The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, ICSAN, has formally inaugurated the various sectoral groups to empower the Institute, through procedural re-engineering and overhauling of internal mechanism to boost its efficiency, operations and visibility.
This inauguration became Imperative as the Institute for the past 57 years had regularly produced seasoned professionals who had contributed their quota to the nation’s economic advancement, many others are at present occupying various responsible and enviable positions across the whole gamut of Nigeria’s socio-economic life.
According to the Institute, there is hardly any sector of the economy that a Chartered Secretary is not found as they are the engine that powers the economy and national productivity, saying it is often said that an institute or any organisation for that matter is only as powerful as members that compose it.
Its President and Council Chairman, Funmi Ekundayo says the rationale behind the inauguration is to constitute the Institute diverse members from various callings into effective, pragmatic and efficient cells which they operate as parts of the organic whole in the collective pursuits of their mission and vision.
Ekundayo said the various sectoral groups launched are Academia Sector, Insurance and Pension Sector, Energy Sector, Built Industry Sector, Digital Economy Sector, Logistics Sector, Maritime Sector, Media and Creative Sector, Manufacturing Sector, Not-for-Profit Sector and Public and Allied Institutions Sector.
According to her, ICSAN Sectoral Groups are by conception, the platform where members can access sector-specific information, resources and opportunities, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing to engender membership inclusivity.
In her words, the institute feel that Members should be pooled into different sector-focused groups with platforms created for them to function and promote the Institute in their various sectors.
She said the various groups created are different from the normal committees of the Institute, as they are a more loose, flexible concourse of like-minded professionals in some particular areas of specialisation or industries.
Ekundayo said the members of the group will most often exchange their thoughts and views on through mails and social media platforms without the necessity of physical meetings, though physical meeting is not ruled out if the circumstances warrant it.
According to her, one good thing about the arrangement is that when professionals of similar backgrounds are organised into some sort of subgroups within the larger context of the overall body, they tend to be more purposeful, productive and result-oriented than in situations when they are operating individually within the organisation.
In her words, there is no doubt that the inauguration will make the Institute as whole more energetic and vibrant with a resultant boost in its corporate brand and visibility, as it is a purposeful organisation of structure for more effective operations and output.
We have also lined up a seasoned and accomplished Corporate Governance Professional to give a Keynote Address on this august inauguration occasion in the person of Dr. Frank Aigbogun.
He will address us on the theme :Is Governance a destination or work in progress: A Discussion among Corporate Governance enthusiasts”
I am positive that with the excellent treatment of this rhetorically-phrased theme by the Speaker, appropriate tone would have been set to launch our various Sectoral Groups on the right of path. We will definitely by appropriately oriented to embark on our various groups endeavours with right focus and energies.
We want the various groups to be focused, informed and proactive regarding issues and developments in their respective areas. For example, we want the groups to come up with draft positions papers for the Institute on trending matter of national importance that occurs in their industry.
We want our Institute to give her voice on all major national issues, so that our brand will be much more established as the conscience of the nation on governance matters.
Apart from being responsive to the issues in fields and generating positions papers for adoption by the Institute, one other thing we will like the various groups to do is to assist in formulating new practice areas that Chartered Secretaries can engage in to add to the value chain of their respective industries.
This is very important because I believe that we are not yet maximizing our potentials to function in very area the economy would need us. There are still many opportunities that we can gainfully exploit as Chartered Secretaries and Governance Professionals and contribute more to national growth and development.
I firmly believe that is through you members of the Institute that we can realise our lofty dreams and objectives I will continue to count on your support and dedication.
In her welcome remarks, ICSAN Deputy Registrar and Head of Secretariat, Oladunni Ogunsulire, Oladunni Ogunsilire said the Sectoral Groups are the newest layer of ICSAN organ dedicated to both organic growth of the Institute, and by extension, the development and growth of the nation.
Ogunsilire said the Sectoral Groups are conceived to operate as the tentacles of the Institute in diverse sectors of the economy with a view to bring to the fore issues relating to good governance, due process in the sectors to pave way for their sustainable growth and progress.
According to her, we know, ICSAN as a leading professional body dedicated to the protection and promotion of Corporate Governance and Public Administration through continued professional training, guidance, and policy advocacy will continue to produce periodic position papers on all major issues of national importance that has to do with economic, developmental ideals and good governance.
She noted that ICSAN will rely on our Sectoral Groups to help the Institute look deeply into issues relating to their sectors, generate ideas and ideals to remedy existing perceived malaises and formulate recommendations on developmental issues pertaining to the sector.
We want the impact of the Institute to be felt all across board, and all across the sectors, to such an extent that the stakeholders in both the public and private sectors would be seeking for ICSAN opinion on virtually every major issues relating to governance.
This is a dream we can achieve through the collaboration of all our Sectoral Groups, we need to work together with synergy to project our core values in the hallowed quest to realize our aims and objectives as a progressive Institute.
To state that we need the contribution of our Sectoral Groups at this time would be tantamount to stating the obvious. This is time the Institute is transiting from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators to a full-fledged Governance Institute.
This comes with a lot implications in terms of amplification of our focus as well as duties and responsibilities. Thus, our Sectoral Groups come under the obligation to play a major role in sustaining our new identity through their diverse works and activities. I believe we can achieve our aim though determination and unity of purpose
Let me also use this opportunity to remind our members of the 2023 Annual Conference coming up just 48 hours away.
The Institute holds Annual Conference to enable Members and other stakeholders come together to deliberate on trending issue on best practices in the profession as well as on issues of national importance and this year’s Conference will not be an exception and you are all invited,
The theme of this year’s Conference is “Sound Governance as cursor to a thriving economy: A case for Inclusiveness”You can see further information on the 2023 Annual Conference on all the Institute’s social media platforms.