Katsina, Kano embrace Takaful insurance, Edo enforces third party

CAPTION:

His Excellencies: Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Kano State Governor;  Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, Edo State Governor and Aminu Bello Masar, Katsina State Governor

 

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

Two States have embraced insurance as part of the state budget for 2023 even as one other state enforced third party insurance in major routes of the state following National Insurance Commission, Naicom market development visits to states

The two state included insurance in their 2023 budget are Katsina and Kano whilst Edo State follow through with third party insurance

Deputy Director, Communication and Market Development, Mr AbdulRasaaq Salami made the disclosure at the recent seminar the Commission organised for insurance Correspondents in Lagos.

“Katsina and Kano have included insurance in their 2923 state budget. Edo State has began the third insurance in major routes of the state since November 1, 2022”

So, we want to spread insurance education all over the country. We visited Katsina twice. On our first visit, the Governor was sincere that he was hearing insurance takaful for the very first time.

On our second visit, we had a fuller engagement involving the grand khadi, emirs and all the rest of the influencers and we taught the gathering about takaful. They researched about it and showed them where the takaful was talked about in Quran.

According to him, “Insurance education remains a very critical issue, especially now that a lot of states, especially in the north, were outside the insurance net”

“We will visit all the states of the country because the insurance business is an integral part of the economy,” he noted.

During Naicom’s visit to Katsina, the Governor of Katsina State Aminu Bello Masari and his Deputy Mannir Yakubu inaugurated Technical Committee on the Sensitisation/Implementation of Compulsory Insurances and Takaful in the state.

The Governor, Aminu Masari while inaugurating the Technical Committee noted that the initiative to introduce Takaful insurance is a welcome development and will serve as an alternative especially to attract people of the state who are left out due to religious or cultural barriers.

He assured the insurance regulator of the Katsina State Government’s full support in the development of insurance in the State.

Takaful is a type of Islamic insurance wherein members contribute money into a pool system, to guarantee each other against loss or damage.

The Takaful fund is formed by a collection of contributions. Each participant’s contribution is determined by the type of coverage they require and their personal circumstances. A Takaful contract, like a conventional insurance policy, specifies the nature of the risk and the length of the coverage

Salami said that Naicom went to Katsina with six Takaful companies for which the state give the space to mount their offices for easy access to government and citizens in the state.

Like any other establishment and general insurance industry/business, Takaful (Islamic Insurance) industry is regulated by laws, rules, regulations or guidelines that control its operation.

The Insurance Act of 2003 applies to all insurance businesses and insurers. The Act is the primary legislation that regulates insurance Companies in Nigeria, and makes provision for Requirements and Applications for Registration, Modes of Operation of Insurers, Winding Up, Premiums and Commissions, Insurance of Properties, General Insurance, Life Insurance, Offences and so on.

The Insurance Act of 1997 established the National Insurance Commission with the responsibility to ensure the effective administration, supervision and regulation of Insurance businesses and by virtue of Section 1 of the Insurance Act 2003, it is conferred the power to Register insurance businesses. In perusing the Act, it is an obvious fact that the Act did not expressly make provisions for Takaful which is a grave flaw.

However, the Act by virtue of its provision granted the NAICOM the power to regulate Insurance Businesses. The implication of this is that they can establish guidelines that will regulate the Operations of any Insurance business. Hence, this resulted in the establishment of the Naicom Takaful Operational Guidelines 2013 .