From left: Mr. Leonard Akah (Director, Policy & Regulation NAICOM), Alhaji Sabiu Bello Abubakar (Deputy Commissioner for Insurance, Technical) and Mrs. Debbie Windele (Representative of the Comptroller General of the Federal Fire Service) at the ongoing Sensitisation Workshop for Federal and State Fire Service Officers on Insurance of Public Buildings and Buildings under construction above 2 floors.
By Alhaji Sabiu Abubakar
Deputy Commissioner for Insurance (Technical)
National Insurance Commission
It is my pleasure to be here with you today in this sensitisation workshop which aims at sensitizing Fire Service Officers on the importance of Insurance of public buildings and buildings under construction above 2 floors.
This Workshop is being convened as part of ongoing efforts to apprise participants of their roles in enforcing the insurance of public building and building under construction above 2nd floor.
Suffice it to say that it has now more than before become imperative to put in place measures to enforce the insurance of Public Building in Nigeria.
Furthermore, let me bring to your attention the provision of Section 65of the Insurance Act 2003 which stipulates that all public building shall be adequately insured. Also, Section 64of the Act provides that all buildings under construction above 2 floors shall be adequately insured.
It is pertinent to note that the Commission can better achieve this task with the full cooperation of the Federal and State Fire Service. Today’s workshop is a part of the drive to achieve the above mandate as enshrined in extant laws.
It is very worrisome to the Commission that most public buildings and buildings under construction above 2 floors are never adequately and appropriately insured, which further accentuated the need for urgent measures to be put in place by the Commission to ensure that these buildings are adequately insured. It is the desire of NAICOM to change this narrative for good.
The essence of Insurance of public buildings and buildings under construction above 2 floors is to cushion the impact and reduce the burden and liabilities that the owner / government would have to bear in likely occurrences of catastrophic events such as natural disasters, fire, accidents, building collapse, injuries or death to third parties, etc, thereby saving the government money which can be channeled towards augmenting the needs of the citizenry, providing infrastructure, and creating employment, among others.
As follow-up to the success of previous nationwide awareness campaigns for compulsory insurance, NAICOM is moving the bar a notch higher. Therefore, this Sensitization Workshop is aimed at equipping Fire Service Officers with the necessary knowledge to properly enforce the insurance of public buildings and buildings under construction above 2 floors.
At the end of this Workshop, it is expected that Federal and State Fire Service officers will now have the knowledge of insurance of public buildings.
NAICOM is elated at this turnout notwithstanding the prevailing circumstances in the Country. We are quite sure of a much better participation in the next batches lined up to educate Officers of Fire Services of their responsibilities and the benefits inherent if public buildings are adequately insured.
