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University don, Dr. Thankgod Obutor Imo, has reacted to the call for the scrapping of the Department of Accounting in tertiary institutions in Nigeria due to the influences of Artificial Intelligent (AI).
Dr. Imo who is the Head of Department of Accounting at the Rivers State University (RSU), in an interview in Port Harcourt, said such calls, if true, are unnecessary because of the importance and prominence of accounting in all facets of business, and the fact that accounting is the backbone of any business.
“I don’t think such a call, wherever it is coming from, is proper because accounting is the backbone of any business, and accounting is the language of every serious business, except if such calls are targeted towards something else or it has some political and parochial interests”, he said.
He maintained that as the society continues to evolve, accounting and AI will continue to exist side by side for the overall benefit of the society.
On the spate of corruption, warped accounting and auditing in our governmental institutions and structures, the university don insisted “that auditing should be based on objectivity and very high standards hence it’s description as fulcrum of every business.
Yes, like I said before, accounting is the backbone, while auditing is the accounting function on which the world of business and government rely, and once a particular company’s financial report is certified by an auditor with high integrity, such a company can be relied on”.
On the issue of proliferation of different accounting bodies, he maintained that, to the best of his knowledge, ANAN And ICAN are the standard regulatory bodies which are also authorized to conduct qualifying exams, certify and admit members into the accounting profession.
He wondered what would ultimately play out in the course of proliferation, pointing out that it would be necessary to take some urgent actions to properly aggregate and integrate the various bodies.
On his advice to students, the distinguished academic counseled students to see their academic pursuits as top prioriy, rather than wasting their lines and potentials on futile activities.
“They should take their classes and studies very serious. They should learn to read wide and extend the frontiers of their knowledge, because accounting is a serious profession. They must be very serious in their studies to avoid carry over of courses”, he advised.
