The chairman of NEM Insurance Plc, Mr. Tope Smart has promised to keep doing the best he can to ensure that insurance becomes a household name to Nigeria.
He gave this assurance while receiving an Award of Excellence from the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) in Lagos at the weekend.

Smart was one of the five awardees of NAIPE Award of Excellence and Stewardship for the impact he made, not only in Nigeria, but at the continental level as the past president of the African Insurance Organisation (AIO). Aside being the past group managing director/CEO.of NEM Insurance Plc, he was also the past chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), among others. In all these, Smart distinguished himself as exceptional operator and a friend and supporter of insurance journalists.

While receiving the award, Smart said, the accolade is a message for him to do more to ensure insurance takes its rightful place in the national polity and discourse.

According to him, “I have a personal philosophy that what is worth doing is worth doing well. What shaped my perception was the derogatory image at which our Head of department in the University created about insurance companies in Nigeria then.

“He had highest regards for foreign insurers and disregard the local ones. From that moment, I decided that I must make a difference. So, when I joined the industry, I tried my best to be able to change the narrative.”

Referencing the NEM Building that has now become the face of insurance on Ikorodu Road, he said; “the NEM building on Ikorodu road was built without any bank loan to the glory of God and it has become the envy of others.”

While apprecating every member of NAIPE, he said, he and the group have come a long way together.

“I run a business and I know it is not easy to run a business. So, for you guys, especially, those who runs their media platforms, to be there with tenacity, despite all the struggles in the business operating environment, and still making a difference, it is commendable and I will continue to support your projects in a joint effort to develop insurance industty,” he pointed out.

On her part, the chairman of NAIPE, Mrs. Nkechi Naeche Esezobor appreciated the support and partnership of Smart and NEM Insurance over the years, saying, the group never took them for granted.

“This building (NEM Insurance) was what made many insurance companies to start making their building big. Every company coming in is looking at doing what NEM did because you have challenged them.

“Your efforts can never be in vain. As an association, we feel it is good to recognise people when they are alive. We appreciate what you have done for the industry and we felt we need to appreciate this feat in our 10th anniversary of organising our annual conference,” she noted.

Meanwhile, the chairman, 2025 NAIPE Annual Conference, Mr. Roland Okoro said, Mr. Smart tick all the boxes when assessing the personalities to be awarded, calling on him not to rest on his oars towards deepening insurance acceptance, penetration and recognition.

By Sola Alabadan

For paying just paid $170,000 (N255 million) as the premium to insure the risk, a consortium of insurance companies in Nigeria paid claims of $55 million (about N83 billion) to Britannia-U Nigerian Limited, for the fire incident that affected the company.

This is contrary to the wrong perception among the other people that the Nigerian insurance industry has not been paying claims.

The company was paid this claim for the massive fire outbreak that razed the 4,000 barrels of crude oil per day capacity Britannia-U1 FPSO operated by Nigerian independent producer, Britannia-U Nigeria Limited, offshore Forcados in Delta State.

the Commissioner for Insurance and CEO, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Olusegun Omosehin, who disclosed this on Friday at the seminar organised by NAICOM for insurance journalists in Abeokuta, applauded the insurance operators for living up to expectation and paying the claim prompt settlement.

Omosehin,who was visibly excited by the industry’s ability to pay $55 million (N83 billion) claims to Britannia-U Nigeria Limited, stated that even the insured did not believe that the industry will have the capacity to pay the claim hence the reason why the case was reported to the National Assembly.

“Nigerian insurers have been paying claims and one major one is the Britainnia-U Nigeria claim that was initially estimated at about $72 million which was subsequently and finally adjusted for $55 million (N83 billion).

“Having adjusted a claim for N83 billion their perception, given what they heard, was, this people might not be able to pay. So they run to the National Assembly. The regulator was summoned and we were asked why are you people not paying. The reality is, there was no need for legislative intervention, and the claim was clearly discharged.

“The provision of the law with respect to timeline for settlement was 90 days because NIIRA had not been assented at that time. So the industry had 90 days and my explanation to the House was, calm down, these guys did not breach any provision, why do you want to descend on them? But, of course, I realized the need for the regulator to step in. So, we wrote to our entities and we gave them a timeline and immediately, the claim was settled.

“Honestly, I must tell you, I have never been proud of this market until that time. I confirmed to you the market has paid the N83 billion claim in full.

“The interesting part is that the premium for this risk was $170,000. The painful part of it is that the payment of this claim has not been publicized. Those are the things I want to see published.

NAICOM boss emphasized the need for industry players to publicize claims paid to change the negative perception by the public about the sector. “We cannot continue as a sector to keep quiet. Billions are being paid on an annual basis, yet people are saying insurance does not exist in Nigeria because they have access to the radio airwaves and those ones will go viral but the billions insurance companies are paying on an annual basis are not publicized.”

The Commissioner emphasised that in appreciation of the fact that insurance is a promise of protection, and its impact must be felt in the society, the promp payment of the claim is a proof that the industry is responsive and reliable when it comes to valid claims.

‎The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Arthur Stevens Asset Management Limited, Mr. Olatunde Amolegbe, has tasked operators in the insurance and pension sectors to come up with strategies that will bring the full informal sector under insurance and pension coverage.
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‎Amolegbe, who gave this charge at the 10th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association of Insurance and Pension Editors (NAIPE) in Lagos recently, with the theme “Strengthening Pension and Insurance Framework for Better Economy” noted that the informal sector constitute about 70 million Nigerian working population.
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‎He identified the two sectors as key sub-sectors of the financial services industry of the economy that have capacity to accumulate long term investible funds.
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‎He however, regretted that both sectors for years, have been suffering from under development due to lack of public confidence and trust as well as poor awareness of the value of the sectors on the part of the public.
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‎Highlighting the underdeveloped nature of the two sectors, Amolegbe said pension and insurance coverage remained low, observing that only 26.3 percent of Nigerian workers had access to pension plan and health Insurance in 2023 largely due to the high number of informal sector workers in the country.
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‎“Approximately 92 percent of Nigeria’s employed population works in the informal sector, voluntary Micro pension scheme adoption has been low as of December 2024. Micro pension registration was barely 172.936 six years after the introduction of the scheme, for the inclusion of the informal sector”.
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‎On insurance performance he said “Nigeria’s insurance penetration remains largely low at less than 1.0 percent compared to South Africa ‘s 11.54 percent, Namibia’s 7.41 percent Morocco’s 4.10 percent, Kenya’s 2.25 percent and the global average of 6.8 percent,” he observed.
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‎To address the problem, he said the operators’ first step towards capturing the informal sector into insurance and pension fold was to rebuild their confidence and trust towards the sector.
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‎He said this was necessary because without regaining their confidence they could not be captured into pension and insurance nets because they would not want to put their money where they could not easily access it.
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‎He also urged operators of the two sectors to device simple and different system of enrolling the informal sector operators into the system using modern technology.
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‎He said operators of pension sector should begin to think how to establish micro PFAs and operate such firms in areas where micro people live.
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‎He urged insurance operators to use the opportunity of publicity created by the NIIRA 2025 to promote financial literacy among young Nigerians and make people have feelings for savings through insurance and pensions.
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‎Highlighting statistics on the performance of the two sectors between 2020 and 2024 Amolegbe said: “The pension and insurance sectors have recorded substantial growth, positioning them as critical pillars for economic stability and capital market deepening. Total pension assets reached over ₦23 trillion in 2025, equivalent to approximately 8.6 percent of GDP. Between 2020 and 2024, public sector contributions rose by 71.7 percent to ₦5.89 trillion, while private sector contributions grew by 65.7 percent to ₦5.42 trillion. In the fourth quarter of 2024 alone, contributions totaled ₦342.23 billion, with total Assets under Management standing at ₦22.51 trillion. Retirement Savings Account registrations rose by 14.8 percent over five years to 10.58 million accounts, and the Micro Pension Plan attracted ₦1.06 billion in cumulative contributions, highlighting the untapped potential of the informal sector”, he stated.
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‎He noted that the insurance industry achieved a 56 percent increase in gross written premiums in 2024, reaching ₦1.562 trillion, with the non-life segment accounting for ₦1.1 trillion and the life segment ₦470 billion. Industry assets rose by 46.1 percent to ₦3.9 trillion, while market capitalisation climbed 41 percent to ₦1.2 trillion. Net claims paid totaled ₦622 billion, with growth driven by fire, oil, gas, and group life products. He however noted that penetration remained below 1 percent far behind regional peers such as South Africa, Namibia, Morocco, and Kenya. He highlighted benefits of pension as driving long term investment, reducing poverty level among the elderly, promoting social stability and reducing dependency on family and government.
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‎He also highlighted insurance benefits as mitigating financial risks, and enabling businesses to invest and grow with confidence, promoting economic stability by compensating losses from unforeseen events and attracts foreign investment by offering risk coverage, boosting capital inflows among other benefits.