Olusegun Ayo Omosehin: The new face of insurance companies in Nigeria

KELVIN EGERUE

His ascendance to the throne of leadership at the NIA was by no means a sudden flight for he has been a member of the Governing Council since 2016 and had held several positions including that of the Honorary Treasurer as well as the Deputy Chairman. His being proclaimed the 25^th Chairman of the NIA on August 25, 2022, came as a mark of honour to a person who richly deserved to be honoured.

“It is with a deep sense of responsibility, humility, and total commitment to the ideals of our Association that I accept to serve together with my colleagues in the Governing Council. I am truly humbled by this opportunity to contribute my quota in the service of the association”

And that was the epoch-making declaration by Mr. Olusegun Ayo Omosehin enthroning him as the 25^th Chairman of the 51-year-old Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), the umbrella body of all registered insurance companies in Nigeria. For the sake of emphasis, let it be made clear that every insurance company in Nigeria must wear the shield of the NIA for the company to be acknowledged as a fit and proper insurance company to transact business within the shores of the country hence the all-important status of the association as a moderating factor. It is this all-important association that Mr. Omosehin sits on top today as its first officer in his capacity as the chairman thus putting himself in the mould of insurance industry chieftains which include Nigeria’s Mr. Insurance; Chief J.O. Irukwu, Talabi Braithwaite, Yinka Lijadu, Felix Nwokolo among others who have had the privilege of serving as NIA chairman at a point.

‘Segun Omosehin’s ascendance to the pinnacle of his profession which is what his emergence as the NIA chairman symbolizes was not by any means a sudden flight for when some of his colleagues were busy enjoying the comfort of their offices, Segun was toiling in the night in quest of greater knowledge and expertise on how to make insurance practice better and more functional in the best interest of the nation’s economy. Convinced that some people are born great, some are known to have achieved greatness while some have greatness thrust upon them, ‘Segun is acknowledged to have achieved greatness through the combination of hard work, intelligence and purposeful approach to clearly thought out strategies, policies and principles of honest life style. Yet, he never ruled out the interplay of luck and favour from God for Olusegun Ayo Omosehim is one who is quick at acknowledging people who played vital roles in what has come to stand as the story of success.

‘Segun Omosehin’s emergence as the NIA chairman at the time that the insurance industry in Nigeria appears to have successfully navigated its way through the hard and un-envious curves to stand as the pillar of light and support to the Nigerian economy is perhaps a stronger mark of a vote of confidence on a man whose commitment to integrity as a professional have never been called to question.

It is not surprising therefore that the high and the mighty, the very best of virtually all the professional bodies in the country including traditional rulers and government officials gathered at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos recently to honour Olusegun Ayo Omosehin as he was decorated as chairman of the council of NIA in what turned out to be one of the most colourful events of our time.

Presided over by Political Economist Professor Pat Utomi as chairman, the investiture of ‘Segun as the new face of insurance companies in Nigeria was witnessed by such dignitaries as His Imperial Majesty Oba Oluwasegun Williams Akinyomi, the Amapetu of Mainland who doubles as Chairman, Ilaje Council of Traditional Rulers, Igbokoda, Ondo State, Nigeria’s Commissioner for Insurance Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas as well as the immediate past Chairman of the NIA Mr.  Musa Ganiyu among others.

Born on August 13, 1967, in Abe-alala of the Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, ‘Segun Omosehin is not new to the insurance business and profession in Nigeria for he has practiced the trade for over 29 years considering that he joined the practice in 1993 as staff of Crusader Insurance Plc. Not minding his pet dream of joining Nigeria’s foreign service, ‘Segun Omosehin strived hard from the onset to become one of the best practitioners that the nation’s insurance industry could boast of thus paving the way to his rising to the pinnacle of the profession in a record time.

A graduate of Political Science of the then Ondo State University and a holder of a Masters degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos, ‘Segun became a Chartered insurance professional in 1996, a fit that he achieved in only two seatings, he stands out as one of the multi-disciplinary professionals in the Nigerian insurance industry today.

Before joining Old Mutual Nigeria Life Assurance Company Limited where he currently serves as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in 2020, Olusegun Omosehin had previously worked for other insurance companies including Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc where he served for about nine years before leaving in 20003 as Divisional Head of Operations to join Admiral Insurance Company as the Managing Director. It is to his credit that his transformational agenda at the 22-year-old company culminated in the turning around of the loss-making company into a profitable venture.  His days at AIICO Insurance Plc were that of a sterling service considering that he engineered and led the transformation agenda for the group and thus reset a clear path to profitability for the business. His leaving AIICO Insurance in 2009 and his joining Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc in 2010 were in continuation of his professional growth as every stop over presented him with the opportunity of exhibiting his craftsmanship as an insurance technocrat.  His over 10 years of stay in the corridors of power at Mutual Benefits Assurance exposed him to greater challenges amidst opportunities as his professional competence continued to drag him onto higher grounds in total reflection of the saying that the golden fish has no hiding place.

In his rich and exciting journey of life and service, ‘Segun Omosehin has crossed the part of many people hence he means many things to many people including Price Jamiu Adio Saka, one of his course mates at the graduate school who eventually introduced him to insurance as both a practice and a profession. To his friends and colleagues, ‘Segun exemplifies trust, integrity, honesty and all that defines true friendship and camaraderie.

His ascendance to the throne of leadership at the NIA was by no means a sudden flight for he has been a member of the Governing Council since 2016 and had held several positions including that of the Honorary Treasurer as well as the Deputy Chairman. His being proclaimed the 25^th Chairman of the NIA on August 25, 2022, came as a mark of honour to a person who richly deserved to be honoured.

Omosehin has not hidden his desire to give back, and richly too, to a profession that has granted him wealth and fame. He said that he will dedicate his tenure as NIA Chairman to expanding the frontiers of insurance through partnerships and what he called stakeholder engagement.

Under this broad theme, Omosehin said that he will tackle four key areas which include market discipline, development and respect for market agreements, insurance awareness through a partnership with the media, human capacity building and the leveraging of technology and digital innovation in expanding the coast of the industry.

“During my tenure, we will collaborate with all players to enforce market discipline among member companies. As a self-regulatory organization, the Association works through peer pressure to promote best practices among operators. We will work very hard as leaders of the association to build trust and lead by example so that some of the issues relating to soft market practices and general indiscipline in the market are promptly dealt with. We shall ensure adherence to high ethical standards for our market which have been the pillars upon which the association was formed. Specifically, the NIA under my chairmanship will work with other stakeholders to ensure the enforcement of all compulsory insurance through effective collaboration with relevant agencies. We shall implement progressive market development initiatives and agreements as well as collaborate with the regulatory community particularly our primary regulator, NAICOM, on market-impacting regulations such as risk-based supervision”, he submitted.

Mindful of the need to upgrade the industry’s manpower to reflect the changing business operating models which require the deployment of technology, the new NIA chairman promised to explore training opportunities to build capacity in critical areas of the insurance business.

“We need to invest in human capital across the industry, embrace the talent that would be beneficial to our core objective. We need to grow our talent pool from within and embrace openness in our industry. We shall partner in building actuarial capacity for the overall benefit of the market”, Mr. Omosehin further pledged.

In his thinking, all of his programme of action as the 25^th chairman of the NIA will culminate in product and process innovation that meets the industry’s multi-dimensional needs. He was however quick to remind his colleagues in the insurance business to bear in mind the fact that the world has evolved and so has Nigeria hence the need to find ways and means of responding to those changes.

“Whilst this provides massive opportunities for us, it also means that risk profiles have evolved. If we are to serve it adequately, we must evolve along; in our thinking, in our approach and our intent”, he reminded insurance practitioners.

For a man long acknowledged as a team player, Olusegun Ayo Omosehin has the good mind to turn the NIA into a centrifugal force within the insurance industry hence his proclamation on fostering industry harmony by ensuring that such critical stakeholders as the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN), Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) as well as Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN) work as a family in the overall best interest of clients of the insurance industry.

There is no gain in saying that Olusegun Ayo Omosehin was adequately prepared for leadership roles in the larger financial sector of the nation’s economy. The various courses, training both foreign and local as well as internships which he has undertaken have come to rob on his sterling performances in managing transformational changes. NIA is certain to drink from ‘Segun’s fountain of experience and native intelligence. A participant in the Oxford Advanced Leadership and Management programme (OALMP) at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, Olusegun Ayo Omosehin is good to go as the new face of insurance companies in Nigeria.

For a better society

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