INAUGURAL SPEECH DELIVERED BY BARR. ROTIMI EDU, mni AT HIS INVESTITURE AS THE 21ST PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN COUNCIL OF REGISTERED INSURANCE BROKERS HELD ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21ST 2021 AT MARRIOTT HOTEL, IKEJA, LAGOS
• The Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN
• His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu
• Former President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR
• Hon. Darlington Nwokocha, Chairman House Committee on Insurance & Actuarial Matters and Other Members of the Committee here present
• The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Sunday Olorundare Thomas
• Outgoing President, Dr. (Mrs.) Bola Onigbogi, FCIB
• Distinguished Past Presidents and respected Elders of the Council
• Our revered Royal Fathers in attendance
• My Fellow Insurance Brokers and Members of Our Council
• Our Sponsors
• Heads of Insurance Constituent Bodies here present
• Members of the Social and Organised Private Sector
• Friends, Classmates and numerous well-wishers and dignitaries here present
• My admirable wife, Mrs. Olayemi Edu and my darling children, Kenny and Taiwo Edu
• Gentlemen of the Media
• Ladies and Gentlemen
I must give all praises and adoration to the Almighty God, the maker and preserver of human lives for making me see the joy of this great day.
There is no doubt that our Council is again at another threshold of history with the successful transfer of baton of leadership. It is heartwarming that I stand here to address you as the 21st President of The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers this 21st Day of October 2021.
The hitch free transfer of leadership baton which has been institutionalized by our forebears in the Council has remained an enviable tradition that is being emulated by other institutions of repute in the country.
Permit me to use this auspicious medium to appreciate the pivotal roles played by our Past Presidents and leaders of the Council who, in spite of occasional daunting challenges, saw to it that the Council becomes an institution to reckon with in the comity of other professions in our Country.
Personally, I see my ascension of office today as the crystallization of my diligent commitment, love and valuable contributions to our great Council in the last two decades. With all sense of modesty, I have strived to consistently make myself available to serve several Presidents and Leaders of the Council and it is an irony of faith that I am emerging today as President of the Council, as well as the nation’s number one Insurance Broker.
I cannot but particularly appreciate my predecessor, Dr. (Mrs) Bola Onigbogi, FCIB whom I closely worked with as Deputy President in the last two years. There is no doubt that she perfectly acquitted herself as a specimen of a true leader, excellent team player and pride of womanhood in the professions. I learned a lot from her strength of character and love for our noble Council.
As we are all aware, our Council as a critical player in the nation’s financial ecosystem has a lot of opportunities, as well as besetting challenges at the moment. This requires that the leadership team under my humble self must be purposeful, selfless, focused and decisive in accompanying the tasks ahead. While admitting that leadership is a continuum, requiring that every successive tenure builds on the previous ones, it behooves my tenure to evolve a well-conceived thrust of office, which ultimately would become the trajectory of office and benchmark for my accomplishments in office.
Having engaged in wide range consultations amongst members of the Council and some seasoned and well-meaning professionals, I have come up with BROKER CENTRICISM as the focus of my tenure as President. This focus connotes that the Insurance Brokers’ welfare, progress and development, irrespective of their location and sizes would be the vortex of all decisions and actions that would be taken throughout this tenure, God helping me.
As a an embodiment of this focus, my team would also have the following thrusts;
Financial Solvency: There is a common saying that no man or institution suffers financial destitution, rather they suffer from destitution of ideas. It is the intention of my team to be highly creative in stimulating ideas that would lead to financial solvency of the Council aside from the traditional subscription of members which is fast dwindling. If follows that if individual insurance brokers would be solvent, the Council must make strident efforts to ensure it complements all relevant institutions, including NAICOM for the deepening of the insurance sector.
The bigger the larger pie by the industry, the bigger the portion that accrues to the insurance broking sub sector.
Professionalism: It is no longer news that the hallmark of all professions in is the continuous acquisition of knowledge and openness to new and evolving knowledge. The Insurance Broker can definitely not be an exception. This tenure would open channels of training needs for it members within and outside the country. While reinforcing ties with already existing institutions in the country and without, we would also open up relationship with new ones. Being the main professional in the insurance value chain, the Broker under my tenure would be an encyclopedia of knowledge and professionalism.
Strategic Government and Institutional Relations: It is noteworthy that the Council has recorded phenomenal feats in strategic government relations under the immediate administration. Doors in Government Houses, Palaces and renowned institutions were opened for the NCRIB. However, since the largest room in life is the room of improvement, this tenure would open new vistas of qualitative relationship with more government institutions with a view to registering the brand of the Broker in their consciousness as valuable allies.
Mentoring: It is the intention of my team to ensure that Insurance Broking does not go into extinction through deliberate mentoring of the younger generation of operators. This we would do by stimulating the interest of the younger scholars in insurance broking right from their school days. We would device strategic plans to reach out to educational institutions across the country and create awards and scholarships to those who have inclination towards Insurance Broking as a career.
Corporate Visibility Sustenance: As it is often said that image is everything, the current leadership team would sustain the corporate visibility initiatives of the Council. In doing this, we shall tweak strategies for identifying and reaching out to more corporate institutions outside the remit of those we have already reached out to to generate more news items for the media. We would also deploy our vast contacts with the media to enhance the Broker’s brand in the consciousness of Nigerians.
Secretariat Development: Realising the fact that the Secretariat is the engine room for effective discharge of the set mandate of this tenure, this tenure would improve the quality and content of the secretariat’s human resource. It is our intention to train, retrain and motivate our staff for them to be at per with their contemporaries in high flying related institutions.
While realizing that the task of leading a reputable institution like ours is quite daunting, I hope to latch on the support of all our esteemed members and goodwill of these array of distinguished personalities who have made it to this event and several others who could not make it, to achieve brilliant success in office.
Once again, I promise to devote myself unselfishly to giving qualitative leadership to our Council during this tenure. So help me God. Amen.
I thank you for listening and God bless.
Barr. Rotimi Edu, mni
President & Chairman Governing Board
The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers
