he restructuring exercises done, overtime, in the insurance subsector of the Nigeria’s economy had made the industry so dynamic despite the lingering market forces peculiar to the Nigeria’s business environment such as change in consumer taste, technological change, demographic variation, political and economic instability and the likes. All these forces had been described as drivers of globalization [1]. There is need for practitioners of insurance in Nigeria to continually look in the way of relationship management of their customers, retaining those they are able to convince, acquire and satisfy profitably and then create values that meet up with the vision, mission and integrity of their organization and most of all, expectations of their numerous customers. According to Pop and Petrecsu [2], success will usually flow towards viable financially-sound companies who understand how to get and keep their client’s trust employing flexible pricing policies, diversified products and excellent customer service.

Insurance industries in most emerging markets are characterized by poor perception, low level of technology leverage, low investment and asset management capabilities, and poor regulatory framework [3]. However, the Nigeria’s insurance industry has demonstrated the ability to survive in the face of enormous challenges. Previous studies of experts in the field of insurance in Nigeria had thus criticized the industry for poor image [4,5]; lack of trust and poor communication system [6-8]; low patronage [9]; dearth of human capital and professional skills [10]; low market penetration [11]; gross under-utilization of capital [12]; yet the industry is about the highest capitalized in Africa [13].

Nigeria, according to 2006 census, has been reported to an estimated population of 140 million people with an estimated non-life & life insurance income receipt of $ 787 million and $ 147 million respectively in 2009; and low level of insurance penetration of mere 0.6% [14]. This sector was said to recorded a significant progress with the successful recapitalization in 2007 which brought the industry capacity to 49 with a premium income written little above ? 200 billion in a country of over 160 million people as against an industry shareholders’ funds of about ? 347 billion [12]. It has therefore shown that the Nigerian insurance sector is supported by obvious demographic advantages and Nigeria’s economic growth prospects, relative to other emerging markets. However, the contraction in the number of companies (down from 104 in 2006, prior to the consolidation in the industry) has brought about improved capacity even in the ability of these companies to settle larger claims.

More so, Nigeria’s insurance market is dominated by non-life segment, driven by mandatory third-party motor insurance. The growth in motor insurance premium (especially third party policies) has also been fueled by the speedily emerging middle class in Nigeria as private cars are fast becoming a necessity rather than luxury [13]. NAICOM, in 2008, came up with the introduction of the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI), a medium term reform plan intended to cover from 2009 to 2012, aimed at improving capacity of the industry, market efficiency and protection of consumers in the country. The principal target of the reform plan is to implement mandatory insurance covering six areas, which include, Motor Third Party insurance, Employers Liability insurance, Occupiers Liability insurance, Group Life insurance Buildings under construction, Healthcare Professional and Indemnity insurance. Also, compulsory insurance is being a primary tool for enhancing the penetration rate in the industry.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is being one of the leading modern business and market strategy employed in high competing business environment. More so, understanding the changing needs and expectations of customers and ensuring retention of such customers should primarily be the concern of business managers. Understanding customers’ profitability and retaining profitable customers had been recognized as one of the core value of customer relationship management [15]. Therefore, maximizing profitability of the total customer relationship over a period of time tends to ensure increased profit for any organization as many companies had tapped into the use, measure and reliability of customer value in their activities [16,17]; because customer value is a key element of CRM performance measure [18]. The study is aimed at ascertaining relationship that subsist between CRM and customer retention and thus, finds out if CRM helps create values for insuring populace in Nigeria. This paper is divided into five sections. Having concluded with the introductory aspect above, the rest of the paper is structured in the following regards: theoretical and empirical framework, methodology, results and discussion, and conclusion.