IGI CEO Olowude dies at 63

 

A chapter was closed in Insurance yesterday, with the death of Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Company, Mr. Remi Olowude.
Olowude, who founded IGI, is believed to have died of prostate cancer. Neither family members nor officials of the company contacted last night agreed to speak on his death.

The late Olowude was born on April 26, 1951.
A terse sms by a spokesman of the IGI, Mr Steve Ilo, said: “All I can confirm to you at the moment is that Our Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Remi Olowude, has passed on. Further details will be contained in the statement to be issued shortly by the family and the management of the IGI group, which he founded. Many thanks for your condolences.”
Oluwude had a very rich inter-disciplinary background. He studied Economics at the University of Lagos (1970-73) and the University of Santa Clara, California, United States (1976). He was awaiting his PhD, having completed the coursework from the University of Santa Clara before his death. 

He was an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London.
An International investor in several companies around Africa, the late Olowude was Chairman of National Insurance Corporation Limited, a publicly-quoted company in Uganda. He was a Director and co-Chairman on the Board of SONARWA Holdings, which owns life, and general insurance companies in Rwanda. 

He deployed his international business expertise, professionalism and vision to building a conglomerate with interests in various business sectors spanning financial services, telecommunications, oil and gas, mortgage banking and aviation.
The late Olowude held the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was Chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association, an umbrella body for all insurance companies in Nigeria.
The late Oluwude, who hailed from Ejigbo in Osun State, was described yesterday by Governor Rauf Aregbesola as “an invaluable asset in the insurance sector.”
In a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, Aregbesola described Olowude’s death as a big blow to the insurance world, the State of Osun and Nigeria.
Aregbesola said Olowude’s death had undoubtedly robbed the nation and insurance of another great personality. 

“The death of Chief Remi Olowude is a sad one to us in Osun. Here was a man of immense qualities, which he had employed to promote everything ideal in his lifetime.
“Olowude, unarguably, distinguished himself in the insurance and business sectors to the extent that he became a household name across the country.
“Throughout his sojourn on the earthly surface, he distinguished himself as a man of immense wealth, a perfect gentleman and an Omoluabi per excellence, which is what Osun epitomises.
“There is, therefore, no gainsaying the fact that Olowude’s exit would create a huge gap in the business and insurance sector in Nigeria.
“I, on behalf of the government and people of Osun, offer our heartfelt condolences to the immediate and extended families of the deceased as well as the insurance family.
“We pray that the Almighty God repose his gentle soul in paradise,” Aregbesola said.
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola also commiserated with the wife, family and insurance professionals on the Olowude’s passage.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, Governor Fashola described the passage of Olowude as a great loss to the insurance industry and the entrepreneurship world.
According to him Olowude contributed in no small measure to the development of the country’s insurance sector and the creation of economic opportunities for the teeming skilled workforce in the industry.