The Group Managing Director/CEO, Consolidate Hallmark Insurance (CHI), Mr. Eddie Efekoha, has said his company will through financial support see to the continuation of work at the permanent building of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) whose foundation was laid 33 years ago.
Efekoha, who is the immediate past president of CIIN, stated this recently when the executives of CIIN paid a courtesy visit to his company’s headquarter in Lagos.
He noted that though the insurance industry is going through tough times presently, the company will support the project to ensure that the dream of having a befitting edifice for CIIN is realised.
The CIIN building project, which has long been abandoned because of funding issues, is located in Victoria Island, Lagos, and is estimated to gulp N2 billion to complete it.
Speaking on the need to complete the project despite all odds, Efekoha said, “We are all aware that the industry is undergoing recapitalisation at a critical time that there is paucity of fund in the industry. Claims are piling up, and businesses are not forthcoming in insurance because they too are going through tough times, hence, could not insure and in all these, companies must recapitalise to survive, hence, our survival is paramount.”
Emphasising his company’s willingness to see that work commences at the site, Efekoha said, “so we will look into it, after surviving. We can’t be too specific on the amount, but we will support the initiative.”
He appealed to other companies to support the CIIN building project to ensure that the educational arm of insurance industry has a good building it can call its own and generate revenue from it.
In his response, the incumbent CIIN president, Mr. Muftau Oyegunle, thanked CHI for the kind gesture, and said, his administration had to revisit the building project which started in 1987.
He expressed belief that the project remains a legacy of the insurance industry and must be supported by stakeholders in the industry.
