On the evening of Thursday, March 4th, the Board of Management of Takaaful T & T Friendly Society hosted Dr. Imonitie Christopher Imoilsili who made a power point presentation on the Friendly Societies Movement in T & T .A Senior Specialist in Entrepreneurship and Management Development of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), he is currently in Trinidad as a consultant to the Government of T & T in their Cooperatives Development Division of the Ministry of Labour Small and Micro Enterprise Development.

In a compact and very interesting presentation, liberally sprinkled with Nigerian adages, Dr. Imoisili identified the present state of the movement, efforts at revitalization and their impact on existing societies, making a comparison with international developments in the Friendly Societies Movement (FSM) with particular reference to the UK model which is considered as a leader in this sphere.

Dr. Imoisili whose own name means “dynasty”, told members of the TTTFS Board that  if the FSM in this country wished to go forward their immediate choice must be between a “dinosaur” and “dynasty approach”. He explained that the dinosaur mode with its attitude of complacency is of course an enemy to and deterrent of success and invariably ends with a final epitaph of “Rest in Peace or in Pieces!” A dynasty approach, on the other hand, recognizes the necessity to be proactive and would embrace the development of new products. He suggested that new products could include insurance co-operatives: life, property, death, etc among the unemployed; contract workers, women and the physically challenged; the development of synergistic relations with credit unions (e.g. as co-promoters of an insurance co-operative); SMFs (through institutions like NEDCO and YTTEP) and the Co-operative Development Division of the Ministry of Labour, Small and Micro Enterprise Division (MLSMED).

Dr. Imoisili who has worked with the National Productivity Councils of a number of countries including Botswana, Barbados, Jamaica and more recently Trinidad, also suggested that a name change could be considered which would indicate that the base and direction of the society had now been expanded so as to offer a new and more exciting range of products. Originally from the village of Edo in Benin( Nigeria), he is now domiciled in California, USA with his wife (a tax practitioner) and three children (a daughter who is a civil engineer, and two sons who are in banking and law.

In addition to members of the Board of Management of Takaaful, other guests included Messrs. Sheldon Salino (Cooperative Development Specialist) and Colin Bartholomew (Business Development Officer) in the Cooperative Development Division of MLSMED as well as Mr.Ramnath Ramcharitar, a member of the Advisory Friendly Societies Council.