Creative product marketing is the only way for insurance brokers to survive the security problems in the North, according to Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers’ (NCRIB) President, Ayodapo Shoderu.
He made the point at the investiture of new executives of the NCRIB chapter in Kano, where he lamented the challenges posed to insurance and the economy generally in the North, cause by Boko Haram insurgency.
He told brokers, who are intermediaries in the insurance value chain, to study their environment as well as people’s needs and devise insurance policies tailor made for them.
Shoderu also implored Northern states to develop strategies for combating insecurity so that the regional economy can prosper.
To him, the importance of the North to national economic growth cannot be undermined because of the existence of the large number of industries in the zone, which he said constitutes the industrial hub of the nation.
His words: “Permit me to state that in spite of all odds, if you are doggedly determined, the sky can only be your starting point. This is definitely an auspicious moment to admonish all my professional colleagues to brace up to the challenges confronting our practice, and strive at all times to be ingenious.
“My take is that if other professions and trades are thriving in Kano State in spite of the present challenges, insurance brokers can also thrive, if you brace up and evolve products that will naturally meet customer’s needs and aspirations.”
NCRIB Kano chapter Chairman, Olalekan Olaniran, sought the cooperation of all stakeholders at all times, and stressed the need for Northern insurance brokers to fully participate in the economy.
He added: “The insurance industry plays a pivotal role in the engineering of a nation’s economy hence the industry players cannot afford to be on the fence in the scheme of events within the nation’s economy.
“For us to be reckoned with by the government and other players in the economy, we must have to make ourselves relevant at all times.
“The window of opportunities which the law on local initiative content affords our industry has not been fully tapped as the Commissioner for Insurance (Fola Daniel) has challenged us for not taking full advantage of the law.
“Of course, we cannot be there to take full advantage of the law if we are not organised and work together to provide and share information that will be useful to the members of the industry.”
Olaniran said another reason why brokers have to wake up fast is that insurance penetration in Nigeria is considered to be too low compared to the population and thereby contributing very small to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“We cannot expect to be respected in the comity of nations where comparative analysis of our GDP is nothing to write home about.
“Here in the North, insurance acceptance is still very poor in spite of the advantages which the large population and massive land provide the region.”
He advised Northern states to re-appraise policies to embrace insurance to enable the North catch up with the Southern economy.
Olaniran warned that the North cannot achieve economic parity with the South where economic wastes are always passed back to the government.
He said incidents that lead to economic waste all over the world are fully commercially insured by a prudent government, as losses from insured incidents are recouped from commercial insurers.
This, he explained, allows the government to focus on the traditional responsibility of providing infrastructure and security for citizens.
Former NCRIB President, Mohammed Koguna, urged the national secretariat not to be too far from the local chapters, particularly Northern ones, because insurance awareness in the North is still low compared with the South.