ADDRESS DELIVERED BY GBADEBO OLAMERUN, PRESIDENT – ASSOCIATION OF REGISTERED INSURANCE AGENTS OF NIGERIA ON THE INVESTITURE / INDUCTION OF NEW EXECUTIVES AND MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION HELD ON THE 29TH OF APRIL 2014 AT NIIA, 13/15, KOFOABAYOMI STREET, VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS.

Investiture of new National President of the Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN) Gbadebo Olamerun

ADDRESS DELIVERED BY GBADEBO OLAMERUN, PRESIDENT – ASSOCIATION OF REGISTERED INSURANCE AGENTS OF NIGERIA ON THE INVESTITURE /  INDUCTION OF NEW EXECUTIVES AND MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION HELD ON THE 29TH OF APRIL 2014 AT NIIA, 13/15, KOFOABAYOMI STREET, VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS.    

Your Excellency, Governor of Ondo State

Chairman, Board of NAICOM

Hon. Commissioner for Insurance

Director Generals of Insurance Institutions

Managing Directors

Colleagues in the Industry

Gentle Men of the press

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

It is with utmost gratitude to God I stand here today before this great audience as the President of this prestigious Association to deliver this speech, history today will bear us witness of the change and development insurance agents will bring to the insurance market.  

As the new president of ARIAN, my vision is straight and direct; “to make insurance agency business easy”, however collaborating and partnering with other stakeholders in and out of the industry especially with state governments, our regulatory body – NAICOM, NIA, CIIN, NCRIB etc to foster the deepening of insurance penetration in Nigeria.   

In ensuring that the insurance agency business is made easy, collaborating with stakeholders is a top notch on our agenda, I’ll rather stand on the shoulders of the giants in the industry than do it my own way because no man is an island of his own. Likewise collaborating with all insurance practitioners including my constituency the agents, we are proposing an interactive session with all insurance agents tagged MEI (Members Evening Initiative) which will be a quarterly strategic session where agents will be hosted by one of the leading insurance companies, this drive will afford all the major players in the industry to meet with the agents, increasing their capacities, give them a positive mind set and sense of belonging.  

We will also ensure that all agents are licensed by NAICOM as we speak we have over 3000 agents registered with NAICOM and we project that by the end of 2015 this executive would have registered 20,000 agents into the books of ARIAN and NAICOM. However we are aware that over 20,000 unlicensed agents transact insurance business all over Nigeria, we are also using this medium to call all insurers to collaborate with us to ensure all their agents are licensed by NAICOM. Increasing the number of registered insurance agents with NAICOM will also increase premium which will lead to increase in the insurance GDP contribution in the country.  

MARKET DEVELOPMENTAL RESTRUCTURING INITIATIVE (MDRI)

We are poised to drive NAICOM’s MDRI with a national holistic view by mobilizing all insurance agents for its execution.  

ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILL OF AN INSURANCE AGENT

Show me successful agent you will find an entrepreneur per excellence, a giant coordinator, a strategic thinker, an excellent marketer with class and integrity who sells the intangible products to both corporate and individuals. Distinguished colleagues if you are not selling it mean you have not improved on your entrepreneurial skill. It took Dangote to strategically plant one or more of its product in each home in Nigeria. For insurance to gain its desire penetration he must target the family unit as an emerging market. If all families in Nigeria have one form of insurance or the other then we are gradually moving to the promise land.  

Professionalism of Agents is another key area of implementation for us. Lots of trainings will be organized for agents, training the trainers will also be done. We will also ensure agents are certified by CIIN because we have been able to push for a reduction of the amount for the proficiency test certification which is the most expensive requirement for agent’s registration with NAICOM. We also want to add value to agency network by recruiting more matured executives such as retired personnel and retrenched bank staff to market specific products such as annuity.  

SHARP PRACTICES

It’s no longer news that agency operation is created on the basis of commission, the market today has become more dynamic to attract more better incentives like Commission and transport allowance, Commission and salary, Commission and production incentives, however way distinguished ladies and gentlemen, commission incentive is a major determining factor for the success of an insurance agent. The era of commission only aided and abated sharp practices among some agents which have affected the image of the insurance industry. ARIAN has an entity setting up a portal in its website to check the activities of its members, relate with HR of each organization, and collaborate with the insurance companies to reduce sharp practices to the barest minimum.  

The future of the insurance industry is retail business, we have over 170 million individuals and our insurance penetration is still less than 1% meaning 1.7 million Nigerians have one form of insurance or the other. My question is this the best we can do? Of course not. Insurance agents are the grass root pillar of any successful insurance economy. We will drive the market with the new initiative of micro insurance to reach the nook and grannies of the length and breadth of Nigeria.    

CAREER PATH

Formally, the highest cadre for an agent was agency manager; I want to appreciate all insurance companies that have opened up channels for agents to aspire more into management and leadership roles in their various organizations. Today, we have Agency Coordinator, Regional / National Agency Manager, Assistant General Manager - agency, Agency director, and even Managing Directors who at one point in their career were agents. It will not be a tall order, if in my lifetime an agent becomes the Commissioner for Insurance.    

AGENCY STRUCTURE

Many insurance companies drive agency business based on the perception of ignorance and the result speaks. We in ARIAN can act as a consultant to such organization to help develop and build a formidable agency structure.  

AWARD CEREMONY

Today we are honouring our colleagues that have distinguished themselves in our chosen career of insurance agency marketing where the highest agent produced 590 million naira and the highest agency produced 1.3 billion naira in 2013 accounting year. The stake is becoming bigger so also is the cake. Remember as you lay your bed so you will lie on it and as a man thinketh in His heart, so is the man, it’s not by chance we are celebrating this distinguished ladies today. It took a lot of hard work, concentration and if I’m not mistaken the God factor. I challenge you distinguished ladies and gentlemen to make 2014 a year of celebration for you.  

2013 ARIAN MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD  

I congratulate His Excellency, Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko as the first recipient of this new initiative for contributing tremendously to the growth of health insurance, health care, maternal and infant mortality reduction and cooperative thrift / credit societies in Nigeria. This recognition is long overdue, very well deserved as it thrills me with the various nominations he got from well-meaning Nigerians. Some says Gov. Mimiko is an advocate, a practical change agent, a governor per excellence, a pace setter, a people centered leader, a humble performer and a deliverer of democracy to the people in the grass roots.  

Your Excellency on behalf of the Insurance industry we bring you our warmest congratulations. It is an honour to be selected for this award as it’s speaks highly about how you and your team are perceived in the insurance industry and Nigeria at large. It is a positive contribution that deserves our recognition and we are proud to say that you are the best governor of our time.    

Finally, I will to close my speech with a story I tagged “The mystery of the three screws”.   Above all we cannot do this on our own but with God and by His grace we shall surely overcome.  

Many Thanks.

Gbadebo Olamerun