As the students in the Nigerian secondary schools are resuming nationwide for the 2017/2018 academic session, a group of parents of students in the Federal Government owned secondary schools across the country under the aegis of Unity Schools Parents Forum has called on the National Insurance Commission to constructively see to the controversy generated by an insurance scheme facilitated by NICON insurance in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education. This is to avert an impending turbulence that the scheme may generate across the country at the students’ resumption.

According to the spokesperson of the group, Kingsley Akindele, “this controversy has been on for a while, and the parents in different capacities had over the years made their positions known on the scheme. Therefore it is very essential for the parent to once again call the attention of the public to the fraud that is going on in the sector. The parents at different forums had stated it unequivocally that the N5000 insurance scheme premium per student in federal government owned schools is not acceptable. It is unfair that the parents would be made to be paying for a scheme they knew nothing about.”

Speaking further Akindele said, “Trouble is eminent in the schools as some schools are already refusing parents who have paid their school fees without the insurance fees to convert their bank tellers to their respective school receipts. The major concern of most parents is the alleged diversion of the money for personal use by the management of the Jimoh Ibrahim owned insurance company.”

“It is expedient to recall that in 2016, we call the attention of the Federal Government, through the ministry of education and especially the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to look closely at the scheme which no parent seems to understand. The entire parent is yet to understand the nitty-gritty of the contract and the facts about the actual arrangement the unity schools through the Federal Ministry of Education have with the NICON insurance company.”

However Akindele said most of the parents are not against the scheme, “but want it to be transparent, with clearly spelt out terms and conditions and reviewable annual contract agreement. This most importantly must be optional.”

Meanwhile, the NICON insurance scheme in the secondary school has been generation controversy within the sector for a while, most of the parents considered it as a major fraud committing against them and wants the federal government to live up to its responsibility in administering the schools, it should abe recalled that in 2015, the Na­tional As­so­ci­a­tion of Par­ent Teacher As­so­ci­a­tion of Fed­eral Gov­ern­ment Col­leges (NAPTAFEGC), South-west Zone, dur­ing its quar­terly meet­ing at the Fed­eral Gov­ern­ment Girls’ Col­lege, Akure, Ondo State re­jected what it de­scribed as the im­po­si­tion of an un­nec­es­sary in­sur­ance pol­icy scheme on stu­dents of unity col­leges and called for the stan­dard­i­s­a­tion of ed­u­ca­tion in the coun­try.

The as­so­ci­a­tion made its po­si­tion public dur­ing its March 2015 quar­terly meet­ing at the Fed­eral Gov­ern­ment Girls’ Col­lege, Akure, Ondo State, where chair­men of NAPTAFEGC from the 18 col­leges in the zone dis­cussed is­sues in­clud­ing the way for­ward for ed­u­ca­tion in the re­gion.

Ac­cord­ing to the Zonal Co­or­di­na­tor, Ru­fus Fa­muwa­gun, the as­so­ci­a­tion, which he de­scribed as the strong­est stake­holder and part­ner in progress to the Fed­eral Min­istry of Ed­u­ca­tion, is out to de­fend, up­hold and sus­tain the vi­sion of the found­ing fa­thers of unity col­leges.

Though the chair­men saw noth­ing wrong with an in­sur­ance pol­icy for their wards, they ar­gued that the fed­eral gov­ern­ment has ad­e­quate funds to bankroll the in­sur­ance poli­cies for the school chil­dren and spare their par­ents the fi­nan­cial bur­den

Also in 2016, The National Association of Parents and Teachers of Federal Government Colleges, an affiliate body of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), says it will not accept N5, 000-insurance fee in unity schools. The former Chairman of PTA, Federal Government College, Kwali and North Central Zonal Coordinator of National Association of Parents and Teachers of Federal Government Colleges, Mr Ehis Ogbeide, told newsmen in Abuja at that time that the association was not concerned about the old N1, 500-insurance scheme which had fizzled out on its own but would not accept the introduction of another fee.

NICON Insurance scheme was introduced to all students in the federal government owned secondary schools otherwise known as the unity secondary schools throughout the country in 2015. Since then, it has continued to generate abysmal controversy, where the majority of the parents claimed that the annual N5000 per children is of the high side, which means over 200,000 students from 104 unity schools nationwide will equal to over a billion naira annually. And most importantly, the parents have never in any way contacted or contracted into the scheme by the insurance company, the school authority or the federal government.

NAICOM[2]