Former President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Mr. Fatai Lawal has emerged the 2014 Inspenonline Insurance Man of the year.

Fatai who is the Managing Director of Sterling Assurance Nigeria Limited was named at the Nigerian Insurance and Pension Award organised by Inspenonline.

Chief Executive Officer Inspenonline Media, Chuks Okonta, said Lawal was picked from the votes cast by the public and other considerations made by the award’s panel of assessors. He noted that the winner raised the bar at the Institute and the industry by opting to serve a tenure which was eventful and impactful.

He added that amongst the legacies left by the winner was the printing and donation of insurance books to secondary and tertiary institutions aimed at deepening insurance awareness.

Okonta noted that the award, which started two years ago with the recognition of two distinguished individuals and an underwriting company, has now come to stay.

“This year, we decided to raise the bar by setting high standards to judge the operations of companies and impacts made by individuals in moving insurance and pension business forward. “To achieve this, we gave the public the opportunity to select those to be celebrated by calling for votes.

Having harmonised the votes which came from different parts of the country, we benchmarked the scores with the set standard to arrive at the winners we are celebrating today,” he said.

Other winners are AIICO Insurance Plc, Insurance company of the year; FUG Pensions Limited, Pension Fund Administrator of the Year; YOA Insurance Brokers Limited and Glanvill Enthoven Insurance Brokers Limited, Insurance brokers of the year.

Professional Excellence Award went to Professor Joe Irukwu; Best Professional Group went to the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria; Corporate Brand went to Mansard Insurance Plc and Leadway Assurance Limited while Corporate Social Responsibility Award was won by Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc.

The organisers also recognised organisations that distinguished themselves, with Excellence Award. Organisations in this category include the National Pension Commission, Lagos State Pension Commission, Goldlink Insurance Plc and Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate.