The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) is set to address the current economic recession and lack of accountability in the nation’s financial system via its 46th Annual Accountants’ Conference.

iRaisers International, weekend, said that its interest areas are to empower people financially and train them on specific skills to become entrepreneurs and thereby alleviating poverty in the society.

A RECESSION is when the economy declines significantly for at least six months. That means there’s a drop in the following five economic indicators: real GDP, Income, Employment, Manufacturing, and retail sales. People often say a recession is when the GDP growth rate is negative for two consecutive quarters or more.

WHAT is “restructuring” in the context of the Nigerian political discourse? In simple terms, it means removing the centralised, “federal” system put by the military political class in our constitution in 1979 and 1999. It means allowing the federating units to have more of the economic, social and political powers currently concentrated in the Centre. These powers made the Centre so powerful as to confer quasi-colonial authority on those who control the centre. Yet, it rendered the Federal Government so inefficient and indolent as to turn Nigeria into a state that does not work; a virtual failed state in spite of its humongous potentials.

NIGERIA is in dire financial straits. Nothing better typifies this than the free fall of the Naira in an import- dependent country. Between 2013 and 2014, the currency was quite stable at N160 to the dollar.