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Tag: NSITF

  • NSITF pays N6.2b to Dana crash victims

    NSITF pays N6.2b to Dana crash victims

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has said that it has paid about N6.7 billion to British Tobacco in favour of victims of Dana Air crash, which occurred on June 3, 2012.

    NSITF also said that the dependants of the victims are currently on the insurance trust fund’s monthly payroll.

    Managing Director of NSITF, Mr. Umar Munir Abubakar, disclosed this in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, during an interactive and enlightenment forum on the ‘Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010′, organised by the fund and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) for the South-South and South East geo-political zones.

    Abubakar, who also gave a breakdown of compensations the NSITF has paid out to many organisations, industries, individuals and persons with disability, also advised companies to always adopt and adhere to safety rules to avoid accidents and loss of lives.

    The NSITF boss expressed regrets that state and local governments in the country have refused to comply with provisions of the Employees’ Compensation Act, more than five years after it became effective in the country.

    Abubakar said: “Unfortunately for us, we are having a running battle with state governments and local government councils. They are yet to comply. Unfortunately for us again, some major government parastatals are yet to key in.”

    He further recalled that in 2010 when the scheme came on stream, several employers were caught unawares, a development he said, necessitated the shifting of the scheme to 2011 to allow them to start contributing from that year.

    Continuing, he stated: “From that time till now, we have registered as many as 33,000 employers in the private sector. To us, that was a great breakthrough. This year alone, we have been able to register no fewer than 9,395 employers.”

    He stated further, “Of course, we are not saying that is the end; we still have lots and lots of employers who are yet to comply, especially those who are outside the purview of the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA).”

    Since the project came into existence, Abubakar added that the same 33,000 employers have been registered by the insurance fund into the Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP).

    Speaking earlier, the Director-General of NECA, Mr. Olusegun Osinowo, said the association became effective in year 2010 following the passage of the Employees’ Compensation Act by the National Assembly.

     

  • NSITF urges harmonised social security policies

    The Federal Government has been urged to harmonise and coordinate the social security programmes in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

    The General Manager and Head of Social Security, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr. Ismail Agaka, who spoke in Abuja on the challenges of implementing social security initiatives, explained that though the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity is charged with regulating implementation of social security, it has not been empowered to carry out the function.

    According to him, Nigeria does not have a structured social security system, hence, the need to urgently address it.

    “What Nigeria has are various social security programmes that are simultaneously implemented in at least nine MDAs. Therefore, the lack of synergy is really affecting the implementation of these programmes. Nigeria does not have a national policy on social security,” he said.

    Agaka noted that the last attempt at having a national social security policy was the Gowon Committee report. The committee, he said, submitted a report but several years after, there is no white paper published to enable legislation on the recommendations of the committee report. He, therefore, said there is an urgent need for a national social policy.

  • 10 years after Pension Reform Act, is NSITF still waxing stronger? 

    10 years after Pension Reform Act, is NSITF still waxing stronger? 

    Despite the enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004 which took away its major responsibility, the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is still waxing stronger, writes Eric Ikhilae.

    Some years ago, it was common  to see ex-service men and other retirees queue for days to get their pensions. Some died in the process, a development many attributed to the failure of the pension system.

    To tackle the challenge, the Federal Government in  2000, took steps to reform the pension system, which resulted, among others, in the enactment of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.

    Earlier, an agency – the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), established by Act No. 73 of 1993 – had been responsible for providing a Social Insurance Scheme (SIS) for employees in the Organised Private Sector (OPS). It replaced the defunct National Provident Fund (NPF).

    With the PRA 2004, the main duties of the NSITF – pension management – a major element of the Social Insurance Scheme (SIS), was taken away from the NSITF and handed to a new body – Trust Fund Pensions (TFP) Plc. The development saw NSITF transferring over N54 billion worth of assets to TFP. NSITF was given five years, between 2004 and 2009, to complete the transfer of pension assets and liability to the TFP, the new Pension Fund Administrator (PFA).

    While the reform helped to ameliorate the challenges in the pension management, it marked a major downturn in the operations of the NSITF. The withdrawal of its pension administration function led to a drastic reduction in its activities, and as such, could not afford to retain its workforce, leading to a mass retrenchment in 2006.

    The gloom that enveloped the NSITF during this transition, no doubt, resulted in low motivation, frustration and disenchantment among the remaining staff, which also accounted for why it could not drive through the process of passing the Employee Compensation Bill that was before the National Assembly.

    For the Federal Government, the new challenge was how to sustain the NSITF which, in Section 71(2) of the PRA 2004, is meant to function as a social insurance advocate and provider of employee compensation benefit. The government was faced with the task of assembling a management team to help drive this strategic institution out of the woods into an agency capable of harnessing its potential for the actualisation of its goals and objectives.

    The administration of the late President Umar Yar’Adua promptly constituted a board headed by Dr. Ngozi Olejeme as Chairman, with a management team led by Alhaji Umar Munir Abubakar as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

    Today, the NSITF has bounced back to business, with a lot of achievements to its credit.The chairman’s leadership has strengthened the management, administrative operations, capacity of the Fund and cemented its relationship both internally and externally.

    In effect, she has created a harmonious relationship between the board, management and staff of the NSITF, on the one hand, and stakeholders, like the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) –consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress  (TUC) of Nigeria and the National Economic Council (NEC), on the other.

    The harmonious relationship and understanding between the NSITF and its stakeholders helped increased public and private sector support in making it a major employee compensation service provider and a key player in the socio-economic affairs of the country.

    Under the Board and Management, the NSITF championed the process, leading to the repealed  obsolete Workmen’s Compensation Act (WCA) of 1942 and in  its place, the Employee Compensation Act  (ECA) of 2010  was enacted, which now allows NSITF to offer many services.

    With the backing of the Federal Government, the NSITF initiated the process that led to the inauguration of a National Working Committee on Social Security Policy for Nigeria – headed by elder statesman, former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon.

    The membership of the Committee was drawn from all spectrum of the society, including labour groups, employers’ associations, Civil Society Organisations, professionals and the three tiers of government, with key officials from the Presidency, as well as the National Planning Commission (NPC), National Pension Commission (NPC), Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON).

    The Committee has since submitted its report to the Federal Government; the government’s White Paper on the report is being awaited.

    The passage of the ECA into law in 2010 has not only made the NSITF to engage more hands in its operations, the Employees’ Compensation Scheme  has created a huge employment opportunity in the labour market. The NSITF staff of 94 in 2009 have risen to over 4000 as at June, last year.

    To ensure that its operations and services are easily accessible, NSITF embarked on massive infrastructure development, leading to the establishment of offices in all states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), bringing its branches to 49 with 11 Regional Offices.

    The NSITF has also begun an extensive transformation of the entire operational system to ensure Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) of all its  records as it drives theEmployees’ Compensation Scheme, with the computerisation of all business processes of the organisation.

    In claims and compensation for employees, the NSITFhas created ECS Claims and Compensation Manuals, already being used. This has, among others, helped to reduce the turnaround time for claims processing from one month to two weeks, leading to the payment of about N315million to 1,393 claimants from August 2011 to July 2011.

  • 10 years after Pension Reform Act, is NSITF still waxing stronger? 

    10 years after Pension Reform Act, is NSITF still waxing stronger? 

    Despite the enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2004 which took away its major responsibility, the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is still waxing stronger, writes Eric Ikhilae.

    Some years ago, it was common  to see ex-service men and other retirees queue for days to get their pensions. Some died in the process, a development many attributed to the failure of the pension system.

    To tackle the challenge, the Federal Government in  2000, took steps to reform the pension system, which resulted, among others, in the enactment of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2004.

    Earlier, an agency – the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), established by Act No. 73 of 1993 – had been responsible for providing a Social Insurance Scheme (SIS) for employees in the Organised Private Sector (OPS). It replaced the defunct National Provident Fund (NPF).

    With the PRA 2004, the main duties of the NSITF – pension management – a major element of the Social Insurance Scheme (SIS), was taken away from the NSITF and handed to a new body – Trust Fund Pensions (TFP) Plc. The development saw NSITF transferring over N54 billion worth of assets to TFP. NSITF was given five years, between 2004 and 2009, to complete the transfer of pension assets and liability to the TFP, the new Pension Fund Administrator (PFA).

    While the reform helped to ameliorate the challenges in the pension management, it marked a major downturn in the operations of the NSITF. The withdrawal of its pension administration function led to a drastic reduction in its activities, and as such, could not afford to retain its workforce, leading to a mass retrenchment in 2006.

    The gloom that enveloped the NSITF during this transition, no doubt, resulted in low motivation, frustration and disenchantment among the remaining staff, which also accounted for why it could not drive through the process of passing the Employee Compensation Bill that was before the National Assembly.

    For the Federal Government, the new challenge was how to sustain the NSITF which, in Section 71(2) of the PRA 2004, is meant to function as a social insurance advocate and provider of employee compensation benefit. The government was faced with the task of assembling a management team to help drive this strategic institution out of the woods into an agency capable of harnessing its potential for the actualisation of its goals and objectives.

    The administration of the late President Umar Yar’Adua promptly constituted a board headed by Dr. Ngozi Olejeme as Chairman, with a management team led by Alhaji Umar Munir Abubakar as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

    Today, the NSITF has bounced back to business, with a lot of achievements to its credit.The chairman’s leadership has strengthened the management, administrative operations, capacity of the Fund and cemented its relationship both internally and externally.

    In effect, she has created a harmonious relationship between the board, management and staff of the NSITF, on the one hand, and stakeholders, like the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) –consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress  (TUC) of Nigeria and the National Economic Council (NEC), on the other.

    The harmonious relationship and understanding between the NSITF and its stakeholders helped increased public and private sector support in making it a major employee compensation service provider and a key player in the socio-economic affairs of the country.

    Under the Board and Management, the NSITF championed the process, leading to the repealed  obsolete Workmen’s Compensation Act (WCA) of 1942 and in  its place, the Employee Compensation Act  (ECA) of 2010  was enacted, which now allows NSITF to offer many services.

    With the backing of the Federal Government, the NSITF initiated the process that led to the inauguration of a National Working Committee on Social Security Policy for Nigeria – headed by elder statesman, former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon.

    The membership of the Committee was drawn from all spectrum of the society, including labour groups, employers’ associations, Civil Society Organisations, professionals and the three tiers of government, with key officials from the Presidency, as well as the National Planning Commission (NPC), National Pension Commission (NPC), Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON).

    The Committee has since submitted its report to the Federal Government; the government’s White Paper on the report is being awaited.

    The passage of the ECA into law in 2010 has not only made the NSITF to engage more hands in its operations, the Employees’ Compensation Scheme  has created a huge employment opportunity in the labour market. The NSITF staff of 94 in 2009 have risen to over 4000 as at June, last year.

    To ensure that its operations and services are easily accessible, NSITF embarked on massive infrastructure development, leading to the establishment of offices in all states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), bringing its branches to 49 with 11 Regional Offices.

    The NSITF has also begun an extensive transformation of the entire operational system to ensure Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) of all its  records as it drives theEmployees’ Compensation Scheme, with the computerisation of all business processes of the organisation.

    In claims and compensation for employees, the NSITFhas created ECS Claims and Compensation Manuals, already being used. This has, among others, helped to reduce the turnaround time for claims processing from one month to two weeks, leading to the payment of about N315million to 1,393 claimants from August 2011 to July 2011.

  • Protesters shut down NSITF over 58-month arrears

    Protesters shut down NSITF over 58-month arrears

    Pensioners of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) yesterday shut down activities at the Fund over non-payment of their 58 months’ arrears.

    The pensioners, who blocked the entrance at 8am, disrupted visitors and vehicular movements in or out of the premises.

    They alleged that the Fund’s management neglected and refused to pay the approved increase by the Federal Government since July 2010.

    The protesters said the NSITF should pay the arrears. Otherwise, they insisted, they would continue the protest and seek support from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

    Some of the protesters carried inscriptions such as “Pension Matters: Board approved N350 million, Trust Fund received N200 million, Balance N150 million. Dr. Ngozi Olejeme, where did you keep NSITF Pensioners’ N150 million? Alh. Munir, Do you know?”, “Mr. President, is Dr. Ngozi Olejeme above the law?” Dr. Ngozi Olejeme and NSITF Management, pay your in-house pensioners their entitlement.”

    The Deputy General Secretary, Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Chief Joseph Okunade, said the protest was held against maltreatment of NUP members.

    ‘We have talked to them, written to them and taken different approaches but they turned a deaf ear, that is why we are protesting. We will continue to pester and picket them’

    Okunade said: “You can imagine the NSITF owing the pensioners 58 months arrears of pension increase. If the Managing Director does not take his money in a month, you know how he will feel.

    “We have talked to them, written to them and taken different approaches but they turned a deaf ear, that is why we are protesting.

    “We will continue to pester and picket them. You see they cannot go in and come out.”

    NSTIF’s NUP Chairman Aham Mbazigwe-Akonye said the organisation did not cater for welfare of workers.

    According to him, he worked for about 23 years but after the new pension approval, NSITF was yet to effect the changes.

    Asked if there were commitments from the NSITF management on the pension, he said several appeals were made but yielded no positive results.

     

  • Impunity is killing NSITF

    The organised labour in this country will recall with nostalgia the enactment of the Employees Compensation Act otherwise known as ECA, 2010. The Act, which repealed the Workmen Compensation Act, represents the legal instrument for the running of the Employees Compensation Scheme otherwise known as the employment injury scheme. The ECA, 2010 also saddles the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) management board with administering the scheme in such a way that an average injured employee with injury in the course of work or even at work will enjoy rehabilitation or compensation as the case may be.

    But so far, the scheme is yet to meet the yearnings of the Employees because of serious “Nigeria factor”. Immediately the Act was signed and ready for implementation, the first move by the board was to engage a consultant for recruitment. The consultant charged hapless prospective employees N1, 000 each. It was quite strange to see a social security organisation like the NSITF displaying such crude mercantilist tendency. Till date the millions of naira collected from the unfortunate jobless Nigerians in the name of providing jobs for them remain guesswork. What even makes the whole thing more grating to the ear is the alleged agreement by the NLC president, a member of the board of directors, to the job scam.

    With this loss of proper conception in the early morning hours of the scheme, the agency completely lost touch with what it is projecting to people and has since been mired in one mess or the other.  The Federal Ministry of Labour that should provide the necessary supervision by ensuring that the activities of the agency pass the litmus test of public service rules abdicated its role for alleged fear of losing face with the presidency.

    The recruitment that the consultant did was littered with anomalies so much that the in-house union was alleged to have cried blue murder. The in-house union was alleged to have complained to Management that contrary to the practice in NSITF and Public Service Rule; officers above the age of 50 years were given fresh and permanent rather than contract appointment.  And from what we gathered some pensioners were recruited fresh and have even been allegedly confirmed.  Quite a number of former retired or retrenched staff of NSITF receiving monthly pension were given fresh appointment and fresh confirmation of their appointments.

    The in-house union was alleged to have also complained that the post-qualification experience for the advertised vacant positions in national dailies in April 2011 was at variance with scheme of service of NSITF and Public Service generally as there was no explicit requirement for cognate experience.

    After the 2011 recruitment exercise, subsequent recruitments were allegedly carried out without interview as letters were just being issued either in churches, mosques and various cultural organisations. The recruitments are done without planning. Not even the top executive management made up of the MD/CE and three Executive Directors know the number of staff currently in the service of NSITF. The board has completely appropriated the functions of management. It was even alleged very recently that claims from employers in respect of their injured employees that is aboveN100, 000 have to be approved by a committee of the board. In the end, what members of the committee would take as sitting allowances would far exceed the figures they would be sitting to vet and approve.  And you say NSITF is not in a mess. How else would any sane Nigerian describe what is happening?

    While government appointed the MD and three executive directors to run the scheme, the board allegedly stripped them of their executive management functions and put the same in the hands of a serving police officer with power to fire and hire and transfer to “Siberia” without transfer allowance. In Abuja alone, there are four branch offices of NSITF in addition to the head office. The branches are in FCT, Mararaba, Kagini, and Gwagwalada with an average of 200 staff. Some of the staff allegedly sit on plastic chairs procured by themselves. Tell me how one branch manager can effectively manage over 200 staff in an atmosphere where there are alleged inadequate furniture and fittings?

    The medical histories of the staff are not known.  In the good old days when any of the agencies of government recruited, such workers were referred to government hospitals for their medical reports.

    Between 2011 and 2014, well over N12 billion was alleged to have come to the agency from the Federal Government as the ECS contributions for their staff. This is different from the alleged take off grant the agency received from government. Meanwhile, the ECS contributions from government have no accompanying payment schedule for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of the staff. The executive management team is not in charge and so the team is watching from the sidelines. And it is not because there are no experienced staff members in the agency. The few ones remaining are alleged not to be anywhere near where their input would matter.

    Now the same agency has been given additional mandate to provide unemployment benefit and benefit for the aged. The board as presently constituted is not technically sound to run this additional mandate. Modalities to determine the age bracket of the aged and employable unemployed are technical in nature and above the technical competence of the present board.

    The NSITF board is allegedly the board of Trustfund pensions plc- a pfa established by NSITF with other social partners. In the wisdom of the founding fathers the board of Trustfund pensions plc was to be chaired by the MD of NSITF, to be supervised by the board of NSITF as appointed by government.  But today it is no longer the case. With the alleged connivance of PenCom, the NSITF board is also the board of Trustfund pensions and of course every Nigerian knows that over N50 billion worth of pension assets is in the custody of Trustfund.

    Finally, another point I wish to stress is the issue of the recruitment of collecting agents by the board. The collecting agents are paid commission for their collections.  Now in the face of the unplanned massive recruitment of staff still going on, is there any need for such collecting agents? The monthly wage bill of NSITF is allegedly close to N1 billion. How does the agency meet the cost of industrial hazards?  Each time some of the pressmen on alleged monthly “brown envelope” sing the praises of an individual who in their thinking brought NSITF to life, it’s funny. The same individual is alleged to be choking the NSITF to death. Nepotism, mismanagement, vindictiveness and lack of corporate governance remain the new face of NSITF. If Nigerians know how much was allegedly invested on computerisation they would marvel.  Such expenses are secretly guarded. But one thing is very sure, the figure is not known to the Executive management team of the agency. The reign of impunity is killing NSITF.  Yes, the Jonathan administration has signed ECA, 2010, but are the right people managing it? Let an independent auditor look into the books of NSITF, and we shall see how much that place stinks.

     

    • Akerele sent this piece from Abuja.

  • NSITF gets ISO27001 certification

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has been awarded  ISO27001 certificate by the British Standard Institute (BSI), making it one of the leading social security institutions in Africa.

    Speaking at the presentation of the certification in Abuja, its board chair, Mrs. Ngozi Olejeme said with the certification, the agency has strategically endowed itself with values that repose stakeholders’s confidence on the quality of what they get from the funds when they do business, adding that “we now have in place, a system that can detect the minutest risk factors in our operations thereby reducing loss to its barest minimum.”

    She added that in an environment where an average individual is suspicious of relying on information from public institutions for planning purposes, “we are glad to say that with the ISO27001, NSITF has overcome that suspicion. Our commitment to the confidentiality, availability and integrity of out information assets can only get better.

    “NSITF is proud to be among a very elite group of public institutions whose security practice and drive for excellence in its operations meet the rigorous ISO27001 standard. Achieving this milestone makes the fund a leading social security institution in Africa. It is critical to  to the NSITF transformation roadmap.

    “NSITF is happy to be a global best practice government institution embracing the highest echelon of standards that ensure efficiency and dependency of its operations as a result of its development of global standard information security mechanism”.

    Its Acting Managing Director, Godson Dinneya said  the fund was committed to actively raising the quality of life for every worker, saying “we want all employees regardless of sector, industry or status to be rest assured that” the management has provided the necessary social insurance benefits in tandem with global best practices.

  • NASS adds social security for the aged, jobless to NSTF’s mandate

    NASS adds social security for the aged, jobless to NSTF’s mandate

    The National Assembly has voted to give the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) the additional mandate of providing social security for the aged and unemployed.

    The scheme currently has the responsibility to enforce the Employee Compensation Act (ECA), which ensures that employees who get injured or lose their lives in the line of duty are adequately compensated.

    The new amendment, according to the NSITF, was passed by both chambers of the National Assembly on January 14, this year and is expected to be presented to President Goodluck Jonathan for assent.

    Speaking about the additional role, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NSITF, Ngozi Olejeme, said its realisation was due to Federal Government’s unrelenting effort to improve the welfare of workers and vulnerable groups.

    Olejeme said: “We know that the President will assent to the bill once it is presented to him. The implementation of the employees’ compensation scheme by the NSITF was an idea that was very dear to Mr. President.

    “He wanted to ensure that workers that sustain injuries in the course of their duties are no longer left to their fate. The signing of the new national minimum wage law without hesitation shows that he is committed to bettering the lives of the Nigerian workers.

    “These additional responsibilities of providing some forms of social safety net to unemployed and aged person will be done with passion and dedication. The NSITF is well-equipped to execute these new additions,” he said.

    Managing Director of NSITF, Munir Abubakar, said the Federal Government has given the fund a huge task and its responsibility is to ensure smooth implementation. He said NSITF is ready for the task at hand.

  • Senate investigates NSIF

    Senate investigates NSIF

    The Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity is investigating the activities of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), it emerged yesterday.

    The Committee also plans for the harmonisation of the social welfare (Amendment) bill 2014.

    The committee’s chairman, Senator Wilson Asinobi-Ake, stated these in a statement yesterday.

    According to him, the evaluation of the performance of NSITF followed the consideration of the provisions of the Bill.

    He said there was a need to evaluate the NSITF on the implementation of the Employment Compensation Act 2010 before the passage of the new bill into law.

    Asinobi-Ake said: “Our committee considered it necessary to complete the evaluation process to ascertain how well the NSITF had performed under the Employee Compensation Act 2010 Act in the execution of the social welfare programme which the 2014 amendment Bill seeks to address.

    “As a committee, we are assuring all Nigerians that the amendment bill contained measures that will ensure that Nigerians whether employed or not as well as the aged enjoy adequate social security welfare scheme which will soon be passed into law.”

     

  • ‘Economy can’t grow without steady power’

    ‘Economy can’t grow without steady power’

    Electricity, it is said, is essential to the development of a country’s economy. Where there is regular power supply, according to Alhaji Munir Abubakar, Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), jobs will generally be created. In this interview with TOBA AGBOOLA, Abubakar urges the government to invest in infrastructure to drive the economy.

    Profile

    Institutions attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Pittsburgh, USA.

    Qualifications B.Sc (Administration).

    Previous positions Executive Director (Admin), NSITF.

    Present position Managing Director, NSITF.

    Experience Over 25 years.

    What are the primary objectives of the NSITF?

    The primary objective of the scheme is the protection of citizens against problems associated with disruptions. The scheme also protects against changes in their income status which could expose them to poverty, suffering and indignity.

    The SITF/NECA safe workplace intervention project and Claims and Compensation Manual of operations (CCM) are now concluded and the NSITF management now exploring strategic alliance with established government registered vocational and rehabilitation centres across the federation with a view to outsourcing that aspect of the implementation of the Act. It is the effort of the NSITF and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) to ensure safe workplace intervention project as well as maintain interactive sessions with participating employers. The management will continue to explore the option of moral suasion for the time being, rather than sanction.

    Can you throw some light on the importance of Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA) 2010 to employers and workers?

    The enactment of the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA), 2010 which repealed the obsolete Workmen’s Compensation Act (WCA) of 1942, is of immense importance to Nigerian workers as the scheme has achieved tremendous success considering that as at the end of last February, over 12,043 employers have registered from the Organised Private Sector (OPS), while about 4.2 million estimated employees are covered from that sector. Under the scheme, the Federal Government has so far paid for treasury funded MDAs from 2011 up to December, 2013 and the number of employees covered still being reconciled and the computerisation project to provide e-operations for the fund has reached advance stage. The number of employers that had keyed into the scheme is continuously increasing by the day.

    What is the fund doing to ensure the scheme’s implementation in accordance with the law?

    All our efforts are aimed at ensuring accountability and transparency in the operation of the ECS. We also make sure that administrative cost of managing the Employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS) does not exceed the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s benchmark for Social Insurance Scheme. The NSITF has also inaugurated the Independence Investment Committee as provided by Sections 62 and 63 of the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA 2010).

    What is the compliance level by employers in the private and public sectors?

    A reasonable number of employers in the public and private sectors of the economy have registered, although, not all of them have fully complied yet, but appreciable progress is being made in claims and compensation payment. In the same vein, it must be said also that virtually all the commercial banks in Nigeria have been authorised to collect ECS contributions on behalf of the NSITF, making it possible for employers not to be restricted to any bank across the federation. Moreso, defaulting employers are regularly served with demand notices for payment of their one per cent of their total emoluments as provided in the Act, and they are complying now; some via additional legal letters.

    Most employers claim they are not fully aware of ECS. Is there any awareness programme?

    NSITF’s enlightenment campaigns via sensitisation programmes and seminars across the country in collaboration with employers’ and employees’ organisations are on. This is done with appropriate flyers, pamphlets and booklets on ECS. They have been printed for wide distribution to all stakeholders. Alongside that are radio jingles in Pidgin and English which are on air; video versions on the television are underway with human capacity development for staff. There are local and overseas trainings, seminars; workshops are also ongoing, and remarkable progress is being made.

    How would you assess the progress so far made by the fund?

    The scheme is working out strategies to train more field workers to step up implementation. No fewer than 935 applications for settlement of claims by employers have been received, while the fund had settled over 567 in 2013, apart from some having one issue or the other that hindered the settlement of their claims. The NISTF is moving away from the orthodox role of the voice of employers to providing social responsibility such as providing technical and vocational skills for the development of the youth.It is  ensuring improved safety at work as typified by the NSITF/NECA safe work intervention and providing shelter for members and employees through a partnership with Federal Mortgage Bank.

    Also, existing offices nationwide are at various stages of completion, after inspection of the offices in collaboration with the appropriate agencies of the Federal Ministry, in line with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act. New  offices have been opened in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Aba in Abia State, Lafia in Nassarawa State, Jalingo in Taraba State, Mararaba and Zuba in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in Abakaliki and Awka. Modalities for the assessment of employers, preparatory to the statutory review of contribution rates are being worked out, while consideration of other social products/ services additional to the scheme have started with NECA’s capacity building programme .

    What are the challenges affecting the operations of the scheme?

    The public awareness of the ECS is still a challenge  as the scheme’s features and benefits are not yet fully understood.Under-reporting of occupational accidents/diseases to pre-empt corporate negative image and/or evade full compliance with the provisions of the ECA.The improper documentation with respect to claims affects the genuineness of medical health providers and practitioners from where stakeholders get medical bills.This is part of the earlier challenges experienced, but it is currently been addressed.

    Operational challenges in claims and compensation administration, particularly the slow pace of processing still being experienced in the area of confirmation of degrees of disability by the medical team has affected the automation and provision of other infrastructures, in view of the need to follow due process in procurement, following the provisions of the Public Procurement Act. Another aspect of the challenge is in securing collaboration with as many institutions, bodies, or organisations, local and international which are relevant to the effective implementation of the ECS. Social security culture in Nigeria is still posing some constraints to seamless buy-in to the scheme. The culture of compliance with legislations that require parting with money among employers and employees; the tendency for evasion of compliance by some employers using flimsy excuses, or playing pranks, affects the public perception of the efficiency and/or effectiveness as well as trustworthiness of NSITF as the implementing agency; based generally on past failure of public institutions in Nigeria also forms part of challenges of the scheme.

    How can unemployment be tackled?

    One thing I think the government can do to jump start the process of turning around the economy is the provision of infrastructure. I believe when there is regular power supply, jobs would be naturally created because the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will spring up from every sector of the economy and millions of Nigerians will be employed. For instance, if there are one million new SMEs employing at least five people, then, five million would have been employed. And that is what constant electricity generation can do in any economy.

    What is your take on Federal Government’s crusade against corruption and the enthronment of quality leadership in the country?

    The Federal Government has established many institutions to fight corruption. And in doing this, government has done well, but beyond establishing these institutions, the government has put in more effort  to ensure a more open and transparent governance in such a way that will involve the people more and enable people to express themselves in a way  that the government begins to represent the true yearnings of the people. The anti-corruption agencies are institutions that serve as  benchmark to measure the activities of other agencies.These agencies look up to  them in measuring standard of public conduct. Our call is for all the anti-corruption agencies to work together through mobilising people more in the fight against corruption and we hope to see a lot of partnership between the agencies and the civil society in achieving the objectives of the anti-corruption war.

    The civil  society groups in the country have important role to play in bridging the gap between those in leadership position and the people given their privileged position. They can influence the policy implementation by going back to the communities to educate them on ways to checkmate the leaders. Apart from labour unions, the civil society groups can enlighten the local communities on how to ensure that their leaders should be accountable to them and sensitise the people on how to influence their leaders so that decisions are made in their interest. The CSOs at times, are able to mobilise the people against any policy that is not right and in most cases, such policies are dropped. The CSOs also have the responsibility to ensure that the executives work closely together with the implementing agencies and also with the legislatures that have the responsibility to appropriate the resources that would be used for the MDGs projects. I am aware that majority of the CSOs contributes immensely to projects that would transform the rural communities in the country and   continent where even the government presence is felt.

    What is your assessment of the recently concluded International Labour Conference (ILC)?

    The recent  International Labour Conference  in Geneva was a success. I am very much impressed with it. The most interesting aspect of the discussions has to with social security and the aspect that dealt fully with workers’ welfare. The discussions and decisions  made  were far better than the previous years’ because of the added values on the issues of protecting workers’ right, migrant workers’ right and the aspect that has to do  with the informal sector. Now for us in NSITF, these discussions made and the resolutions reached would in both short and long run boost our efforts to ensure that the issues of workers’ compensation and all other issues that have to do with workers’ welfare in Nigeria are well taken care of in line with the international standard.

    Are you saying that the discussions and resolutions’ made at the conference are in line with the mandate of the ILC for Nigerian workers’ welfare?

    Yes. It is almost the same. First of all, let me say social security protection is a little bit different but have the same goal. Social security protection is over 100 years in existence but there is no harm in starting late. I keep on saying the issue of welfare of workers is not debatable and we are putting all resources at our disposal to make sure the issues are addressed. Nigeria is at the forefront of addressing social protection floor initiative banner issues in Africa.

    And that is why we are putting every effort in place to get all issues surrounding it stabilised. Do not forget that most countries that are developed give unemployment benefits to the unemployed and with the social protection policy in Nigeria, we shall get there. We are aware that Nigerians are already yearning for these benefits and what we are doing in NSITF is to ensure that we take care of workers’ welfare in line with social protection floor initiative banner in the areas of shelter, clothing and all other aspects of the policy. It is obvious that we have to start from somewhere and we shall surely get to th right destination.

    What is your message for the employees?

    I use this opportunity to call on the employees to complete the necessary compensation claims form and submit  appropriately for processing and payment.Equally where injury is involved   the particulars of the injury or occupational disease on the prescribed ECS Form (duly completed by the hospital/clinic where the employee received treatment. This is because the employees have it as an implicit obligation to monitor through their union representatives the compliance status of the employer.