|
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has stated that with the various economic development initiatives of the Federal Government and its agencies, Nigerians need to build up a solid financial plan for future through life insurance planning.
Adeosun made this known at the third National Conference of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) held in Lagos.
This year’s conference has the theme “The Role of Stake Holders in Developing Insurance & Pension Sectors.
The Minister, represented by the Deputy Commissioner for Insurance, Finance and Admin, George Onekhena said life insurance holds the key to wise financial planning and is a panacea for poverty alleviation among Nigerians at all levels including grass root dwellers.
She urged Nigerians not to neglect life insurance, even as it is a common habit, noting that this equals to building one’s foundation on a shallow ground.
She stated that they should rather make enquiries on the particular life insurance they want to buy as well as how to go about it, counselling that those in doubt could engage the service of insurance brokers for professional insurance advice. According to her, this has become necessary because nobody knows the day of his death and it will be disastrous for anyone to leave dependents without benefits.
“Every Nigerian buys one household item or the other at any time and you don’t enter the market and start making your purchases. You make enquiries before going to market, in like manner, in your life insurance decisions, you can take time to ask questions on the life insurance policy you want to buy, nobody knows the day of his death so life insurance is critical, life insurance is a foundation for every wise financial planning,” she stated.
Speaking on the challenge facing insurance and pension operators in Nigeria, she said people hardly tell the public when they get benefit from these two sectors citing instance of quantum of retirement benefits paid on monthly basis by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to retirees and quantum of claims paid in a year by insurance firms.
NAIPCO conference is the only forum that brings pension and insurance operators, their regulators and stakeholders together to discuss their affairs.
The conference played a key role in settling the crisis that arose last year between the two sectors in Annuity administration and management.
Source: independent.ng
File photo
|
