Heritage Bank, RIMAN Partner on Risk Management

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In a bid to achieve and promote global best practices in the implementation of risk management for safer and stronger financial institution, Heritage Bank Plc has entered into strategic partnership with the Risk Management Association of Nigeria (RIMAN).

Speaking recently with newsmen at the first Chief Risk Officer’s time-out/dinner organised by RIMAN, President of the association, Mr Jude Monye, noted that effective risk management implementation requires the combined efforts of institutions to tailor and implement key risk management methods and practices in the economy.

He, however, explained that Heritage Bank chose to support the first Chief Risk Officer’s time-out/dinner because the bank believes in best practices in every aspect of corporate organisation.

According to him, Heritage Bank believes that the process of economic development will remain an illusion without appropriate attention given to risk management and best practices in all spheres of life.

Based on this, Mr Monye commended the risk managers present at event for their commitment to best practices in their respective sectors.

However, he advised the new and young members of the professional body to always ensure they do not jettison standards in their respective offices.

“Whilst thanking you for the kind honour that you have done us by honouring our invitation tonight, I ask you to join us as we expand the frontiers of our activities to instil global best practice in risk management to you. We seek your support and input as we take RIMAN to the next level and by so doing, add value to you and to your organizational ideals, activities and operations,” he said.

Mr Monye pointed out that over the years, RIMAN has accomplished much, ranging from advocacy, capacity building to professional risk management certification – CRM.

In his goodwill address at the forum, the President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Professor Olusegun Ajibola, commended the risk managers for taking the initiative to organise the event, which he said would be used by members to share ideas on how to grow the profession.

Mr Ajibola asserted that risk management is very important to growing any organisation and even aggregate economy; adding that failure to attach importance to it would do the entity more harm than benefit.

He said the Nigerian economy got to the present stage because people failed to acknowledge the importance of risk management to the private and public sectors.

According to him, as long as we fail to accord due importance to risk management, the nation stands to face the consequences.

The CIBN boss therefore advised the risk managers in the country not to play with their integrity for them to succeed in their vanguard of risk management in the country.

Again, he charged the board of each corporate organisation to be actively involved in the campaign for risk management in the country. With them taking the lead, Mr Ajibola assured that crusade would go a long way.

On why risk managers need to do more in Nigeria, the Chairman of Citibank Nigeria, Mr ‘Yemi Cardoso, noted that Nigeria’s economy is currently experiencing difficulties because risk management was not placed at its right place.

“If the risk managers do not get it right, the value of every restructuring effort made would be destroyed”, he stated.

Cardoso declared that money is kept in trust with banks; thus banks have a critical role to play if the nation’s economy would grow.

RIMAN is the foremost, non-profit professional Association of risk management professionals in Nigeria founded in 2000 in response to the gaps that existed in risk management capacity resulting in the banking crisis at the time.

Over time, the focus of RIMAN had shifted from just financial risk to the fact that risks exist in virtually all human endeavours and across all sectors. RIMAN at inception began with institutional membership and as at 2003, individual membership categories were added.