Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Governor of Osun State, has tasked insurance brokers to work out the modalities that will be capable of rescuing Nigeria from the current economic challenges.
The governor spokes during the opening of the 2016 Chief Executive Officers’ retreat of Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers held recently at Ilesa, lamented the current state of the nation’s economy, saying professional bodies needed to institutionalise strategies and as well map-out realistic economic policies to mitigate the situation.
He decried the mono-economic nature of Nigeria’s economy, saying all hands must be on deck to find possible solutions to the nation’s socio-economic, political and cultural challenges.
Aregbesola attributed the challenge facing the country to over-reliance on crude oil, stressing that if successive governments had brilliantly diversified the economy, Nigeria would not have suffered from the present economic realities.
The Governor who reiterated that the nation is going through a tough economic situation, called on the members and leadership of (NCRIB) to come to the aid of the nation especially in rescuing over 27 states of the federation who are presently facing challenges in the payment of salary arrears. “Unknown to many is the fact that insurance, more than banking, actually drives the economy. When businesses are insured, it gives entrepreneurs the liberty to take informed risks, knowing that their backs are covered. Risk taking is critical to capitalism and the confidence that the business is insured, for most part, is the motive force of capitalism,” he said.
The President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr. Emmanuel Kayode Okunoren commended Governor Aregbesola for living up to the expectation in both human and infrastructural developments.
By Pita Ochai