ADDRESS BY LADY ISIOMA CHUKWUMA, PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL, CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE OF NIGERIA DURING A COURTESY VISIT TO THE NIGERIA INSURERS ASSOCIATION ON THURSDAY 26TH NOVEMBER, 2015.
PROTOCOLS
It is a great delight to be here today on the occasion of yet another opportunity to reinforce the bonds of intra-industry unity and co-operation. This being one of my major visits since assuming the Presidency of our great Institute, I wish to acknowledge the fact that the visit occupies a prime position in my itinerary.
Let me therefore express my sincere appreciation for your acceptance to receive us today, especially on this unique platform offered by the presence of Council members of the Association. Let me also convey the Goodwill of the Governing Council and teeming members of our Institute for the progress the NIA has continued to record in ensuring that the Underwriting Arm continues to act in unison.
I must thank you immensely for being part of the success of my Investiture as the 47th President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria on Tuesday 11th August, 2015 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
I wish to also thank the NIA for its immense contribution to the success of the maiden edition of the Insurance Industry Mega Conference. The Mega Conference, going by comments of practitioners and stakeholders has put the Insurance Industry in good stead to realize its potentials and surmount all the challenges facing our profession if the Industry Arms continue to act in one accord at all times. It is in light of this that I must also express the confidence of our members in the ability of the NIA as it assumes the leadership role in the planning of the second edition of the Mega Conference as agreed upon at the last meeting of the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC).
On behalf of our Governing Council, I wish to acknowledge NIA’s co-operation and contribution, especially in the following areas;
➢ Recognition and support for the CIIN as the Training and Educational Arm of the Industry.
➢ The establishment and sustenance of the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC) as a uniform platform for intra-industry co-operation. And
➢ The hosting of the Joint Media Retreat for Insurance Correspondents.
Distinguished Colleagues, my Presidency is a continuation of the rolling plan put in place by my predecessors, Messrs. F.K Lawal and Bola Temowo and to build on the various successes attained during their tenures. Hence, the theme of my Presidency: “Consolidating the Gains of the Industry for National Economic Growth”. This theme has been broken down into 11-point agenda as follows:
i. Promotion of the ideals of the Insurance Industry Consultative Council (IICC) and the sustenance of the Annual Insurance Industry Mega Conference following a successful and far reaching maiden edition held earlier in the year in Abuja.
ii. Reinforcing the huge potentials of the Centre for Insurance and Financial Management Studies through sustained publicity geared at tapping fully into the opportunity for human capital development for the Insurance Industry.
iii. Situating the CIIN on the global stage through articulated efforts geared at enhancing the Institute’s certificate for global acceptability, especially by up-scaling the collaboration with the Chartered Insurance Institute (UK).
iiii. Promoting Insurance Awareness by increasing the visibility of Insurance in national consciousness through publications in the print media and courtesy visits such as this will be made to key Newspaper houses to garner support for the awareness programme.
v. Follow-up on the recognition of the CIIN Certificate by the Head of Service of the Federation by ensuring that all necessary approvals are obtained so that our certificate holders are appropriately placed in the Civil Service structure.
vi. Further work on achieving wider coverage in the presentation and distribution of the Institute’s sponsored Insurance Textbook for Senior Secondary Schools. Following the presentation of the books to the State Ministries of Education in Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Ondo, Kwara, Rivers and Imo States, the following states are already in focus; Osun, Delta, Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Niger, Kogi, Benue and Plateau. Publication of the book is a landmark achievement of the Institute and should therefore be given greater prominence in the teaching and study of Insurance as a subject in Secondary Schools in Nigeria. The proposed Launching/Presentation of the Book at the National Level will also be pursued to its logical conclusion.
vii. Renewed Pursuit of Training for Insurance Teachers on a National scale by focusing on States within the South-South, South-East and North-Central geo-political zones of the country. The Train-the-Trainer project is a veritable platform for upscaling Insurance education and ensuring that insurance teachers possess the required skills for imparting the necessary knowledge to the future generation of insurance practitioners.
viii. Completion of the Institute’s Examinations Syllabus Review with a view to commencing its implementation. It is pertinent to state that the syllabus review exercise has provided the opportunity to widen the scope of the Institute’s examinations to include Insurance Broking and Loss Adjusting routes.
ix. Commencement of work on the Institute’s Victoria Island Property. Which my predecessors, Messrs.’ F.K. Lawal and Bola Temowo took firm charge of the outstanding issues which had militated against the resuscitation of the Victoria Island Building project. The Institute has finally secured the Building Plan Approval from the Lagos State Government thereby scaling the last hurdle to actual commencement of construction works on the project. With this latest development, all encumbrances hindering further development on the project have been removed. The next stage is to determine the funding/development model to adopt for the project.
x. Pursuit with vigour, the expansion of the Institute’s examinations to countries in West, East and Central Africa sub-regions i.e. Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe etc. in order to extend the frontiers of our professional examinations. During this dispensation, we will also reinforce the success recorded with regards to the existing off-shore examination centre in Banjul, The Gambia and the most recent centre in Kigali, Rwanda.
xi. Promotion of CIIN members’ benefits by ensuring that CIIN members get more value for their membership. In particular, we will focus on delivering continuous education programmes as well as improving the platforms for engaging members on knowledge update deliberations on a more regular basis.
Permit me to state that as an Institute, we are not resting on our oars in the drive to promote Insurance Awareness and Education in Nigeria. The 2015 edition of the Institute’s Annual Education Seminar with the theme “Synergizing Branch Office Operations and Insurance Awareness” was held just last week in Port Harcourt. The event was followed by our donation of 750 copies of the CIIN published ‘Insurance Textbook for Secondary Schools’ to both the Rivers and Imo States’ Ministries of Education for onward distribution to all the Senior Secondary Schools in both States. The donation of the Textbooks to Rivers and Imo States follows prior donations to the governments of Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Ondo and Kwara States.
All of these represent our articulated efforts at expanding the capacity of institutions offering insurance programmes thereby guiding them pragmatically towards the improvement of their capacity to deliver superior and qualitative insurance education.
I must reiterate at this point that the Institute is fully committed to placing the Insurance Industry in a prime position in the financial services sector and the national economy as a whole. Let me therefore assure you that the Institute is receptive to ideas and suggestions geared at guaranteeing success of the projects listed earlier on.
I wish to conclude by inviting the N.I.A to the Institute’s 2015 Graduation & Awards Ceremony scheduled for Tuesday 15th December, 2015, the CIIN Annual Christmas Carol Service scheduled for Thursday 17th December, 2015 and the Graduation Ceremony of the first set of Diploma Students of the Centre for Insurance and Financial Management Studies (CIFMS) on Friday 18th December, 2015. Formal invitations will be forwarded soon.
I must thank you, once again for this wonderful opportunity to be here today.
Thank you for your attention and God bless.
LADY ISIOMA CHUKWUMA, ACII, AIIN
President/Chairman of Council
Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria
RESPONSE BY NIA CHAIRMAN
The Chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association Mr. Godwin U. S. Wiggle in his response thanked the CIIN President for the visit and assured her of the support of the Governing Council and entire membership of the Association.
“We welcome you to NIA and do assure you of our support as always. The CIIN and NIA have enjoyed very cordial relationship over the years and your visit has further strengthened the bond. The Insurance industry is one big family and we have to co-operate at all times in the interest of the insurance profession” he stated.
“Insurance is our business and as the President of our professional body, the onus is on all of us to support you to succeed so that our profession will get the kind of recognition it rightly deserves” he added.
