Emmanuel Ijewere, ex-president of ICAN, is dead

Emmanuel Ijewere, the former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), is dead.

Dare Muyiwa, the senior manager of the corporate communications directorate of ICAN, confirmed his demise to TheCable on Friday.

“Yes, he is late,” he said.

TheCable understands that Ijewere gave up the ghost on Thursday, after a prolonged battle with a terminal illness.

Before his demise, Ijewere, one of Nigeria’s most prominent businessmen, had a wide range of interests and experience in banking, finance, and agriculture.

He was the 32nd president of ICAN, leading the accounting body from 1996 to 1997, and also served as the president of notable organisations such as the Institute of Directors (IOD), and the Nigerian Red Cross.

Born in 1946, the former accountant studied in Lagos, Ijebu-Ode, Cameroon, and the United Kingdom (UK).

He began his accounting career in 1965 working at Coopers & Lybrand, and later established Ijewere & Co., a chartered accountancy firm in Nigeria, in 1979.

Since then, the firm has grown into one of the nation’s most reputable native accounting companies and tax advisory services.

Ijewere also served as chairman and director in many companies, including Best Foods Group, Emson, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Drum Resources Nigeria Limited, Apel Capital & Trust Limited, Countrywide Direct Mortgage Company, Kerildbert Holdings, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG), Gemini Pharmaceuticals, among others.

A the national level, he was the pioneer chairman of the Agriculture and Food Security Commission and also the director of the defunct modified value-added tax committee in 1993.

In addition, Ijewere was a member of the national economic forum (NEF), the international investment council (HIIC), and the agricultural transformation implementation council (ATIC), under the chairmanship of ex-President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

He also served as a resource person on agriculture to the transition committee of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ijewere was the president of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NAGB), the umbrella organisation for Nigerian agriculture, until his death.