The Federal and State Government’s have been urged to make presentation of insurance certificates, a pre-condition to participate in public sector business.
The insurers believe that contractors of government should show evidence that at least they have taken group life insurance for their employees as well as property insurance for their office premises against third party liability.
According to them, this is the only way government can help insurance industry to enforce some of the compulsory lines of insurance available in the law.
They believe that this enforcement mechanism of government involvement has enabled the pension industry to grow astronomically in its less than 15 years of implementation, and significantly contributed to economy of the country.
Eddie Efekoha, president, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) during an interview in Lagos implored the government to support the insurance industry by ensuring the initiative on issuing insurance compliance certificate is implemented.
Efekoha told an online media that there is need for force and compulsion to drive sales of insurance, stressing that until people begin to show evidences of insurance whenever they seek something from government, underwriting business would not attain the desired heights.
“The laws have not enabled us to enforce the compulsory insurances. This has handicapped all of us from taking the bull by the horns. Enforcement of compulsory insurances remained a gap we are yet to unraveled,” he said.
He called on all stakeholders to support the executive bill on insurance and ensure it empowers and transforms insurance operations.
“As there is an executive bill as insurance is concerned, we all have to gather all the resources we have to ensure some bites are introduced in it. We really need enforcement.
“Presently, is there any contract in Nigeria that anybody wants to bid and he is told until you produce insurance on where you reside or as an evidence to show their employees are insured they would not be qualified for such contracts? Until we get to that point, people would not embrace insurance. We need some empowerment, force and compulsion for insurance to really work,” he said.
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