Dear Distinguished NICA Fellow,
Leadership is not a title. It is a burden willingly carried for those coming behind.
On behalf of the Board of Fellows (BOF), I write to convey a landmark decision of NICA’s Governing Council, one that directly honors your years of service to the credit management profession and removes a needless friction from your fellowship.
Effective May 1, 2026, the Governing Council has formally uncapped all restrictions on Life Membership for FICA members of the Institute, following the concerns raised by the Institute’s Board of Fellows.
Why This Decision, and Why Now
For over 30 years, some of our FICA members have been in this profession. Many joined the Institute 2,3,4,5 years ago and beyond, chaired the Institute’s committees, defended credit discipline when it was unpopular. Yet every January, we sent you an invoice for ₦30,000 as though you were still proving your commitment.
That ends now.
The Governing Council reviewed three truths presented by the BOF:
- Dignity: Fellows should not be chased for annual dues. Your life’s work is the subscription.
- Sustainability: 68% of late payments are from Fellows – not for lack of funds, but for lack of priority amid busy lives. The administrative cost of reminding you exceeds the value.
- Innovation: A profession that preaches “lifetime value” to credit line customers must practice it with its own leaders.
What “Uncapped Life Membership” Means for You
–It’s the smartest way of stepping out today to reduce your future executive/personal expenses. How?
- No More Annual Invoices: Your FICA designation becomes permanent. You become a “Life Member”. No ₦30,000 annual subscription, ever again.
- One-Time Transition Fee: To convert from annual to Life, the Council has approved a one-time payment of ₦500,000.00 – equivalent to approximately 16.7 years of dues, but payable once for life, immediately to:
Account Name: National Institute of Credit Administration
Account Number: 1000660157
Bank: Lotus Bank. Make payment today and send proof to this email: ceo@icanigeria.net
- Uncapped Access: This window is open to all Fellows, regardless of age or year of induction. No quotas, No deadlines, No distinction between old and new Fellows. Your service is the only criterion.
- Legacy Benefits: Life Members will be listed in NICA’s Golden Register of Fellows, receive the Life Member Lapel Pin and Certificate, and retain voting rights in perpetuity without financial interruption, among other benefits.
Those Who Have Paid Already:
No further payment is required. We sincerely appreciate them for their foresights.
Check if your name is on the list published here.
What This Means for NICA
This is not a revenue drive. It is a respect driven initiative.
By converting to NICA Life Membership, you:
- Stabilize the Institute: Your one-time commitment secures your fellowship and strengthens NICA’s financial foundation for decades.
- Free Our Secretariat: Staff time moves from chasing invoices to building programmes that lift your name, and canvassing for new members to the Institute.
- Model the Future: You show younger members that fellowship is a lifelong covenant, not a yearly transaction.
The History You Are Writing
1992: All the way, we fought to be recognized as chartered professionals.
2022: President Muhammadu Buhari signed our Charter Bill, making us statutory after 16 years of struggle.
2026: We declare that Fellows are for life – because the standards you set are for life.
From today, “FICA” means, Fellow in Perpetuity, sharing commonality of purpose
Distinguished Fellow, you have given credit administration profession your intellect, your reputation, and your years. Let us stop asking you for your wallet every January.
Accept this as our institutional gratitude. Accept Life Membership of NICA as your right. The right conceived, nurtured and defended by the institute Board of Fellows, and the request examined and approved by the NICA Governing Council.
The Governing Council has decided. The Board of Fellows endorses it. The future will remember it. You accepted to be a life member of a statutory professional body that henceforth belongs to all of us. I commend you Sir/Ma!
Yours in perpetual fellowship,
For: National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA) Chartered
Prof. Chris Onalo, FICA, ICCF, B.Sc, M.A, Ph.D (credit management)
Founding Registrar/CEO
Mobile: 08034030160
Email: ceo@icanigeria.net, registrar@icanigeria.net
NO. 49
