Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) said it has disbursed N267 million under the Employees Compensation Act, ECA, in the last four years. Speaking on the performance of the programme at the 58th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) in Lagos, Umar Munir, managing director of NSITF, said that the amount disbursed so far covered 2,800 employees, who have suffered one degree of injury or the other in the line of duty.
“It is a scheme that is still growing, but not without its own challenges as the acceptance from the employers is still very low. We have those who are not contributing, and those that registered for the scheme and still refused to contribute,” Munir said adding that “We are working on the employers through NECA and the organized labour. It is a scheme for the future, in Nigeria, social protection scheme is still growing and we believe that it is sustainable.”
Some of the incentives being used to encouraging employers to join the scheme include the annual reward given to the companies that have credible compliance status. For instance, seven ambulances and other safety equipments were distributed this year to companies who were adjudged to have fulfilled safety measures as set out by the two organisations.
He said that NSITF has remained the only government agency able to give appropriate account of its proceedings over the years. “Between 1961 to 1994, under National Pension Fund, we collected, N900million, and when it was transformed to NSITF, between 1994 to 2004, we collected N44 billion, and when the new pension scheme began, NSITF was able to transfer N65 billion to the Trust Fund, this shows that we are accountable, reliable and transparent.”
Director General of NECA, Segun Oshinowo, however, charged NSITF to put in place measure that would classify employers according to their risk level in terms of contribution to the scheme.
By Dike Onwuamaeze
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