From right: Mrs Nwoji, receiving the award plaque from the Deputy Commissioner for Insurance (Technical) Mallam Abubakar Sabiu, at the event held at the weekend in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
BY NKECHI NAECHE—ESEZOBOR—-In two consecutive years, Insurance Editor, Ebere Nwoji of THISDAY Newspapers, has emerged top best to win the Print Media Reporter of the year 2023 award instituted by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) two years ago, in 2022.
NAICOM, which is the apex regulator of insurance sector and practices in Nigeria, instituted the award to annually recognise Journalists who had distinguished themselves in terms of knowledge of the sector and bringing to bear their wealth of efficiency and understanding to not only report the sector, but also analyse trends, issues and developments in the sector, thereby contributing to promoting, creating understanding of the sector by diverse publics and boosting appreciation of its relevance in the economy.
It would be recall that Mrs Nwoji had in 2022, won the maiden edition of the award out of over 100 journalists focusing on Insurance beat.
The award was conferred on Ebere Nwoji as the winner this year, for the second time in a series at a just concluded retreat for Insurance Journalists with the theme: “Improving Stakeholders Perception, 2023 and Beyond”. The retreat was organised by NAICOM and was declared open by the Commissioner for Insurance and NAICOM’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Sunday Thomas, at Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital.
While announcing Mrs Nwoji, Assistant Director / Head, Corporate Affairs of NAICOM Rasaq Salami, noted that having scanned through the print media: newspapers, magazines and cartoons, NAICOM found it worthy to award the 2023 Insurance Reporter to Mrs Nwoji.
In his words, “ We scanned through the print: the newspapers and magazines for the year 2023 till now. We monitored news reports, articles, cartoons and we monitored everything that has to do with insurance in newspapers and magazines and we found it worthy to award the 2023 Insurance Reporter to Mrs Ebere Nwoji.
Mention of her name, drew ovations and applause as friends and colleagues attested to her skill and knowledge of the sector which was earlier affirmed by NAICOM Assistant Director (Compliance Bureau life), Mrs Augustina Onojake who had while presenting a paper on “Re-awakening the Nigeria Insurance industry through Claims Settlement” cited one of Mrs Nwoji’s definitions to buttress her points.
Also presenting the award to Mrs Nwoji, the Deputy Commissioner for Insurance (Technical) Mallam Abubakar Sabiu congratulated her saying, “We will like to appreciate you for your outstanding performance. Congratulations!”