Formation of the Institute

During the year 1999, burdened by the need to place cost management practice in the forefront of economic development, the then incumbent President and  Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Institute  Nosa Victor Omoregie, a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria conducted an independent analysis into the reasons why the country has not benefited from this advanced resource management thought and the potential impact of embracing and institutionalizing cost management practice in economic development process. The result of the analysis showed that cost management practice has not been effective due to the following limiting factors:

• Lack of cost consciousness
• Inadequate orientation of workforce
• Lack of adherence to professional ethics
• Management disinterestedness
• Shareholders Disinterestedness
• Inadequate Market Monitoring – leading to costly choices
• Lack of centralized data base for cost comparison
• Distortion in the economy-(No real business but opportunism)
• General Societal value.
• Functional appreciation of cost
• Absence of Cost Management Professionals

Given this backdrop, the first Cost Management Textbook authored by a Rev. Omoregie was written titled EFFECTIVE Cost Management:- An Introductory Text.  This over 180 pages book documented some of the results of the analysis and key fundamental and modern cost management concepts. The book received international acceptance having been previewed by the Programme Director, Cost Management Systems of a leading edge Cost Management institution in USA-Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing International (CAM) as a book that provided valuable insights to any that are truly in pursuit of best practices in management of costs.

Simultaneously consultations were going on with professionals drawn from different disciplines with cost management mindset and potential for cost management specialization on the need to institutionalize cost management practice. The consensus addendum was realized in the inaugural members of the Trustees of the Institute, which climax in the formation of the institute in 2000. The institute was however incorporated in Nigeria on 29^th November 2001 under the Companies and Allied Matters Decree No. 1, 1990 with registration No. 14177 as INSTITUTE OF COST MANAGEMENT, NIGERIA to carry on the objectives for which it was formed.

The Institute of Cost Management was therefore formed to fill an existing professional gap and open a new door of professionalism aimed at advancing the best practice of cost management in line with the aspiration of government and people of Nigeria.