Rosemary ONUOHA

In the face of man-made disasters such as road accidents across the country, collapse of buildings etc, Nigerians have been admonished to imbibe insurance culture to cushion the devastating effect of losses arising from such calamities.

This advice is coming on the heels of the various incessant cases of fire outbreak and the ravaging floods in some parts of the country which have destroyed properties worth millions of Naira.

The Head of Technical Division, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Tajudeen Rufai said this is the time Nigerians need to consciously educate themselves on the benefits they are bound to derive in taking up an insurance policy.

He said there are various insurance products that the insuring public can take in protecting their lives and properties, but that the most important thing is for the customers out there to willingly open their minds in accepting the fact that insurance is a very important aspect of their lives.

In his words, “Nigerians have waited too long in willingly accepting and recognising the fact that without insurance, one is like building a house without a foundation and in no time, it could come crashing; and when that happens, you will have to start from the scratch again with even more funds than you initially spent”.

He said insurance gives you the promise of a safe and comfortable future. The earlier we disabuse our minds of the old notion that insurance doesn’t work, the better it will be for all of us, he concluded.

In the same vein, the Head of Marketing and Relationship Management in Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Ugochi Odemelam, has attributed the low patronage of insurance in the country to the fact that Nigerians lack the basic insurance knowledge to fully appreciate the benefits inherent in it.

According to her, “there’s a general lack of awareness about insurance products and how it works by majority of Nigerians.