Insurance future hangs on mentoring – Okunoren

Effective and deliberate Mentoring of the upcoming generation has been described as the best way to sustain the legacy of professionalism and excellence expected of future insurance practitioners.

The President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr. Kayode Okunioren made this known when a combined delegation of the Actuarial Science and Insurance Students of the Lagos State Polytechnic and the Lagos State University paid a courtesy visit on the Council in Lagos recently.

The President of NCRIB who received the delegation retorted that the present efforts to place the insurance profession on sound footing in the country would be a mirage, unless present industry operators pay premium attention to mentoring the up- coming generation of insurance practitioners on the need to play according to the rules.

Okunoren noted that the visit was a delight to him as it was in consonance with one of the thrusts of his tenure to mentor the younger generation, but lamented that the industry had painfully jettisoned some of the ethos of insurance professionalism that made the profession worth its salt in the past, because of lack of deliberate efforts to mentor the coming generation.

He, however, advised the students to consider insurance profession as a wise choice, going by the global relevance of the profession as well as its social relevance as the last hope of the common man.

“Let me note that insurance is a noble profession and a service. There is no profession that is more socially relevant than insurance as it meets the people at the crucial point of need when they suffer a loss to their life or property” Okunoren averred.

Okunoren, however, advised the students to project themselves as ambassadors of the insurance profession and perceive themselves always as present consumers and future providers of insurance services.

He specifically told them to have an eye on the Insurance Broking practice, which he said is the professional arm of the insurance industry that is germane to rendering intermediatory services between the insured and the insurers in the placement of risks.

The Presidents of the two institutions had earlier expressed their Association’s desires for assistance from the Council in terms of exposure to practical professional knowledge and mentorship.