ICAN Seeks Shift In Governance Architecture To Reduce Brain Drain

The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Dr. Innocent Okwuosa, has advised that the Nigerian Government embrace a paradigm shift in the governance architecture in order to stem the brain drain, also known as the ‘japa’ syndrome, in the country.

He stated that both the public and private sectors of the economy need to undergo a total restructuring of their governance architecture, noting that there is need for the government to administer the collective patrimony of Nigerians with equity, justice, transparency, and accountability.

According to a statement by ICAN’s Assistant Director of Corporate Communications, Olubunmi Owolabi, Okwuosa said this while speaking at the Institute’s 6th Zonal Accountants’ Conference which was held in Benin, Edo State.

The conference had the theme, “Quest for Good Governance in Nigeria: The Chartered Accountants Perspective”.

According to him, it was time for Nigeria to take back its deserving place in the comity of nations through the deliberate creation of a culture of responsible governance, zero tolerance for corruption, and provision of adequate reward for adherence to effective resource management.

He noted that for several years, concerns about poor governance in Nigeria have been on the rise, citing the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance for 2022 which placed Nigeria, at number 30 out of 54, classifying the rank as increasingly deteriorating.

Okwuosa, who described the situation as a sad narrative considering Nigeria’s vast human and natural resource endowments advised the government to tackle the four components of the governance framework.

They are security and rule of law, participation, rights and inclusion, foundations for economic opportunity and human development as a composite if Nigeria is to see significant improvement in her governance ranking which also weighed down performance in Foundations for Economic Opportunity and Human Development to stem the tide of brain-drain (or japa syndrome) in the Country.

He concluded by saying that “as Chartered Accountants, our role in ensuring that our nation’s governance improves is pivotal. We are to ensure strict adherence to strong governance processes, and sustainable fiscal processes while employing leading practices.”

Also speaking at the conference, the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who was the Special Guest of Honor at the conference, noted that for good governance to be achieved, processes and institutions must produce results that meet society’s needs while making the best use of the resources at their disposal.

He described the theme of the conference as appropriately timed in view of the socio-political state of the country where the expectation of the masses appears to be far from being met as evidenced by the high cost of living arising from the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, high interest rate, high foreign exchange rate and so on.