It is new a dawn in the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) and by extension the entire insurance industry as Segun Omosehin takes over rein of leadership of insurers fraternity. Chuks Udo Okonta, in this report reveals the distinct initiatives stocked in his kitty which would be used to drive underwriting business to lofty heights.
With 29-year hands-on experience, the Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Segun Omosehin, would have seen the good and bad times in insurance practice.
His emergence as the 25th Chairman of the association this time of transition of insurance practice, which is necessitated by many factors, especially technology and human development, requires top notch ideas and thought through initiatives to keep the insurance business afoot.
Being conversant with the task before him in this changing time, Omosehin, has stocked his kitty with the requisite initiatives to march the task and take the underwriting practice to lofty heights.
Opportunities
As only those who see opportunities amidst challenges, take honey from the bee, Omosehin, sees huge opportunities for the insurance industry.
According to him, in the midst of both national and global headwinds, there are new opportunities, both globally and locally, open to operators in infrastructure, healthcare, technology, agriculture, mining, power, education, and human capital management, all with the potential to disrupt the trajectory of our lives and businesses forever.
“We should therefore take advantage of these opportunities, which has never been available at this scale and magnitude in decades, to redefine and reposition ourselves as a partner for the prosperity of our country,” he posited.
He said underwriters have an opportunity to re-appraise the state of the industry and chart a new course for it, adding that operators should move intently from their brand image towards their brand identity and should strengthen it and position themselves to contribute more impactfully towards the cultural and socio-economic development of the nation.
Catalyst for Change
He noted that as insurers, together with their other counterparts in the financial services sector, operators must be the catalyst that serve as the guard-rails protecting the delivery of the future of Nigeria by supporting the innovative process in this new and changing world to deliver prosperity.
“We have the tools. The dreams of innovators, of parents for their children, of aspiring businessmen seeking to change their world around them cannot continue to be truncated permanently by forces both known and/or unknown.
“Our role remains clearly defined and yet to be fully occupied. By embracing the new and emerging world and the associated challenges, steer the ship of growth and innovation quickly to provide the buffer required for the economy to thrive, not impeding it by clinging on to the past,” he submitted.
He implored operators to note that the change they seek must start with them as an industry, stressing that resolving the current challenges would require thinking different and extraneous to what created these current challenges in the first place.
Self-regulation
The NIA helmsman posited that operators ability to self-regulate and be bold and courageous in enforcing their market conducts is vital and that if they must take their rightful place amongst the pillars of economic growth and development in Nigeria, they must understand the importance of protecting their collective dreams and aspirations and positioning themselves appropriately to earn the trust of the nation.
He noted that a lot of work has been done in this regard by successive leadership of the association leading to national recognition for the industry, but much more is still required to be done. This, he said would be trust earned through demonstration of capacity, competence, integrity, and conscientiousness.
Theme
He maintained that in the light of the foregoing, he has chosen the theme of his tenure as: Expanding the frontiers of Insurance through Partnerships and Stakeholders’ Engagement.
He said under the broad theme, he shall focus on the following key strategic areas:Market Discipline;
Market Development & Respect for Market Agreements. He added that during his tenure, he will collaborate with all players to enforce market discipline among member companies and that as a Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO), the association works through the peer pressure to promote best practice among operators. Therefore, they would work very hard as leaders of the association to build trust and lead by example, so that some of the issues relating to soft market practices and general indiscipline in the market are promptly dealt with.
“We shall ensure adherence to high ethical standards for our market which has been the pillars upon which the association was formed,” he said.
Omosehin stressed that specifically, the NIA under his chairmanship would work with other stakeholders to: Ensure enforcement of all compulsory insurances through effective collaboration with relevant agencies; implement progressive market development initiatives and agreements; explore new areas of business collaboration to expand the market; collaborate with the regulatory community particularly their primary regulator, NAICOM, on market impacting regulations such as Risk-Based Supervision, among others.
Awareness and Media Engagement
He remarked that insurance awareness and partnership with the media would be giving much attention, adding that there is no doubt that insurance awareness level is still very low among the populace, submitting that he would work with all stakeholders to increase the awareness campaigns so that the industry can have more people in the insurance net.
“To this end, we will actively pursue the insurance awareness and publicity project under the auspices of the Insurers’ Committee. We invite all stakeholders in the insurance industry to join us in this journey as we seek to entrench insurance culture and expand the dragnet in line with the central theme,” he requested.
He maintained that his tenure shall be deliberate in forging a stronger partnership with the media to significantly improve the image of the insurance industry in Nigeria and ultimately increase insurance awareness.
Human Capacity Building
Omosehin stated that to serve the market better and respond to the dynamics of a changing world, he would explore training opportunities to build capacity in critical areas of insurance business, stressing that the operators need to invest in human capital across the industry, embrace talent that would be beneficial to their core objective. “We need to grow our talent pool from within and embrace openness in our industry.
“We shall partner in building actuarial capacity for the overall benefit of the market,” he said.
International partnership
He submitted that the nation faced with security challenges such as kidnapping, banditry and outright terrorism. And also contending with the after-effects of climate change such as flooding and related risks. Therefore, he would see to taking of learnings from other markets that have the requisite experience in these areas of insurance business to improve underwriting practices in these critical areas.
Technology and Digital Innovation
Omosehin, who is also the Managing Director, Old Mutual life Assurance limited, noted that the time has come for the industry to be deliberate in its investment in technology and innovation, stressing that specifically, operators shall seek to leverage all the advantages that technology would provide in their quest to improve accessibility, affordability, adequacy, awareness and the availability of the right insurance products and services to the right customer.
He said his administration would ensure insurers embrace openness and willingness to collaborate with intra and extra-industry stakeholders (including Fintechs, Insuretechs, others.) to drive customer centric models for penetrating the market.
NIA Secretariat
He pledged to upgrade the digital capabilities of the NIA Secretariat to meet and respond to the growing demands of the public, adding that all these should culminate in product and process innovation that meets customers’ multi-dimensional needs.
“We must bear in mind that the world has evolved and so has our country. The ways and means of our economy, business environment, social fabric, norms, and communication. Whilst this provides massive opportunities for us, it also means that risk profiles have evolved. If we are to serve it adequately, we must evolve along – in our thinking, in our approach and in our intent,” he said.
Collaboration with NAICOM and Trade Groups
He said insurers would need the maximum support and cooperation of other key industry stakeholders including the industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM); Nigeria Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB); Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN); Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN), and others, in achieving their goal of a prosperous insurance industry.
He assured NAICOM, that his administration shall work closely with it in all areas, particularly in unpacking solutions that works for a developing market like Nigeria and in ensuring compliance with all extant regulations that will promote the growth and development of the industry.
Collaboration with Government
He promised to work closely with other stakeholders including the government to maximize the benefits derivable from the provisions of the Insurance Act 2003 and other related legislations. “We invite other trade groups to join hands with the NIA for us to have a coordinated approach to resolving issues,” he appealed.
Deployment of Innovation
The NIA Chairman posited that he would encourage members to deploy innovation to increase acceptability, accessibility, availability, adequacy and affordability of insurance products and services. Because only then can we fulfil our promise of protecting the lives and dreams of our customers, he said.
Profile
Omosehin holds a BSc. in Political Science, a Masters in International Law and Diplomacy and Masters in Economics from the University of Lagos.
He is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School and Said Business School, University of Oxford in the UK.
He started his career in the insurance industry in 1993 at Crusader Insurance Plc. He was MD/CEO Admiral Insurance Company Limited (2003- 2007).
Omosehin later became the Managing Director/CEO of AIICO General Insurance Company Limited from where he joined the Mutual Benefits Assurance team as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer in April 2010. He is currently the Managing Director, Old Mutual life Assurance limited.
Omosehin is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria.
He is also a fellow of the Institute of Directors, a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and the Nigerian Society of International Law.
