The internet is buzzing ahead of a two-day journalism workshop designed to challenge the way Nigerian journalists report insurance, risk and financial resilience.
The workshop, backed by the Africa Re Foundation, is already generating questions among participating journalists, who want to know how insurance and risk can become useful reporting lenses across everyday beats without turning news stories into advertisements for financial products.
Prof. Ismail Ibraheem
One question gaining attention is how journalists can practically apply the concept of risk and insurance to reporting on climate change, politics, cybercrime, insecurity and economic hardship.
Participants are also asking what two or three insurance and risk concepts every journalist should understand in 2026 to make reportage more credible, analytical and solutions-oriented.
Another question confronting the workshop is how “insurance thinking” can help journalists report insecurity and economic hardship beyond the immediate damage, casualties and losses to examine preparedness, protection, recovery and accountability.
Prof. Ismail Ibraheem of the University of Lagos is expected to address the broader challenge of insurance reporting, including how journalists can move beyond treating insurance as a specialised product and begin to investigate it as a major risk-management and accountability issue affecting virtually every aspect of society.
From the legal perspective, maritime and insurance lawyer, Dr Omogbai Omo-Eboh, is expected to examine the risks journalists face when investigating high-stakes industries such as insurance and finance, including defamation claims and strategic lawsuits against public participation, known as SLAPP suits.
The workshop comes at a significant period for Nigeria’s insurance industry, following the completion of a recapitalisation exercise under a new comprehensive legal framework.
With the theme, “The Universe of Insurance and Journalism: Risk Everywhere, in Everything,” the workshop is expected to promote stronger collaboration between the media and insurance sector while breaking away from siloed reporting.
Organised by Insurance Publication Ltd. (IPL), the programme will hold from September 15 to 16, 2026, with the goal of improving financial literacy among media practitioners and broadening coverage of insurance and risk-related issues.
IPL says low public awareness of insurance remains a major driver of vulnerability and a barrier to economic development, arguing that journalists, as influential shapers of public opinion, have an important role to play in taking financial literacy to wider audiences.
The organisers noted that insurance reporting in Nigeria has traditionally been concentrated on specialised insurance and pensions desks, leaving major beats such as education, health, transport, housing, agriculture, climate and technology with limited risk-focused coverage.
The initiative therefore seeks to equip journalists from different backgrounds with the knowledge and tools to integrate risk protection and financial resilience into everyday reporting.
According to IPL, the programme will extend beyond the workshop through beat-specific training, an interactive digital learning platform, field reporting toolkits and a monitoring framework, with implementation being advanced in partnership with stakeholders including the Nigerian Union of Journalists.
The organisers expect the initiative to stimulate greater public engagement with insurance issues, deepen policy conversations around risk management and, ultimately, contribute to increased insurance uptake.
The event will feature opening remarks by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, while the Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin, and the Director-General of the National Health Insurance Authority, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, are expected to provide industry and policy perspectives.
Other speakers include Dr Femi Oyetunji, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SanlamAllianz Life Insurance Nigeria Ltd., who will examine Nigeria’s insurance gap, the risks Nigerians carry, the protection they ignore and the economic opportunities being lost.
Prof. Ismail Ibraheem, Professor of Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Lagos, will serve as the theme speaker, focusing on what “Risk Everywhere, in Everything” means for journalists.
Dr Omogbai Omo-Eboh and Augustine Aipoh will also examine the extent of risks Nigerians carry without adequate protection.
The programme is sponsored by the Africa Re Foundation (ARF), the corporate social responsibility arm of the African Reinsurance Corporation, which supports the development of the insurance market and wider industry across Africa.
The Foundation’s interventions cover risk awareness, insurance, health and education, as well as disaster recovery, technology development, research and community development.
Its parent organisation, the African Reinsurance Corporation, is marking its 50th anniversary this year and has also crossed the one-billion-dollar milestone in premiums.
IPL says the media-driven model is designed not only to improve insurance journalism in Nigeria but also to provide a framework that can be scaled across Africa.
By Uchenna Eletuo
