It is an infallible fact that the world’s history is not only about events, but really about people who came, saw and made an imitable impact that changes the direction of men and human history. For our own little world, there is no way the story of many destinies and odysseys would be told in Nigeria and particularly the insurance industry without a conspicuous chapter devoted to the footprints of Late Tunji Ogunkanmi, the promoter and founder of Cornerstone Insurance Plc on the sands of time.
The story of the life and times of Tunji, as he was often called by friends and colleagues, could be better told in folklore or some abstract narratives to gain credibility. Yet it was true. Tunji lived in the contemporary world and did extraordinary things that could never be attributed to a man of his age and modest parental background. Attempt to place his initial life orientation as a little boy raised in the rural community of Ile-Ogbo in Osun State, with the supersonic accomplishments his life attracted could make one conclude that Tunji actually lived in the mould of an Avatar- the Hindu mythology of a reincarnated god. At the time when the insurance industry was bogged down by orthodoxy and was undynamic, Tunji decided to be one of the Avantgarde of a “destructive paradigm shift” that has changed the narratives of the insurance industry till date.
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At a very tender age, when many of his ilks were unemployed or still strapped to the apron springs of paid employment and hemmed in the fear of the unknown, Tunji stepped out and trodded the paths where even the angels feared to tread; pulling down all seen and unseen obstacles to pioneering a first-class company in a turbulent and bumpy environment like ours. Literally, he sowed the seed of an oak tree that has stood stoutly against all fiery winds till date.
At the age of 40, Tunji never appeared a candidate of death, yet it seems the world abhors to keep the good ones for long. Barely a month to his 40th birthday (precisely on Sunday, November 5, 2000, this icon departed the earthly plane prematurely to join the terrestrial, leaving gloom and mourning for those who knew and associated with him even till today. It remained as fresh as yesterday and quite unbelievable too that it’s been 17 years now that late Ogunkanmi left this world. Confirming the saying that to live is not to die in the hearts of all those that love one, Tunji has left a gaping hole in the hearts of all insurance operators and most significantly those who worked closely with him during the formative years of his company.
While his name continues to resonate at fora where issues of positive turns experienced by the industry are discussed, the staff of Cornerstone have gone a step further to collectivized under the name of “Cornerstone Alumni Community” to keep the memory afresh of a man they could safely refer to as a destiny changer and trajectory of personal success. He was a man whose life preached leadership, love and motivation, making Cornerstone a beehive that attracted the most progressive minds in the insurance industry for a long time. The solid human resource attracted to the company quickly transitioned it to a corporate family, a learning institution with a name amongst the foremost underwriting companies at the time; shoving aside many companies who had a heritage of longevity.
He was a leader and manager who remits success to his peers and subordinates instead of taking all the credits. A former staff who interacted with this writer reminisced the terse, but highly motivational nugget that Tunji placed on the walls of their offices in those days. In the message Tunji wrote: “everywhere I go, people bombard me with commendations about how Cornerstone has changed the narratives of the insurance industry, forgetting that not I but all of you (staff) are responsible. You are the one doing the work, I only come around, play golf and make you laugh. I thank you guys for making all these happen!”.
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Even outside Cornerstone, the shining light of Tunji was inimitable. He joined the Governing Council of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) which was the highest decision-making body of the umbrella Association at the same tender age and made an impressionable impact. He belonged to the “young progressive caucus” of the Association alongside the likes of equally young and vibrant minds like Oye Hassan-Odukale, Mohammed Kari, BalaZakaryau, and Fola Daniel, et al. His role in stabilizing the NIA during its turbulent membership crisis at the aftermath of the 1997/98 Council election that pitted Bolaji Banjo and Mohammed Kari in opposing camps would remain fresh in the memory of this writer, who was then newly employed as the PR Manager of the Association. The eventual pull out of NICON Insurance Corporation and Niger Insurance from NIA membership definitely created a financial crisis for the NIA, but this was staved off by Late Ogunkanmi and some other members who buoyed up their financial contributions to the Association while the crisis lasted.
There is definitely no way the life of Tunji could be encapsulated than in the tribute written by Jacob Erhabor, who became the Managing Director of the Cornerstone after Tunji’ssad demise. Erabhor said: “Tunji was a team builder and a motivator par excellence. Tunji was highly innovative, pragmatic and an embodiment of knowledge; no half measures. He trained and empowered his staff to a fault. He welcomed the loyalists and the office rebels with open hands. He was people-focused and practised liberal management to the delight of everybody. Under Tunji one learnt a lot of things, challenges and leadership styles that guaranteed superior result, you learnt plenty of those things they still do not teach at Harvard”.
Were Tunjito be around today, the insurance industry and the world would have been celebrating his 57th birthday as he was born on December 5, 1960. Demonstrating brilliance from an early stage, Tunjipassed out with Division One in his West African School Certificate in 1978 and also in flying colours at the Higher School Certificate level, giving him an express in the road into the University of Lagos where he graduated with Second Class Upper Division in Insurance in 1984. His brilliance was again brought to the fore when after three years of obtaining the Associateship of the Chartered Insurance Institute London (ACII), he was admitted a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute (FCII) London in 1990, at the age of 30.
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Definitely, like any mortal, it would have been the wishes of Tunji to be alive today, but it takes the Almighty to determine the destinies of men. Speaking on his plans for Cornerstone in an interview that was culled in the book “TunjiOgunkanmi: A legacy of Service”, Tunji said “Now that we have established a solid foundation for the company, I plan to make the company grow rapidly. The company has the capacity to grow and we need to take the opportunities we have. Personally, my desire is in the next few years to pay attention to other things. There is the urge to go into other ventures, to diversify. I know God has called me to be a businessman”.
As family, friends, colleagues and well-wishers congregate again to celebrate the post mortem birthday of this great icon, it should be a time for serious soul searching and introspection about how we all could leave the insurance industry, our nation, and our world a better place than we met it. We must continually realise that actual value of life, according to William James, and as evidenced by Tunji’s life, is not computed by its duration, but by its donation. For Tunji, the world will continue to celebrate him as one of the finest seeds that the Almighty endowed our world. Some of us see him as a prodigy who actually lived before his time. We celebrate you as always and wish your soul a continuing repose in the bosom of your maker!
Tope Adaramola
