NAICOM Partners UniUyo On Insurance Education

• To fund building construction for dept

BY COBHAM NSA – In line with its mandate delivery of promoting insurance education and human capital development in Nigeria, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has struck a partnership with the University of Uyo (UniUyo) in Akwa Ibom state.

To drive the robust collaboration efforts forward, the Commission has agreed to finance the construction of a building that will house the Insurance Department at the University.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas stated this at the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony with the University’s authorities in Abuja on Thursday, stressing that NAICOM is focused on deploying “the proceeds of its Education Fund to provide financial assistance to tertiary institutions with a view to promoting insurance education and human capital development in Nigeria”.

Mr Thomas, who did not disclose the cost implication of the building project, however, said the value “is the linkage that is created in human capital development which cannot be quantified”.

However, he explained that funding will be delivered “in tranches”, and “the total amount involved will be determined at the end when the complex is completed and officially commissioned”

According to him, funding the project is in recognition of the fact that “We need those who are cerebral to be able to reach out there and package things, products and of course, the starting point is to get the knowledge.”

He further said the Commission is “bending backward to develop the minds that will be able to, not only teach because part of those who are going to be beneficiaries will remain in the institution to teach others, some are going to come into practice, they need that knowledge, that is why we have ventured into this”.

The NAICOM boss, while describing Insurance as a knowledge-based sector, said the Commission realizes that “as the days go by, vulnerability increases in which case, we need to develop products that will be able to meet the need of the populace and we need creative ideas”.

Furthermore, he said the Commission will be undertaking different projects across the country, stressing; “We believe that the more of this we do, the more people will get educated about what insurance is, and of course, the result will show”.

Going forward, the Insurance Commissioner said the funding assistance be “applied to support tertiary institutions in the areas of establishment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centre; Scholarship for Master’s and Doctorate degree; Provision of textbooks and journals on insurance and other related fields.

Other areas that would enjoy the financing intervention are the construction of Administrative and/or Vocational offices (structures); Sponsorship of professorial endowments; and Sponsorship of accreditation for tertiary institutions interested in offering insurance as a course of study.

In his comments at the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Uyo, Professor Nyaudoh Ndaeyo said the institution is among the Nigerian Universities that opted to offer an Insurance programme.

Appreciating NAICOM for its kind gesture, Prof Ndaeyo noted that the Commission is offering the University “a helping hand by giving us a building”, adding; “We are here to sign Memorandum of Understanding and to also show appreciation on our part because they have trained our staff beyond what we have shown to them”.

On the impact of NAICOM’s intervention, he said; “students or candidates hearing that a building is coming, that alone has led to an increase in the intake of students in that programme, everybody wants comfort so the coming of the building, offices for staff and classrooms for students is quite a commendable one”.

The Vice-Chancellor assured the Commission that as a brand, UniUyo has a name to protect in the nation’s education sector and would therefore not encourage anything that infringes the project funding terms and conditions until it is satisfactorily completed and delivered for use.

“You cannot be a brand if you don’t have integrity so we know we have to protect that name to ensure that we maintain the quality”, he assured.

With the MoU signing, the Institution’s ability to document and/or speed up the work/project involved will ultimately determine the speed of releasing the various tranches of the fund.

Also for the purpose of transparency in the selection process, the following criteria were adopted in picking the tertiary institutions: All beneficiary institutions must be offering Insurance and/or Actuarial science at a degree or National Diploma level; Only institutions owned by Federal and State Governments were considered; and Only institutions with existing infrastructure, staff and department with insurance education were endorsed.

Also featuring as pre-qualification requirements are: Each geopolitical zone qualified to get slots; all beneficiary institutions must have been physically inspected and certified by the Commission to ensure compliance and all successful institutions to sign an MOU for compliance with the funding terms and conditions.