OJUDU, LAGOS– The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) has actually released a strategic grassroots advocacy campaign targeting secondary school students to fight a critical shortage of threat management professionals in the nation.
The effort reveals a plain talent deficit, with fewer than 30 accredited actuaries currently practicing in a country of over 200 million individuals.
As part of the Nigerian Actuarial Advancement Programme (NADP), top authorities from the council went to the Babs Fafunwa Centuries Secondary School in Ojudu, Lagos, to sensitise high-achieving mathematics students on career chances within the financial sector.
Dealing with the students, the Assistant Director and Head of the Directorate of Actuarial Standards at the FRC, Mr Harris Oshojah, described that a pervasive absence of awareness at the secondary school level is the primary reason that young Nigerians do rule out actuarial science as a profession option.
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An actuary is a highly specialised business professional who uses innovative mathematics, data, and financial theory to determine and handle danger, making them vital to sectors like insurance, banking, pensions, and national economic planning.
“We are here because certified actuaries are lacking in Nigeria,” Oshojah stated bluntly. “Lots of trainees are not even aware of the course and the substantial chances readily available in the occupation. Given our population, having less than 30 accredited specialists is completely inadequate to service the risk-assessment needs of our economy.”
Financial Incentives for Aspiring Professionals
To bridge this gap, the FRC has actually created a tactical alliance with the Nigerian Actuarial Society (NAS) to remove financial barriers for trainees pursuing expert accreditations.
Oshojah revealed that under the existing NADP framework, the peak regulatory body has actually instituted a robust compensation policy.
Undergrads and expert prospects who successfully pass any stage of the highly rigorous professional actuarial evaluations will have their test fees completely reimbursed.
Mathematics: The Foundation of Economic Planning
Likewise speaking at the outreach, the Head of the Department of Actuarial Science and Insurance at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Teacher Ismaila Adeleke, urged the students to see mathematics not simply as a classroom topic, but as a fundamental tool for financial advancement.
Teacher Adeleke recommended the trainees that a deep commitment to analytical thinking and mathematical problem-solving is the outright requirement for getting into the elite occupation.
The Principal of Babs Fafunwa Millennium Secondary School, Mr Olutoto Olufemi Alani, revealed appreciation to the FRC for picking his school as a launchpad for the campaign.
He divulged that the school took the intentional step of selecting just its general best mathematics trainees from Senior Secondary School classes one and two (SSS1 and SSS2) to take part in the seminar.
With the FRC heightening its NADP school trips, instructional stakeholders think that catching leading analytical minds early will eventually fix Nigeria’s reliance on foreign actuarial companies, keeping local financial information safe and secure and building a durable ecosystem of regional risk experts.