It would take a lot more than coincidence for one man to serve as Director General and Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer all in one lifetime and in a country of over 200 million people, across 3 administrations. It simply requires the quality of being exceptional; being 1% of the top 1%. Mr Sunday Olorundare Thomas is an apotheosis of such superlative attribute. Mr Thomas is no stranger to leadership as he was Director-General of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) between May 2010 and April 2017.
When Mr. Thomas took the reigns as substantive Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), on April 30, 2020, the country was getting a thorough bred administrator as well as an insurance expert extraordinaire. Trained in Actuarial Science and possessing an MBA in Finance, the NAICOM boss had the extra advantage of having worked his way through the Nigerian insurance ecosystem and achieved landmark excellence along the way.
Over three decades of premium insurance experience and expertise are what Mr Thomas came with and the results of his outstanding experience and skills are already perspicuous. The commission has experienced a reinvigorated planning structure and result-driven policy development system. Service delivery has also improved tremendously, as has customer protection and the confidence of investors and stakeholders.
His previous designation as Director-General of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), an association considered a linchpin in insurance in Nigeria, provided him with the fundamentals of leading in the future in the capacity of Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of NAICOM. His strategic policy reforms in market development, ensuring insurance penetration in the country, have improved the insurance sector in the country astronomically.
In the age of technology, the insurance sector in Nigeria was lagging at some of the most basic technologies requisite for functionality. The just completed portal had been under construction for the past nine years and only attained functionality under the current leadership. The organization has aligned with the Nigerian content policy and there is an expectation that this would increase the presence of insurance in the oil and gas sector.
Mr Thomas’ reign has witnessed light-speed improvements in the sector at micro and macro levels. There is a renewed vision for inclusion of everyday Nigerians from any social stratum to energize the economy and stimulate full-scale economy engagement. About six micro-insurance companies will be functional to this effect in the near future.
NAICOM is experiencing deepening localization of its activities and widening globalization of its standards. The 2021-2023 Strategic Plan has five goals designed to entrench effective and efficient service delivery, ensure safe, sound and stable insurance sector, adequately protect policyholders, and public interest, improve trust and confidence in the insurance sector and encourage innovation and promote insurance market development. All industry-based growth indicators accede to the competency and professionalism of Mr Sunday Olorundare Thomas and his technical team…
Jamilu Yusuf Yola
Publisher