The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has evolved a persuasive strategy of creating more awareness for insurance products among artisans, commercial transporters and market men and women by visiting major markets.
In a deliberate effort to ameliorate the devastative effect of fire incidents in major markets, especially in Lagos, the NCRIB, in collaboration with some major underwriters embarked on an insurance awareness walk and market visitations to four major markets in Lagos: Sabo, Tejuosho, Oyingbo and Iddo markets.
The President of the Council, Prince Babatunde Oguntade, while speaking at the event, lamented the poor attitude of market owners to insurance despite incessant fire incidents that often claim goods and properties worth several millions of Naira.
Oguntade pointed out that the council had made on-spot visitations to some of the markets where fire incidents had been recorded to commiserate with the victims as well as to educate others on the need to embrace insurance, especially against fire and burglaries.
He said many of the market fire victims would only realise their mistakes of not embracing insurance when due after they must have suffered losses as a result of fire incidents and burglaries.
Oguntade said: “In a bid to further educate them and bring the products closer to them, the council evolved with the market visitation strategy and awareness campaign. We visited the head of each market and explained the purpose of our campaign. We also used the opportunity to talk to the commercial transporters about the need to embrace insurance.
“It is our desire to see many more Nigerians embracing insurance to cushion the effect of any devastative incident because no nation can successfully build wealth among its citizens without proper risk mitigation mechanisms in place.
“As a council, we are not impressed by the poor acceptance of insurance products in Nigeria. We have resolved to collaborate with other arms of the industry to embark on programmes that would capture the teeming population of Nigerian artisans and road transport workers.
“This has become imperative, taking into consideration the fact that most Nigerians still have the erroneous belief that insurance services and products were for the elite. We have resolved to take the awareness campaign to the six geopolitical zones of the nation, through our Area Committees.”
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