Two hundred and fifty-eight were today inducted into the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria as Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

They were inducted after undergoing prescribed length of training in addition to acquiring requisite practical experience.

While inducting the inductees, the Institutes President and Council Chairman, Bode Ayeku stressed that members are at present occupying various responsible and enviable positions across the whole gamut of Nigeria’s socio-economic life.

He advised the new inductees to continue to improve on their skills, knowledge, and competencies, and must continue to bear in mind that Chartered Secretaries are highly skilled professionals who are respected for the depth of their knowledge, competences, versatility, mastery and adeptness in a broad range of fields including law, accounting, finance, management, governance and secretarial practices.
Ayeku urged inductees to consolidate the accrued knowledge from the Institute to nurture economic progress, growth and national prosperity through the effective use of their expertise.
According to him, professionals in any socio-economic milieu are catalysts of development and it is incumbent on them to channel their energies into building strong and thriving public and private sector institutions to help Nigeria realise her economic growth and sustainable development.
In his words, the new inductees have now become professionals whose opinion will be sought in the fields of corporate secretarial practice and corporate governance.
He said the Institute would continue to develop and promote the professional ideals, standards, ethics, code of conduct and the interests of the Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
Delivering the Induction Lecture on Chartered Secretary and Administrator: Understanding your worth and potentials”, Julie Okah-Donli, urged the inductees to find their worth, value and aspire to professional.
She charged the inducted members to fulfill the expectations of their roles as chartered secretaries and administrators to advance corporate governance in Nigeria.
Okah-Donli, Chairperson, Board of Trustees, United Nations Voluntary Trust Funds for Victims of Trafficking and a fellow of the Institute, gave the advice at the twentieth induction ceremony.
She said the role of the chartered secretaries and administrators in governance had become more important due to the increasing complexity and pressures of global regulatory compliance.
According to her, poor governance a feature of many corporate failures in recent years would be addressed if chartered secretaries understood their worth and potential and acted accordingly.
She listed some of the roles to be in internal audit, human resources management and entrepreneurial undertakings; including professional roles in accounting, taxation, financial management, risk management and general management functions.
In her words, the reality of today’s marketplace meant that chartered Secretaries could be involved in any aspect of the operations of a company.
She added that success in this age of technological advancement meant chartered secretaries and administrators would have to be receptive and accept an environment of continuous change.
The former Director-General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Person, NAPTIP also urged the gatekeepers of corporate governance to help rebuild public trust and investors confidence not just in their companies but in the Nigerian economy.