By Godwin Okolii

Finance and Business Online Publishers (FIBOP), on Tuesday, April 15th, at the Muson Center, Onikan, Lagos, organized a Capacity Building and Youth Empowerment Program for students from secondary school students from various parts of Lagos.The event themed “Empowering Nigerian Youths With Knowledge of Insurance, Digital Payment and Investment , to Drive Financial Inclusion”.presented an opportunity for professionals in the field of insurance, finance and the digital space to interact with, and educate the students on various subjects captured in the event theme.President of the association, Mr. Charles Onwuatogwu in his opening remarks harped on the need for greater awareness of the subject of insurance and its benefits, digital payments and investment particularly as the financial system becomes more complex and dynamic He expressed confidence that with the array of experienced industry experts present at the occasion, participants will not be disappointed but will go back fully refreshed.President/ Chairman of Council , Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN, Mrs Yetunde Olubunmi Ilori, FIIN, who was represented by Mr. Witness Godwin Usoro, recounted his experience on how he was able to complete his education after loosing his father at the tender age of 8 years old courtesy of the insurance policy his father took, while he was alive. He urged the students to to embrace insurance and to start small, but dream big. Similarly, Mojisola Ogundipe, on her part gave the participants a very simple definition of insurance to imply protecting all that matters to us. In other words, she declared “our lives, assets, money, education, accidents, and any other kind of misfortune one can think of can be taken care of by insurance.”For the Rector, College of Insurance and Financial Management,CIFM, Dr.(Mrs.) Chizoba Ehiogu, there are different career paths available for growth in the industry such as Risk Management, Actuarists, Underwriters and Insurance Technologists as well as the Academia (Insurance lecturing), to mention but a few.She urged the students to choose from the different career paths in the industry.She concluded by saying that insurance is a very strong pillar that provides strong financial solutions in our economy, while encouraging the students to strongly consider studying insurance by the time they will be seeking admission into higher institutions of learning as many universities, polytechnics, and specialized institutions now offer insurance as a course.On Digital payment and investment, the speakers did not disappoint. Mrs. Chidinma Enemona highlighted the importance of savings and investment. She strongly advised the students to imbibe the culture of savings and investment early in their lives, as that is the only guarantee of good future for them. She engaged the students with some questions, while winners were rewarded with some token deposits in their individual accounts with moniepoint.