At a time that the image of accounting profession has been sullied by some accounting professionals, who are bent on making the millionaire’s list without honesty and commensurate hard work, Professor of Accounting and Finance at Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, Prof. Rufus Ishola Akintoye, has charged doctorate students of the Department of Accounting, College of Management and Social Sciences of the school to build sound character, uphold their integrity and focus on their dreams in other to excel.

He also specifically urged them to cherish hard work and transparency as these were some of the attributes they would need to succeed in the profession.

Akintoye, who is head of the department, gave the charge in his welcome address to facilitators from federal, state and private universities and students of the institution’s School of Postgraduate Studies, during the PhD Seminar week.

He said that the PhD in Accounting programme, approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2015 was poised to raise the bar in academic performance and bring about innovation in accounting research and education.

“We are not just one of the private universities that are desperate to make money and in the process reduce standard from the globally acceptable basic minimum. We are an institution where excellence is our watchword and global best practices is our benchmark,” Akintoye said.

The university teacher regretted that things have gone so bad in some higher institutions in the country, making it almost impossible for those who are battling with the menace in federal and state universities to ever think that anything good can come out of private universities.

He restated the school’s determination to continue to leverage on its conviction and the scholarship of prominent scholars from federal, state and private universities to advance the course of academic destiny of upcoming scholars.

Akintoye who informed the doctorate students that the journey to success and personal development was always lonely and long, and also a trip where one even doubts self, nevertheless praised the courage and perseverance of the graduate students.

In his remark, Chairman of Seminar 1, ProfessorTaiwo Asaolu, reiterated that the department would continue to advance the frontier of knowledge and contribute its quota to lifting the profession, urging the PhD students to always maintain the standard.