The President and Chairman of Council, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Professor Benjamin Osisioma, Thursday, officially bowed out of public service with a call for the country to establish a strong institution and leadership.
Osisioma, who in October 2020, retired from active service as a Professor in the department of Accountancy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in a valedictory lecture entitled “Ethics and values in professional leadership: a convergence of accounting and faith”, said Nigeria was in need of leadership, which according to him, was capable of turning the country from third world country to first world country.
“So Nigeria’s abiding and timeless problem has been the failure of leadership. By definition, leadership is influence that inspires through character , lifting a man’s vision, raising his performance and building his personality beyond its normal limits. Neither position nor title makes someone a leader. Anyone who claims to be a leader but has no follower, is merely taking walk,” he stated.
He specifically blamed the professional leaders, including the doctors, engineers, architects, surveyors, professors and academics, industrialists, economists and accountants, captains of industry, and other elites, even as he observed that the current generation inherited a nation of great values and enviable standards which has all gone.
On his part the Deputy governor of Anambra State, Dr Nkem Okeke, acknowledged that with what he termed a functional institution, there would be leaders willing to perform when in power without been corrupted by the system.
Earlier, the university Vice Chancellor, Prof Charles Esimone, praised the celebrant, stressing that he has shown an uncommon brilliance from his student days, and as a lecturer, led with humility and a zeal to serve God and humanity.
