By Uche Usim
The Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Olukayode Sunday Thomas, has again charged insurers to make prompt settlement of claims their utmost priority so that the industry retains its integrity and widens its service delivery scope.
Thomas gave the charge in Lagos at the investiture of Mr. Olusegun Omosehin as the 25th Chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA).
He tasked the new leadership to deploy the principle of self regulation not only to ensure swift claims settlement, but other issues capable of demarketing the industry and impeaching the integrity of the regulator.
He reckoned that while the sector was beginning to experience improvement in terms of patronage and claims payout, the perception of the industry by the majority of the public was still not what it should be.
“This is unacceptable and it is high time we changed the narrative collectively as an industry. We must all see this business as an interest that we must all protect and I again challenge the new leadership of the NIA to take on this task”, he stated.
Thomas noted that the NAICOM management was not unmindful of the challenges operators in the industry have had to contend with in adapting to drastic changes that are designed to accelerate development and growth of insurance business.
He explained that the current dynamic socio-byomic environment in the country obviously calls for realignment by all stakeholders to tackle the inherent challenges.
“There is the need for a firm handshake with all arms to engender fruitful collaborations and cooperation for the collective interest of all. I want to equally advise the new leadership to at all times ensure proper communication in engaging the Commission through whatever
bilateral windows available” he added.
Thomas recalled that on his appointment as Commissioner for Insurance, he emphasized that the focus of the administration was the development of the insurance market.
“The Commission has vigorously been driving the issue of market development and enforcement of compulsory insurances these past two years, achieving some gains in the process.
“Greater efforts have been made to partner state governments on enforcement of compulsory insurances and insurances of their assets.
“The Commission had embarked on this drive to till the ground while expecting the operators to take over and engage the markets but the response from the industry is less than satisfactory.
“The Commission will not relent in protecting all stakeholders in the industry, however, we must all understand and appreciate that the mandate of the Commission cuts across stakeholders with varying expectations thus, the need to implement far reaching initiatives to develop the market and expand the frontiers of the industry while guaranteeing the protection of each stakeholder to the best of our ability”, he said.