By Steve Ilo
The management of the Industrial and General Insurance Plc. (IGI) wishes to unequivocally rebut allegations in an article titled “Industrial and General Insurance Plc. as a Ponzi scheme,” written by our customer, journalist and columnist, Mr. Ikechukwu Amaechi.
The specious claim was published in TheNiche and the Vanguard newspapers of February 10, 2022, and reproduced in some online news portals.
Indeed, Mr. Amaechi is our customer, who purchased a life assurance policy which matured on August 1, 2021. We promptly initiated the process of paying the accrued maturity benefit and explained the procedure to him. He acceded to our request for time to conclude the necessary computations and make payment to him latest by the first quarter of this year. But halfway through the quarter, Mr. Amaechi resorted to using the privilege of his newspaper column to defame IGI and impugn its corporate identity, an action we found rather curious and unfair.
The malicious allegations levelled against the company have inflicted enormous damage on our reputation and goodwill, with far-reaching consequences on our business in Nigeria and overseas. However, irrespective of the untold harm the overly libelous write-up has done, we have chosen to swallow the bitter pill and uphold the age-long maxim that the customer is king! We refuse to be deterred from our commitment to delivering value and satisfaction to our publics.
Since the offensive publication, our company has been inundated with enquiries from all our stakeholders, seeking clarifications on the matter. In truth, there have been operational challenges in IGI, but they are being resolved pragmatically, while every area of its business is experiencing strategic transformation. It is noteworthy that Mr. Amaechi’s grievance has been amicably resolved and our relationship with him restored.
We thank our customers for their patience, support and understanding in these trying times. It is encouraging that our turnaround strategy is bearing fruits and every claimant can rest assured that the company will meet all obligations.
Like it has done in the past three decades when it commenced operations, IGI Plc. shall continue to contribute to the growth of the Insurance industry and the development of the national economy.
- Mr. Steve Ilo is the Head, Corporate Communications, Industrial and General Insurance Plc.
