The
failure of the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration to pay adequate
premium on Group Life Insurance Policy (GLIP) for the soldiers as and
when due has left families of deceased soldiers, especially those
defending the country against the Boko Haram insurgency in the North,
with no compensation, writes Omobola Tolu-Kusimo
Rahina Ali and Thabita John are married
to soldiers serving in the Nigerian Army. That is not all the duo have
in common. Last year, Ali and John were two of the wives of soldiers who
took to the streets of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to protest
the posting of their husbands to the Northeast to battle Boko Haram
insurgents.
“Our husbands are always given inferior
weapons while the Boko Haram terrorists have superior weapons,” Mrs Ali
complained during the protest, which was the first of its kind.
Mrs. John proclaimed: “No weapons for
our husbands, no trip to Gwoza or any volatile place. We are tired of
burying our loved ones.”
The protesting wives were about 300. The
irate mothers were joined by their children who were over 500. They
gathered at the gates of a military base in the Northeast, where they
made bonfires.
According to the protesters, in the
hands of Boko Haram insurgents were semi-automatic weapons,
rocket-propelled grenades and modern Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs).
Nigerian troops relied on out-of-fashion – mostly unserviceable –
tools.
Burials, burials, burials
The protesters have obviously witnessed
many burials of soldiers who died fighting Boko Haram. The sad part of
this is that after they fell to the superior weapons of the insurgents,
their dependants discover that the premiums for the payment of the
Nigerian Armed Forces Group Life Insurance Policy (GLIP) have been badly
handled from 2011. This means officers who died when the premiums were
not settled as at when due had no insurance cover.
The Nation
learnt that during the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan, insurance of the armed forces were handled lackadaisically.
There is also the allegation of
diversion of over N3.4 billion premium by some top military others in
connivance with some insurers. The money was said to have been released
shortly before the end of the administration but did not get into the
account of the insurer.
What is Life Cover?
Group life insurance is stipulated in
the Pension Reform Act. Section 9 (3) of the Pension Reform Act 2004 as
amended in 2014 stipulates that every employer (in the public and
private sector) to which the Act applies, must maintain a Life Insurance
Policy in favour of the employee for a minimum sum amounting to three
times the annual total emolument of the employee.
The policy provides cover to the insured
against death and the insurance cover is mandatory for all employees,
as long as they are in employment. This means that the policy provides
for the payment of the sum assured in the event of the death of a member
of the scheme from any cause, natural and accidental.
The group life cover is also compulsory
under the Insurance Act 2004. Unfortunately, former President Jonathan
paid little attention to proper compensation for soldiers, especially
those fighting insurgencies in the Northeast.
Messy premiums
Between 2011 and 2015, premiums were paid haphazardly. Insurance of the armed forces was messy between 2012 and 2013.
With the effective enforcement of no
premium, no cover policy by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM)
in 2013, cover is provided by insurers and claims are paid on the
condition that premiums due are fully paid in advance.
Section 50 of Insurance Act, 2003
states: “The receipt of an insurance premium shall be a condition
precedent to a valid contract of insurance and there shall be no cover
in respect of an insurance risk unless the premium is paid in advance.”
It adds that any insurer, who grants
cover without having received premium in advance or premium receipt
notification from the relevant insurance brokers, is liable to a penalty
of N500,000 in respect of each cover granted, and in addition, this may
be a ground for the suspension of the licence of the insurer.
Based on this, beneficiaries of soldiers
who died in months or years where premiums were not paid cannot get
compensation from insurers. The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM)
and some insurers confirmed the problem with the premium for soldiers,
especially in 2012.
Investigations by The Nation revealed that Standard Life Insurance was the lead insurer for the soldiers in 2013 and was also involved in the 2012 and 2014.
Standard Life spokesman, Nelson Egboboh
affirmed that 2012 was the most problematic for the underwriters, noting
that only 40 per cent of the premium due was paid by the government.
Sixty per cent of the premium, he said, remains unpaid till date.
He said there were issues between the
underwriters and the armed forces and it took the intervention of the
Nigeria Insurance Association (NIA), an umbrella body of the
underwriters, to resolve some of the problems.
On whether or not, they connived with
some top military men to divert the premium, Egbogbon said this never
happened as the underwriters were also not happy with the way they were
being treated.
Further investigation revealed that
Capital Express Insurance Limited was the sole insurer of the armed
forces for the 2015 Group Life. Managing Director, Mrs Bola Odukale
confirmed receipt of N2.39 billion meant for the armed forces 2015 Group
Life. She said the company is not involved and is not aware of any
diversion.
According to her, the transaction for
the 2015 cover was transparent. The company, she said, was appointed by
the Ministry of Defence to provide Group Life for soldiers towards the
end of 2013.
She said they demanded payment from the ministry in 2014 but were only paid four months later, specifically on March 24, 2015.
The bank account sighted by The Nation showed a deposit of the said amount with Access Bank.
After the payment, Capital Express disbursed premium of N184 million to the lead broker, which paid other brokers.
Mrs Odukale explained that the insurance renewal period or year for armed forces should start from December 2013 of every year.
“They ought to have paid us since
December 23, 2014. To run for one year from December 23, 2014 to
December 22, 2015 and so you can safely call it 2015 Group Life. The
2014, there is just for one week.
“Meanwhile, they had a cover up to
December 22, 2014 and that cover was led by Standard Life. We are a part
of it because we shared five percent and so many of us shared part of
it too. It was this same amount that was paid last year and we at
Capital Express shared out of it. We have also paid several claims since
then.
“The 2015 premium was paid to us as the
lead insurer in March during the former President Jonathan’s
administration. The money released by this present administration of
President Buhari… is meant for the MDAs and parastatals.”
She admitted premiums were not fully paid in 2012.
“The only year that had problem was 2012
when premium on many of the schemes were not paid by Government. We
were not part of the insurers as at then. The people who protested could
have been from 2012. I am sure it is the same problem because armed
forces were part of HOS as at that time,” she said.
Mrs. Odukale, who noted that the firm
was part of the co-insurers of the soldiers 2013/2014 Group Life, said
premium was also paid and all the insurers, including Capital Express,
got their premiums from the lead insurer.
She added that she was aware of the
release of over N3b premium debt from the Office of the Accountant
General for Group Life of MDAs and parastatals.
In Mrs. Odukale’s views, it would be
difficult for any premium to be diverted from the insurance industry as
the regulatory body, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has
over the years been monitoring operations of insurance operators
closely.
Mrs. Odukale said: “The Armed Forces are
not part of the contributory pension scheme and so it is not part of
the Head of Service scheme for the parastatals and ministries. So, the
one that was paid (recently) is for the parastatals and ministries.
Armed Forces normally arrange their insurance separately.
“There is need for clarification on what
year the dead soldiers whose families are said to be protesting belong
to. There was a release of 2014 payment from the office of the
Accountant-General for the core civil servants from MDAs into the
industry. Maybe this is what they are mixing up. I don’t know, I am
just thinking.
“All life insurance companies including
us, got it based on our percentage of participation. I don’t know maybe
that is what they are referring to as armed forces. The one for Armed
forces is different. It is done separately from the Ministry of Defence.
“In fact, it is difficult to divert
money in the insurance industry in a scheme that is large, especially on
armed forces, police, among others. NAICOM is very attentive on monies
paid into the industry and money taken out. The commission is very
strong now. They track every transaction.”
NIA knocks govt
The Director-General, Nigerian Insurers
Association, Sunday Thomas, who denied any diversion of premium,
disclosed that the former administration did not pay claims regularly
and had resorted to self-insuring its workers.
He said the government was aware of the
‘no premium, no cover’ regulation and the underwriters have agreed to
treat claims based on the percentage of premium paid by the government.
He noted that the Armed Forces probably
had a full cover for 2013 and 2014 but somewhere along the line, the
whole thing broke down again. “Once premium is not paid as at when due,
it leaves a gap and when a gap exists, people who die between those gaps
will not be covered under the policy from when premium was paid.”
He advised the government to reduce the
three times annual salary benchmark for GLIP if it felt that it was too
much for it to bear.
“The government seems to be adjusting to
the regulation, because the cover now commences from the date of
premium payment. If the premium has not been paid, if anybody should die
after the date the last contract expired, the government will take
responsibility for it. The government has automatically self-insured
itself
“If the government feels that the three
times annual salary is too much for them to bear, let them reduce it but
I know they will have issues with the labour if they reduce it.
“They should look at what premium they
can pay so that people will know that they are fully covered because
this is a situation where you say people are insured but the cover is
not there because premium was not paid. This is not helping anybody.
They should learn from the errors of the past, self-insurance will never
help any administration,” he added.
Defence confirms shoddy insurance arrangement
Defence spokesman Col. Rabe Abubakar admitted that there was a problem with the GLIP of the military in 2013.
He said efforts were in top gear to
ensure that the 2013 premium was paid to the brokers so that appropriate
compensation could be paid to beneficiaries of the deceased.
He appealed to beneficiaries of deceased
soldiers who fall within the year premiums were not paid to be patient
with them as they would receive compensation soon.
“We have Group Life Insurance Policy for
our soldiers and it covers those who die in active service. The policy
was given to brokers accredited by the Defence ministry.
“All premiums have been paid, except
2013 premium but we are making efforts to ensure that we pay the premium
to the brokers so that they can pay begin to pay claims to the affected
beneficiaries.
“The leadership of the military is very
concerned because the welfare of the military is compulsory. We are
trying to solve the problem within the shortest possible time,” he said.
Fighting insurgents with bare hands?
Emerging facts have shown that funds
meant for equipment for the military were spent on the 2015 general
elections by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government. As at the
time of this report, the full details have not come out. But, so far, it
has shown that billions of dollars just allegedly wasted and
misappropriated. The unpaid premiums are also believed to have been
diverted.
While the alleged mismanagement was
going on, the country’s armed forces suffered in silence. According to
“Gobalsecurity.org”, a leading site dedicated to defence, military
weapons systems news and information on armed forces worldwide, the
Nigerian military, is “significantly less capable than its size and
equipment inventory would indicate.” Reason: “A large percentage of the
Army is capable of little more than basic defensive operations, and
most of Nigeria’s ships and aircraft are inoperable” – because of “lack
of investment in training, failure to maintain equipment and dwindling
cooperation with Western forces has damaged Nigeria’s armed forces”.
It added: “As a large, complex
organisation, the Nigerian military contains a number of contradictions,
incongruities and internal disjunctions. At the same time, chronic
under-resourcing has led to low operational readiness, lack of training,
and relatively poor conditions of service.
“These problems, along with endemic
corruption, have made the Nigerian military somewhat of a hollow giant
resting on its reputation – more capable than any other force in the
sub-region, but considerably less capable than it should be with tens of
thousands of troops and a large stock of major weapons systems and
other equipment. A high percentage of the heart of the force – the
60,000-soldier strong Army’s 25 infantry battalions – are capable of
little more than basic defensive operations.”
The 2015 report of the Global Firepower
(GFP), ranked Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, 41st of 126
countries. At the African level, where Nigeria is ranked 4th, Egypt, a
country of 80 million people, is rated number one. The second and third
slots are occupied by Algeria and South Africa.
The GFP record shows that the Army is
estimated to have 363 tanks (light tanks and tank destroyers either
wheeled or tracked), 1,420 Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs), 25
Self-Propelled Guns (SPGs), 339 Towed Artillery, and 30 Multiple-Launch
Rocket Systems (MLRSs).
The GFP’s index showed that the Air
Force, which is expected to take on Boko Haram, had only 10 fixed-wing
attack aircraft for counter-insurgency operations. The Navy, according
to the GFP, has no aircraft carrier, no destroyers, no corvettes, and no
submarines. To face Boko Haram, GFP says the Navy has only two
frigates, three marine warfare and 12 coastal defence craft.
With a workforce of 5.5 million merchant
marine strength of 89, three major port terminals, 193,200 road
coverage 3505 railway coverage, 54 serviceable airports, landmass of
923, 768km, coastline 853km, waterways 8,600 kilometre and shared
border, 4,047 kilometre, security professionals say the military cannot
but be overwhelmed in the fight against terrorism.
All these inadequacies, say experts,
explain the high casualty figures on the part of the soldiers fighting
Boko Haram. Unfortunately, the succor that should come from insurance
cover was compromised with default in paying premiums for some years.
The waiting game continues
Going by the Insurance Act, even if the
premiums are paid now, the beneficiaries of the deceased soldiers can
still not receive compensation. The law stipulates that once there is a
default, there is no cover. They are the victims of a government, which
failed to do the right thing at the right time. Now, they are alone, in
the cold after losing their loved ones to the superior weapons of the
insurgents.
Source: Thenationonlineng
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