The management of Leadway Assurance Company Limited has announced the exit of the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company, Oye Hassan-Odukale.
Hassan-Odukale led the management of the company for three decades after taking over from his late father, Olusola Hassan Odukale. The outgoing CEO reportedly retired from his executive capacity last year.
A statement issued by the company said, “During his tenure, Oye saw the business grow from a small regional company into one of Nigeria’s foremost insurance companies, attaining the number one position in terms of Gross Premium Income (GPI) and Balance Sheet Size.”
Hassan-Odukale’s exit comes at a period the insurance sector is grappling with the directive of NAICOM on recapitalisation. The directive sees the new capital structure for Life, Non-Life and Composite insurance companies, including reinsurance companies, increased from N2 billion, N3 billion, N5 billion and N10 billion to N8 billion, N10 billion, N18 billion and N20 billion.
Who will be replacing him? Leadway Assurance has already chosen a replacement. The leadership of the company will continue to be a family affair with the appointment of Tunde Hassan-Odukale, who took over the organisation as the new Managing Director, effective January 1, 2020.
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Tunde has been a member of Leadway’s executive and leadership team since 1999, previously serving as the company’s Executive Director, Financial Services and Systems.
On his brother’s appointment, Oye Hassan-Odukale said, “In his 30 years of leadership experience at Leadway, Tunde has been the driving force behind the tremendous growth we have seen in the areas of Life Assurance, Investments, Finance and Technology. This makes him a natural successor to steer the company to its next phase in history.”
Reacting to his appointment as Oye’s replacement, Tunde asserted that, “I am honoured, yet humbled to lead this company at a time like this. We have a customer-centric culture and an engaging approach that has enabled us to grow strongly through the years. Building on this legacy is a challenge that I accept together with our professional team.
“We are where we are because our clients, brokers and direct customers trust our ability to support them in a friendly, empathetic and reliable manner. This is humbling and our ambition to continue to deliver remains fierce. I am passionately committed to consolidating on existing achievements by placing our clients at the absolute centre of everything we do.”
Tunde’s profile: He graduated from the University of London and City University, London. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Pure Mathematics and is an alumnus of the Lagos, London, Harvard and Stanford Business Schools.
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He sits on the board of directors of various blue-chip companies, which include First Bank of Nigeria Limited. He is a member of the Royal Society of Mathematics, the Institute of Actuaries and the Institute of Directors.
