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ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE GOVERNOR OF OYO STATE, HIS EXCELLENCY, SENATOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE ANNUAL EDUCATION SEMINAR OF THE CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE OF NIGERIA

ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE GOVERNOR OF OYO STATE, HIS EXCELLENCY,
SENATOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE ANNUAL
EDUCATION SEMINAR OF THE CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE OF
NIGERIA, AT THE PREMIER HOTEL, IBADAN, OYO STATE, ON NOVEMBER 8,
2018.

PROTOCOLS

I warmly welcome the Governing Council Members, Members of the Chartered

Insurance Institute of Nigeria, other distinguished guests and participants to the

Historic City of Ibadan and to our Pacesetter State. I also extend to you the goodwill

and appreciation of the government and the good people of Oyo State for the privilege

of hosting the 2018 edition of the Annual Education Seminar of your Institute.

The decision of the Institute to organize what can be termed continuous education or

refresher courses for its members is a highly commendable initiative given the

increasingly critical role the Insurance Practice plays in a world that has become highly

unpredictable. It is therefore comforting that the Institute has taken the task o~

regularly updating the skills and knowledge of insurance practitioners very seriously.

It is a generally acknowledged fact that to successfully chart a path to the future, one

must never lose sight of where one started from. It is therefore necessary to take a
brief excursion into the origin and evolution of the Insurance Industry in Nigeria.

Crediting History, in 1918, Africa and East Trade Companies inaugurated the Royal

Exchange Assurance Agency. This was the first insurance company in the history of

insurance in Nigeria. Other agencies that existed at the time included: BEWAC’s Legal

and General Assurance, Patterson Zochonis (PZ) Liverpool, and Law Union and Rock

The first insurance company indigenous to Nigeria was the African Insurance Company

Limited. At the time of Independence in 1960 there were twenty-five insurance

companies in Nigeria. Only four of these were owned by Nigerians. In 1961 the J.E.

Obande Commission report, which was a milestone in the history of insurance- ii’

Nigeria, was released. This led to the formation of the Nigerian Department of

Insurance as part of the Federal Ministry of Trade. This department was later

transferred to the Ministry of Finance. Gradually indigenous insurance companies

outnumbered the foreign insurance companies. Today, there are no fewer than 48

indigenous insurance companies in Nigeria.

In 1997, the National Insurance Commission was established. It was given the duty of

overseeing and organizing insurance in Nigeria. This body is functioning as the main

insura.nce regulator in Nigeria. The insurance industry in Nigeria has been steadily

growing ever since. By virtue of its roles, such as the provision of financial protection

for property, life, health and paying claims in case of death, loss, or damage, it is

evidently clear that the importance of the Insurance Industry to the socio-economic

growth and stability of any nation cannot be under-estimated.

Similarly, it is instructive to note that insurance is advantageous. It facilitates economic

growth by investing premium funds, protecting individuals, industry and commerce,

communities and nations from economic impact of losses, thus, removing the anxiety of

losses.

In developed countries, many people and many companies use insurance services. For

this reason, insurance is considered a major part of the service sector. Insurance also

forms a vital part of the economy. In these countries, people trust insurance and

therefore insure all assets in insurance companies. But in developing countries,

insurance has not developed yet to its full potentials. This is largely due to problems

such as misinformation about the industry and management deficiencies in insurance

companies. But chief among these reasons is distrust of people for insurance.

It is therefore imperative for the industry and the practitioners to take practical steps

towards addressing these issues. There is the compelling need for the Institute to deal

with the negative perception people have about insurance, some of which are being

fueled by primordial beliefs. You also need to be deliberate in delivering quality service …..

and superior value to your customers. I must add that adapting policies to the ever

changing situations of your respective publics will surely advance the profession and its

prospects nationwide. Also, high premium is a major disincentive for a lot of potential

customers. It is therefore necessary for the Institute to look for ways to introduce

minimal premiums in order to make insurance products less elitist and more inclusive;

the more the merrier! We must also not overlook the menace of quack and fraudulent

practitioners, who have given the industry a bad image.

For us in Oyo State, we appreciate the value of insurance and the need for our people

to enjoy a certain degree of protection against the vagaries and vicissitudes of life. Our

government also understands the critical role that quality education plays in ensurins

sustainable socio-economic development. In these regards, we have continued to make

huge investment in the development of the health and education sectors.

In health, our government launched a N50 billion Healthcare Endowment Fund for the

“restoration and transformation of government hospitals and health centres in Oyo

State”, on August 3, 2017. The measure adopted by the state government involved

fostering strong partnerships with the private sector, development partners and other

stakeholders in the health sector to pool resources, knowledge and skills that would

ultimately help in achieving the desired goal of improved access to affordable and high

quality healthcare service delivery across the state.

At the same time, we established a Health Insurance Scheme, first in the Country,

which is an innovative strategy designed to ensure unfettered access to healthcare

services by residents of the state, most especially the vulnerable class. This scheme,

which has recorded a huge success within a very short time, almost 60,000 subscribers

already signed-on, is a system where contributors’ funds are pooled to deal with the

financial burden of healthcare in times of need. In essence, each member is

appropriately served, not on the basis of his contribution, but according to his needs,

invariably guaranteeing access to quality medical care for everyone, regardless of social

or financial status.

In addition to these, we have also decided to set up a Global Micro Insurance Agency.

It will be private sector-driven and will further demonstrate our commitment to the

insurance concept and its attendant values.

What you should not fail to notice is how well we have adopted the basic insurance’

principles in the formulation of these policies. This clearly speaks to the potentials that

a well-developed and a well-harnessed insurance industry portend for any society. The

benefits are indeed innumerable.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I like to end this address by acknowledging our

government’s resolve to continue to demonstrate its well-acknowledged commitment’

to sustaining and improving our peace, safety, security policy programmes and

architecture, as well as our infrastructural rejuvenation, modernization and·

advancement which have made Oyo State one of the most popular investment

destinations in sub-Sahara Africa. Our goal is to create an increasingly conducive

environment for businesses to grow and thrive for the benefit and satisfaction of our

people. The contribution of your profession and indeed the insurance sector is most’

welcome.

Thank you for your attention and gladly to the glory of the Almighty I have the honour

and privilege to declare your annual education seminar open.

Senator AbiolaAjimobi
Governor, Oyo State.

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