Insurance brokers under the umbrella body of Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) have stepped up action to help government avert contract failures and abandonment of projects across the country.
The NCRIB notes that with partnership with insurance industry through the brokers, the risks of contract failures will greatly reduced.
Tunde Oguntade, vice president of the Council made the disclosure while speaking to members of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) shortly after their 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos
Oguntade who represented the NCRIB President, Bola Onigbogi at the occasion also called on Federal Government to engage the services of the registered insurance Brokers in order to mitigate the risk of contact failures.
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“On government contracts, what we are trying to do at NCRIB is to talk to ministers through our liaison committee and leadership that the contract failure thing you have all over the federation if you have insurance and you have Brokers arranging them for you, of course all those contracts failure will not be there because contracts failures are sometimes premeditated and they do not want to listen to us.
“We have been talking to them about all these roads, bridges and rails under construction on the importance of the government to engage the Brokers. If they don’t want the contracts to fail they know what to do.
Meanwhile, he confirmed that the Federal Government has paid the 2020 Group Life Insurance for all Federal Government workers in full.
According to him, the 2020 Group Life is off the schedule because full premium has been paid on the account for the current year, there’s no lapse in cover at the moment.
On the issue of deepening insurance penetration, he said there are several ways that can be done.“you have online models which are referred to as technology, you have physical, and you have referrals. If somebody tries to get you online, you are bouncing, tries referrals, you are bouncing, he will try the last option which is physical correct. There’s nothing wrong with that. The fact that I want to see someone physically is that I wish to convince the person that I have the skill, I have tried to get to you through technology, people have tried to make impact for me to meet you but to no avail, let me now put my face to the picture so that you will be able to see. When you see people going to the market, it doesn’t mean that they do not have technology,” he added
Fatal Adegbenro, executive secretary of NCRIB said plans are in top gear for its President Onigbogi to President Muhammadu Buhari as part of the Council’s sensitization Programme to deepen insurance in the country.
He said the planned visit to the Presidency is aimed at sensitizing the government on the need to engage the services of the registered insurance Brokers, to protect the assets and liabilities of the government.
According to Adegbenro, “We will continue to engage the government agencies from time to time. But for the COVID-19, our President would have paid a visit to the Presidency with the view to sensitizing the government on the need to engage the services of the registered insurance Brokers, to protect the assets and liabilities of the government.
It’s not only the assets you protect; you protect liabilities as well because there are a lot of loans being taken to execute government projects. When these projects fail, whether you like it or not you must pay back the loan, so you have to protect all these things.
