A circular to this effect sent to the Unity Schools, as the FGCs are also known, reportedly reads in part: “Due to the security challenges in the country, the Federal Ministry of Education has employed the services of NICON Insurance Company to insure Federal Government College pupils. Each pupil is expected to pay N5,000 yearly and also complete the form attached. This amount will be remitted into NICON Insurance’s account to be supplied later.” The spokesperson of NICON Insurance Plc, Ade Adesokan, has been reported to have confirmed that the company was about to launch the special insurance product, as the sole underwriter of the policy nationwide.
He was quoted to have said: “The Students Welfare Insurance Scheme for Unity Schools is a product designed by NICON Insurance to provide much needed benefits under a combined personal accident and life cover for pupils and their sponsors.”
The company also explained that in the case of accidental death of a pupil, the sponsor named in the policy will be entitled to the sum of N500,000. Similarly, in the event of the death of the sponsor or guardian of a pupil, the pupil will be entitled to the payment of school fees up to the year of graduation from the secondary school (up to a maximum of N500, 000).
A pupil who accidentally sustains permanent disability will be entitled to N500,000 as compensation. A pupil will also be entitled to N50,000 for medical treatment in the case of accident. If a pupil dies from injuries sustained in an accident, the company will pay N50,000 for burial expenses.
Meanwhile, parents of pupils in the Unity Schools and the Federal Ministry of Education are said to be at loggerheads over the directive by the ministry that parents should pay N5,000 for the insurance policy. Some Parent/ Teacher Associations (PTA) of some of the schools are vehemently opposed to the scheme, and have directed their members not to pay.
Regardless of the benefits or otherwise of this policy, we do not support the imposition of life insurance policies on students or any other category of Nigerians. Insurance policies ought to be optional, and the risk to students in disparate parts of the country, other than the North-East, does not just justify the forced payment of N5000 annual premium. The policy is uncalled for at this time. There are more important issues, such as the security of the nation’s schools and the fight to end the insurgency in the country, that the Federal Government should concentrate on.
The government has a greater responsibility to protect all students, instead of this attempt at a selective provision of compensation for students who either die or are injured in or on their way to Unity Schools. Certainly, no parent will be interested in such compensation. Securing the lives of the students is paramount. The government ought to do whatever is necessary to protect them without any additional cost, and compensate the few who may lose their lives to insurgency while in school. Pupils of Unity Schools should not be singled out for this exercise because they are not the only pupils affected by the insurgency in the North-East. Already, there is a policy to transfer students in the schools in the worst affected areas to other parts of the country.
This insurance policy is not a priority. It appears designed to make good business for some interests out of the current insecurity in the country. Insurance is a business venture. It must not be imposed on anyone as this policy appears planned to be.
All over the world, insurance cover is voluntary and is hardly ever based on uniform premium as it is in this particular instance. Instead of this forceful insurance, government should wage a relentless war against all forms of insecurity and make the troubled parts of the country secure, peaceful and habitable. If the government ensures security for all Nigerians, there will be no need for the planned insurance cover for these pupils.
We say no to selective, forced insurance for these pupils. It seems that those that mooted this idea did not subject it to critical scrutiny before making it public. Since many parents of the pupils are opposed to the plan, the best thing for the government to do is to jettison it and provide security for all Nigerians including pupils in primary and secondary schools.
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