NICON hands over management of ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme to NIA

Twenty seven years after managing the bureau of Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Brown Card Insurance Scheme, NICON Insurance has handed over the management of the bureau to Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA).

Mr Wole Oshin...the association has fully taken over the Nigerian Bureau of (ECOWAS) Brown Card Insurance Scheme

Established by Protocol A/P1/5/82 on May 29, 1982 in Cotonou, Benin, the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme had since its inception been managed by NICON Insurance until the recent hand over to NIA.

The dream of citizens in the ECOWAS region for an enabling environment for free movement of persons, goods and services and to also integrate irrespective of their country, became a reality when governments of member countries from 15 West African countries namely – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote D’ Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea_Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, signed the scheme.

Mr Wole Oshin, NIA chairman, at the association’s Press conference in Lagos penultimate Thursday, disclosed that the association has fully taken over the Nigerian Bureau of (ECOWAS) Brown Card Insurance Scheme, following a hitch_free transfer of the scheme from NICON Insurance Corporation under the supervision of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

Besides, the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Act 234 of 1986 provides for Nigeria’s participation in the ECOWAS Brown Card scheme managed over the years by NICON Insurance.

Oshin applauded the management of NICON Insurance for their support and assured that the bureau would continue to receive adequate attention to ensure a smooth operation. The NIA chairman said that the body has appointed Mrs Henrietta Anyanna as General_Secretary to manage the bureau using the NIA secretariat.

Anyanna managed the bureau at NICON Insurance for many years before she left NICON for Industrial & General Insurance (IGI).  True to Oshin’s disclosure on the efficiency and smooth running of the bureau, the bureau is in the hands of a capable and experienced person. She is also bilingual.

Nevertheless, part of the objectives of the scheme is to ensure a fair and prompt compensation to victims of motor accidents and to facilitate the settlement of compensation to motorists from ECOWAS sub_region.

However, achieving the objectives of the scheme is far fetched as the scheme has been saddled with a number of challenges even though it has chalked some successes ever since the scheme became operational.

Some of the hitches include delays in settlement of motor claims among the various bureaux of the scheme, harassment and often abusive and arbitrary arrest of foreign drivers in certain ECOWAS countries, constant dispute among insurers on the issue of liability and quantum on third party injury and property damage claims, delay or non_payment of annual contribution by some national bureaux to the permanent secretariat for the smooth and effective running of the secretariat and difference in Motor Vehicle Third Party Liability insurance laws and compensation regime within the sub_region.

Ms. Prisca Soares, former chairperson of the Council of Bureaux at the 22nd session held in Guinea four years ago, submitted that it had become imperative for insurance authorities in the ECOWAS nations to see to the implementation of the scheme in the various countries.

Soares, who was then the Managing Director of NICON Insurance reiterated that if the implementation of the scheme was effectively supervised, it would draw the attention of the Council of Ministers of each state who would update their heads of state on the improvement of the Brown Card Insurance scheme.

She said, “In order to ensure that ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance scheme meets its desired objectives, it would be desirable for insurance commissioners to monitor the implementation of the scheme in their various countries and report to their ministers of finance or integration, as the case may be. By so doing, the scheme would receive requisite attention by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers who in turn report to the heads of state on the progress of the scheme.

Soares said that the idea of the computerisation of the scheme known as ECOBINS, mooted 12 years ago, had materialised and completed for effective usage, adding that the computerisation of the scheme would speed up recovery of data and its service delivery.

Mr Mahamadou Mustapha Moba, chairman, Council of the Bureaux at the 25th annual session of the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme held in Accra, Ghana October last year, appealed to members to pay their arrears and pay their dues promptly in order to enable the scheme meet its objectives.

He stated that insurance companies play a very important role in the process of the Brown Card scheme through prompt settlement of compensation to victims of international road accidents, hence they must work diligently to make the scheme successful, and the protocol governing the scheme should be obligatory by the member states.
Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, Ghanaian Minister of State for Finance and Economic Planning corroborated Moba. In his submission, he implored members to critically examine the scheme and formulate solutions aimed at making it more efficient and competitive.

Osei called for an extensive public information and sensitisation campaign on the Brown Card Scheme to help citizens understand the need for the scheme. He also called on the ECOWAS Commission to include the insurance sector in its priority action programmes that seek to strengthen the partnership among the ECOWAS Commission, the Brown Card Scheme and other similar integration institutions.
He also called on the National Bureaux to put in place a security guarantee as required by the protocol and also embark on the harmonisation of the compensation limits in respect of victims of motor accidents within the sub-region.
According to him, “The National Bureaux and Insurance Companies play a very important role in the process of the Brown Card Scheme through prompt settlement and payment of compensation to victims of international road accidents, hence they must work diligently to make the scheme successful, and the protocol governing the scheme must be enforced by the member states”.
It will be recalled that ECOWAS itself was formed with the signing of its treaty on May 28, 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration, and to achieve overall benefit to member states by way of economic union, thus, creating a single large trade bloc. The creation of ECOWAS and implementation of the protocol on free movement of persons in practice came as a result of needs identified by the leaders of West African states who recognised in the early seventies that intra_regional integration could be an important step towards the sub_region’s collective integration into the global economy.
The treaty outlines the key to removing obstacles to the free movement of goods, capital and people in the sub_region. The treaty simulated efforts towards an homogenous society that once existed in the sub- region. It was against that backdrop that the protocol on free movement of persons and the right of residence and establishment of May 1979 was explicit in free mobility of labour.
Another major plus for the ECOWAS is the guaranteeing of free entry of community citizens without visa for ninety days which was ratified by member states in 1980 and which became effective to usher in an era of free movement of ECOWAS citizens within member countries. The rights of entry, residence and establishment was progressively established within 15 years from the definitive date of entry into force of protocol. One of the most important aspects that led to the formation of ECOWAS was the irregular migration within the sub_region.
The abolition of the mandatory residency permit, introduction of brown card travel certificate and the elimination of the ubiquitous board formalities are aimed at facilitating intra-regional movement of persons. However, progress was constrained by multiple cooperating groupings and membership; conflicting objectives; inconsistent political support; growing national identity; depressed economics and xenophobia against foreigners.