Insurance: Lagos paid over N2b as premium for 73,000 workers — Commissioner

By Lukman Olabiyi

Lagos State Government yesterday disclosed that over two billion naira has been spent on workers’ insurance premium for year 2021.

Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo, revealed this at a Press briefing held at Bagauda Kaltho, Press Centre, Alausa Ikeja.

The press briefing was to intimate the public on the maiden edition of the Lagos State Civil Service Insurance Week, themed: “If you can be insured; we’ll bear the risk”.

Olowo said the premium covered both life and non-life insurance, with about 73,000 civil servants already captured for life insurance.

He said: “This gesture is in line with the present administration’s commitment in ensuring adequate care for its workforce while serving and after retirement. Lagos State, over the years, has continued to insure its staff with regular payment of premium to cater for them during service, and also payment of death benefits.

“This insurance week also came into fruition following the discovery that many of the workers are not fully aware of the existence of a professional insurance department domiciled in the Ministry of Finance and, as such, have not been maximizing the crucial role being performed by this department.

“The insurance department provides professional risk advisory to the state. It also coordinates the various insurance policies and packages of the state. The task of ensuring that vehicles, buildings, electronics, computers, firefighting equipment, other assets, as well as the welfare package of the entire workforce, is the responsibility of the insurance department.

‘This insurance week will explore the various advantages and benefits of insurance to the entire work force. To this end, we have identified the need for more sensitisation and education on insurance, and how civil servants and the entire populace can key into the abundant opportunities in insurance.

“Insurance is one of the ways that we manage risk in Lagos State. It is not an issue of optionality or so. We have life an non-life insurance and that is very compulsory.

“Presently, we have over 73,000 employees on our data base from the ministries and all these employees are covered under the life insurance.

“This year alone, we have paid over N2 billion in insurance premium to cover life and non- life. That’s speaks to the importance of insurance. We also saw the benefits of engaging in insurance during this COVID-19 pandemic and the endsars protest.

“We have enjoyed the real essence and value proposition of insurance, and the best we can do is to further our commitment to ensuring that our insurance activities are more strengthened. This is why we are doing this sensitisation and advocacy.”