Former Managing Director of Financial Institutions Training Centre, FITC, Mr. Oladimeji Alo, has advised insurance operators to create a strategy that suits their own business pattern and not involve themselves in every business in the insurance sector.

According to Alo, because of the varying capital base levels of insurance operators, not every insurer can go into oil and gas business.

Alo who gave the advise in Lagos, stressed that underwriters should consider their strengths and capacities before they decide to do oil and gas business.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of the Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc, Mr. Yinka Bolarinwa, said that underwriters and Nigerians in general have not positioned themselves strategically in reaping from the benefits which the Local Content Law provides.

According to Bolarinwa, one key element that the country needed to play actively in the oil and gas sector is infrastructure, and the government has provided the infrastructure on a platter of gold, which is in the form of the Local Content Act.

In his words, “Now there is a guideline on this Local Content Act which stipulates that 70 per cent of non-life risks in the oil and gas sector must be domiciled in Nigeria, while 100 per cent of life business must be done in Nigeria. To me, that is the infrastructure that we need and nothing more.”

On what operators need to do to tap into the benefits of the Local Content Act , Bolarinwa stated that underwriters should collaborate and work together as one team to develop capacity, human capital as well as skills that will be able to match the demand from local insurers.

He stated, “Nobody can love this country more than you and I. it is you and I that must do it and build this country. So insurers must collaborate, work together and ensure that the Nigerian model work for us. I must tell you the truth; we have not started penetrating the oil and gas market. So we need to collaborate and work harder. The Nigerian Government has said ‘this is what I want in my country,’ so if the oil majors don’t corporate with Government they should be shown the way out.”

He, therefore, tasked insurers to ensure that the Local Content Law worked, adding, “This is our country, the oil majors should not dictate what happens in our country for us. If they don’t comply with the law of the land they should leave. So you and I must not also be saboteurs, we must ensure that we collaborate with government so that it works. No outsider will come in here and do anything that is not in line with the law except you and I connive with them.”

Commenting on the directive handed down to insurers by NAICOM to transit to International Financial Reporting Standard, IFRS, Bolarinwa stated that collaboration amongst industry practitioners will be beneficial to all. “Naturally, when we are starting a new thing like this it is better to collaborate if others are available to collaborate with you. But if they say, ‘no’, there is no way you can force them.