Following the death of the founding Chairman, Alhaji Hassan Shettiman-Hadejia, the Board of Directors of Leadway Assurance Company Limited has announced the appointment of Mr. Umar Yahaya as the successor.
A statement by the company on Friday said Yahaya was bringing a wealth of experience in management and business strategy, having served on the boards of several companies including First Bank of Nigeria Plc and New Africa Merchant Bank Limited.
According to the statement, Yahaya has been a director of Leadway Assurance since 2006.
Described as a seasoned entrepreneur and administrator, the new chairman is currently a director of Fidelity Bank Plc and First Pension Custodians, and a trustee of PZ Cussons.
The company said Yahaya held a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School, Boston, United States and Stamford Graduate School of Business.
He is presently the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Associated Haulages (Nigeria) Limited and President, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Leadway Assurance also announced the appointment of Ms. Adetola Adegbayi as an Executive Director in charge of General Business.
Adegbayi joined the company 18 years ago as an Assistant Manager, rising to the position of General Manager (Business Services and Special Risks) in 2009.
She is a legal practitioner with varied experience in legal research, corporate legal practice, insurance and financial services.
Adegbayi holds a Bachelor of Laws degree of the University of Glamorgan, Wales and a Master of Law degree from the University of Bristol, England, graduating with distinction in jurisprudence.
She is also an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, Leadway Assurance, Mr. Oye Hassan-Odukale, the transition of Shettiman-Hadejia marked the end of an era.
Shettiman-Hadejia was the company’s first chairman from 1971 to 1993 when he became a junior Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The company’s founder and first Managing Director, the late Sir Hassan Odukale, then succeeded him as chairman from 1993 to 1999, after which Alhaji Mohammed Faruku (also late) picked up the baton and was chairman from 1999 to 2006.
Shettiman-Hadejia then returned as Leadway’s chairman in 2006 and held the position until his death in November 2012.
The firm stated that the appointment of Yahaya as chairman and Adegbayi as executive director reflected the dynamism within Leadway Assurance Company and its robust governance structure.
“Successive managements of the company, starting with Sir Hassan Olusola Odukale, transferring to Pastor Jaiyeola Oni and subsequently to Oye Hassan-Odukale, have embraced the vision reflective in its camel icon of being a reliable and efficient insurer, able to ride through varying periods to become one of the largest commercial insurers in Nigeria today,” the statement said.
The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oye Hassan-Odukale, also said appointing an executive director for general business also reflected new directions within the company’s life and general business divisions in order to position the firm for future growth and expansion.
The life business is now to be overseen by a General Manager, Mr. Shadrack Sivhugwana, a qualified actuary and Fellow of the South African Institute of Actuaries.
