The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Ikorodu and District Society has announced an impressive growth of 106.9 per cent in its gross income from N7.2 million in the year 2020 to N14.9 million in 2021, which it attributed to the members’ unflinching financial support.
The district also said it has concluded plans to establish and maintain a Benevolent-Sinking Fund to cater for the welfare of members beginning with a group insurance policy that takes care of health and life assurances.
Speaking at the investiture of the ninth District Chairman and inauguration of Executive Committee and Fund Raising for the proposed examination centre at Imota, Ikorodu Lagos over the weekend, the outgoing and eighth District Chairman, Olusola Akinloye, said the district relied on ever-supportive members to grow and bring in new chartered accountants, which saw the number of bona-fide financial members increased to 152.
This, he added, was one of the goals set at the beginning of the chairmanship year between June 2021 and May 2022.
Listing other milestones achieved in the past year, Akinloye disclosed that the Ikorodu & District Society on January 13, 2022 laid foundation of its permanent secretariat site and that construction works were 85 per cent completed even as it has been serving as the venue of its monthly meeting over the last five months.
Under the Accounting Aid Clinic, the district on March 7, 2022, organised a well-attended Accounting Aid Clinic for Ikorodu Chapter of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) at their secretariat, to promote services of chartered accountants and the NBA executives promised to collaborate with the district during its monthly fitness/health walk programme.
Similarly, under the ‘Catch Them Young programme,’ the district on February 22, 2022, held its annual CTY Programme which was well-attended by members of the public and 200 students from over 10 private schools within the Ikorodu Division at the palace of the Ayangburen of lkorodu.
Akinloye said a lecture on ‘Route to becoming Chartered Accountants’ was delivered and various prizes distributed to students.
“The district recently launched its robust and friendly website and payment platform to ease out payment challenges, guarantee confidentiality of members’ information, connect the district to the institute and enhance visibility with the public.
“We visited motherless babies’ homes at Devine Heritage Home, Ginti Ikorodu, to physically identify with them and showed love to the children and the wonderful management as a way of giving back to society,” he said.
Also speaking, the 58th president of ICAN, Mallam Tijjani Musa, challenged accountants to contribute ideas and proffer useful solutions that would help in solving the problems facing the Nigerian economy.
Represented by Mrs Hilda Ofure Ozoh, a fellow of the institute, the president extolled the incoming district chairman as a woman with potential, saying that her emergence would greatly benefit the district and institute at large.
According to the ICAN boss, there are 69 districts in the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as well as offshore districts in Cameroon, the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, among others, promoting accountability and professionalism in their various districts.
The ICAN chief went further to encourage the incoming chairman to pursue an inclusive leadership where every member would have to participate evenly.
He also advised the outgoing executives and the members to give the incoming chairman their support, because the task ahead of her is quite enormous.
“Her confidence, tenacity and wealth of experience will assist to drive successfully the affairs of the district at this critical time and the district on its own part should not hold back from providing support for you when called upon,” Musa charged members.
In his final remarks, he encouraged the incoming executive to mobilise members to attend the forthcoming 52nd annual Accountants Conference of the institute scheduled to hold at the International Conference Centre Abuja in October, 2022.
In her acceptance speech, the 9th chairman, ICAN Ikorodu & District Society, Princess Kafilat Omolade Hassan, said she received the baton of leadership with great sense of humility and responsibility and promised relentless pursuit of the district’s programmes presented and ratified by the Executive Members at its retreat held on June 4, 2022, for the chairmanship year 2022/2023.
Some of the achievable goals set by the members which Omolade Hassan promised to accomplish include; to complete the secretariat building and put it to a befitting standard; taking full possession and fencing of the examination centre; training interested members on vocational trades that would enhance their living standard; record a higher number of students, both at the Accounting Technicians Scheme (ATS) and professional levels; to appoint a woman that would represent the district at SWAN as permitted by the bye law and to give more attention to the welfare of members by monitoring their attendance at meetings and regularly checking on them via calls to confirm their health and moral status.
Others are; partnering with job outfits for assisting members seeking employment; having Senior Citizens Forum for elders in the district; to scout for sponsors of scholarship for ATS students within Ikorodu Division; conducting excursion to selected corporate organisations within Ikorodu; improve on income generation by quarterly organising fee-paying seminars and webinars on topical issues to supplement members’ subscription and to increase membership strength by scouting and fishing for qualified members residing within Ikorodu Division among others.
Hassan said, “We shall continue to visit our founding fathers and professional legends to appreciate them and tap from their wealth of experience. It would be my pleasure to have a forum where the body of patrons would appoint their chairman and secretary, having meetings on regular basis to discuss issues concerning the development of ICAN Ikorodu and District Society.
“In conclusion, I believe I can always count on our distinguished members, well-meaning individuals and corporate bodies to extend their usual moral and financial support to this dispensation to successfully implement the above laudable projects.”
In his keynote address, the chairman Investiture and Inauguration planning Committee, Alhaji Awojobi Lateef, applauded the district having grown in diverse ways in a few years of her existence and celebrating the launching of the ICAN Exam Centre, Imota.
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