Matthew Otoijagha
Vehicles with genuine insurance policies captured on the Nigeria Insurance Industry Database (NIID) are close to five million, the Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Eddie Efekoha, has said.
He disclosed this Monday at a media parley in the association new office along Ikorodu Road, Obanikoro, Lagos, adding that the NIID has really impacted positively on the operations of insurance companies.
Efekoha noted that though the number of vehicles captured falls below expectations, going by the number of vehicles in the country, the industry will sustain the drive to capture all vehicles plying the nation’s roads.
He said the association is forging ahead in the implementation of the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code, adding that discussions between the Association and Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), for deployment of the USSD have progressed significantly and an inter-agency publicity committee has been put together between NIA and NIBSS with a view to publicizing the project to engender public support and acceptability.
He maintained that when fully operational, the USSD code is expected to close the gap encountered in the operation of the NIID as the code will not require internet connectivity for verification of motor insurance certificates across the country.
On the industry rebranding project, he posited that the project is at the heart of the
Governing Council of the Association, stressing that although the project was
initiated by the Insurers Committee, the association fully supports it and has continued to mobilize its members to do likewise.
“We are convinced that members stand to benefit immensely from the initiative,” he said.
He said the association working with KPMG developed a 10-year transformation
roadmap for the industry and that the roadmap together with similar works by other arms of industry are undergoing harmonization under the auspices of the Insurers Committee.
“I strongly believe that the implementation of this plan when concluded soon would bring about the much-awaited growth to our industry,” he said.
On the Association secretariat construction, he noted that the construction of the seven story building will soon commence as over N500 million has been realized for the project.
“You would recall that in my acceptance speech following my election as 22nd Chairman of our noble Association, I promised to give further impetus to the development projects initiated by my predecessor, notable amongst which is the New NIA House Project.
‘‘I am delighted to inform you that the journey which we commenced about three years ago aimed at building a befitting NIA Towers is about to crystalize,” he said.