Paper presented at the 2012 edition of CIIN professional forum
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY DR WOLE ADETIMEHIN, PRESIDENT/CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL, CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE OF NIGERIA DURING THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE INSTITUTE’S 2012 PROFESSIONALS’ FORUM ON THURSDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER, 2012 AT THE PREMIER HOTEL, IBADAN, OYO STATE.
PROTOCOLS
I have the greatest delight in welcoming you to the 2012 Professionals’ Forum of our great Institute and to address this august gathering of professional colleagues. Indeed, it is always gratifying to be part and parcel of our noble profession and being actively engaged in the continuous process of proffering solutions to the problems we collectively face as a body.
The professionals’ forum therefore has continued to represent our own annual convention at which every professional ought to be a proud participant but this is not what we see when only a minute fraction of Insurance Professionals in Nigeria find it compelling to attend. It is my sincere wish that this year’s gathering should seriously address the issue of poor attendance and reach a useful decision on the way forward.
The theme of this year’s Professionals’ Forum: “Beyond Professionalism: Making a Difference”, is a clarion call on professionals in insurance as well as the wider financial services sector to brace up for emerging challenges facing the global economy and for the exigencies of the rapidly transforming business environment. The belief today, is that as professionals, we ought to be adequately equipped in order to exhibit competences which are over and beyond the possession of mere professional qualifications. We must continually equip ourselves in order to effectively play our roles as risk managers and as change agents through the positive transformation of the organizations entrusted to us.
Insurance has remained the bedrock of economies across the globe and our Nation should not be an exception. It is our responsibility as insurance professionals to make insurance grow bigger in public perception through our positive roles and flawless performance.
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Today, there are even more compelling reasons why the Nation’s citizenry as well as governments should take insurance more seriously. It is now apparent that Nigerians are under daily threat from perils emanating from natural disasters such as floods, rainstorms as well as security risks which are taking their toll on the citizenry. Fellow professionals, this is the time, more than ever before, when our professional advice can make the desired difference in the scheme of things. Although a majority of the citizens are emburdened with the huge costs of procuring otherwise basic and fundamental needs such as electricity, water and security, it is my belief that our industry should be concerted in developing the huge potentials trapped in microinsurance.
Let me inform you that we have embarked on visits to state governments in the country in order to reiterate the importance of insurance. We are also holding useful discussions with the governors on the need to intensify their efforts at improving the welfare of citizens. This is in line with our belief that the citizens are unnecessarily saddled with expenses which are channeled at the provision of basic and fundamental needs which the governments should have put in place. These burdens are preventing the citizens from making insurance part of their priorities, thereby making them to bear their losses most of the time.
I wish to assure you that the Governing Council will continue to steer the Institute in the right direction, especially with policy thrusts that will engender the desired positive development in our commitments towards insurance education and awareness.
I am happy to report that we are making significant progress with construction of our College of Insurance and Financial Management. The College sits comfortably on a two-hectre land at Asese village along the Lagos/Ibadan expressway. The land which was allocated to the Institute some years ago is undergoing a spate of development resulting in the completion of the administrative block/lecture theatres, the restaurant and four residential chalets. With the satisfactory pace of work at the site, the College will be ready for take off in a couple of months. Permit me to reiterate the objectives of the College which include:
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Ø To provide qualitative education and training for persons engaged in the practice of insurance and allied services throughout Nigeria;
Ø To provide consultancy services in the fields of insurance and financial services for the insurance industry in particular and the financial sector of the economy in general;
Ø To undertake research in all aspects of insurance and allied subjects relevant to the economic development of the nation;
Ø To collect relevant data on the insurance industry, maintain a database and provide information on all aspects of insurance for public use;
Ø To constitute a research platform for determining the industry’s manpower needs from time to time and;
Ø To benchmark international standards in insurance and financial management education with a view to making the College a Centre of Educational Excellence globally.
No doubt, the College of Insurance will attract further development in its immediate community and also provide employment opportunities for the youths of the community. It is also our expectation that the College will be a signpost for career choice by encouraging the youths of the community and larger Ogun State to embrace insurance as a career.
Permit me to state that the Governing Council is following national issues with keen interest and will continue to make useful statements whenever the need arises. We recently joined our voice to the wide condemnation of the planned introduction of N5000 note by the Central Bank of Nigeria. It is our firm belief that this will send the wrong signal that all is not well with the economy. The move is also going to compound the inflationary trend and worsen the plight of Nigerians on the long run.
Already, the Nigerian business environment is being described as largely unfriendly to entrepreneurs and investors. As we all know the business environment is negatively schewed against the entrepreneur’s business expectations. The truth therefore is that the cost of doing business in Nigeria is very high as a result of a multiplicity of factors. Other than the
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cost of procuring labour, raw materials and equipment, the cost of doing business in Nigeria includes, amongst others, the man-hour value of time spent in hours of traffic in cities like Lagos, endless time spent at the Customs Long Room trying to clear imported goods, the huge expense on account of securing proper titles to business premises in our unique environment and, even the length of time wasted in the registration of businesses, in the first place. There is a plethora of other factors, including government policy inconsistency, administrative and procedural red tapism, multiple taxation and the well rehearsed cases of infrastructural failure as well as the apparent dislocations in the national economy as a result of large scale corruption and crisis of confidence. But the real cost, to say the least, is borne by the poor, the wretched and the vastly unemployed and underemployed Nigerians who live in squalid conditions far below the spectacle of the respective tiers of government.
Distinguished professionals, the nation’s contradictions have generated endless debates across the country. A country with vast potentials, yet unable to meet the most basic needs of its citizens must prompt all professionals to begin to gear up for leadership positions in governance in order to reverse the ugly trends. Gatherings such as this forum, should be able to proffer the preferred path for our Nation. We ought to lend our voices to the call for a national rebirth which would see an end to:
Ø Disincentives to foreign direct investors.
Ø Poor national image and a drain in the citizen’s esteem.
Ø Irreversible damage to the fabric of the nation’s sovereignty.
Ø Low ranking by the World Bank and other international bodies.
Ø A dwindling production value chain
Ø Growing entrepreneurial disincentive
Ø Dearth of small and medium scale businesses.
Ø Citizens restiveness and dwindling confidence in governance.
Ø Militancy and flagrant abuse of the rule of law.
Ø A reign of political profligacy and
Ø Unstable governance imperatives.
The real and imagined costs of doing business in Nigeria remains the biggest scare to potential investors, while those already entrapped by the
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degenerate mélange, continue to scamper for the nearest exit leading to business failures, loss of investments and massive job losses.
The only way forward, if one should attempt proffering solutions, is the enthronement of transformational leadership and massive re-orientation of both the leadership and followership. The social media revolution may have improved the punch of citizens advocacy for better leadership and improved quality of life, however, it is high time we all engaged in the deconstruction of the foundations of corruption and self-serving leadership. If we do this, we would be fanning the embers of patriotism and nationhood.
Let me at this juncture enjoin us to participate actively in the deliberations during this forum. The theme and topics are timely and compelling. The Guest Speakers are most experienced and are part of us. I welcome, in particular, our past president, Alhaji Bala Zakariya’u, whom we have not seen for a while.
Once again, I welcome you all to the 2012 Professionals’ Forum and wish you fruitful deliberations.
Thank you for your attention.
DR. WOLE ADETIMEHIN, ACII, FIIN, FCIB
PRESIDENT/CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL
CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE OF NIGERIA
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