Insurance Institute of Nigeria - President and Chairman of Council of Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Dr. Wole Adetimehin, has expressed the determination of his executive to reposition the insurance profession in Nigeria.

Adetimehin, who spoke to newsmen in Ibadan, declared that the council has mapped out various programmes of action towards ensuring the timely repositioning of insurance profession, adding, "There is need for a reawakening to ensure the continued sustenance of the profession.

"We must all come together to ward off the encroachment into the core areas of Insurance practice. Evidence abound of insurance services being rendered by bodies without the professional training and experience. This is a trend that threatens the soul of our profession", he admonished.

The CIIN President stressed that programmes of actions already lined up for the planned repositioning of the Insurance profession included "strengthening the relevance of insurance profession in Nigeria".

Explaining this, he maintained that the programme "will be pursued by initiating the Insurance and Governmental Relations Programme of Activities (IGRP) that will objectively promote insurance awareness among the three tiers of government in Nigeria".

Adetimehin gave other programmes of action by the union as "National budget and Analysis programme' through which a formidable industry team would be charged with developing inputs on a yearly basis into the National Budget would be put in place.

"There will also be an annual forum to discuss and analyse the National budget with a view to bringing to the front burner the opportunities for economic growth and in particular, the expectations from the insurance sector. This will be the Insurance voice on the fiscal and economic policies of government, which has not been heard for a very long time", he added.

Speaking further, the CII chief said the institute would also promote the establishment of the Insurance Industry Forum (IIF), "to promote Industry Unified Goals, Inter Government Regulatory understanding and development".

Tunde Sanni

This Day/19/09/2011