THESHIELD Garkuwa
Related Articles
BY SANI ALIYU, Zaria
The Chairman Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) Zaria Branch, Professor Luka Mailafia has said all professionals including accountants need to be sensitive to environmental and societal challenges, and be socially responsible, an act that has the potential to support the socio-economic development of a nation.
He stated this at a double-barrel programme to mark the International Accountants Day as well as the Corporate Social Responsibility Day, held at the CBN Centre for Economic and Finance, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, as well as a paying a visit to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Zaria.
This year’s celebration was kick started with a lecture by Barrister Hadiza Ali whose paper focused on “Removal of Fuel Subsidy”: Which way to go?.
The paper was highly topical, quite engaging and thought provoking and It justified the need for fuel subsidy removal although raised concerns on the sudden approach to its withdrawal, and x-rayed the viability of possible remedial actions.
Barrister Hadiza Ali charged Nigerian government to work on fixing the trust deficit already in the mind of citizens, towards building public trust and confidence in the citizenry.
She further urged government to address the issues of unemployment through enabling policies and creation of social investment programmes.
According to her, good governance and accountability can be achieved by transparently managing the transition, redirecting savings to benefit citizens and implementing measures to prevent corruption.
She noted with concern that removing fuel Subsidy is a complex policy decision with potential economic and political challenges.
The guest lecturer acknowledged that the general impact is holistic and not necessarily only the rural poor because of the spiral effect associated with the high price of fuel, which cuts across the board.
The Association also paid a visit to the Accident and Emergency Ward, and Children Emergency Ward of the ABU Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Shika by members of ANAN, Zaria Branch.
As an act of corporate social responsibility, the Zaria Branch of ANAN donated some items to the patients at the ABUTH Shika. Some of the items included a wide variety of hospital consumables such as Paediatrics and Adults IV canulae, plaster, syringes, toiletries, fruits, water, among others.
The Branch Chairman appreciated the high level of commitment exhibited by members of the Branch, which he found to be very encouraging, and urged them to continue with this kind of gesture.
The leadership of the Branch was quite overwhelmed with the enormous corporate efforts of all members of the Branch.
Professor Luka urged members to keep the good works and redouble their contributions towards humanity, aimed at achieving societal goals, and making the world a better place to live in.
