'Nigerians need financial protection from insurers'

Chuks Udo Okonta It is a national duty for insurance companies to give Nigerians financial protection, the Managing Director Riskguard-Africa Nigeria Limited Mr Yemi Soladoye, has said. He told Inspen that insurance companies are not living up to expectations as they have not been able to provide adequate financial protection to the public. He said" To me, it is a national duty that insurance companies should give us financial protection in this country, but that is lacking." He noted that the industry has not been able to provide services to meet the needs of the public. He also frown at the financial performance of the industry, adding that what its annual premium income, is not up to a premium that a branch or agency of a company writes in a normal insurance setting. He said: "We do not have what I would call real insurance company in Nigeria. What we have are small firms. What the industry writes as annual premium income, is not up to a premium that a branch or agency of a company writes in a normal insurance setting. For example, look out the results of Fortune 500, American Insurance Group (AIG) and more. These are companies that are generating about $250 billion premium each year. Convert that to naira, it is about N4 trillion. "Two years ago, analysis was done of the 500 biggest companies in Africa, looking at the insurance companies on the report, there were 20, none is from Nigeria. So, we are not there. A small country like Mauritius, with a population of 1.2 million people, is generating 60 per cent of the premium income of Nigeria." He noted that when the right thing is done, and operators have the vision to create a big visionary customers service oriented company, the industry will take its rightful place.