By Rosemary Onuoha

The Management of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has announced the promotion of 29 Members of staff following the conclusion of its 2010 appraisal exercise. The newly promoted staff cuts across different cadre and divisions within the company across the country.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Wale Onaolapo, said the promotion is in line with management’s resolve to continually reward and recognize outstanding performance from time to time. He further stressed that, although, all members of staff have shown great commitment in the discharge of their duties but the ones being promoted and recognized now have been very outstanding and have equally contributed immensely to the growth of the organization. He charged all members of staff not to relent in their duties as management will always reward dedication and excellent performance.

Amongst the newly promoted are three Assistant General Managers that were moved to the position of Deputy General Managers. They are Kayode Adigun, Divisional Head, Finance & Investments, Ugochi Odemelam, Divisional Head for Marketing & Relationship Management and Olaotan Soyinka, Head of Energy Division. Two Senior Managers were elevated to the position of Assistant General Managers while 4 Managers also got promoted to the position of Senior Managers.

Former Head of Claims, Emmanuel Anikibe is now an Assistant General Manager in charge of Branch Operations while Chris Agbara of the Surulere Area Office now wears the garb of an Assistant General Manager as well. Sola Dada, (Head, Investment), Victoria Eze, (Apapa Area Office), Angela Onochie, (Port Harcourt Area Office) and Taiwo Kuyoro, (Head, Internal Audit) are now Senior Managers in the organization. Other affected members range from officers to Assistant Managers.

The Managing Director congratulated all the newly promoted officers and urged them to continue to give their best in all they do on behalf of the company. In his words, “our greatest asset in Sovereign Trust is our people and that is why we will always recognize and keep motivating them for greater performance.”

Presently, the company has a total of 29 Chartered Insurers (ACII), 13 Chartered Accountants (ACA) and other professionals in other various disciplines. The company is ranked amongst the topmost employer of qualitative manpower in the insurance industry in Nigeria till date

Meanwhile, the company recently adopted the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Framework in line with the directive of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, that all insurance companies in the country should before the end of Year 2011, set in place an ERM machinery as a way of ensuring that the business of insurance in the country is professionally anchored on the tenets of international best practice and in alignment with the code of good corporate governance.

The Board of Directors of the company approved the ERM framework for the company as put together by one of the country’s leading management Consultants. The implementation of same has commenced in the organization.

The ERM framework for the insurance industry in Nigeria is meant to be an all_involving process which trickles down from the Board of Directors to the Management and other operatives in the organisation. The ERM framework is designed to permeate the entire operational process of the insurance business in the country.