ICAN Storms Sokoto, Plants New District Society

The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Major General Sebastian Achulike Owuama, will be inaugurating a new District Society of the Institute in Sokoto on Monday, May 16, 2011.

Owuama, the 46th President of the Institute who recently became elected the pioneer President of the newly inaugurated Pan-African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) arrived Sokoto on Sunday, May 15 in company of key members of the ICAN Council as well as the Registrar/Chief Executive and held a members Forum with members of the proposed Sokoto and District Society of ICAN ahead of the inauguration ceremony.

As part of the activities marking the inauguration of the Sokoto and District Society of ICAN, Owuama would visit the Sultanate, Emirs of Gwandu and Argungu, Vice Chancellor of Usman Dan Fodiyo University and Rectors of Polytechnics as well as top Government functionaries and students of the tertiary institutions in Kebbi and Sokoto states.

Owuama told members of the new district at their members forum that it was imperative for the Institute to strengthen its 49 districts and chapters to enable them provide relevant structures to cope with the growth in membership of the Institute.

He said that some districts had felt left out of the scheme of things or cut off from mainstream happenings, thereby making Lagos and environs to symbolize ICAN.

According to him, “We want every member to belong. Therefore the Institute has assigned members of Council to be Coordinators of District Societies and it is the duty of the President to revamp districts wherever they exist and where none exists, to inaugurate new ones where we have enough members. So it is strategic to strengthen the districts, expand and grow. It is not possible for the President to visit all districts during any Presidential year, but through the coordinators, the pulse of the districts is felt.”

Furthermore, the President said that the Institute would as from next Presidential year provide for funding of the erection of District secretariats and other facilities on the landed property allotted to them by governments of their localities in order to enhance the visibility and presence of the districts as the Institute’s outposts at the grassroots.

According to the protem Chairman of the proposed Sokoto and District Society, Alhaji Suleiman Dan-Iya Umar, the inauguration of the new district would not only enhance the visibility of ICAN in Sokoto and environs, it would also encourage lots of indigenes to register with ICAN and qualify to become chartered accountants.

To date, ICAN has 46 district societies, including one each in the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and two chapters. By the end of Monday, May 16, the Sokoto and District Society of the Institute would have increased the number by one.