Be prepared for future, Yahaya tasks tax students
By Abubakar Imam
A former Head of the Department of Accounting, University of Ilorin, Prof. Khadijat Adenola Yahaya, has urged students, particularly those who are interested in pursuing taxation as a career, to begin to acquire, develop, and internalise deep tax knowledge, saying that they should never wait for a professional setting before they start to learn.
Prof. Yahaya stated this last Wednesday (June 10, 2026) while presenting a paper, titled “The Business Side of Tax Opportunities, Growth And Professional Relevance”, at the Tax Conference 3.0 organised by the Tax Club of the Kwara State University, Malete.
The don also urged the students to pursue professional qualifications with seriousness and purpose right from their undergraduate days. She said that since several undergraduates attained the status, nothing should stop others from achieving the same before their graduation.
Prof. Yahaya, who is the Kwara State Coordinator of the Society of Women in Taxation (SWIT), also urged the students to see technology not as a threat but a phenomenon that should be embraced as a tool that would stimulate multiple values.
The don also urged the students to build communication and leadership skills alongside technical ones in order to enhance their professional and managerial capacities.
Prof. Yahaya also implored the students to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, pointing out that every problem in a system is an opportunity to build something new that would enhance professional status and excellence.
The don, who is also a former Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), equally encouraged the students to always be prepared to maintain the highest ethical standards, without exception and without compromise.
Prof. Yahaya concluded that that the students should not see taxation as a compliance function only but as a value-creating profession with the power to transform organisations and nations.
