THE MANAGEMENT TEAM
Mr. Benedict U. Ujoatuonu is a seasoned Insurance and Risk Management practitioner. He is a HND graduate of Insurance from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu and a holder of Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Calabar.
He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (ACIIN), Institute of Certified Cost Management (ACCM) and Fellow – Chartered Institute of Public Diplomacy & Management (CIPDM).
He started his Insurance career with Regency Insurance Co Ltd as one of the key underwriting staff, from where he joined Kapital Insurance Co Ltd. He headed the Technical department of Coral International Insurance Co Ltd and later moved to Global Commerce and General Assurance Ltd as Group Head, Technical and later rose to the position of Deputy General Manager (Technical Operations). After the recent consolidation in the insurance industry, he joined Crown Insurance Brokers Limited and Nobel and Lesley Consulting Limited as The Group General Manager from where he joined Universal Insurance Plc as Head Technical Operations and later Managing Director/CEO.
He has been involved in preparing students for the insurance professional examinations organized by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN). He is also involved in training and facilitation. He is the author of a life changing book titled “Success Secrets of the Rich now Exposed” and is a recipient of the awards of the Education Developer of the year 2015 by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and West African Students Union (WASU) and award of The Distinguished Fellowship of PEFON (DFPEFON) (Professional Excellence Foundation of Nigeria).
Ben has attended many local and international courses on insurance and management. He is happily married with children.
Mr. Anyanwu obtained HND from the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State. He also holds PGD and MBA degrees in Management from the University of Calabar.
He is a chartered member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) and also a chartered member of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN).
He has been an active player in the Insurance industry since 1992. Prior to joining Universal, he has worked with African Development Insurance Co Ltd; Central Insurance Co Ltd where he rose to the position of Deputy Manager, Marketing before leaving in 1998 to join the team that started Guardian Trust Insurance Company Ltd. from where he left in June 2004 as Senior Manager/Head Abuja to join Universal Insurance Plc.. He became the Head, Abuja Office and was promoted to General Manager, Nothern Operations in 2008, a position he held till his elevation to Executive Director, Nothern Operations in 2012.
Reginald has attended several local and international courses, seminars and workshops on insurance and management. He is married with children.
Benson U. Ogbonna (Ph.D.) is an Associate member of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria and American Society of Civil Engineers respectively. He also holds a Diploma in Salesmanship from Jersey, Britain; B.Sc. in Industrial Mathematics; MSc. in Geophysics and MBA in Marketing.
He has worked at various times with the University of Port Harcourt and the Rivers State University of Science and Technology as part time Lecturer. He is also a Resource person to the Graduate Management School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He joined Universal Insurance Plc. in 2000 as Marketing Manager and in 2003 was promoted to General Manager Business Development from where he became General Manager, Southern Operations.
He is married with children.
Barr. Chinedu Onyilimba holds a Bsc (Hons) degree in Mass Communication from the then Anambra State University of Technology, (ASUTECH) now ESUT and a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB Hons) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a full member of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (MCArb.).
He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1998. He worked in various Law Firms where he participated actively in Litigations, handled several criminal, civil and commercial cases and has also gained enormous experience in private law practice as well as corporate law practice before joining the Universal Insurance Plc. He has garnered requisite experience in Company Law and Corporate legal issues since joining the Company and is presently the Company Secretary/Legal Adviser.
He is happily married with Children.
James Olatunji Oyebayo started his insurance career two decades ago with Fire, Equity & General Insurance Company where he rose to the position of an Assistant Manager as an underwriter. While he was with Fire & Equity Insurance Company, he represented the company and served as an officer at various office Committees which included Fire Offices Committee (FOC), Marine Offices Committee (MOC) and Offices Representative Committee (ORC).
He later joined Kapital Insurance Company as the Head of Marketing in the Lagos office. In the year 2007, he resigned his appointment with Kapital insurance Company and joined First Cover Insurance Brokers as an Executive Director.
Mr. Oyebayo with his wealth of experience both in underwriting and marketing presently heads the Marketing Department at Universal Insurance Plc. He has attended various insurance courses organized by local and international bodies, he is also an Associate Member of insurance institute of Nigeria and he is happily married with children.
Mrs. Ojo is a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria as well as a Marketing graduate from The Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State with considerable working experience in the insurance Industry.
She started her Insurance career with a stint at Industrial General Insurance as a Superintendent, Marketing where she engaged in Micro Insurance Marketing after which she proceeded to Staco Insurance Plc as a Supervisor, Direct Sales Marketing. Thereafter, she proceeded to Law Union And Rock Insurance as an Assistant Manager Direct Marketing. She later moved to Mutual Benefit Assurance Plc, as a Deputy Manager where she was involved in Financial Institution Marketing, Direct Sales and Oil & Gas Insurance Marketing. She later joined FBN Insurance (formerly Oasis Insurance Plc) as a Manager where she actively got involved in bids packaging and Brokers marketing. She also worked with Anchor Insurance as a Senior Manager where she marketed High Net worth Individuals and Insurance Brokers.
Mrs. Ojo is an astute goal getter and also a dynamic Insurance practitioner. She joined Universal Insurance Plc in 2018 as a Controller heading the Oil and Gas Marketing Department. It is worthy of note that her ability to market in the specialized field of Oil and Energy made her contributions to be of immense benefit in Oil and Gas Portfolio of Universal Insurance Plc.
She has attended courses both within and outside Nigeria. She has attended courses in Oil and Gas organized by Marsh & McLennan Companies, Free to Grow International, African Development Solutions International and Offshore Technology Conference (OTC). She has been contributing to the growth of the Company and no doubt an asset to the organization.
Tony Okafor studied Insurance at the Enugu State University of Science & Technology. His Professional Insurance career started over 20 years ago and he has since gained experience in several aspects of Claims, Product Development, Business Development, Sales, Retail, Branch/Regional Management and Strategy.
Tony has attended several courses both locally and internationally.
He is a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria; a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration and also a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria.
Tony has worked in strategic positions in several Insurance companies, and was the Group Head, Retail at Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc, prior to joining Universal Insurance Plc.
Tony is responsible for the Coordination of the Retail Group in the Company and is happily married with children.
Mrs. Justina Ibe heads the Admin department of the Company. She obtained HND in Accountancy from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
She is a member of the Institute of Cost Management, Nigeria.
Mrs. Ibe started her career with Gold Standard Insurance Ltd. from where she went to work briefly with Jimbei Motors Ltd in 2004 as an Accounts Manager, a position she held for two years till she left to join Universal Insurance in 2006 as Senior Superintendent, Accounts. She was promoted to Senior Manager in the Accounts department where she doubled as the Company’s Compliance Officer. She was recently promoted to Assistant Controller, Accounts and appointed Admin Manager in 2019.
She is married with children.
Mr Andrew Ikechukwu Mgbanwune started his IT career with Woodzeks Systems Konsult Ltd as a database Administrator before joining Universal Insurance Plc in 2010 as a System Administrator.
He has a BSc. degree in Marketing from University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC). Before his degree he has shown interest in IT and has developed himself in IT programs.
Mr Mgbanwune has attended IT courses organized locally and Internationally and also a member of Association of Computer Engineers and Tech Assoc of Nigeria.
Ms. Ezeakor started her career with Universal Insurance Plc in 2008 as a Technical Officer from where she rose to head the Human Resources Department of the Company. She is a seasoned Human Resources Generalist practitioner, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Administrators (FCIA) and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Administration.
She has an HND in Business Management and possesses an MBA in Human Resources from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho. She brings to bear over 7 years of hand-on-experience in employee recruitment and retention, staff development, HR records management amongst others.
Some of her notable achievements include establishment of a new division for managing Human Resources, staff and customers complaints and developing team building programs.
She has also attended various leadership and professional courses.