The President of Association of National Accountant of Nigeria (ANAN) Prof. Benjamin Chuka Osisioma, FCNA, speaks on the need for accountant to be ethical. He made the statement at the national conference of ANAN held in Abuja. Experts:

Introduce yourself sir.

I am Prof. Benjamin Chuka Osisioma, a retired Professor of accounting, the President of ANAN and an ordained Canon of Anglican Church.

Q: What is the role of an accountant in this period of recession that we are having in Nigeria?

In recession the question is, what do we do as accounts to help the economy to pick up again and grow and move on.

Actually, we are saying number one, it is a very important factor. It is the ethics of the accountant. If the accountant is not ethical, we are in trouble.

And don’t say they are crooks. They are as innocent as the society from which you have extracted them.

If Nigeria is a society of innocent people, saints, the accountants will be saints. The police men will be saints, the soldiers will be saints.

So, we live in a country where it is almost wrong to be right. And in that situation the accountants will become part of it. And we need ethical accountants if we are going to recover.

We have seen it, financial inclusion. We have seen it, nation building. Tomorrow we shall see it, wealth building. All these things are areas which the accountant can play a critical role, even sustaining the public trust. These are complex panorama of areas we have to look at. To see what the accountant can do to help the economy pick up again. So that is the thrust of this conference.

Q: How do you want the nation to get out of the challenges facing small & medium industries.

Ans: If the small and medium industries will pay attention to what we are saying here. Like the analysis made by one of the discussants; he said, when we debit and credit, in that simple process we are building or destroying the economy.

The primary duty of the accountant is to report. When we report well, report accurately, report factually, report with the future in mind, the present in mind, the past in mind, if you put all of them together in our reporting, we have the economy to grow. Whether they are small scale or big scale.

So, the issue is not about the size, the issue is about the principle. And once the principle is right the economy will be brought back on the right track.

Thank you for your time.

You are welcome.