Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Benin and District Society in collaboration with the Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), on October 1, 2023, threw their weight towards fostering the legacy of their departed colleague by actively partaking at the 10th Sunday Nosakhare Okundia memorial lecture.
Despite an innate lure by members to bond with their individual families on an auspicious day such as the Nigerian Independence, reverse was the case as members of both organizations turned up at the EIRS- Sunday Nosakhare Okundia Training School hall in their numbers to honour the legacy of the man and making citations of his good deeds.
The keynote lecture, “A pain free life without the use of drugs,” delivered by an orthopaedic therapist, Odogu Chiamaka encouraged participants to engage in physical activities to cut down weight while encouraging a healthy lifestyle change in the presence of current economic harsh realities as the body of accountants honoured the legacy of their colleague who departed this world on October 1, 2013.
Chairman of the occasion who doubles as the Chairman, Taskforce on IGR, EIRS, Hon. John Osagie Inegbedion while giving brief about the circle of influence of the departed ICAN Fellow and former EIRS Secretary to the Revenue Service based on personal prior interactions on the line of duty avowed that Sunday Nosakhare Okundia while alive, exuded positive energy. He was a man whose influence on others led to gained man hours which largely allowed the Edo State government’s finance team to gain traction by meeting up with daily set targets in an atmosphere devoid of rancour.
Talking about the continuity of the family estate, Inegbedion praised Mr. Tokunbor Okundia for carrying on with his father’s legacy, rising through the ranks to also become a “Fellow” of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
He observed, “Life is not what you get, but the impact you make that counts. It is not the wealth that you have accumulated, but, leaving a good name which is a legacy that the family enjoys.”
In his opening speech, the 31st Chairman, ICAN Benin and District Society, Dr. Sunday Nosa Ugbogbo-Okunrobo stated that despite the physical passage of Okundia, his memories and legacies live on hence it was trite to say he is not dead but simply handed over the baton of life to his immediate family and to those he left behind to continue the journey of life.
In the spirit of touching lives and influencing positivism in society the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria (SWAN) led by Mrs. Osayi Okunbor, with support of participants empowered five primary school pupils who battle through life haven tragically lost their mums at tender age with customized school bags, books and a purse.
In his vote of thanks, Mr. Tokunbor Okundia said the family was still trying to unravel how their departed patriarch made such impact in so short a time. The family over a space of ten years, he informed, has run into people who relive their encounter with the family’s patriarch from his formative to his years of influence working at the Edo State Civil Service and beyond.
He thanked ICAN and the Board of the Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS) for consistently organizing the Sunday Nosakhare Okundia memorial lecture for a decade, which he affirmed was a show of genuine affection and love from both bodies.
He enunciated, “For those who still have parents or those playing the role of parents in their lives, make conscious effort to tell them a proper thank you for their contributions to your birth and life’s path. That thank you is so difficult to say after they are gone.”