By Ikeoye Oyetoro
National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) yesterday officially presented guidelines for oil and gas insurance in Nigeria.

The official presentation which took place in Lagos was aimed at transforming the method in which business is conducted in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel, who was represented by Deputy Commissioner for Insurance(Technical), Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan said the act is  precipitated by the fact that despite the huge capital outlay in the oil and gas industry, Nigerians still wallow in poverty and disease saying the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act 2010 is a step taken by the government to accelerate the growth of real sectors of the economy.

According to him, NAICOM is collaborating with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board(NCDMB) to ensure compliance with relevant provisions of the Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010 and other laws relating to insurance

He added that the guideline is issued in pursuant to the provisions of Section 50 of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010, the Insurance Act 2003 and the National Insurance Commission Act 1997, for the purpose of establishing uniform se of rules, regulations and standards for contracts of insurance within the foil and gas industry in Nigeria.

Also, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB),
Mr Ernest Nwankpa who was represented by the General Manager, Strategy & Planning  for NCDMB, Mr Adewale Akinyosoye said the success of the new guidelines depends on the operators in the insurance industry saying insurance being the first financial sector that comes up with such guidelines have a role to play to ensure the success of the guidelines.

He said, Nigeria do not have adequate capacity before to take bigger risk but now, with the implementation of this new guideline, insurance companies need to come together so as to take bigger risks.

In the same vein, the Assistant Director, NAICOM, Sam Onyeka in his opening remark said oil and gas in Nigeria used to feed other nations but Nigeria who is the producer of this oil is not benefitting much from it saying now that Nigeria have technical and financial capacity to underwrite oil and gas business, government should create an avenue for implementation of the act since policy formulation is always easy for Nigeria but implementing those policies has always been difficult.

The President of Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria(CIIN), Mr Sunny Adeda however advised operators in the insurance sectors to continue to study oil and gas business saying they do not have to wait till they are sent for training as this is the only means through which they can develop and grow their business.