ESSAY TOPIC: “The Next 50 Years of Professional Accountancy Practice: Making ICAN Globally Relevant”
In commemoration of its 50th Anniversary and in line with its Corporate Social Responsibility, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has launched an Essay Competition for students in any field of study in ICAN accredited tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The 50th Anniversary celebration has been scheduled to take place simultaneously with the 45th Annual Accountants’ Conference holding in Abuja from 31 August to 4 September 2015. The theme of the Conference is: "ICAN: Building on A Legacy of Service". The essay competition was initiated not only to expand the scope of ICAN’s commitment to the
development of Accountancy Profession but also as a modest way of demonstrating its genuine desire to continuously support and develop the intellectual capacity of Nigerian students. The Institute had in the last 50 years demonstrated its deep commitment to educational development in Nigeria through Scholarship schemes, endowment of Professorial Chairs, donation of books and computers to higher institutions and recently the building of ICAN Lecture Theatres in five Universities across the country and still counting.
Objective
The Essay Competition is to engage the Nigerian students intellectually and in the end produce enlightening essays on the expected strategic focus of ICAN in the next 50 years within the global professional Accountancy Practice. To achieve this, ICAN has engaged KPMG Professional Services to perform certain agreed-upon procedures in order to strengthen ICAN’s process of collation and evaluation of the scripts.
Methodology
1. Essay length to be between 2000 and 3000 words, 12 font points and double spaced in MS Word document.
2. Clear articulation of the history, current realities/relevance (socio-economic/ethics etc.) of the professional accountant in a global context (past 50 years to the present).
3. Critical articulation and evaluation of the role/success of ICAN in the development and evolution of the Nigerian trained/ICAN certified professional accountants – 50 years to the present (global relevance, reputation, recognition, real and perceived competence, local, regional and international employability and mobility, contribution to national (and international) professional and socio-economic/ethical development.
4. Realistic/evidence-based and logical projection of the drivers and evolution, global relevance and expected competencies/skills set of the professional accountant in a global context over the next 50 years
5. Articulation of the role that ICAN will need to play now and in the future (in light of 2-4 above), to remain globally relevant as a professional accountancy body over the next 50 years; Including institutional and curriculum reforms and strategic alliances, research contribution and thought leadership etc.
6. Essays must have abstract, introduction, main body, conclusion and references
7. All entries must be accompanied with a letter of attestation from the HoD of each participant’s institution
8. Participants must submit copy of their birth certificate/sworn affidavit and brief profile
9. Only the first 500 entries will be considered
10. Winning essays will be selected based on content, grammar and style
11. The winning essays will be announced on Friday 21st of August 2015
12. All entries must be received on or before 23:59hours Sunday 9th of August 2015
13. All entries should be sent to Icanessay2015@kpmg.com
14. Participants should write their names on the cover page of the essay only. The information on the cover page is not considered part of the essay and does not count towards the number of words stipulated in 1 above.
Eligibility for Entry
The competition is open to:
a. All students in any field of study in ICAN accredited tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
b. Age limit: 26 years by 31st of August 2015
NB: Wards of Council members, Annual Accountants’ Conference Committee members and staff of
ICAN and KPMG are not eligible for this competition.
Prizes to be won
a. Best 10 essays to receive plaques, one laptop each, letters of commendation and sponsorship to
the conference where they will be publicly acknowledged and presented with their prizes.
b. In addition, top 7 from the rear (position 4 – 10) to get a cash prize of N10,000 each
c. In addition;
i. 3rd position gets a cash prize of N25,000 only;
ii. 2nd position gets N50,000 only; and
iii. 1st position gets N100,000 only.
d. Each of the top three will also get full ICAN Scholarship for the Institute’s Professional
examinations worth N340,450 covering tuition, study text and examination fees.
Rotimi A. Omotoso, MBA, FCA
The Registrar/Chief Executive
ICAN
source http://www.icanig.org/ican/
