I abandoned CBN job to join the Army –Gen. Owuama, ICAN president
From MOLLY KILETE, Abuja
Monday, August 02, 2010

•Gen. Owuama
Photo: Sun News Publishing

    * More Stories on This Section

Major-General Sebastine Achulike Owuama retired from the Nigerian Army as the Director Finance and Accounts (DAFA), after putting in over 30 years. Owuama is today the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

He was among retired army officers recently honoured at the just concluded Nigerian Army Day Celebrations (NADCEL), Abuja. He spoke with Daily Sun on life in retirement and the challenges of being the president of ICAN.

Vision for ICAN
“We have over 30,000 members and another 120,000 professionaI students. We have 13,000 middle cadre manpower we call the association of accounting technicians and another 75,000 student technicians. I want to deliberately and cautiously decentralize power from the centre to the districts societies. We have 45 district societies in Nigeria, UK and USA. Through the district societies, we will be able to react out quickly and efficiently to our members and users of our services and other stakeholders who ICAN are associated with.

“In other words, the district societies will provide the landing bridge through which we reach out to these people including potential students. There are some tertiary institutions in this country who have not have much interaction with this institute. I want to make the district very vibrant to fill the gap.”

Accountants are not pen thieves
“I want to be informed of any accountant since the burble burst in the bank that has been tried and convicted. People easily, out of shear bias and prejudice, do the finger-pointing and shifting the blame. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to talk about corporate failures. In any establishment, you have accountants, lawyers, engineers, managers, business administrators, consultants and so on. But it is always so easy and more convenient to single out a group of people and try to castigate them. It is unfortunate.

“Be that as it may, we try as much as possible to correct it. Take a look at all the problems of bank failure and tell me one single accountant or accounting firm that has been convicted out of the whole saga. We take it in good faith like they say, if you go through a poo house, you either get a smear or you smell. It is part of the hazards of the profession.

“When the doctor makes a mistake, it is buried with the patient. When the architect makes a mistake and the building collapses, they blame the engineer and the workers. When there is corporate failure which is supposed to be a collective responsibility, it is only the accountant that gets the bashing. It is like the backside that fouls the air and you hit the head. Why?”

Are accountants stingy?
“It is rather an uninformed opinion. Accountants are prudent and perhaps conservative. One cannot be labeled a thief in one breath and at the same time stingy. The chemistry doesn’t seem to mix because thieves don’t value the essence of hard-earned money. They tend to go on a spending spree. That is how they catch them easily. For somebody to be prudent in financial management by ensuring that every kobo that leaves the organization is properly accounted for. Now if that is the dictionary definition of stinginess then I will endorse it.”

My sojourn in the army
“On graduation from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), after my youth service. I had many employment opportunities and finally settled for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). But I had this old classmate of mine, Col. Jonh Madaki, who joined the army and immediately I developed an interest to join the army. Unfortunately the image of the military was not much to be talked about. I decided to go in and see if I could make a career out of it.

“Initially, my father wanted me to read Medicine but it didn’t click. I remained focused and very disciplined. I have always had the ambition of being a professionally qualified accountant. Even as a junior officer, I tried my hands privately with the ACCA exams before the military eventually sponsored me to go to the United Kingdom.

“I was given a four-year scholarship but I finished within two and a half years. Something that would have taken some people as much as eight years. I sat for and passed all the qualifying papers of the Institute of Certified Secretaries and Administrators. I am also a qualified company secretary and administrator. Somehow, the accountancy life tends to have taken preeminence on me.

“My life was like that of any young officer. I had my time, did sports, socializing with people and I rose to become the DAFA. It was like being the chief finance officer in a any corporation and inthe military, the duties and responsibilities are the same thing.”

How I survived military rule
“I always know where to put the peg. I have that quality of choosing what
I want to do even in a discussion or in an argument. I may be described as an extrovert. I don’t feel an individual could be an island unto himself. You have to reach out to others and I am not an introvert. I won’t lock my self in the room and start brooding over life and so on. So during the military days, I did my job and made sure I never crossed the red line. Of course, with utmost faith in God, I was able to survive.”

Memorable moment
“The day I was pulled out of the military was one day I cannot forget because of the emotion that was expressed and poured out on that day. Women cried, officers felt bad because I tried as much as I could to bring people together. I made them feel I was ever there for them anytime of the day. I miss the comradeship, I miss the jokes, the mess life, the regimentation, the parades. But you cannot spend all your life there so I had to leave.”

Growing up
“I was born and bred in Gusau in the present Zamfara State. I was a very good alter boy. I think I created a lot of problems for my late mother. I was very rascally and so full of energy that I couldn’t control it.
But I know each time there was a fight at school, it had something to do with me. At a stage my mother felt so bad that she took me to the headmaster of my school one Odudu had complained about me and expressed her fears about my survival. It was that bad.

“My teacher told her not to worry and that he didn’t think my mother understood me well. He told her that her son was only full of energy; and that above all, I was very brilliant and that I was the best he had in his class. He told her in school I was the best. He advised her to take her time and allow me grow up like any other kid and forget about the broken glasses, torn school uniform.

“With time, I out-lived those periods. My life at St. John’s College, Kaduna, was again another aspect that I wouldn’t forget because it was like a mini military institution. The level of regimentation, the level of discipline and the level of camaraderie there was wonderful.”

Nchara:

I abandoned CBN job to join the Army –Gen. Owuama, ICAN president
From MOLLY KILETE, Abuja
Monday, August 02, 2010

•Gen. Owuama
Photo: Sun News Publishing

    * More Stories on This Section

Major-General Sebastine Achulike Owuama retired from the Nigerian Army as the Director Finance and Accounts (DAFA), after putting in over 30 years. Owuama is today the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

He was among retired army officers recently honoured at the just concluded Nigerian Army Day Celebrations (NADCEL), Abuja. He spoke with Daily Sun on life in retirement and the challenges of being the president of ICAN.

Vision for ICAN
“We have over 30,000 members and another 120,000 professionaI students. We have 13,000 middle cadre manpower we call the association of accounting technicians and another 75,000 student technicians. I want to deliberately and cautiously decentralize power from the centre to the districts societies. We have 45 district societies in Nigeria, UK and USA. Through the district societies, we will be able to react out quickly and efficiently to our members and users of our services and other stakeholders who ICAN are associated with.

“In other words, the district societies will provide the landing bridge through which we reach out to these people including potential students. There are some tertiary institutions in this country who have not have much interaction with this institute. I want to make the district very vibrant to fill the gap.”

Accountants are not pen thieves
“I want to be informed of any accountant since the burble burst in the bank that has been tried and convicted. People easily, out of shear bias and prejudice, do the finger-pointing and shifting the blame. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to talk about corporate failures. In any establishment, you have accountants, lawyers, engineers, managers, business administrators, consultants and so on. But it is always so easy and more convenient to single out a group of people and try to castigate them. It is unfortunate.

“Be that as it may, we try as much as possible to correct it. Take a look at all the problems of bank failure and tell me one single accountant or accounting firm that has been convicted out of the whole saga. We take it in good faith like they say, if you go through a poo house, you either get a smear or you smell. It is part of the hazards of the profession.

“When the doctor makes a mistake, it is buried with the patient. When the architect makes a mistake and the building collapses, they blame the engineer and the workers. When there is corporate failure which is supposed to be a collective responsibility, it is only the accountant that gets the bashing. It is like the backside that fouls the air and you hit the head. Why?”

Are accountants stingy?
“It is rather an uninformed opinion. Accountants are prudent and perhaps conservative. One cannot be labeled a thief in one breath and at the same time stingy. The chemistry doesn’t seem to mix because thieves don’t value the essence of hard-earned money. They tend to go on a spending spree. That is how they catch them easily. For somebody to be prudent in financial management by ensuring that every kobo that leaves the organization is properly accounted for. Now if that is the dictionary definition of stinginess then I will endorse it.”

My sojourn in the army
“On graduation from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), after my youth service. I had many employment opportunities and finally settled for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). But I had this old classmate of mine, Col. Jonh Madaki, who joined the army and immediately I developed an interest to join the army. Unfortunately the image of the military was not much to be talked about. I decided to go in and see if I could make a career out of it.

“Initially, my father wanted me to read Medicine but it didn’t click. I remained focused and very disciplined. I have always had the ambition of being a professionally qualified accountant. Even as a junior officer, I tried my hands privately with the ACCA exams before the military eventually sponsored me to go to the United Kingdom.

“I was given a four-year scholarship but I finished within two and a half years. Something that would have taken some people as much as eight years. I sat for and passed all the qualifying papers of the Institute of Certified Secretaries and Administrators. I am also a qualified company secretary and administrator. Somehow, the accountancy life tends to have taken preeminence on me.

“My life was like that of any young officer. I had my time, did sports, socializing with people and I rose to become the DAFA. It was like being the chief finance officer in a any corporation and inthe military, the duties and responsibilities are the same thing.”

How I survived military rule
“I always know where to put the peg. I have that quality of choosing what
I want to do even in a discussion or in an argument. I may be described as an extrovert. I don’t feel an individual could be an island unto himself. You have to reach out to others and I am not an introvert. I won’t lock my self in the room and start brooding over life and so on. So during the military days, I did my job and made sure I never crossed the red line. Of course, with utmost faith in God, I was able to survive.”

Memorable moment
“The day I was pulled out of the military was one day I cannot forget because of the emotion that was expressed and poured out on that day. Women cried, officers felt bad because I tried as much as I could to bring people together. I made them feel I was ever there for them anytime of the day. I miss the comradeship, I miss the jokes, the mess life, the regimentation, the parades. But you cannot spend all your life there so I had to leave.”

Growing up
“I was born and bred in Gusau in the present Zamfara State. I was a very good alter boy. I think I created a lot of problems for my late mother. I was very rascally and so full of energy that I couldn’t control it.
But I know each time there was a fight at school, it had something to do with me. At a stage my mother felt so bad that she took me to the headmaster of my school one Odudu had complained about me and expressed her fears about my survival. It was that bad.

“My teacher told her not to worry and that he didn’t think my mother understood me well. He told her that her son was only full of energy; and that above all, I was very brilliant and that I was the best he had in his class. He told her in school I was the best. He advised her to take her time and allow me grow up like any other kid and forget about the broken glasses, torn school uniform.

“With time, I out-lived those periods. My life at St. John’s College, Kaduna, was again another aspect that I wouldn’t forget because it was like a mini military institution. The level of regimentation, the level of discipline and the level of camaraderie there was wonderful.”

Kudos to a fellow lion!