y Yemisi Izuora-Lagos
Insurance Brokers in the Northern Nigeria have been counselled to be more creative in product marketing in order to survive the current challenges confronting that part of the country.
This charge was given by the President of Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers’ (NCRIB), Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu at the investiture of new executives of the Kano Chapter of the council.
Shoderu lamented the challenges posed to insurance and the economy generally in the North following security challenges in the region.
He specifically told the brokers who are professional intermediaries in the insurance value chain, to study their environment as well as public need and come up with tailor made insurance policies to suit their needs.
In the same token, the NCRIB president also implored government in the region to stem up strategies for combating the insecurity so that the economy of the area could be afoot again.
According to him, the importance of the North to the nation’s economic growth cannot be undermined going by its antecedents. He explained that the Northern part of Nigeria constitutes the industrial hub of the nation, considering the existence of large industries sited there.
“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”.
In his acceptance speech, the newly elected Chairman of Kano Chapter, Mr. Olalekan Olaniran sought the support and cooperation of members stressing the need for the broking arm in the northern market to wake up to fully participate in the activities of the nation’s economy.
He said, “Insurance Industry plays a pivotal role in 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 contents afforded our industry has not been fully tapped as Commissioner for Insurance (Mr. Fola Daniel) has challenged our industry 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 organized and work together to provide and share information that will be useful to the members of the industry.
“Another reason why our industry must 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 the GDP of the nation. We cannot expect to be respected in the communities of the 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. The government of the northern state is advised at this juncture to re-appraise their policies to embrace insurance in order for us in the north to catch up with the economy of the southern Nigeria.
Also, a Northern based Past President of the Council, Dr. Mohammed Koguna encouraged the national secretariat not to be too far from the local chapters particularly, the northern chapter in view of the fact that insurance awareness there is still low compared to the south.