CIIN tasks insurance managers on competence

The President of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Mr. Adeyemo Adejumo, has advised managers in the insurance sector to continually upgrade themselves in order to face the dynamic challenges in the industry.
Speaking in Kano at 2007 Annual Education Seminar of CIIN, he said today’s insurance managers as a whole should be actively engaged in skills redefinition and the reappraisal of operational strategies in all ramifications of insurance practice.
According to him, “Managers ought to continually explore the depths of their technical competencies with a view to evolving rapid and progressive changes capable of buoying profit margins as well as ensuring effective service delivery.”
He said the Governing Council of CIIN had accepted the huge challenge of re-inventing human capital development to match the post-consolidation requirements of the insurance sector and also ratified a new policy aimed at compelling employers in the insurance industry to include training and retraining as an integral part of their employment package to ensure that employees enjoy trainings sponsored by their employers, not as a benefit, but as right to a healthy work life.
According to him, “We however realise how difficult it could be convincing some employers that the training and retraining of their workforce is a compelling need which must be addressed as a priority. The Governing Council has therefore ratified a ratings formula which will operate as a quarterly or yearly score card showing where insurance companies stand in the degree and extent of training opportunities to which they expose their staff. It is our firm belief that human capital growth and development would occupy the pride of place in management agenda in the new dispensation.”
Expressing gladness over the inauguration of the Governing Board of the College of Insurance and Financial Management, he said it was a step in the direction of actualising the College project and providing more ample opportunities for insurance education in Nigeria.
He said, “It is pertinent to state that the evolving branch network in our industry is a critical factor in the effective retailing of insurance products and services. It is therefore necessary to fully equip insurance branch managers for the enormous task of managing the branch offices effectively while ensuring the growth of grassroots patronage of insurance products to guarantee returns on the huge shareholders funds.”
He said although a capital intensive project, the College venture would require the concerted efforts of industry stakeholders who are equal to the task, saying that the composition of the College Board was a reflection of the entire industry and, expectedly, should provide the impetus for unmitigated joint action.
Speaking further, he said the education seminar was coming at a critical time, when the industry was being faced with the challenges of forging a common front to uphold issues of common interest.
He said, “As is now common knowledge, the recapitalisation and consolidation exercise has witnessed some complications which, undoubtedly, have slowed down the full actualisation of the reform process. I am, however, satisfied with the painstaking efforts of key stakeholders in resolving the impasse. In particular, we appreciate the intervention of the industry elders who have held regular consultations and made useful contributions to the peace process.”
He said the industry was passing through a remarkable phase in its development and that as a group, the operators should spare no efforts in contributing their utmost to the evolving process.
“The recapitalisation and consolidation exercise has, no doubt, strengthened our operational base with more than N200bn aggregate capitalisation and the evolution of mega insurance institutions capable of playing beyond the Nigerian shores,” he said.