(At body of past presidents of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria dialogue on October 18, 2020)
Considering that virtually all those listed to speak qualified as Chartered Accountants over fifty years ago, we deserve the introduction which tagged us as the “Old Brigade”. We should be thankful that we have not been labelled as the “ancient Brigade” who should be stripped of their claim to being digital rather than analogue.
Be that as it may, what is not in dispute is that when we commenced our journey into our cherished profession, to be a chartered accountant commanded immense respect and our commitment to transparency, integrity and professionalism was a foregone conclusion.
Besides, we were the direct inheritors from the expatriates who had hitherto been Senior Partners of the leading firms of Chartered Accountants or Finance Directors/Chief Accountants of multinational companies/conglomerates. It was against this background that we were considered ready and competent (both in learning and character) to be entrusted with the fate of our beloved profession and the destiny of our great nation. That is how we leapfrogged farming, herding and hunting-gathering to become the new elite (or oppressors!!). We were the “inheritors”.
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Perhaps, (because) the transition was smooth and seamless, we felt no urge to address the critical issue of Risk Assessment / Risk Management.
We certainly did not contemplate Audit Failure, whether systemic or otherwise.
The well has been poisoned and our nation has been reeling from one crisis to another. Every week launches a fresh controversy or a rehash of an old rage to be followed by revenge. One calamity leads to another
It would be totally immodest if not inappropriate to postulate that standards have fallen or suggest that the TRUST which the public invested in us was misplaced and unrealistic because we were Nigerians first before we became Chartered Accountants!! That would be a most damning auditors’ report. However, if indeed the standards have fallen, we cannot claim immunity or non-culpability. Indeed, the line between “Guilty” and “Not Guilty” has become blurred.
What stares us in the face is that our country is at a crossroads or roadblock. If we had been able to sustain the trajectory of our inheritance, our nation would today be one of the most prosperous in the world with first-class health facilities and excellent education as well as politicians and civil servants who are dedicated to serving our nation. Added to this we would have the benefit of an incorruptible judiciary supported by a supply chain of disciplined military and police/security agencies for whom insecurity, fraud, ritual murder, kidnapping, insurgency, rioting and rigging of elections would be an aberration instead of a daily diet served in generous proportions on print and electronic media plus extra rations on social media.
We can only hope that Reuben Abati writing in “ThisDay” newspaper did not include Chartered Accountants when he advertised “……………………. the wickedness of a generation that inherited independence and subverted it.” If the truth must be told, we fall into the category of “Failure of leadership” and the consequential failure of the state under the camouflage of impunity and incompetence.
About ten years ago, I was just one of the guests when Professor Robert Rothberg delivered a riveting lecture at Harvard University on the systemic breakdown of the security architecture of Nigeria. It was a masterclass. All the data, trends and statistics, as well as algorithms, had been dissected, analysed and thoroughly mashed by big data and analytics to be fed directly to simulators. The results were as incontestable as they were alarming. It prompted my firm to host a Summit in 2011 on “security in the air, land and sea” at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The enthusiasm of the participants who came from far and near was subverted and supplanted by the indifference of the Government. The patriotic zeal displayed by Nigerians, especially those from the diaspora was a sight to behold. Sadly, the only outcome was the award of a dodgy contract to a Chinese company to provide CCTV surveillance in Lagos, Abuja etc at a staggering cost of N10 billion.
That was long before Boko Haram became a major threat not to talk of seizing Local Government Areas in the North East and hoisting their flag. In any case, within a matter of months, Boko Haram attempted to assassinate the Inspector-General of Police at Louis Edet House (Police Headquarters) Abuja. This was followed by a bomb explosion at the United Nations Abuja Office with very serious casualties. Unfortunately, one of the victims is the daughter of Mr Ambrose Feese, Sarah Feese. Ambrose Feese the former Minister of Works & Housing.
It was the same story with “Africa Week” at Cambridge University where the focus was on the systemic failure and the consequential “Abandoned Projects” in Nigeria.
Again, all the figures, facts, data had been thoroughly churned and analysed by electronic dumpsters; and fed directly to computer simulators. All four petroleum refineries were abandoned while Nigeria went on an importation binge – spending huge sums importing petroleum products even when we were producing two million barrels of oil per day. The River Basin Authorities had become virtually moribund.
Even more damning was the report of the Committee set up by the Government under the Chairmanship of Eng. Bunu Sherriff. In its report which was released in 2011, the committee listed 11,000 abandoned projects all over the country. The amount that had gone down the rat hole was estimated at over N100 billion. Since then, we have accumulated thousands more abandoned projects and the cost thereof runs into billions of dollars/trillions of naira – and still counting.
The well has been poisoned and our nation has been reeling from one crisis to another. Every week launches a fresh controversy or a rehash of an old rage to be followed by revenge. One calamity leads to another.
However, we must tread carefully. The records are intact. It was not so long ago when Chartered Accountants held the commanding heights in the economic and financial infrastructure – as Minister of Finance; Governor of the Central Bank; Minister of Transport; Aviation and Communications; Managing Directors of Banks; Auditor-General; Accountant-General etc.
There were also uplifting interludes when General Olusegun Obasanjo as Military Head of State introduced “Operation Feed the Nation” and “Low Profile” followed (after civilian interval/interlude under Alhaji Shehu Shagari) by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari’s regime when the clarion call was “WAI” (War Against Indiscipline).
