The Commissioner for Insurance and guest speaker, Alhaji Mohammed Kari
Immediate Past President and Chairman of MCPD Committee, Lady Isioma Chukwuma
Council members of CIIN present
Distinguished professional colleagues
Members of the Press
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. On behalf of the governing Council of our great Institute, I am delighted to welcome you all to this maiden edition of CIIN’s Breakfast meeting holding outside Lagos. We thank our distinguished guests and resource person for being part of this initiative designed to enhance the technical expertise of our members as well as update their knowledge of developments in the industry and economy in general.
2. Since the beginning of this presidential year, we have had five very successful editions of this Breakfast meeting in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria. During those interactive sessions, in which seasoned resources persons drawn from within and outside the Industry and country made presentations, we beamed our searchlight on topical issues in Insurance to further support the professional development of members. From the feedback we received, our members were very happy with the initiative and now look forward to the next editions with great enthusiasm because of the value they derived from past sessions and the opportunities they offered for networking.
3. As packaged, today’s session promises to be more enriching considering the fact that, the Commissioner for Insurance, the chief regulator of the Insurance Industry in Nigeria himself, graciously accepted to speak to us on the topic, “Strict Regulatory Enforcement and Compliance: Stimuli for the development of the Insurance Industry” .
4. Given the current happenings in our industry today, I dare say that the choice of topic and resource person could not have been better.
5. As we all know, one of the key statutory functions of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is to establish standards for the conduct of insurance in Nigeria. Environments or sectors without rules, regulations and standards will be characterized by sharp and unethical practices, unhealthy competition, stunted growth and survival of the fittest where the weak is at the mercy of the powerful. No meaningful business can take place in such environments. It is to prevent these unacceptable practices and ensure a level playing field, that regulations are put in place. As professionals, we cherish decent industry governed by rules, regulations and standards. However, without the monitoring and enforcement of compliance to such standards, our dream of a vibrant insurance industry will not be achieved. Here lies the importance of today’s topic.
6. There is no doubt that NAICOM has continued, in line with its statutory powers, to play its roles of issuing, monitoring, enforcing compliance and sanctioning non-compliance to standards, with distinction over the years. I join my colleagues to salute and commend our guest speaker of today for the achievements of NAICOM under his leadership. With his expertise and sterling leadership qualities, he has positively impacted the industry.
7. As key players in the industry, we (i.e., underwriters, brokers, loss adjusters, actuaries, agents), must reciprocate and consistently play by the rules and standards with great ethical disposition as a long term strategy for the sustainability of the Insurance industry. This is a survival mandate we can ignore at great cost. Any practice that sacrifices the ethics of the profession will only lead to regulatory sanctions, avoidable loss of financial resources, loss of business and goodwill. With time, such entity will be foreclosed. No one desires this. Therefore, we must continue to walk our talk as insurance practitioners.
8. Once again, on behalf of Council, I thank the Commissioner for accepting our invitation to speak at this breakfast seminar. I equally thank all our sponsors for their financial support which made the hosting of this seminar in Abuja possible.
9. Thank you for listening.
Mrs. Funmi Babington-Ashaye, FCII, FIIN
President,
Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria
