Akintunde An Amazon Of Nigerian Insurance

WHEN Mrs. Adetayo Akintunde was recently awarded the prestigious fellowship of Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, her friends and colleagues within the insurance industry knew it was an honour well deserved.

This is not just because of the almost three decades she has put into the insurance industry, Mrs. Akintunde has paid her dues. From her humble beginning as a graduate trainee in UNIC Insurance in 1986, Akintunde rose through the ranks and got to the zenith of the profession time and time over.

Prior to joining UNIC, Akintunde had obtained a Bachelors Degree in Economics from the University of Ilorin at age 20 in 1984. He proceeded to do his mandatory National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) in the Accounts Department of ELF Nig. Ltd and finally the Sales and Marketing Department of ELF Marketing Nigeria Ltd.

It was after her service she joined UNIC as a pioneer graduate trainee and spent five fruitful years there learning the ropes of the profession. Akintunde’s incursion into insurance was by design, not fortuitous. Right from an early age, she knew what she wanted and went after it.

She started writing the associateship examination of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London from year two in the university. By the time she graduated she already had to her credit four papers out of the nine required to qualify as an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London (ACII).

Five years after graduation, she got her ACII with distinction in motor insurance underwriting and claims. She followed that up with fellowship of the institute three years later via exams.

Her dissertation on “Products Liability and Consumers, the situation in the Nigerian Market” was presented to the Board of Fellows and she was elected as a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London designated ‘’CHARTERED INSURANCE PRACTITIONER”.

The fellowship examination exposed her to a detailed study of business appraisal and management. While in UNIC Insurance Akintunde also took advantage of various technical courses as well as the unique opportunity to attend the West African Insurance Institute (WAII), Liberia, where she emerged the highest award recipient in the tenth-year graduating set as well as the best student ever produced by the Institute from its inception.

From UNIC, she moved to International Standard Insurers (ISI) as one of the pioneer staff and eventually became the head, marketing department for a brief period.

Her stay at ISI was short lived due to family commitments and in line with the company’s policy at that time. In 1993, she moved to the Industrial and General Insurance Company (IGI) as a marketing manager.

As a pioneer staff of IGI, she was involved in direct marketing of the private sector, Lagos Area Office. She recorded a large client list. Significantly, she personally packaged an insurance-linked scheme for depositors of the defunct Equitorial Trust Bank, in the name EQUISERVE, a product name that personified the Bank for many years thereafter.

She also served as the secretary of the claims committee in IGI for about two years. This responsibility exposed her to the most delicate technical aspect of insurance.

Having noticed her enormous potentials the board of African General Insurance Brokers (AGIB) appointed her as Managing Director/Chief Executive in October 1996. Her tenure witnessed a significant improvement in the fortunes of AGIB.

The company’s affiliation with an overseas technical partner also gave her the opportunity to interact with International Brokers, Underwriters and Reinsurers, an experience that became very useful in coping with greater challenges in subsequent assignments.

In year 2000, she became the MD/CEO of ADIC Insurance Company Limited. She spent two successful years there before proceeding to set up First Standard Insurance Brokers, a foremost Insurance Brokers that has excelled in the Nigerian Insurance Industry with work experience across the various sectors of the economy. Francis Ewherido, an insurance executive, wrote from Lagos