President of The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr. Tunde Oguntade led other Management Committee Members of the Council on on-spot visit to commiserate with victims of Mandilas fire in Lagos

By Ngozi Onyeakusi— The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers has commiserated with victims of the Mandilas fire incident in Lagos and rued the poor attitude of the public to insurance.

Speaking when he led a delegation of the Council to the scene of the fire incident, the President of the Council, Prince Babatunde Oguntade lamented that the fire incident had further led to the hardship in the country, considering the fact that those who were victims of the fire were Nigerians.

Prince Oguntade who noted that the magnitude of the losses could have been mitigated if the victims adequately insured their assets and utilized the services of insurance brokers that are the professional intermediaries in the insurance value chain.

While calling on Nigerians to imbibe the culture of insurance for the mitigation of their exposure to risks, Oguntade opined that government at all levels needed to pay more attention to enforcement of existing laws backing some compulsory insurances, to help the government and the people protect their human and material assets, as well as grow the insurance industry.

The NCRIB President noted that “it remains inexpedient for government to continually seek to provide palliatives for victims of calamities. Instead, they could assist encourage or assist them to pay insurance premiums, to enable them make claims that would be consistent with the volume of their losses when they occur”

He seized the avenue to underscore the roles of the insurance brokers in educating insurance clients (existing and potential) about benefits of insurance, while also acting as their dependable allies in the event of claims payment.