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| Daniel |
Chuks
Udo Okonta
The
public misgivings about the insurance industry in Nigeria are due to ignorance
and lack of proper understanding of insurance mechanism as a tool of risk
management by the people, the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, has said.
The
Monarch made this observation during the week in Jos, the Plateau State
Capital, when the management of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), led
by the Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel, paid him a courtesy visit.
He
also noted that the misgivings may have been due to the activities of a few
operators that had engaged in sharp practices in the past but said that such
practices were not peculiar to the insurance industry.
He
said: “Just like any other sector of the economy, the activities of a
negligible few may have given rise to such negative perception. But that was
not enough to over look the good the industry has to offer the people.
“The people will derive more value from the
services of insurance as the industry grows.”
He appealed
to insurance operators to be more forthright in their dealings with the public to
erase the negative perception of the people about the sector.
He advised NAICOM to embark on aggressive
public enlightenment campaigns to educate the people about the benefits of
insurance.
He also invited the Commission to organise one
of such enlightenment campaigns in Jos.
The
Monarch said, he will not only support the campaign, but would also appeal to
the State Government to align with the insurance literacy awareness drive of
the Commission.
The
Commissioner for Insurance, in his remarks, told the Monarch and his chiefs
that the era of insurance companies collecting premiums and not paying claims
was over.
He
said any policyholder who believes he has been wrongly treated by an insurance
company should feel free to approach the Commission for redress. He added that
NAICOM not only has the power to regulate, but also has what it takes to
discipline any erring insurance company, including revocation of its operating
license.
The
Commissioner for Insurance also took time to let the Monarch and his chiefs
know of the usefulness of insurance as an important tool of risk management.
He
said insurance is one of the “cheapest means of managing risk but it is largely
misunderstood”.
As a
result, he added, the Commission was in the process of embarking on an
awareness drive that would enable the people know insurance as one of the means
of managing their risks.
“We
believe that one of the platforms we can use to reach the people is that of
traditional rulers and that is one of the reasons we have come to visit His
Royal Majesty.
“We
believe if we can get the buy-in of His Royal Majesty, we will be able to get
the message across to the grassroots easily”, the Commissioner said.
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