By; MATTHEW UKACHUNWA, Lagos
For rapid socio-economic transformation of Nigeria from year 2024, a media industry specialist has called for a synergy between insurance sector operators and media industry practitioners.
While insurance will focus on futuristic planning to make its products and services popular, journalism will through reportage on the activities of insurance deepen people’s awareness of the benefits of insurance as a source of financial security.
Dr. Isah E. Momoh, an Associate Professor, and the Rector of Media Performance Institute, Lagos made the recommendation in Lagos during a training for journalists on the theme, “Transformational Journalism In The Digital Age: Deepening Insurance Awareness Through Inclusive Reporting of Events.”
In his presentation titled, “Imperative Of Actuarial Science And Insurance Reportage/Journalism For Nigeria’s Rapid Socio-economic Transformation From 2024,” Momoh said that there is need for Nigeria to pursue rapid socio-economic development through modern, modernizing and robust insurance industry which is essential to make the development happen.
According to him, “An elevated insurance-dripping Mass Communication and Journalism could bring about this elevated performing insurance industry that would accelerate the rapidly developing Nigerian socio-economic nation.”
He expressed confidence that both elevated performing insurance and insurance-dripping media industries could propel and sustain Nigeria’s rapid socio-economic development beyond year 2024.
The Associate Professor said that the attainment of the expected rapid development requires a retooling of journalism education and media professional practice.
Momoh highlighted the importance of making all Nigerians to embrace insurance as a way of life through a retooled media education and professional practice that is growing in insurance, financial and economic knowledge.
He asserted that achieving and sustaining rapid national socio-economic transformation requires media and financial industry collaboration to stimulate and sustain the pace of such development.
“The achievement of such a national development will require society-deep and wide insurance literacy, scholarship, practice and professionalism that will make risk aversion, management and insurance a popular democratic undertaking,” Momoh said. “Such a Nigeria shall become increasingly and measurably numerate, risk-averse, gearingly insured in all aspects of life, in short practising Total Quality Management (TQM) subconsciously and intuitively because from the pre-primary school and home education, insurance and communication literacy is taught, embracced and practised.”
He stressed that elevated Insurance/Actuarial Science Journalism is sine-qua-non for Nigeria’s national development because insurance/actuarial science elevates qualification and futuristic planning in a nation, society and people. “They also enthrone planning in numbers across sime-frames and enable people focus on risks, risk inevitability, hedging and management thereby promoting safety and risks assuredness,” the Associate Professor stated.
He pointed out that insurance and actuarial science make security to be everyone’s business and lead to a more secure environment, adding: “Security is the greatest gantor of ever-growing investment inflow both local, diasporic and foreign.”
While highlighting the merits of his proposition for national growth and prosperity, Momoh said: “Such a national lifestyle boosts Nigeria’s national wealth, income, GDP (Gross Domestic Product), GNI (Gross National Income), health, wealth, and welfare/well-being, i.e. a more equitable shared and balanced GNI, a more equitable Per Capital Income.”
