L-R: Mr. Lana Loyinmi, Head Contribution & Bond Redemption, National Pension Commission; Mr. George Onekhena, Deputy Commissioner, Finance and Administration, NAICOM; Mrs. Yetunde Ilori, Director General, Nigeria Insurers Association; Alhaji Bala Zakariya’u, past president, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria and Chairman of occasion, and Mr Adebayo Adeleke, Managing Director, Lancelot Ventures Ltd, during the 3rd Annual National Conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) on The Role of Stakeholders in Developing Insurance and Pension Sectors held in Lagos.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has called on Nigerians to build up a solid financial plan for future through life insurance planning.
Adeosun made this known at the third National Conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) held in Lagos. This year’s conference has the theme “The Role of Stake Holders in Developing Insurance & Pension Sectors.”
The Minister, represented by the Deputy Commissioner for Insurance, Finance and Admin, George Onekhena said life insurance holds the key to wise financial planning and is panacea for poverty alleviation among Nigerians at all levels including grassroot dwellers.
She urged Nigerians not to neglect life insurance, even as it is a common habit, noting that this is equal to building one’s foundation on a shallow ground. She also urged Nigerians to make enquiries on the particular life insurance they want to buy as well as how to go about it.
She also said that those in doubt could engage the service of
insurance brokers, adding that this has become necessary because nobody knows the day of his death and it will be disastrous for anyone to leave dependents without benefits.
Speaking on the challenge facing insurance and pension operators in Nigeria, she said people hardly tell the public when they get benefit from these two sectors, citing the instance of quantum of retirement benefits paid on monthly basis by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to retirees and also the magnitude of claims paid every year by insurance firms in the country.
The annual NAIPCO conference has grown to become the premier forum that brings pension and insurance operators, regulators and stakeholders together to discuss the state of both sectors and the way forward.
