This is a serious book by a very serious Chartered Accountant who has adopted 'Fifty Years Of Accountancy Stewardship' as the sub-title of the book which is a testimonial of his almost seventy-seven years sojourn on this earth ' out of which the accountancy profession consumed fifity years.We might be forgiven for speculating about the motive behind the writing of the book which carries a simple but very direct message: 'NOTHING COMES EASY'The author makes it very clear through a very detailed record of his humble beginning to the titanic heights he achieved in the accountancy profession as well as other areas of human endeavor that life is no joke.Indeed, whatever flashes of humour we come across in his experience of life is purely accidental.He was not joking when on arrival in Britain he immediately filed his audit report:'On Thursday December 18, 1957, a cold wintry day, our boat docked at Tilbury Docks in the United Kingdom; I had made it this far !Stepping off the boat, I took my shoes off, placed my bare feet on the cold ground and said to myself,'Even if I died now, it would be on record that a member of my nuclear family made it to the land of the white man !'He had certainly come a long way regardless of the vicissitudes of life not the least of which was, according to his own admission.:'Unfortunately, I had a weak grade three Cambridge School Certificate which was a shock to me as well as a setback for my ambitions.'Ordinarily, his result would have consigned him to life as no more than a clerk for the rest of eternity.However, he remained steadfast with his credo of hard work as his compass and pilot. He was very skillful and dogged in turning adversity into triumph. Indeed, we have as a sample:'In the early days of staying with the Shermans (his landlord in Oxford), my presence was the cause of much amusement to their grandchildren whenever they visited because they had never seen a black man !'One of them (Melanie) who eventually ventured to sit on his lap, looked at his palm and the back of his hand in utter confusion. She promptly demanded an answer to her question:'Simon, why is the palm of your hand white and the back is black ''She giggled excitedly and thought it was funny. Those were the days in Oxford when, according to the author, black people were rarely seen.We have another snippet of incidental humour when we are informed that he had to rely on his Cousin Fasan to carry out a special audit (or Due Diligence!!) on his behalf '''..to check on the status of 'Wola to confirm she was still there for me. The report was positive'Indeed, the report was so positive that the auditor's unqualified report is as follows:'We have a successful marriage which has lasted for forty-nine years now and are looking forward to our Golden Jubilee anniversary celebration in 2012.'We cannot but derive wry amusement from the author's recollection of his voyage of adventure to Britain:'On Sunday November 24, 1957 I boarded the cargo boat and departed for the United Kingdom. My first lunch on the boat was dramatic. The steward had asked if I wanted 'soup' with my lunch and I had responded enthusiastically in the affirmative. When it was served, it was nowhere near what I had imagined or expected ' a far cry indeed from our Nigerian soups. Fortunately, I was adventurous enough to try it and I thoroughly enjoyed it.'Being a very serious man, almost from birth, the author never got into any soup. Rather, it has been a life of diligence, perseverance and a clear focus ' to make a success of his life. He has done so most admirably and this has earned him a bountiful harvest of accolades and commendations from some of Nigeria's most eminent leaders ' from the late Chief ObafemiAwolowo, the Premier of Western Nigeria; Mr. Akintola Williams CBE; CFR the Doyen of the accountancy profession in Nigeria; Brigadier-General Mobolaji Johnson (Rtd), former Military Governor of Lagos State and numerous captains of commerce and industry such as Chief OluAkinkugbe CON; Chief Bode Akindele; Chief Adebayo Adetunji, etc. Added to this formidable list are testimonies from late Edmund R. Gibbs under whom he served articles in Oxford; Chief (Mrs) H.I.D. Awolowo;The Right Reverend Dr. G. Lasebikan, Bishop of Ondo Diocese and The Right Reverend Rufus Okeremi, Vicar, St. Anne's Church, Molete, Ibadan.Evidently, there is no space for detractors or those who have less than complimentary things to say about the author. They will have to write their own book about Chief Simeon OlusolaOguntimehin !!This is one book you can safely share with your children and grandchildren without any qualms about exposing them to salacious stories, titillating scandal, exoteric exuberances or erotic fantasies. If these are the stuff you are looking for, you should ask for your money back !! It is a bland and straightforward well documented account of the life of the author and his odyssey from birth to primary school and secondary school in Ondo. He had a brief spell as a civil servant in the Department of Survey and the Accountant-General's office in Lagos followed by his articleship in Oxford. In chronological order, we are offered snippets of his tenure at Z.O. Ososanya& Co., Chartered Accountants where he eventually became the Senior Partner combined with service to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria of which he was a foundation member. Thereafter, the author provides us with a very restricted account of his tenure at the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission under the Chairmanship of retired Justice EmmanualAyoola ' without disclosing that their friendship goes back to their days in Oxford.By the way, I must mention that accountancy is not without its scandals. Sir Ronald Leach the Senior Partner of KPMG (then Peat Marwick Mitchell) dumped his wife and married his secretary who happened to be the wife of another partner. Even here in Nigeria, also at KPMG, our Kaduna partner Tom Piper lost his wife to our Lagos partner Michael James. !!Anyway, I am somewhat intrigued that throughout his four years stay in Oxford, Chief Oguntimehin did not venture to savour any of the excellent restaurants, bars, nightclubs, jazz festivals not to mention the famous Oxford Playhouse or the nearby racecourse at Cheltenham to watch horse-racing, the sport of kings. I can vouch that Oxford is undoubtedly one of the most enchanting parts of England ' particularly the border between Oxfordshire and Glouceshire better known as the Cotsworlds. I cannot believe that our Chief from Ondo lived for all those years in close proximity to the beguiling beauty of old world England but chose to ignore it entirely. I suppose he never availed himself of the traditional 'bush allowance' to which auditors are entitled when they are engaged on audits outside their own location.Anyway, while Chief Oguntimehin roundly deserves the accolades and encomiums which have been so generously showered upon him and his most admirable attributes ' honesty, integrity, reliability and professionalism. Surely this raises a profoundly disturbing irony : Is it not to be taken for granted that EVERY CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT is endowed with these sterling qualities' If this is not the case, then our profession is in serious trouble. Indeed, so also is our nation. We are compelled to reflect and reminiscence that it was not so long ago that the key economic / financial positions is this country, from Minister of Finance to Governor of the Central Bank; Chairman/Minister of National Planning Commission; Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission and virtually the headship of all the Regulatory Authorities as well as the banks were the exclusive preserve of chartered accountants. We must ask ourselves some tough questions ' how did we manage to squander such immense public trust, confidence and goodwill 'In fact at a point matters deteriorated to the point when the then Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola announced that even our auditors' reports would need to be countersigned by lawyers !! Matters have become so embarrassing that every now and again whenever our own government is faced with a financial problem or crisis that requires the services of chartered accountants, the official proclamation is a frantic search for 'International Auditors' whoever or wherever they may be. What, if I may ask, is wrong with our own chartered accountants who have every right to stand up for their integrity, reputation, experience and professionalism without fear or favour ' However, we must admit that amongst us we have masters' (and mistresses) of pull him down !! Are we bold enough to admit that even our beloved profession has been invaded by terrorists who are only one stage removed from 'Boko Haram'!! This is indeed a very serious matter. We cannot afford to fold our arms and resort to lamentations.It is our good fortune to have in our midst, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola (Rtd) who recently recounted that in his practising days as a lawyer he often encountered considerable difficulty in collecting his fees. The constant refrain from his clients was : 'I shall see you later' after enjoying the services he rendered. It is no different for most chartered accountants in present day Nigeria. Perhaps, this is the right occasion to acknowledge the foresight of the lawyers who several decades ago demanded that only Nigerians could practice law in Nigeria ' none of this nonsense about 'international lawyers'!! If you want to practice law in Nigeria you have to be called to the Nigerian Bar after passing the examination of the Nigerian Law School.Before the day is over, we should obtain an injunction from Justice Ayoola in order to compel our author to write another book whereby we can benefit from his explicit views on burning issues of the day such as his experience as a chartered accountant in 'wild wild west (western Region)' during the crisis of almost fifty years ago; the goings-on at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria [ICAN]; the spate of audit failures from Enron in the United States of America to our own local casualties particularly the banks; fuel subsidy; our wobbly financial system; corruption (particularly the specific cases he dealt with at the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission); the pass rate in ICAN examinations compared with his own experience as a student; a detailed account of the turmoil that engulfed Z.O. Ososanya& Co. and numerous other subjects which should be properly addressed for the benefit of future generations and posterity who may otherwise base their conclusions on false information and entirely wrong conjecture.The book we are launching or presenting today is an honest account by Chief Simeon OlusolaOguntimehin's of his stewardship and he deserves our fulsome congratulations and hearty felicitation. Beyond that we must join him in celebrating his charming and amiable wife about whom he has told us:'I record herein my deep appreciation to God for giving me a soulmate who has contributed immensely to whatever modest achievements I have made in life.'Modest achievements indeed!! That is the only lie in this book. The authors' achievements are as spectacular as they are monumental.What I still find puzzling is how he managed to achieve so much in the accountancy profession and other areas of human endeavour without ever playing cricket or dabbling in athletics not to mention being a Chelsea footballsupporter.Nevertheless, I must acknowledge his sportsmanship when according to him:'I contested and ran for election into a post in the Council (of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria) in 1988 but lost to Mr. C.O.S. Oseni by a narrow margin of thirty-four votes.'I know that feeling. As many of you are aware, I recently contested election as Governor of Lagos State and lost by a narrow margin of exactly thirty-four votes.!!!Finally, I cannot but share the sorrows, grief and anguish of Chief Oguntimehin over the disintegration of his firm Z.O. Ososanya& Co. They split into two factions and I understand both of them are paying gratuity and pension to the author. I had a similar experience as Chairman and Chief Executive of KPMG Nigeria. For my thirty-four years of unblemished service I received neither a gratuity nor pension.Hence, I am here with my collection box in case any of you are sufficiently disposed to donating towards my survival and welfare. Otherwise, I shall have to ask Chief Oguntimehin to part with some of the pension and gratuity he has been collecting from Edmund R. Gibbs & Co; the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission [ICPC] and several others too many to mention.To both Chief Oguntimehin and I the reviewer of his book, the Almighty has been exceptionally faithful. Hence, I fully endorse this memorable proclamation:'Filled with a conviction that has always enabled me to maintain hope in the face of adversity and coupled with the confidence that Almighty God has never let me down but always listens to and hears my prayers and supplications'.'There is no more to be said but thank God for the life of our distinguished author and wish him and his beloved wife as well as their children and grandchildren the abundant blessings of the Almighty.
Click here to read full news..
