The pioneer Commissioner for Insurance, Chief Eugene Okwor, has passed on.
He died on Sunday, January 14, 2024, InsPen Online reports.
He was a lawyer and Commissioner for Insurance/Chief Executive Officer National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) between 1993-1997.
Okwor may be aptly dscribed as the beckon upon which Nigeria’s insurance industry was molded, reshaped, refined and decorated with all the accolades that it is currently wearing.
Born on August 27, 1941, Okwor, who was a lawyer by qualification, had functioned in 1976 as the Director of Insurance, Department of Insurance, Federal Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. That was when insurance supervision was merely allocated a desk in the Ministry of Finance.
He was an insurance practitioner, worked as Claims Superintendent, Co-operative Insurance Society, London, 1971- 1972; Claims Manager, NEM Insurance PIc, 1973-74; Registrar of Insurance, Federal Ministry of Trade, 1974-76; Director of Insurance, Federal Ministry of Finance, 1977-1992; and African Reinsurance Corporation, 1992-95.
He served in Nigerian Reinsurance, Director, Refuge Insurance, Lombard Insurance Company, Summit Insurance Co. Limited, Firstlink Insurance Brokers Limited; Secure Loss Adjusters Limited; Board, AIICO Insurance PIc, since July 2007; member, Technical Committee on the Review of Public Service Pension Scheme; Executive Board, Association of Insurers in Developing Countries, Manilla, Philippines; Governing Council, West African Insurance Institute, Banjul, The Gambia; President Association of African Insurance Supervisory Authorities, Cairo, Egypt; member, Chartered Insurance Institute of London; Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and West African Insurance Institute.
According to a report by NewsCorner, Okwor hailed from Enugu State from where himself and the late ‘’Dipo Bailey were conferred with chieftaincy tittles on the same day. He contributed immensely to the body of knowledge in insurance in Nigeria, as both a business and profession.
He wrote so many technical and academic papers many of which still stand as guiding light to the future of the insurance industry in Nigeria.
