Usman Jankara Jimada, the recently appointed deputy commissioner for Insurance at the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is a Chartered Insurance Practitioner and an experienced administrator with over 20 years of experience.
He is a veteran manager of people, organizational relationship and strategy having spent all his working life at the top echelon of organizations.
Within few months of his appointment as the head of the Corporate Strategy and Special Duties Department, he developed and obtained the Board’s approval for a Strategic Plan for the National Insurance Commission, which has been acclaimed as the best in the history of the organization.
He earned his Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Business Administration from the UNICAF University, Cyprus with his PhD Thesis focused on strategy/stakeholder management and insurance penetration.
He obtained a Master of Business Administration in 2015 from the National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja, a diploma in Risk Management and Insurance in 2006 from the West African Insurance Institute (WAII), Banjul-Gambia and a Bachelor of Sciences Degree in 2002 from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port-Harcourt.
Usman Jankara has won many scholarly awards namely; the overall Best Graduating Student Award of WAII 2006 set, the Best Student of his Department in RSUST as well as the Rector’s Honours List/Best Graduating Student at the Federal Polytechnic, Bida. He was also awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the NYSC, Osun State chapter in recognition of his exemplary leadership as a Corps Liaison Officer.
He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria by examination (2007), a fellow of the International Fellows Programme of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas, Missouri, USA (2013) and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Administrators, Nigeria.
Usman Jankara began his career with Sakampu Nigeria Ltd, Port-Harcourt as an Administrative Officer in 2002. He was the NYSC Corps Liaison Officer in Iwo Local Government of Osun State and worked with Startech Connections Limited, Abuja briefly before he joined the National Insurance Commission in 2004.
In 2006, he attended the West African Insurance Institute’s Diploma in Risk Management and Insurance programme where he graduated with Distinction and won the Best Graduating Student Award. Upon return to Nigeria, he became the Personal Assistant to the Commissioner for Insurance/Chief Executive of the National Insurance Commission
He was re-employed as a Deputy Manager in 2009 before he became the Manager/Head of the Commissioner’s Office in 2013, a position he retained when he was promoted to the rank of a Senior Manager in 2016. He became an Assistant Director in 2019 and later became the Head of the Corporate Strategy & Special Duties Department. Until his recent appointment as a Deputy Commissioner by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 19th April 2024, as the Head of the Corporate Strategy & Special Duties Department, he was responsible for strategic planning, implementation, monitoring, coordinating strategic projects, as well as handling special duties and implementing solutions to insurance regulatory/supervisory issues, among others.
He is credited with anchoring many flagship projects and initiatives in the National Insurance Commission such as designing and implementing the quality assurance/executive support activities of the Commissioner’s Office staff, anchoring the crafting of the guidelines for oil & gas insurance business in Nigeria, steering the local content guidelines and aviation insurance guidelines, harmonization of the regulatory returns, and development/implementation of the NAICOM Strategic Plan 2021-2023 as well as coordination of the Commission’s technical partnership with FSD Africa, among many others.
These efforts resulted in the fastest CFI’s Office and Commission’s response time in the history of NAICOM, increased risk retention in Nigeria and higher quality reinsurance treaties/securities, and supervisory effectiveness in the oil & gas and aviation insurance segment. He is also credited with coordinating the review/consolidation of all the Insurance Guidelines which culminated in NAICOM’s issuance of the landmark Market Conduct Guidelines and Prudential Guidelines in 2015 as well as the draft frameworks for ESG and RBC, among others.
Usman Jankara is a dedicated, principled and self-motivated manager who has inculcated a very strong sense of commitment, discipline and good corporate culture in the staff of his Office and Department. He has received letters of commendation for his exemplary leadership and dedication to his job.
Usman Jankara has attended several management and leadership training programmes at leading local and international organizations including NAIC (USA), Africa-Re (Lagos), Toronto Centre (Canada), TEXEM (UK), RIPA International (London), IFISA (South Africa), Swiss-Re Academy (Lagos), JLT (London), MIF & BNM (Malaysia), Munich-Re (Dakar, Senegal), TrustComm (Banjul-Gambia), AITRI (Singapore), IAIS (Seoul, South Korea), among numerous others.
