Very little knowledge of insurance and its benefits to families and business has been identified as the bane of the insurance industry in Nigeria.
President and Chairman Of Council, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Mrs Funmi Babington-Ashaye, stated this at a press conference in Lagos yesterday.
Stating that the theme of her “Presidential year” is “Insurance- Imperative for Education and Enlightenment,” the CIIN boss said the theme was strategically chosen to address the information gap that existed between the Insurance Profession/Industry and the insuring public.
She explained that insurance institute’s research findings showed that many people were not aware of the importance and benefits of insurance to their families and businesses, yet, insurance comforts, protects and cares for people and businesses, particularly in times of disaster.
She lamented that despite its usefulness, insurance remained one strategic action that is last considered when people are making investment decisions or planning their family activities.
She said, “It was against this background that we decided to address this information gap through public enlightenment and education. This theme has five key pillars as follows: Regular Advocacy; Members’ Continuing Professional Development; Enhanced Insurance Awareness; Continued Efforts On Institute’s Buildings; and Reorganisation Of The Secretariat.”
On Regular Advocacy, Babington-Ashaye said the initiative involved reaching out to key stakeholders, policy makers, including top government functionaries, to persuade them to create an enabling environment for Insurance to thrive in their domains and also for them to embrace the Insurance philosophy.
“Pursuant to this, we have, within this first quarter of my presidency, paid courtesy calls on the Governors of Ogun, Oyo and Ondo States and received very reassuring and encouraging responses from these great leaders of thought. In the near future, we expect that these reassurances will result in more insurance activities in those states. In line with our programme, we intend, in the days and months ahead, to carry the advocacy to other stakeholders including players in the informal sector,” she said.