Ex-NAICOM Boss to Chair Business Journal Insurance & Pension Roundtable 2026

His consultation comes at a crucial duration for the insurance coverage and pension markets, as operators look for to combine the gains of recapitalisation while attending to relentless issues about client self-confidence, service shipment, market penetration and long-lasting sustainability.

Prince Cookey, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Business Journal Media Group, revealed pleasure at Thomas’s approval to chair the roundtable, explaining him as a famous figure whose profession passed through the insurance coverage market from expert practice to market management and regulative oversight.

“We are certainly happy to have Mr. O.S. Thomas as Chairman for business Journal Insurance & & Pension Roundtable 2026. An essential and famous figure in the insurance coverage market in Nigeria, he passed through the marketplace like a colossus, increasing from the level of an expert in the operating environment to the position of a regulator. He stays a favorable recommendation point for Nigerian insurance providers and left a strong mark as a regulator,” Cookey stated.

Thomas worked as Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of NAICOM till April 30, 2024. Before his visit, he was Director-General and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) from 2010 to April 2017, throughout which he led a number of market efforts, consisting of piloting the facility of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID).

He had earlier served at NAICOM from 1992 to December 2009, holding positions as Director-in-Charge of Research and Market Development, Technical Directorate and Inspectorate Directorate. Throughout this duration, he played considerable functions in establishing and executing policies focused on reinforcing the regulative structure and advancing the Nigerian insurance coverage market. He retired from the Commission in 2009 before using up the management of the NIA.

Before his very first engagement with NAICOM, Thomas had actually collected more than 10 years of experience in the insurance coverage market, providing him a broad understanding of the obstacles dealing with operators, regulators and insurance policy holders.

His expert background is matched by scholastic and market certifications. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in Actuarial Science and a Master of Business Administration in Finance, both from the University of Lagos.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London and a member of the Nigerian Institute of Management, to name a few expert bodies.

Thomas has actually likewise served on numerous committees and governing boards throughout the insurance coverage and broader monetary services sectors. These consist of the Committee on the Review of the 1997 Insurance Act, the Education Committee of the CIIN and the National Planning Committee of the Annual Seminar on the Development of the Nigerian Financial Markets, which he chaired from 2002 to 2009.

He belonged to the governing board of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from 2003 to 2004 and functioned as chairman of both the West African Association of Insurance Supervisory Authorities (WAISA) and the Organisation of African Insurance Supervisory Authorities (OAISA).

His other board-level engagements consisted of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Africa Reinsurance Corporation (AfricaRe).

He has actually gone to various expert courses and conferences in Nigeria and globally, consisting of programs arranged by the Lagos Business School, the African Insurance Organisation, the World Bank, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Global Leadership Centre in Toronto, Canada. He likewise worked as a resource individual at the West Africa Insurance Institute in The Gambia.

Outdoors his expert engagements, Thomas is a sports lover with a specific interest in tennis and golf.

Recapitalisation raises brand-new concerns for operators

According to Cookey, the effective conclusion of the insurance coverage sector’s recapitalisation workout on Friday, July 31, 2026, has actually stimulated the marketplace, not just by enhancing capital positions however likewise by enhancing public understandings of the market.

He kept in mind that the advantages of recapitalisation need to extend beyond balance sheets to the quality of services provided to clients and the capability of operators to broaden their markets.

The pension market is likewise going through a recapitalisation procedure started by PenCom, with a compliance due date of June 2027 for Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs).

Cookey anticipates the expected injection of brand-new capital and the optimism accompanying the workout to produce comparable momentum in the pension sector. He worried, nevertheless, that more powerful capital positions alone would not ensure sustainable development or fix the essential obstacles challenging the 2 markets.

He determined 2 important concerns that operators should resolve as they move beyond recapitalisation.

The very first is how insurance provider and pension operators will release their brand-new capital to enhance customer care, enhance market presence and attain sustainable development.

The 2nd issues their readiness for the operating and policy environment that will emerge after Nigeria’s 2027 governmental election.

According to Cookey, the result of the governmental election arranged for January 16, 2027, might have extensive ramifications for insurance provider and pension operators, especially in relation to federal government policy, the regulative structure and the more comprehensive company environment.

He argued that these factors to consider make it required for operators to look beyond instant recapitalisation targets and establish techniques efficient in reacting to emerging financial and political truths.

For insurer, the obstacle will consist of transforming more powerful capital bases into much better service shipment, higher public self-confidence and broader insurance coverage penetration. For pension operators, the focus will likewise be on how strengthened organizations can enhance service quality, sustain public self-confidence in pension administration and support the long-lasting advancement of the pension market.

The roundtable is anticipated to supply a platform for market leaders, regulators and specialists to take a look at these obstacles and check out useful techniques to enhancing both sectors.

Prominent market involvement anticipated

The occasion will include Mr. Olusegun Omosehin, Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of NAICOM, and Ms. Omolola Oloworaran, Director-General of PenCom, as Special Guests of Honour.

Mr. Tope Smart, Group Chairman of NEM Insurance Group, will provide the keynote address.

Other recognized visitors of honour consist of Mr. Jide Orimolade, President and Chairman of Council of the CIIN; Mrs. Anthonia Ifeanyi-Okoro, Chief Executive Officer of PenOp; Mrs. Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, Chairman of the NIA; and Mrs. Ekeoma Ezeibe, President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB).

The panel of discussants makes up Mr. Adedayo Arowojolu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Unitrust Insurance Company Limited; Mr. Ivor Takor, pension market activist and professional; and Mrs. Felicia Bolajoko David, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance & & General Insurance Plc.

Their involvement is anticipated to combine regulative, functional and market point of views on the reforms needed to enhance consumer experience, enhance market self-confidence and position insurance coverage and pension organizations for sustainable growth.

Developing a roadmap beyond recapitalisation

Company Journal Media Group stated the roundtable is created to raise public awareness of the insurance coverage and pension sectors while offering a platform for establishing a roadmap for their future development and contribution to the nationwide economy.

At its core, the occasion will take a look at whether the continuous capital reforms can function as a springboard for much deeper structural enhancements in the 2 markets.

For insurance coverage operators, this suggests showing that more powerful capital positions can support much better client service, higher availability and increased public self-confidence in insurance coverage items. For pension operators, it implies guaranteeing that institutional reinforcing translates into more responsive services and a more resistant pension administration system.

The conversations will likewise think about how operators can enhance their market exposure, react to altering financial conditions and establish company techniques that stay practical amidst possible post-election policy shifts.

As the insurance coverage and pension markets browse these shifts, the main obstacle will be to show that recapitalisation is not an end in itself however a way of structure more powerful organizations, providing higher worth to consumers and broadening the sectors’ functions in nationwide financial advancement.

Business Journal Insurance & & Pension Roundtable 2026 is for that reason anticipated to concentrate on the next stage of market reform: turning more powerful capital bases and restored optimism into quantifiable enhancements in customer care, company development and public self-confidence.