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Insurers assured over new capital base
KELVIN EGERUE (Insurance Editor)
and NNENNA OKEKE
BARELY
24 hours after his confirmation as the nation’s Commissioner for Insurance,
Chief Emmanuel Okechukwu Chukwulozie, has assured that insurers in the country
would not be confronted with harsh structures in their impending
recapitalisation drive.
In his first formal outing after receiving
a letter yesterday endorsing him as the commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Chief Chukwulozie said the
worrisome issue of recapitalising insurance firms would not be like the
pain-inflicting case of the banks.
Government had consequent upon the
retirement of Chief Dipo Bailey as Commissioner for Insurance on November 9,
appointed his deputy, Chief Chukwulozie in acting capacity.
But hints of his subsequent confirmation
had been very strong as reported by Daily Champion yesterday.
Chief Chukwulozie, 49, emerged from a
brief meeting with some key NAICOM officers yesterday to introduce himself to
journalists as the new NAICOM boss, even as he said the confirmation letter
delivered to him Monday was dated November 22.
He revealed the elevation of Alhaji
Mohammed Hussaini from the position of Director to Deputy Commissioner,
Technical.
A new Deputy Commissioner, Finance and
Administration, he added would resume soon.
An insurance practitioner of 22 years,
Chief Chukwulozie, while marshalling out his priorities stressed the need for a
human face in the drive for a new capital structure for insurance firms.
"There will be no Soludo (Central Bank of
Nigeria Governor) kind of a thing for insurers. Talks have commenced at the
highest level involving the ministers. I am sure that there will be further
round of talks. The need is for us to have what will be good for all parties,"
he stated.
Chief Chukwulozie, however, disagreed with
the position of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) in recommending N500
million as the minimum capital base for Life and non-Life insurers each.
The Commissioner pledged to continue with
most of the programmes initiatted by the Bailey’s regime which include the now
controversial Vehicle Insurance Sticker (VISER), the Motor Vehicle Accident
Victims Compensation Scheme (MAVICS), among others, even as he noted the need to
modify the VISER concept.
According to him, emphasis would be on
beefing up NAICOM’s human resource base through training. The commission, he
added, is to build its own corporate head office in Abuja.
"I would want to have a motivated staff as
to enable the commission face the new challenges. I know that a good work force
is the best that any good manager would desire. The new NAICOM boss will work
with every arm of the service industry of the economy. The face of supervision
is now changing with regulators no more depending much on formulating the law,"
Chief Chukwulozie said.
The new commissioner said his desire would
be the enthronement of what he called insurance based economy.
Such cultures, he added, would involve the
adoption of insurance as a way of life by the populace to the extent that no
Nigerian would want to embark on any venture, agriculture inclusive, without
factoring insurance into it.
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