Yemisi Izuora
The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has called for effective efforts in deepening insurance in Nigeria and tasked all stakeholders to double efforts in that regard.
The President and Chairman of council of the institute, Eddie Efekoha, gave the charge while inducting 143 new associates and fellows into the Institute.
He charged the newly inducted members to embrace integrity and avoid unwholesome practices that can tarnish the image of the nation’s insurance industry.
Efekoha, assured members that the responsibilities conferred on the institute by statute have continued to engender a robust platform for the propagation of insurance education in Nigeria.
“We are conscious of the demands of the dynamic business environment and the role that technology is playing in the evolution of current business trends. Consequently, there is a need to substantially adopt a creative approach to improving the skill set of insurance practitioners.
“There is considerable effort being put into constantly retooling the examination system through regular review of the syllabus and examination structure in order to make it relevant to addressing modern day business challenges.“The goal is to ensure that Insurance practitioners retain the competitive edge and are well equipped to perform to optimal levels in order to tackle the current challenges in the business landscape and to stand out successfully,” he said.
He urged the new associates to take advantage of the Mandatory Continuous Professional Development programmes offered by the institute, in addition to other post-qualification, to improve their knowledge level.
“It is extremely important to point out that by attaining our professional qualification, you have become custodians of the ethics and codes of practice of our noble profession,” he said.He added that the institute recently introduced a new code of ethics for insurance practitioners in Nigeria and “this will be distributed amongst you all today.”
The purpose, according to him, is to set forth the values, principles and standards that will guide the conduct of all insurance practitioners, as instilling ethical behaviour among insurance professionals is the principal way to improve corporate governance and ultimately improve the public image of the insurance.
Efekoha said that all certificates issued by the institute remained its property and could be withdrawn from the holders if there were good reasons to do so.He warned that reason for such withdrawal could emanate from acts unexpected of a holder of the institute’s professional qualification and unethical behavior.
“This policy remains in force. It is my hope that there will not be an occasion where the institute is required to do so.“As professionals, the task before us is for creativity to drive our thoughts and equally refrain from wasting time trying to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
In her induction lecture, titled: “The Disruptive Professional”, Dr. Yeside Oyetayo, Rector of the College of Insurance and Financial Management (CIFM), urged the new inductees to become truly disruptive innovative professionals. Oyetayo urged the new members of the institute to be customer-centric and fashion out ways to add value to Nigeria thorough insurance. She charged the inductees to take their focus away from mainstream corporate clients, concentrate on the unserved bottom segment of the market and create a niche for themselves.