Iconic insurance business leader, role model and mentor to many insurance practitioners Ogala Osoka remembers his father Sir Herbert Okegbu Osoka who would be buried today in his hometown, Item in Abia State. Below are his reminiscences of his great father:

I am the son of Sir Herbert Okegbu Osoka. My father is one of those who worked with the British Empire. He was among the first Nigerians to take over from the British. In an era when produce was the mainstream of the Eastern Nigeria economy, my dad was the Chief Produce Officer, heading the whole of Eastern Nigeria. He retired in 1970 as Head of Produce.

He belonged to the old generation—people who believed in the values of hard work, honesty and integrity. And God blessed him with long life. He was very much involved in the church work and he has held so many positions in the Methodist Church. He was the first person to be the Lay President twice. He was elected in absentia and he always claimed he had been serving the church for almost 70 years.

Everybody knows my father as a disciplined person and a man of integrity. He is consistent. He doesn’t tolerate mediocrity. They used to call him Principal in those days, because he wanted things to be done in an orderly way. And he is well respected within the community. He is a man who stands with the truth. And his inflexibility is one of the problems he had. He is inflexible when he holds his ideas, and these ideas are usually ideas that you can be almost certain would be the truth all the time.

My dad was a kind of man who was a good leader for his people and the family. This is something that I have not been able to cultivate myself. My father would visit all his siblings one by one, and will take responsibility for all of them. I wish I could do half of that. Even though I love my siblings, I am not able to give the kind of time my father gave to them. What I took from my father is standing by the truth and the fact that one inherited his humility and is contented with whatever one has. And my father is a big influence on us in terms of our relationship with other human beings to say that everybody is equal and you try to love your neighbour as much as you love yourself.

My father’s famous saying is straight from the Bible. He often tells me: “My son, a good name is more precious than gold and silver, better than all the wealth in the land. Be diligent in pursuit of all your endeavours.”

He didn’t like my going into insurance. I was supposed to go to the university to read engineering but because the results did not come out on time, I had to work a bit. And during that period, I was convinced to stay in insurance. My father thought it was a misplaced venture. But I must thank God, because even myself, I started doubting my chosen profession. Today, I am happy I chose insurance because I don’t think I would have been happy being an engineer than as an insurance practitioner.

Like every father, as soon as he found me studying insurance, he relaxed and when fortune came on my side and I was now recognized within my own industry and given a great opportunity to serve my industry at a very high level, my father was a participant. I invited him to everything I did. And I think like every other father, he might have been very proud of my achievements like he was of his other children.

Success tips
I don’t think I am a great man. Greatness is a gift that God bestows. I don’t think you can see it in yourself. Anybody who sees himself as great is not great. It calls for humility. Because it is God who creates what people see as greatness. I don’t think I achieved greatness in insurance. I was just lucky. We didn’t take an exam for me to be the best in insurance. I think it’s an opportunity one had just like the opportunity to play in the first eleven. If you don’t have the opportunity to play, how would anybody know you can play? Sometimes you play that crucial penalty which makes the difference. So, success is a combination of faith and God’s own making, not because you are clever. In terms of myself, how can I say I am great? There are many greater people than myself.
But I have a successful family life. That I can say.

And my wife is part of the success. She is a Christian and a fantastic woman. The fact that she can live with me is because she is a Christian. My greatest problem is that I’d rather want things to be done well, so I tend to be impatient with people. I like things done properly. I am always pushing for the best. You might think I am impatient, because you may not be following at the same speed.

I don’t consider myself a successful man as such. There is still a long way to go. The world is a long marathon race. It is important how you end. If you relax and call yourself a success, you would be surprised others would overtake you. So, I believe that we have to look at a bigger picture—the picture of how you would look in old age. Will you be lacking things in your old age? Will you be happy? Will you be contented in your old age?

Managing NICON Insurance
Being the MD of NICON, I accept, was one of the high points of my career. When I was appointed, I didn’t even know the matter had been concluded. I was lost when I was asked: Would you like to go to NICON? I never imagined myself going to NICON. I was the least qualified at that time. When I was told the President had considered me to go and manage NICON, I didn’t know what to do. I simply closed my eyes and prayed.

Jesus, my hero
Jesus has always been my hero. I want to live his life, I want Him to live with me, so that I would live a glorious life. The end is what is important in life. Where would you end? How would you end? Jesus Christ is a great hero of mine. The day I found Jesus was my greatest day on earth. I now became somebody else and all my problems appeared to have disappeared. This was in 1997. I was listening to a sermon and the sermon moved me. From then on, I was called to the altar. Then my life changed from then on.

Advice to younger insurers
My advice to young insurance practitioners is that they are in a very good profession which has so much potential. It is very easy for them to see where the industry can go by looking at what is happening all over the world. I believe they are more educated now and more exposed and they should be stronger on the ground. My advice to them is that they have to work hard. A lot of innovation is required in this business as in every business.