The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) on Thursday said that its Employee Compensation Scheme (ECS) had addressed a total of 65,923 claims in 10 years.
Mr Abdul-Lateef Musa, Regional Manager, NSITF Lagos Region, disclosed this at the 36th edition of the Lagos International Trade Fair.
The fair, organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has as theme a ‘’Connecting Business and Creating Values’’.
According to Musa, the service delivery so far is as follows: Medical Expenses Refund (MER) paid to employers 7,293 cases, loss of productivity to employers 2,690.
“Death benefits to Next Of Kin (NOK) beneficiaries of deceased employees are 23,535, disability benefits to disabled employees 29,018, retirement benefits 3,314, further medical treatment abroad 11, prostheses and rehabilitation 60, all adding to 65,923 cases.
Musa said that the ECS was a mandatory scheme that entailed monthly contributions by employers of labour, to protect all workers from work-related injuries, disabilities and death in the course of work.
He said that the ECS was mandatory for both the formal and informal sectors and the contribution was one per cent of the monthly emoluments of workers, payable by the employer of labour for employees’ benefits.
He listed some benefits as, fair system of guaranteed and adequate compensation for all employees or their dependents for any death or injury, while employers are relieved of heavy burden of solely taking care of injured worker.
Others he listed are, payment to the injured worker, made regularly without recourse to the employer no matter the amount; harmonised industrial relationship between labour group and employers are enhanced.
Musa noted that NSITF, a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, was the prime social security institution in Africa and their mandate was the ECS as enacted in Act (ECA 2010).
Dr Michael Akabogu, Managing Director of NSITF, noted that to drive a speedy and efficient service delivery, they had invested and upgraded their information technology platform
He said that in view of this, they now had presence in 11 regions and 56 branches across the nation, to ensure easy accessibility by all employees and employers of labour.
“The Employee’s Compensation Act 2010 established by the Federal Government is a scheme for the protection of Nigerian workforce and the Act empowers NSITF to implement the ECS.
“ A good number of employers nationwide have keyed into the scheme and we are working tirelessly to ensure that those yet to join will do so,” he said.
Mrs Toki Mabogunje, President, LCCI pointed out that the future of workers was expected to deviate largely from what it was today, as the difference would lie on health and safety.
She said that while employers were grappling with this, institutions like the NSITF should take the role of a regulator or enabler.
“Workers are very important today than they were 30 to 50 years ago, so the work of the NSITF is very important on how they provide welfare for these workers,” he said.
Mabogunje urged the management of the fund to deploy more technology in its operations to make things more efficient.
She added that the NSITF could work with insurance in helping organisations to protect and manage health safety risk, by providing advice and guidance on accessing and managing these risks.
The LCCI president called for more enlightenment to create the needed awareness among the citizenry on the work of the NSITF and how they could benefit from this fund.
