From left: Deputy President, CIIN, Sir, Muftau Oyegunle presenting a plaque to the Vice Chancellor, Enugu State University of Technology Prof. Luke Okechukwu Anike at the event.
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There is no future without insurance, the Vice Chancellor, Enugu State University of Technology Prof. Luke Okechukwu Anike, has said.
He said this in a paper entitled: ‘Financial Inclusion In Nigeria Through Insurance: Challenges and Prospects’ presented at the 2019 edition of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Annual Education Seminar in Enugu, Enugu State, whilst calling on the public to embrace insurance, as it is the key to sustainable financial inclusion.
Anike lauded the the CIIN for organising the event, stressing that the event came at a very critical time in the national life – a period characterised by dwindling economic fortunes and rising poverty in many families.
He opined that if poor Nigerians were to become a country, it would be more populous than Germany, Turkey, United Kingdom, France, South Africa, Spain, Argentina, Afghanistan, Poland. “A 2018 World Review published by World Bank showed that unlike other regions of the world, the total number of extremely poor people in Sub-Saharan Africa is increasing, from 278 million in 1990 to 493 million in 2018. In 2015, Sub-Saharan Africa was home to 27 of the world’s 28 poorest countries and had more extremely poor people than in the rest of the world combined. While the average poverty rate for other regions was below 13 per cent as of 2015, it stood at about 41 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
He noted that one of the critical areas that insurance could cover is education, adding that insurance could ensure that parents and guardians save up enough money to ensure stability in the education of their wards. “If education insurance is taken up, the stability in providing quality education is guaranteed even in the event of the death of parents and guardians. Data from CBN, 2018 indicate that less than 1 percent of Nigerians have access to education insurance despite repeated campaigns. For instance, AIICO Insurance Plc and other platforms offer several education policies to meet these needs. But the obvious question is, how many Nigerians have taken up cover? I think you know the answer,” said.
President of the CIIN, Eddie Efekoha, said the Seminar Theme: “Financial Inclusion and Insurance – Issues, Challenges and opportunities” has been specially selected to throw further light on the importance of inclusion, the roles of emerging markets and need for creativity in the offering of services by insurance stakeholders in order move the needle and grow the insurance industry.
He maintained that it is common knowledge that Insurance penetration is nowhere near where it should be in the country, stressing that as practitioners, people can also acknowledge that companies are doing all that they can within the tenets of the law to reach out to customers to create a sustained demand for insurance products.
“The question is, are our best efforts enough? What more can we do to improve our lot? Equally, Insurance companies are being tasked to reorganize their operations and focus on promoting value. This will in turn, increase the number of persons who embrace insurance, turning them into ambassadors no matter in what sector they actively function,” he posited.
