By Henry Uche
Experts in the insurance industry have set agenda for the newly elected chairman of Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Mr. Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, as he hit the ground running, to move the sector to a greater height.
At his investiture as the 25th Chairman of the Association held in Lagos recently, the Commissioner for Insurance- Nigeria, Mr. Thomas Olurundare Sunday, charged Omosehin to first tackle the long -aged negative perception about insurance held by most Nigerians, and come up with strategies to make people willingly see reasons to embrace insurance cover.
“To actualise our core mandate as an industry, we must facilitate improved perception of the insurance industry, as public confidence in our industry depends among other things on how promptly and fairly we deliver on our promises and obligations to our customers and stakeholders,”
The Commissioner also charged NIA’s new boss on self regulation to enable him take the right steps at all time, noting that anything that would de-market the insurance sector should be tackled head-on. “I challenge the new leadership on the vexed issues of settlement of claims. I urge him to deploy the principle of self regulation to take a critical look into this and other similar issues that are capable of de-marketing the industry,”
Meanwhile, renowned political economist, Professor Pat Utomi, challenged the bigwigs in the insurance sector to reclaim its vanguard position in the financial ecosystem.
Utomi who was the Chairman of investiture, revealed that insurance Industry used to be a viable sector entrepreneurs leverage on for small scale capital pool for economic growth and development, but of late, it has taken a position behind the banking sector.