NCRIB PAST PRESIDENTS

The Nigerian Corporation of Insurance Brokers, the precursor of the Council, was established in 1962 to provide a central organization for the regulation of all practicing Insurance Brokers in Nigeria.  This body got its first legal recognition in 1991 when the Insurance Decree N0 58 of 1991 made compulsory for all practicing Insurance Brokers to be members of this body before being registered by the Commissioner for Insurance.

However, the brokers quest for full legal recognition through the acquisition of a Charter did not materialize until 2003 when the National Assembly passed the NCRIB Bill and the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR gave his assent on 4th July, 2003.  The name of the body was thereafter changed in pursuant of the enabling Act to The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB).

With the signing into law of the NCRIB Act, the insurance broking profession received full legal powers to be able to regulate the practice as a reputable profession, that is an integral professional arm of the Nigerian Insurance Industry.  Section 13 of the Act confers on this body, exclusive powers to regulate the conduct of all registered insurance brokers in Nigeria (both individual and corporate members).

The advent of insurance broking could be traced to the early European traders who found it a little difficult to understand the technical details of Marine Insurance business and thus employed experts in this field to act for them.  Insurance business even today, is still very technical for which reason the services of experts i.e. insurance brokers are still very much needed if policyholders are to enjoy maximum benefits under their insurance policies.  Brokers are today relied upon by underwriters for risk evaluation, control, package, placement and general risk management.

Insurance Brokers therefore become the first contact party by any prudent and rational prospective client in any insurance transaction.  It is the broker and not the insurer that helps package insurance portfolio to ensure that it suites the clients’ requirement.  The broker will also select for the clients, insurer considered reputable and reliable enough to be able to pay claims promptly and fairly when they arise.  More importantly, brokers accept responsibility for negligence on their part and are thus required by law to hold professional indemnity policy to protect their clients against negligent professional advice.

At the time of loss, especially major loss, the broker is there to police the insurer and ensure equitable and prompt settlement.  It is an open secret that every insurer, as a business enterprise, is out to make profit which may elude it if too many claims are to be met.  The broker, as the best friend of every policy holder on all insurance matters, is there to ensure full protection at all time.  In Nigeria, the broker is regarded as the policeman of the insurers. 

It is therefore an anomaly for a prospective policyholder/insured to go direct to an insurer on matters of insurance just in the same way as it is considered dangerous for a sick person to sideline a Medical Doctor and go straight to a medicine store for self medication.

Up till now, services rendered by insurance brokers in Nigeria are free of cost to the insureds.  It is also note worthy that appointment of brokers does not necessarily result in increased premium.  In most cases, outrageous premium rates charged by insurers are brought down by brokers on appointment, resulting in premium reduction as well as improvement in other policy terms and conditions.

Brokers no doubt play vital role in ensuring all round satisfaction of insurance policyholders and are therefore the best pal of the insuring public.  It is therefore right, proper and mutually-beneficial to all parties that the broker be contacted First on any matter of insurance and be relied upon for all insurance transactions.

The Council over time made efforts aimed at sanitising the Insurance Broking sector of our economy by way of disciplining members when they are involved in sharp or unwholesome practices.  In 1984 for example, the Council had cause to discipline a member, Mr. A. N. Adeniji of Abbey Nat Life & Pensions Brokers who was involved in a shady practice and was eventually convicted by the Court.  So also did the Council expell from its membership, Mr. Tunde Ajayi of Bael International Insurance Brokers Limited in 1998 when some irregularities were proved against him. 

Our Disciplinary Tribunal and Investigation Panel comprising of seasoned professionals have always been involved in settlement of disputes and complaints emanating between members on one hand and other parties on the other, with the view to ensuring fraud free self regulation which is the hallmark of self regulation and subsisting efficiency.

It is unfortunate however that just as the Council, in conjunction with other operators in the industry, have been trying their possible best at ensuring a virile Nigerian Insurance Industry which operators would be proud of, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has been working at cross purpose to frustrate our efforts in this regard by way of subtly encouraging sharp practices in the industry.   This unfortunate act of NAICOM has in no small way gone a long way in throwing spanners into the industry’s wheel of progress such that operators are further encouraged to be involved in unprofessional practices.   For example, while we expect NAICOM to co-operate with us on matters of discipline of erring brokers, it has continued to encourage indiscipline amongst brokers through issuance of practicing licence to brokers who are either under investigation or have been suspended or expelled by our Council for serious fraudulent and unethical practices.  NAICOM since its establishment in 1996 cannot claim to have disciplined any erring broker.

NAICOM as a government parastatal cannot be said to be entirely independent.  Consequently, it is incapable of fully protecting the interest of our profession.  The frustrations that our body and indeed our profession suffered from NAICOM in the past years bear testimony to our assertion that NAICOM is incapable of fully protecting our interests.

We are a very serious body and also very serious with our profession.  We have strived over the years to maintain standard in line with what obtained outside our country, Nigeria without necessarily compromising this stand.  As a disciplined body, we have been dealing decisively with our erring members in the past years, even when we lacked full legal backing to do so.  We desire very much to maintain very high professional and ethical standard for our noble profession and we already started smooth sail with the implementation of the NCRIB Act.

We have over time been involved in training and retraining of our members to enable them appreciate the modern approach to insurance broking worldwide through organization of Seminars, Workshops, Retreats and Conferences at our National Secretariat proudly owned by us and throughout the different geopolitical areas of the country to enable us propagate this crusade. To ensure professionalism in the Nigeria Insurance Industry, we have in consonance with the other arms of the industry formulated the existing Nigerian Insurance Industry Code of Ethics which to a large extent featured prominently in the NCRIB Act 2003 and is constantly in use by both our Investigation Panel and Disciplinary Tribunal in treating cases passed to them by the Secretariat. The trend in developed economies all over the world is for government and its agencies to create conducive business environment for operators to operate.  It is considered retrogressive for a government or its agency for example, to still desire to register members of a legally recognized professional body in place of the professional body itself.  We must move forward progressively.  We are determined to maintain a very high standard for our profession to the benefits and advantages of the insurance industry and indeed, that nation’s economy and we solicit the support, cooperation and understanding of all stakeholders.