By Ere-ebi Imisi

Mr. Wahab Shina Omoniyi, FCNA Vice Chairman of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, ANAN, Abuja chapter has charged women in the accounting profession in Nigeria to embrace the developments in information and communications technology, ICT especially the new financial management platform introduced by the federal government to check fraud.

Wahab gave the charge while speaking as guest speaker at the maiden end-of-year seminar and party organized by Professional Women Accountants of Nigeria, PROWAN, in Abuja, over the weekend.

According to Wahab, to meet up with the current trend every woman in accounting must have knowledge of information technology.

He explained that the ICT platform Government Integrated Financial Management Information Systems otherwise known as GIFMIS enables the federal government to check it’s expenditure and resources at any given time and eliminate sharp practices in the financial systems.

“GIFMIS is an acronym which simply meaning Government Integrated Financial Management Information Systems, a platform been used by the Federal Government of Nigeria to manage public finances and resources. It compasses a lot of things from the planning up to execution stage.

“It is through GIFMS that everything that has do with government financial activities are carried out. GIFMIS have a lot of ways it can check corruption in the system. It preaches openness, transparency and accountability. The way government operates now very soon you will discover that up to the procurement activities, you cannot do anything without going through the GIFMS platform, it means government can access whatever transaction that is going on at any point in time, that is the beauty of it.

“As it is today, we are in an information world, so it is knowledge that drives the current generation that we are and when we talk about knowledge, it has to do with information technology, so when you do not have knowledge of information technology, it means you cannot fit into the society’’ he explained.

He emphasized that, GIFMIS encourages transparency, accountability and openness in the public financial management as well as every other activity of government which includes human resource management because it ensures nothing is done without following due process and this due process at any point in time, can easily be accessed.

Also speaking, the National Vice Chairman of Professional Women Accountants in Nigeria, PROWAN, Hajiya Rakiya Yusuf, FCNA said PROWAN is an association that is aimed at giving a voice to the women, is concerned about women development and the role women can play in Nigeria.

“Women indeed had been empowered by God, to be multitasking, we have women that have distinguished themselves all over the world, and Nigerian women are no exception and particularly the accountants. The Nigerian female accountants are no exception, on a daily basis we manage members of our homes, the numbers are put together in the home, in the offices, and everywhere we find ourselves. The multitasking capability God has given to us makes it easy for us to distinguish ourselves”, she noted.

She however advised female student accountants to take their studies seriously saying that the accounting profession provides them a level playing ground with their male counterparts.

Mary Ann Ibekwe, PROWAN Co-ordinator, Abuja Branch while speaking with journalists called on women to develop themselves and stop blaming the men explaining that it is women that have kept themselves behind.

“It is not the men that kept us but we kept ourselves where we are because when you empower, develop yourself, you can stand and talk; defend what you believe in your field but if you cannot do this, even as a man, you don’t fit in. Overtime, because we are now exposed and know what they know in quote, we could do what they do and do it better.

“I advice women to develop themselves, because if you don’t develop yourself that is where you will hear women say the men are depriving us”, she said.