NIA CHIEF BLAMES POOR INSURANCE CULTURE FOR INDUSTRY WOES

Former Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association, Prof. Joe Irukwu, on Thursday identified high premium cutting and lack of insurance culture as factors militating against insurance penetration in Nigeria.

Irukwu told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the two factors had continued to mitigate the industry's contribution to the nation's economic growth.

According to him, it is sad that the industry is not leveraging on the over 150 million population to deepen insurance penetration.

'The insurance industry should be playing dominant role in the economy. Unfortunately, the nation has not yet developed a national insurance culture.

'Nigerians do not insure even in the areas where insurance is compulsory such as motor insurance.

'There is also industry inflated injury as Nigeria has the highest level of premium cutting in the world and the practitioners are not doing their best to maintain insurance culture,' he said.

According to him, there is need to develop a positive insurance culture so that people would know that they cannot live without insurance cover.

Irukwu said that if the level of insurance awareness and penetration had been higher in Nigeria, the banks should have been under the control and influence of insurance companies.

He said that in developed nations insurance companies play key role in the economy than the banks.

According to him, Nigerians do not support insurance as less than 10 per cent of the people are insured in the country.

The former chairman said that the industry had a brighter future if the level of awareness was improved and people began to obey insurance laws and practice the way it should be done.

Meanwhile, the President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Dr. Teslim Sanusi, said 'Category One Status' granted to Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority would reduce aviation insurance premium.

Sanusi told the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Lagos that aviation insurance premium had been on the high side and it had caused under-development of the industry.

NAN reports that the United States' government recently granted 'Category One Status' to the NCAA and gave landing rights to Nigerian-owned planes to fly in and out of America.