Solid insurance policy aids Lagos’ recovery from Endsars losses

……as Lagos Civil Service Insurance Week ends

The Lagos state government has said that its solid and proper insurance arrangement helped the state underwrite its losses incurred during the ENDSars protest.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos said this in his keynote address at the grand finale of the Lagos state civil service insurance week-themed ‘If You Can Be Insured: We’ll Bear Your Risk.’

“If not for a solid and proper insurance arrangement, Lagos will still be grappling with the challenges of replacement, reinstatement, and repairs of damaged properties,” he said.

“Also, the Covid-19pandemic that is still ravaging the entire world is another challenge that was catered for by the insurance industry,” he further said.

“The consortium of underwriters provided a ‘special package’ for medical personnel that is involved in the treatment of Covid patients. This was done in the form of corporate social responsibility (CSR),” the governor added.

The governor whose keynote address was delivered by Rabiu Olowo, commissioner of finance, said that embracing an appropriate insurance policy is one of the prudent decisions that anyone can make because different forms of unfortunate incidents happen that cannot be controlled.

He said that the state is forward-thinking and particular about the safety of its workforce, thus insuring them against any unforeseen occurrences including payment of benefits to families of any of its deceased employees.

“The state government spends a huge sum of money annually to insure its property and workforce,” he said.

Similarly, he added that another strategy is being put in place by the ministry to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracies for relatives of deceased staff in accessing their insurance compensation.

In his address, the Lagos State Honourable Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, said he has no doubt in his mind that the intention of the State Government and the partners which is to raise the level of awareness on the importance of insurance will be achieved even beyond the expected threshold.

Dr. Olowo said “in addition to raising public awareness about insurance, I am glad to inform this gathering that in order to make the process of accessing insurance claims by government employees less cumbersome, the Lagos State Ministry of Finance, through its Insurance Department have concluded zoning the activities of the Department, thereby decentralizing its operations.

“This planned decentralization, according to him, will take into cognizance the five “IBILE” divisions of the state where Zonal officers will report activities and claims to the headquarters for promptness, efficiency and effectiveness”

He further revealed that “ With this initiative, distance will no longer be a limiting factor to access insurance claims by government employees”

Also speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Oyeyemi Ayoola
unveiled the digitalised insurance platform for civil servants in the state.

“The Ministry saw gaps in the system and wants to digitalise its insurance processes and remove every form of delays in processing civil servants benefits in the state,” she said.

“The unveiling of the initiative will enable each civil service worker in the state to fill details of their beneficiaries using their mobile phones,” she added.

The climax of the event was the Raffle Draw segment where winners of two new car, two and three bedrooms apartments emerged respectively.

The two cars were won by: Mr. Salawu Dirisu Anataku, Porter (Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment), GL 04
and Mrs. Akindele Tawakalitu, Principal Executive Officer (Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relation), GL 12

The 3-Bedroom and 2-bedroom FLAT winners are: Mr. Adeyemi Akeem Babatunde and Mrs. Mobolaji Felicia Olabisi,.