SUNDAY VANGUARD, OCTOBER 5, 2014, PAGE 13
By FAVOUR NNABUGWU
A
C M Y K
n estimated 600,000 vehicles from Abuja suburbs and neighbouring states enter the Federal Capital City every working day of the week excluding the number of vehicles domiciled in Abuja. Of those vehicles, between 200,000 and 300,000 come in through the Murtala Mohammed Expressway, Kubwa Road; between 250,000 and 300,000 through Nyanya/ Karu road while between 150,000 and 200,000 come in through the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Expressway (Airport Road). Hardly does a day pass in Abuja without shattered vehicle glasses littering the streets. They are evidence of auto crashes at major roads notorious for deadly accidents at Asokoro, Wuse, Karmo, Central Area. Maitama, Kado, Gwarimpa, Garki, Airport Road, Kubwa and Nyanya, yet only 0.04 percent of the vehicles are genuinely insured. Though, commendable is the fact that Abuja road network is one of the best in Africa, instead of providing unhindered flow of traffic, the reverse is the case. Road crashes of different types are commonplace in the FCT. Worse still, Abuja city roads are more dangerous at weekends, as that is the period drunken crawlers cruise at high speed from one night club to another in search of fun and ladies between 1am and 3pm only to wake up to see the aftermath on the streets and highways. Abuja drivers have grown with the perception that, where the road is good, they are at liberty to speed as dangerous as they deem necessary. Little wonder that over speeding is killing our people on the roads. Over-speeding and reckless driving have literally become a way of life for Abuja motorists. Even with the daily loss of lives, there seems not to be any lessons learnt. Section 68 of the Insurance Act and Section 3 of the Motor Vehicle, Third Party, Insurance Act requires that no person shall use, or cause or permit any other person to use a motor vehicle unless such a motor vehicle is insured against damage to the property of third parties. The Nigerian Insurance Association, NIA, which has been in the vanguard of propagating the culture of genuine insurance, is apparently bemused by the carefree attitude of some Nigerians who can, at the punch of a key board, get full details about the licensed
ROAD ACCIDENTS
The fake Abuja insurers! insurance companies and their nearest branch offices and pick original comprehensive or third party insurance as the case may be. Director-General of the NIA, Mr Sunday Thomas, in an interview with Sunday Vanguard at a two-day maiden joint media retreat organized by the association, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN; Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, NCRIB, and the Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria, ILAN, in Abeokuta, said only 15 percent of the estimated 12. 7 milion vehicles in Nigeria are genuinely insured in spite of the collaborative efforts of the industry to educate motorists on the danger of fake insurance. Apparently concerned that many motorists in the country including educated ones are still ignorant of the benefit attached to genuine motor insurance mandated by the law establishing it, many motorists, he observed, arrived at the erroneous conclusion that insurance firms do not pay claims on third party motor insurance. The reality, the umbrella body of insurance companies’ boss reiterated, is that the third party motor insurance has as big as N1 million benefit attached to it. Indeed by its nature, the third party motor insurance
Abuja drivers have grown with the perception that, where the road is good, they are at liberty to drive at very dangerous speed as they deem necessary. Little wonder that overspeeding is killing our people on the roads
is a cover for protection against third party damage or death as a result of accident in the course of using the vehicle. The NIA DG marveled at the spate of compliance in Imo State where law enforcement agents are well equipped and up-to-date on genuine insurance papers just click on their computers to verify whether the insurance papers paraded by motorists are original or fake right at check points. He wondered why such practice could be replicated in Abuja in particular where accidents rate is high rather the estimation of enforcement agents in Abuja is that an
Director General of the Nigeria Insurance Association, NIA, Mr Sunday Thomas
insurance certificate, whether genuine of fake, has nothing to do with accidents or making claims after an accident. But for the few that know that the policy has some benefits attached to it, they hardly believe that insurance companies can pay any claim for just N5,000 they paid for a whole year. Their unbelief in this regard is boosted by the fact that many who purchased the policy from fraudsters and who were involved in one form of accident or the other failed to get the necessary intervention of any insurance firm because the certificate they have was issued by fake insurance firms. “All drivers in Nigeria must by law have at least thirdparty insurance. This means that you are insured against any claims made by drivers and other road users whose vehicles are damaged in an accident that was your fault but you cannot make claims for damage to your own car or injuries you or your passengers sustain unless the accident was the fault of another person,”Thomas said. “Contrary to the mandatory third party insurance, comprehensive motor vehicle insurance is not required by law, but it is a good idea to take one depending on the value of the car you are driving. It allows the policyholder to claim
from his insurer for accidents that occur as a result of his faults and also when fault cannot be established against him or another person including if you return to your parked car and find it has been damaged by an unknown vehicle. “Technically, human errors, vehicle breakdowns, non-road worthy vehicles, good road conditions and environmental factors like poor weather can be said to be the major causes of accidents everywhere in the world, but the good news, however is that, all those errors can be prevented if Nigerians help insurance industry to help motorists through ensuring that the don’t just flank papers for the sake of it but patronize genuine insurance companies.” Sunday Vanguard investigation revealed that global cost road accidents waste and injuries accounted for $518billion while developing countries accounted for $65billion of that amount. Compliance to motor insurance law in Columbia is 99 percent; Sweden 98 percent; UK 95 percent; Costa Rica 84 percent; Ghana 84 percent; Zambia 15percent and Nigeria, the largest insurance market in Africa, still struggles with unappreciable percentage of third party insurance.