State. It is an attempt to address the issue of leadership and it is based on four tenets – (a) never elect or follow a leader who is not willing to make sacrifices (b) never elect/follow a visionless leader (c) Government should be decentralised, with focus on community-based Government (d) Political Will. I should seriously consider coming up with my own economic and political theories as my own contribution towards rescuing Nigeria from the throes of inept leadership. I only wonder what I will call it.
9. Integrity Redefined – During the Conference, Mr Vernon Soare, the Executive Director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales ended his own Paper presentation by saying that Integrity is not just doing the right thing when nobody is looking but also doing the right thing when you are under pressure from people of influence. Think about it.
10. There is One Africa – The Pan-African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) was presented (it was actually marketed) to the participants of the Conference. During his pitch, the Speaker made this statement, “Don’t get stuck in History. There is no Anglo-phone Africa or Franco-phone Africa anymore. There is One Africa”. That is so true. A new Africa is emerging. For more details on PAFA, visit www.pafa.org.za
So these are the top 10 nuggets I took away from the Conference. Are you a qualified Accountant? Or do you aspire to be a qualified Accountant? What do you think about the profession? Considering the economic recession in parts of Europe, what do you think the future holds for the Accountancy profession? You can share your views in the comments section below.
