It was all joy and excitement when the Nigerian Institute of Manage­ment (NIM), recently held its annual Awards, Fellows and Spouses’ Day Luncheon. The event which took place at Muson Centre, Lagos, featured the in­duction of 48 new fellows who joined the 709 existing ones who had attained the highest professional membership grade of the institute. The occasion was also an avenue for the old fellows to meet and rejoice among themselves and receive the new fellows into their fold having been found worthy to be inducted.

In his address, the President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Manage­ment, Dr. Nelson Uwaga, described the event as a very important one in the annals of the institute where eligible members were con­ferred with the highest professional mem­bership grade. He recalled that the tradition started in February, 1963, when the first three fellows of the institute were inducted.
Some of the criteria used in selecting the members Daily Sun learnt were based on their integrity and freedom from litigation or investigation by any judicial panel. They must have also made notable contributions to the development of the institute and must be ready to contribute to its growth and devel­opment.
To clinch the Life Membership award, one must have attained the ripe age of 70 and also be financially up-to-date in the payment in their annual membership subscription as well as having met other statutory obliga­tions to the institute. The person must have put in 10 years to convince the institute that they were real managers. Moreover, corrup­tion and selflessness to the institute and the nation were never tolerated.
This would probably account for the small number of fellows after 53 years of existence of the institute whose individual membership strength stood at well over 2, 000,000 mem­bers. “This is because the institute guards its fellows jealously and is always painstakingly cautious while applying the criteria for the upgrade,” Uwaga explained.
He said the awardees were expected to bring more innovation to the management, adding that “fellows upgrade is not a destina­tion or an end in itself. I therefore, implore the recipients not to be contented with just add­ing the designation (FNIM) to their names but to see it as a call to higher service to the institute, the management profession and the nation. From this day forward, each of you is required to devote more of your time, talent, treasure and thinking to the service of the in­stitute and mankind,” Uwaga advised.
The event was a very unique one in the life of the institute as the spouses of members equally had fellowship with the members. According to Uwaga, the idea to incorpo­rate members’ spouses in this yearly event was kick-started two years ago to give them, especially those who were non- members, a sense of belonging at the institute”.
Uwaga used the forum to equally highlight some of the progress made by his adminis­tration so far, which included the ongoing military management training at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, and other management trainings both locally and globally.
Highlight of the event was a lecture titled “Random Thoughts On NIM And Its Fel­lows”, delivered by Mr. Akinbayo Adenubi, Chairman of P/F Ventures. He implored the new members to act as spokesmen to the public and tasked them to be able to shape professional practice by providing thoughtful  leadership and influencing policy and also asserting authority on behalf of the profes­sional managers.
Among those who were conferred with fellows on the night were Celestine Omehia, former governor of Rivers State; Hon. An­iekan John Umanah, Commissioner for In­formation and Communication, Akwa Ibom State; Paul Umunna, CEO Balans Engineer­ing Company Nig. Ltd and Ifeanyi Atueyi, Managing Director and Publisher of Phar­manews Ltd.

Amid joy, excitement, NIM inducts new fellows