By ROSEMARY ONUOHA

The National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, for some time now has been going around the country trying to enforce implementation of the five compulsory insurance products encapsulated under the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative, MDRI.

The regulatory body concluded the Enugu phase of the campaigns last week, after it has done similar campaigns in Lagos, Ibadan and Ekiti. After the campaigns in Ibadan and Enugu, NAICOM succeeded in edging up the level of awareness on the five compulsory insurance products in these states. And as expected, residents of Enugu town should end up more enlightened after the campaign train departs from there.

However, the argument is that mere enlightenment is not enough but that residents must see the value in embracing these compulsory insurance products long after the campaigns.

MDRI is a medium term plan under which NAICOM is carrying on the first phase of the reforms in the country’s insurance industry.  It is premised on four key areas namely; enforcement of compulsory insurance products, sanitisation and modernisation of the insurance agency system, wiping out of fake insurance institutions and introduction of risk-based supervision.

The scheme is intended to exploit the potentials inherent in green zones as insurance of public buildings and buildings under construction, group life insurance scheme as well as motor insurance among others.

The Enugu campaign
NAICOM said that the enforcement programme aimed at tracking down motorists with fake insurance papers as well as to enlighten the public on the importance of the five compulsory insurance products would last for five days.

MDRI
NAICOM said it is targeting the rural areas with its MDRI programme by creating awareness so that even the man in the village will feel compelled to take a policy because it is very cheap.

Mr. Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance, who stated this, regretted that buildings are still collapsing and lives are being lost, yet no compensation gets to the victims or their families.

To guard against this ugly trend, Daniel called on insurance companies to rise up to the challenge of implementing the MDRI because they are the ones essentially to implement  it coupled with the fact that the insurance operators will be the ones to benefit from premium income.

The five compulsory insurance products are, Third Party Motor Insurance (Section 68 of Insurance Act, 2003); Builders Liability (Section 64 of Insurance Act, 2003); and the Occupiers’ Liability (Section 65 of Insurance Act, 2003). Others are Health Care Professional Indemnity of Section 45 of the Nigerian Health Insurance Scheme, 1995 and the statutory group life of Section 3(2) and Section 9(3) of the Pension Reform Act, 2004.

Other stakeholders included in the enforcement campaigns are Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria CORBON; Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC; Insurance Consumers Association of Nigeria, INSCAN; the Nigerian Police as well as other relative authorities.

Other benefits of the MDRI
According to Daniel, in Nigeria, a lot of people especially landlords, tend to limit the insurance to only Building under Construction, which is what the commission is trying to correct and ensure that all the compulsory insurance policies are enforced.

The insurance Act, 2003 makes the insurance of building under construction compulsory for the owner or contractor. This provides security against risk of bodily injury, death or property damage in the event of collapse building under construction. It protects workers on site and members of the public. Defaulters are liable to three years behind bars or N250,000 fine or both.

The way forward

According to NAICOM, the decision to enforce the five compulsory insurance policies in all zones and across the country had become a cardinal objective of the Commission.  “The enforcement team would ensure that individuals and organisations insure their properties in line with the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) of the Commission,” Daniel stated.

He added that the initiative was for the preservation of our income, national wealth, human and material resources and heavy fines and prison terms are imposed by relevant sections of the laws for non-compliance.

However, experts are of the opinion that the job should not be left to NAICOM alone, but insurance operators must be fully active in the enforcement campaign.

Mr. Yemi Soladoye, Consultant to NAICOM on MDRI said that insurance practitioners should embark on massive awareness campaign and take the enlightenment programme to the grassroots, stressing that insurance provides employment, guarantees taxes and helps in management of risks.

Chairman of Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, CORBON, Prof. Akin Akindoyeni called for the insurance agency system to be modernised to reduce incidents of fake insurance products and practitioners while operators must ensure good services to the society at large.

“It is sad that notwithstanding the existence of these compulsory insurance products, people still die in motor accidents or during collapsed buildings without any form of compensation,” he said

Mr. Tom Imokhai, Managing Director of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc said that the insurance industry needs government backing to compel Nigerians to comply with the MDRI programme.

According to Imokhai, the sector expects the support of state governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to give bite to the efforts of NAICOM.