Awareness, panacea to public acceptance of insurance products
Ayeleso Oladele, Lagos
Fola Daniel,
Commissioner for InsuranceAt several insurance occasions and gatherings
since Wednesday, November 14th 2007, when
the Minister of Finance, Mr. Aderemi Babalola, announced the list of successfully recapitalised insurance and reinsurance companies in the last consolidation programme, issue bordering on creating more awareness for insurance products among the Nigerians have always been a bone of contention.
It is an indisputable fact among the Nigerian Insurance operators that for a very long time, insurance business has really suffered a great set back not only because it lacked the financial power to set the ball rolling in terms of business, but its existence was hardly known among the common public except for the bad side of non payment of claims when the need arises, thereby tarnishing the image of the industry.
A great little thanks to the almost one year old official release of the list of recapitalised insurance companies and consequent release of over N80 billion insurance funds held up in the Escrow Account with the Central Bank of Nigeria that has turned the sector into a beehive of activities with greater investor confidence and the resultant increase in trading of insurance stocks on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the sector is now fully positioned to claim its rightful place in the scheme of things and play its expected role in the economy by making greater contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as being clamoured by the operators and practically demonstrated by the ongoing self induced recapitalisation.
The question is, in spite of the fact that the industry has identified that it could do little without creating much awareness within Nigerians even before going beyond the shore of this nation to establish shops, what is it doing to ensure that insurance becomes a household name in nooks and crannies in Nigeria?
Although, efforts of most of the companies are geared towards ensuring that Nigerians are fully aware of insurance products. “Deliberate and concerted efforts are now needed to drive the acceptance of insurance by all strata of the Nigerian society. The expansion and penetration of insurance to the grassroots has become a mandate that must be vigorously pursued through mass campaign and awareness recreation”. This assertion was made by the Commissioner for Insurance and NAICOM boss, Mr. Fola Daniel.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner at different forum has repeatedly emphasised that one of the best means for the industry to blow its trumpet for the nation to hear is to promptly pay genuine claims without any delay and since there are no more fringe players in the industry, it becomes easier to do.
Currently, in the city of Abuja, it has really become a punishable offence to drive any vehicle on the road without a genuine insurance certificate, at least, third party, that can guarantee the road usage.
This is part of the collaborative efforts of the insurers and SERVICOM through its one stop claim shop known as OSCAR. In the last one year that SERVICOM has flagged OSCAR pilot project in Abuja, at least among drivers in Abuja, insurance is now more prominent.
According to Mr. Joshua Omukoro of the SERVICOM Road Safety Pilot project, since the commencement of the project, statistics has shown that vehicles with valid insurance cover rose from 5.7 per cent to 13.8 per cent while drivers with valid insurance cover rose from 8.2 per cent to 22.3 per cent in addition to the reduction of car drivers with fake insurance from 62.5 per cent to 39.3 per cent.
He further revealed that as part of the efforts of the commission in collaboration with other authority and bodies in the insurance industry, such as National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) and others, the industry had recorded 83 per cent increase in sales of third party motor insurance compared with that of last year.
The Group Managing Director, Standard Alliance Insurance, Mr. Bode Akinboye, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune noted that the industry had garnered enough funds that would enable it compete with its counterparts in other countries of the world. In fact, according to him, it is a fact that the Nigerian insurance sector now has the largest capital base in the whole Africa.
But, he said, for the industry to thrive, it needed more awareness. However, he suggested that the industry should endeavour to take its awareness campaign into higher institutions of learning, among the students, whom he said, would take over the industry in the nearest future.
Experts are of the opinion that if awareness campaign is taken with all serious it demands in the sector, sooner than it is expected, the industry would take its rightful position to do business as it is done in other countries of the world.
Charging the insurance correspondents with this responsibility in Lagos recently, Mr. Tope Adaramola, Corporate Affairs Manager, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) said that the major help that the industry needed at this junction was to help it with more publicity.
Meanwhile, as part of its social responsibilities to the public as the best political and business newspaper in the country, to further help the current wave of reforms sweeping through the financial sector of the Nigeria economy, ditto, insurance, Nigerian Tribune is spotlighting insurance and reinsurance companies that has made the mark in unprecedented way of doing insurance business among others.
With this in view, the Nigerian populace will be better informed with different products available, the need for insurance in the society and also be acquainted with available genuine insurance companies.
