Adhere strictly to ethics of profession, ANAN chairman warns

Chairman, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), FCT 1 chapter, Mrs Petu Joyce, has advised its members to always avoid compromise and adhere strictly to the ethics of the profession.

Joyce gave the advice when she led the leadership of the Association to visit the Kuje Correctional Centre to donate some materials to the inmates.

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She noted that most of the inmates have found themselves at the Centre as a result of negligence.

“We must adhere strictly to the ethics of the profession because some of them (inmates) are here for reasons of negligence, some due to errors of omission and commission, so you just have to be dutiful and observe the ethics of the profession as an accountant.”

While calling on the government for the expansion of the facility, she also raised concerns over the number of inmates awaiting trial, noting that the Judiciary needs to step up their game by expediting trials as it would help in ensuring decongestion of prison facilities.

Mrs Petu said the visit which was part of the activities to mark FCT ANAN week, was to sympathize with the inmates as well as comfort and encourage them on the need to turn a new leaf.

“We are here to associate with you and also encourage you not to allow your faith to fail as God who showeth mercy has plans for us all. Use this opportunity to work on yourself and ensure that when you are out, you will be a better person than before.

“We are looking forward to a situation where when you leave here, you will be a better person to the society. We are here to donate some food items and some equipments for empowerment. We learnt some of you have learnt some skills so we thought it wise to empower you so that those that are interested in learning the skills can have the privilege of learning.

Earlier, Deputy Comptroller of Centre, Innocent Onoja, commended the Association for the kind gesture noting that such visit goes a long way to giving the inmates sense of belonging.

“We feel great that Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), came to see the inmates. As you can see, even the inmates who spoke with them are delighted that they came to visit and also brought some materials for them.

“When people come from outside to see them, the visit gives them that sense of belongings. This goes to show that the process of trying to reintegrate them into the general society is in progress and gives them hope that when they go out, they are going to be received by the larger society.

He also disclosed that through the help of the Social Workers unit, families of inmates are reached and some of them who did not want them to return to them after serving their years are now looking forward to accepting them back.

Onoja also disclosed that most of the inmates have embraced education through the establishment of WAEC, GCE and NECO Centres, as well as the Open University within the facility.

“We render vocational skills such as carpentry, tailoring, shoe making, barbing and many more to prepare them. We ensure that those who did not have any trade before coming are trained.”

Daily Times gathered that the 560 capacity facility is currently holding not less than 919 inmates with 570 on awaiting trial.

Some of the materials donated includes; Bags of rice, garri, footwear, sowing machines and money to secure the release of 10 inmates that are held for reasons of fines.