By Dipo Olowookere
For her uncommon bravery and strength in the face of adversity to achieve success, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of African Alliance Insurance Plc, Mrs Joyce Ojemudia, has been honoured by the United Nations Positive Livelihood and Awards Centre (UN POLAC Foundation).
The UN POLAC recognised Mrs Ojemudia as a Distinguished Woman of Peace and Honour, conferring her with the prestigious Queen Amina Heroine Award.
In a Letter of Award signed by the Director-General of UN-POLAC, Prof Halo B. Eton, it was stated that the insurance expert was chosen “to propagate peace-building in Nigeria and assist in the implementation of UNDP programmes initiatives.”
It further disclosed that with her selection as Woman of Peace, Mrs Ojemudia “may be called upon for peace-making, conflict resolution and other activities that encourage peace and positive living in line with international best practices.”
The African Alliance chief is an accomplished insurance professional and astute manager of resources with over 20 years of experience in insurance sales, business development, risk management, claims administration and reinsurance.
She is an alumnus of the prestigious Lagos Business School (SMP 40) and the University of Lagos where she had her first and second degrees in Insurance and Risk Management respectively.
She is also a Fellow of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, an Associate of both the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria.
In 2020, she was elected the President of the Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA), the elite body of professional women in Insurance on the continent. Under her watch, the professional association successfully hosted her first ever Africa-wide side event at the continental African Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference during its 47th edition held in Lagos.
Few months after her ascension to the PILA top position, she was appointed the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of African Alliance Insurance Plc, Nigeria’s foremost indigenously-owned life insurer with some 50,000 active policyholders spanning over three generations.
As head honcho at the legacy insurer, Mrs Ojemudia has instituted a virile cost-saving strategy that is driving a top to bottom change within the organization while aggressively growing her market share by making viable and humane life insurance accessible to more Nigerians.
Recall that last year, her shrewd management style enabled African Alliance Insurance PLC to clear years-old legacy indebtedness to the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD); a move that industry watchers consider ‘bold and groundbreaking’ in all ramifications.
In 2021, she was recognised by Business Day Media as one of 30 Notable Alumni of the prestigious Lagos Business School.
The UN POLAC Foundation was established as an international autonomous institution following the UN General Assembly to select high profile individuals across the six geopolitical regions in Nigeria as volunteers to propagate peace building in Nigeria and assist in the implementation of UNDP programmes initiatives.
The Distinguished Woman of Peace and Honour Awards (DWOPHA) generally honours the inspiring work of women whose encouragement, leadership and commitment to peace stand out as beacons of strength and hope while the Queen Amina Heroine category celebrates women who have exhibited uncommon bravery and strength in the face of adversity to achieve success.
