The Nollywood movie industry and the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), are raising the insurance stakes in quick succession and making a demand on each other to be involved in making insurance protection a mainstay for Nollywood.
The first demand was made by Segun Arinze, a former president of Guild of Actors and guest of honour at the Members Evening hosted by Universal Insurance Plc at the Insurance Brokers House yesterday at Yaba, Lagos.
Arinze sending an SOS message, urged the brokers to create what would look like a consolidated insurance package that will cover the risks of the varies spheres and specifications in the Nollywood. Arinze said it was now unacceptable that after 30 years of existence, Nollywood is still standing without insurance involvement in its projects.
Urging the insurance industry to do something about taking in Nollywood in its insurance penetration with covers for the movie industry, he said the insurance brokers should bear in mind before they make approach that Nollywood the umbrella name for all that are involved in movie production, “do not believe in insurance.”
Despite the current state of no insurance policy of any sort in Nollywood, Arinze said, “There is need to make people believe in insurance,” admitting the undulating terrain ahead, his confidence that a change would be scored makes him assert the bumps could turn to a stretch of land for insurance business to develop. “I know its an arduous task but we can come together to do something.” He cited the constant contributions for ailing members of the industry as a clarion call to take to insurance.
Taking the advantage of the visit and Arinze’ open call for insurance covers for risks in the industry, the president of NCRIB, Mr. Rotimi Edu, also requested that Nollywood script writers should write an insurance story and have it acted to help drive insurance penetration and acceptance.
Sharing Arinze’s statement the unending contributions by members of the entertainment industry for their critically sick colleagues when insurance cover could have served, Edu said, “we are most pained whenever the news of the death of any actor or actress filters to the public.”
The brokers readiness to put an end to the burden of colleagues contributions for the sick members, and have necessary covers for the risks in the movie industry Edu stated, was “the rational behind our desire to forge a collaboration with members of movie industry, commencing with this engagement.”
