“All that I did then, I did them with all sense of sincerity because I knew it was necessary for me to do them. I was not doing them in anticipation of any reward. But today you people choose me with an award. This is quite surprising and i am excited. On behalf of my family, I want to sincerely thank NAIPE for finding me worthy of this. I am not taking it lightly.”
This was the reaction of the immediate past Commissioner for Insurance/CEO, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas, when ambushed with an Award of Excellence by the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE). He served as the chairman of the 10th annual conference of the association.
Commending NAIPE members for the award and for sustaining their reportage of the pension and insurance sectors, he said, “Some of us are fortunate to be around when they started, we know through thick and thin, they have been able to go this far, they have been able to impact on the two sectors, thereby providing relevant information to the stakeholders.
Expressing his contentment, Thomas said he did all that was assembled to give him award in all sense of sincerity without anticipating any reward from any quarter and promised to remain focused to offer service as need arises.
On the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, recently signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Thomas said the Act if properly implemented, it will take care of all stakeholders and revolutionise the nation’s insurance sector to contribute significantly to national growth.
“Looking at where we are today, I want to congratulate the President, for signing the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, whose journey started in 2008. NIIRA will transform and revolutionise the insurance sector. The extent the law will go, in terms of achievement, will depend on both the implementers and the industry, and the response to the content of that law will determine the extent of achievement. But one thing I am so sure of, is the fact that the platform has been set for its achievement, in terms of taking care of all the stakeholders: consumers are protected, shareholders are protected, and operators are protected.
“Of course, strengthening the sector with the formalisation of Risk-Based Capital will go a long way, in which case, we don’t need to operate at the same level – be where you have capacity to be,” Thomas added.
On how insurance and pension sectors can contribute to the achievement of President proposed $1 trillion economy, the former NAICOM boss said, “There is no doubt that pension sector has asset under management of over N24 trillion, and insurance sector with an asset base of about N4.4 trillion. I believe that we are in a good position to begin to look at the possibility and realisation of President Bola Tinubu’s vision for having an economy with $1 trillion dollar Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“I think we are on course, though we need to gain speed by 2030, which is five years from now. I believe that with these laws, and the people managing the sector, we will be able to take our rightful position in effectively contributing to President Tinubu’s vision.”
Feature Picture: L-R: Managing Director, Royal Exchange Plc, Mrs. Idu Okeahialam; Immediate past President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Mr. Edwin Igbiti; Immediate past Commissioner for Insurance and Chairman of the occasion, as well as Award recipient, Olorundare Sunday Thomas; Chairperson, Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE), Nkechi Naeche-Esezobor.
