The Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria has tasked its members with the need to abide by professional ethics and codes while carrying out their duties.
President of APBN, Surveyor Akinloye Oyegbola, made this known when he delivered his address of welcome in Abuja during the 11th annual summit of the association
He said, “APBN, as the umbrella Association for all professions in the country, has the undisputable responsibility to continue to intensify its effort on advocacy and enlightenment. This is borne from the conviction that it is the professionals of any country that would develop it.”
The APBN president said the summit provided an avenue for its 30-member bodies to come together with a view to brainstorming on issues of concern to the nation and proffering appropriate and enduring solutions to them.
He said it was common knowledge that the world was going through trying times, as the slow socio-economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“As lives are being lost daily, the attention of the developed countries has been shifted to trying to contain the invasion and its far-reaching implications.”
He said high levels of inflation and insecurity had also beset the nation on a daily basis.
Other speakers at the summit charged professionals to display personal and professional integrity in the line of duty.
The past president of APBN, Mr Segun Ajanlekoko, in his paper presentation said, “Government procurement involves a high risk of corruption because of the huge size of financial turnover and the complexity of many procurement processes in which businesses interact very closely with politicians and civil servants.
“Everyone associated with the public procurement process or directly responsible for facilitating the acquisition of goods and services with public funds should strive to avoid fraud, waste and abuse of public resources, whether it is the result of overspecifications of required goods, paying unreasonably high prices for substandard goods, collusion with other bidders or other forms of unacceptable practices.”
In his presentation, the President of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, Prof Muhammad Kabiru Dallatu, said professional corruption and misconduct destroyed nations and inflicted suffering on populace. “Is there a need to continue having sleepless nights, psychological traumas and needless prayers and visit to holy places, looking for deliverance on such deliberate actions or inactions of ours?
“Such actions of ours turn other people’s lives of happiness to sorrow, tranquillity to devastation, from joyful life to terrible experiences and on the extreme, from an enjoyable life to horrible consequences of untimely death or painful life with morbidities.
“Professional misconduct is therefore disastrous, catastrophic and destructive. With or without any legislation discouraging it, it should be avoided by any right-thinking professional.
“Professional bodies, therefore, should design an internal mechanism for a one-to-one approach of discouraging corruption and professional misconduct among members.”
