.As Company bags Champion Newspapers’ 2023 Insurance Company of the Year Award
.Honour is home recognition, says Eddie Efekoha
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Group Chief Executive Officer, Consolidated Hallmark Holdings Plc Mr Eddie Efekoha has commended Champion Newspapers Limited for its decision to honour Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Limited as the 2023 Insurance Company of the Year. Eddie Efekoha is Champion Newspapers 2023 Insurance Chief Executive Officer of the year thus providing the Consolidated Hallmark Holdings Plc with a double awards; the first time that an insurance company will attract double honours at the annual event.
Following a consolidation project in the nation’s insurance industry in 2007, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance emerged as one of the top 10 General Business and Special Risk Insurance underwriters in Nigeria.
Interestingly, in the last 12 years, the company has played leadership role in the underwriting of key transactions in Aviation, Oil & Gas, Marine Cargo and Hull Business as well as in Motor insurance business. The company has built a reputation on professionalism, integrity and excellent service delivery with emphasis on efficient and effective claims payment and administration.
Leveraging on the capabilities and unique skills of the entire group, the company provides premium risk management solutions to its clients.
Mr. Efekoha while speaking during a visit by the management of Champion Newspapers Limited to its corporate head office in Lagos, said the company is grateful to Champion Newspapers for the awards.
He said; “we thank the leadership of Champion Newspapers for finding us worthy for this awards. As a person and a company, we are deeply humble for finding us worthy of your award.
“We know that so many people will be craving for the award, but somehow, in your wisdom, based on your own criteria, you found us worthy.
“So, from us, management, board, we are grateful to you. We are setting everything aside so that we can attend physically. I want to commend the management of Champion Newspapers for the mileage covered in reporting insurance in Nigeria.
“There are little things we do that explain why we are part of this year’s award. When this recognition came, we also felt that this is home recognition, you have to be recognized by your people, otherwise outsiders will not recognize you. We are again grateful to Champion Newspapers and we have been trying to promote the Nigerian economy from our respective businesses, this is just a testament to that”.
Speaking further, Efekoha affirmed that Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Holding as currently structured have a health management organization, a finance house and a micro insurance company.
According to him, through its Micro Life initiative, the industry has afforded customers products they can buy, adding that the insurance generally is challenged, not just today.
He said, “We have been challenged and we are still challenged. Once the economy is struggling, the first industry that will be challenged is insurance because you have to take care of food, shelter before taking care of the things of the future.
“State government, even the federal government is struggling to pay minimum wage. Until we begin to get the economy at the right path, insurance will continue to struggle”.
While giving insight on what to expect from Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Limited under her leadership as the new Managing Director, Mary Adeyanju said the company is looking at improving on it’s market share which is very paramount.
She said the company is looking at continuous ability to continue to pay claims and pay them in record time.
“We are looking at consistently paying dividend to our shareholders, we have always paid dividend to our shareholders but we want to improve even on the quality of the dividend that we are paying. And the only way you can do that is assuring that the company is running profitably at the top line and managing cost at the middle and declaring profit at the bottom line as well.
“We are also looking at an institution that will care so much for its people because there is no company without people. So we are very particular about how we can enhance the capacity of our manpower in 2024 and going forward,” she said.
According to her, the ‘Japa syndrome’ has led to weaken the quality of personnel in the market. She maintained that Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Limited is trying as much as possible to see that it retains the good hands.
“We are also trying to see how we can create an enabling environment even in the work place because the caliber of people in the work place has changed overtime, so the categories of people we have now, if you don’t create that kind of enabling environment, you are going to have very difficult challenges having the kind of people you need.
“We are also looking at seeing how we can create some kind of unique product that can speak to the need of people and not products that are traditional in nature like every other person has been doing, because we think that is what is lacking. We are also very particular about brand visibility from 2024 and beyond.
“On the marketing side, we have been working on a retail strategy, seeing how we can create our retail market and that is what propelled us to the Micro insurance as well.
“We already have a strategy document that we have been running for some time on our retail program and we have very serious about that in terms of building our retail strategy, because we know that if you get it right, you get everything other things right” she said.
She further noted that operational efficiency is the watchword of the company, adding that the company want to run a system where anybody comes in for a seamless transaction.
Earlier in her remarks, Group Managing Director of Champion Newspapers Limited, Dr Mrs Nwadiuto Iheakanwa commended the board and management of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Holding Plcfor the effective role towards the growth of the nation’s economy.
She said, Champion Newspapers is for a better society and can’t keep quite when individuals and companies are supporting the growth of the economy.
The Champion Newspaper’s GMD said, “We can’t keep quite when we see companies doing well. We are happy that Consolidated Hallmark Insurance has distinguished itself in the insurance sector. I remain very proud of the company and what you are doing for the society and the economy at large,” she concluded.
