Thursday 22 May 2014

CIIN advocates public education to create insurance awareness

By Sola Alabadan


 
President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Fatai Lawal, has emphasised that the efforts to create insurance awareness will only yield positive results if the people are made to understand what insurance is all about.

He stated this in Lagos during the presentation of computer systems to tertiary institutions accredited by the CIIN.

Lawal said "the theme of my presidency is borne out of the belief that we can only create the necessary insurance awareness where people are fairly and reasonably educated about it."

He also lamented that "The less than optimal financial literacy in Nigeria today is at the root of poor patronage of financial services and insurance happens to be one of the most affected in the sector."

In spite of the fact that the nation's population is about 160 million people, the CIIN boss pointed out that the country can only boast of 3,500 professionally qualified insurance practitioners, adding that "The only way we can get insurance to penetrate every nook and cranny of this country is to get more people involved as crusaders for insurance. This, we believe is the way to go".

Lawal also informed that the donation of computer systems to tertiary institutions was part of a series of actions geared at accelerating the empowerment of institutions offering insurance courses across the country.

The CIIN boss maintained that the institute is continually committed to the actualisation of its statutory responsibilities as enshrined in Decree No. 22 of 1993, which include the determination of the standards of skill and knowledge for the ethical and professional delivery of insurance services in Nigeria.

"Therefore, the promotion of insurance education is not only a key to unlocking the huge potentials of our industry but also a means of opening the doors to the younger generation who represent the insurance practitioners of tomorrow," he added.

As the CIIN boss had promised to promote insurance education during his tenure, he said the institute has successfully produced Insurance Textbook for Secondary Schools to actualise Federal Government approval of Insurance as a course of study in "O-Level" examination, as well as reinforced activities at the College of Insurance and Financial Management along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

He noted that these efforts "command the significant signposts for developing a lasting legacy in the promotion and sustenance of insurance education and for ensuring that we entrench the standards requisite for the production of an excellent workforce for the insurance subsector of the national economy."




Source Daily Independent

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