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The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has extended hands of fellowship to the new leadership of Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) for a close relationship in fostering professionalism in the broking sector.
The Commissioner for Insurance Sunday Thomas, said this at the investiture of Babatunde Oguntade, as the 22nd President of the NCRIB in Lagos.
Thomas, who was represented at the event by Director, Policy and Regulation, NAICOM, Leo Akah, noted that NAICOM needs full support from Oguntade’s led administration to effectively promote professionalism in the broking sector.
He promised NAICOM’s supports to ensure the new administration sustains existing legacies and implement new orders that would take the broking sector to a lofty height.
The Commissioner congratulated Oguntade for achieving the feat of becoming President of the broking fraternity.
Oguntade had said he would leverage an 8-point agenda to break new grounds and sustained legacies laid by his predecessors.
While giving his inaugural speech at the event, Oguntade noted that having engaged in wide range consultations, amongst members of the Council and some seasoned and well-meaning professionals, coupled with his experience and long time personal interactions with members across the broad spectrum, he came up with; Breaking New Grounds; Sustaining Legacies as theme of his tenure as President.
According to him, he would focus on the following to take the broking sector to a lofty height.
1. FINANCIAL SOLVENCY: There is a common saying that no individual 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. The Council must, among other things, make strident efforts to ensure it compliments all relevant institutions, regulatory bodies including NAICOM, for deepening of the Insurance Broking sector within the Insurance industry because the larger the pie by the insurance industry, the bigger the portion that would accrue to the insurance broking sub sector of which we are actors.
The leadership would be deliberate in opening windows of opportunities for Brokers, regardless of their sizes with notable accounts, for the benefit of all, bearing in mind that the fortune of the Council is inextricably tied to the fortune of all the members across board.
2. PROFESSIONALISM: It is no longer news that the hallmark of all professions is the continuous acquisition of knowledge and in fact openness to new and evolving knowledge. In this regard, the Insurance Broking profession can definitely not be an exception. This tenure would open channels of training for members both within and outside the country while reinforcing ties with already existing institutions in Nigeria and internationally. The Council under this tenure, would also open up relationship with new institutions that would be of beneficial effect to the Insurance Broking body, more so that we are the main professionals in the insurance value chain. The Registered Insurance Broker under my tenure would be an encyclopedia of knowledge and professionalism.
As commenced by the immediate past leadership, this regime would see to the sustainance of the use of professional seals by Brokers to stave off charlatans from our practice and enhance the overall corporate reputation of the Council.
3. STRATEGIC GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS: It is noteworthy that the Council has recorded phenomenal feats in strategic government relations under the immediate administration that saw doors in Government Houses, Palaces and renowned institutions opened for the NCRIB. However, since the largest room in life is the room of improvement, this tenure would deliberately open new vistas of qualitative relationship with more government institutions and other relevant institutions in Nigeria and diaspora with a view to registering the brand “Insurance Brokers” in their consciousness as valuable allies within the Insurance industry.
We shall embark on compilation of all government institutions and make deliberate efforts to partner with them through training and sustainable knowledge sharing.
4. MENTORING: It is the intention of my team to ensure that the Insurance Broking body grows and members are seen to be making evident improvement in their businesses and one of the ways we have decided to achieve that is the deliberate mentoring of the younger generation of Insurance Brokers. This we would do by stimulating the interest of the younger scholars in Insurance Broking right from their secondary and tertiary institution days. It is important that we groom them young as the saying goes “catch them young”. It would afford us as a body to mold the culture of success into them hence propagating Insurance Broking in every nook and cranny of Nigeria. We would device strategic plans to reach out to educational institutions across the country and create living awards and scholarships to those who have inclination towards Insurance Broking as a career.
5. CORPORATE VISIBILITY SUSTAINANCE: As it is often said that image is very everything, the current leadership team would sustain the corporate visibility initiatives of the Council. In doing this, we shall tweak strategies for identifying, collaborating and communicating with more corporate institutions outside the remit of those that had been contacted in the past. This will help redefine the Council’s image as well as the Insurance Broking brand across board while it would also generate positive news for the media to project about our Council. We would also leverage on every advanced technology available and existing vast relationship with the media to imprint the Insurance Brokering brand in the consciousness of Nigerians.
6. SECRETARIAT DEVELOPMENT: Realising the fact that the Secretariat is the “engine room” for effective discharge of the set mandate of this tenure, its improvement in quality and content of its human resources has become imperative for this tenure. It is therefore our intention to improve on their proficiencies, capabilities as well as chart a proper career path for them by training and motivating members of staff so that they can be at par with their contemporaries in related institutions. The improvement of the Secretariat would also be a continuous one. This leadership team would see to the diligent commencement and full utilization of structural development of the new plot of land purchased by the Council, to the overall image and financial solvency of the Council.
7. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
The Present leadership team under my tenure would sustain the legacies of effective relationship with notable international institutions like BIBA, AIO and WAICA. As an extension of efforts, we would look into the possibility of more regular facilitation of training and empowerment series for our members using those international faculties in such a way that members who are not financially empowered to travel to those international programmes would not lose out of their training opportunities.
8. REVISITATION OF STRATEGIC PLANS FOR NCRIB
Since no organisation could experience sustainable development without effective planning, the Council under my leadership would revisit the 10 Year Strategic Plan that was conceived by the Council. The plan which would be tweaked to accommodate current realities would form a good trajectory for sustainable growth and institution building for the NCRIB over a long period of time.
