Operators in the insurance industry have been cautioned against management failure in the post-consolidation period. Adeyemo Adejumo, president Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN, who gave the charge during his investiture as the 42nd president of the institute held in Lagos recently, said that with the huge funds available to the post-consolidation insurance and re-insurance companies, management failures must be avoided.
In his acceptance speech, Adejumo said the only way to guarantee accurate management and professional decisions was for the industry to embrace human capital development by making training and retraining a priority.
According to him, “As we are all aware, the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria is empowered by statue to determine the standard of knowledge and skills to be acquired by insurance practitioners in Nigeria and to review such standards from time to time. The roles and responsibilities of the institute, in relation to producing an excellent workforce for the insurance industry, have become even more compelling today more than ever before”.
“In reviewing the standard of skills expected of insurance managers, the governing council of the institute recently approved the take-off of a new syllabus of the professional examinations with effect from the October 2007 calendar. Let me assure you that it will be part of our priorities to strengthen all the processes of examination conducted to ensure that students benefits fully from the rich contents of the new syllabus.”
Adejumo, who is also the managing director of Continental Reinsurance, noted that the insurance industry in Nigeria has passed through several phases in its development stages, some of which are quite recent in the mind of operators.
He said the most far-reaching of the industry’s developmental process was the recapitalization and consolidation program which has brought the profession to the threshold of a new dawn.
“The theme of the 2007 International Education Conference aptly captures this as a sectoral rebirth, signaling the re-creation of a vital sub-sector of the Nigerian economy. As insurance men and women, our thoughts and actions will experience a compelling heat wave, which is bound to reshape our market intelligence and propel our abiding intellect towards doing things differently”, he said.
Recalling his entry into the profession more than 20 years ago, Adejumo said the dream of becoming the president of the institute was a remote possibility, pointing out that, at that time, the Institute was only 20 years old and had in its membership, a crop of distinguished professionals which included a few expatriates.
“It is therefore with humility and reverence to the Almighty, that I acknowledge the significance of today in my life and in the history of our great Institute. As I accept this mandate to serve as president and chairman of the governing council of the oldest professional body in Nigeria, I earnestly wish to accede to the burden of responsibility and the encompassing challenges of keeping faith with and abiding by the legacies of the founding fathers of the institute in particular and the noble profession of insurance in general.
