By Nwachukwu Godson
One of the promises made by the new managing director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr. Oluwaseun Faleye, upon assumption of office a few weeks ago, was to intensify stakeholder engagement at sub-national levels to ensure that workers at the state and local government levels are availed the abundant benefits of the Employees’ Compensation scheme(ECS).
Recall that the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA), 2010, provided that all employers in the public and private sector across the federation shall contribute 1% of their total emoluments to the NSITF to compensate workers or their dependents in case of injury or death in the course of work. Recall also that the Employees’ Compensation Scheme was further buoyed by the October 2024 circular by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on compulsory 1% deduction from the emoluments of all MDAs and the payment of backlog of contributions since 2012. This was a follow-up to the decision of the extraordinary Federal Executive Council meeting of May 16, 2023, which approved the universal implementation of the ECS across all tiers of government.
As it is today, however, many state governments are yet to fully enroll into this no-fault scheme, which has since inception in 2011 assisted thousands of the victims of work-related injuries or their beneficiaries with cash and non-cash benefits. It is, therefore, not surprising that the new MD of the NSITF, Faleye, who is already walking the talk in modernizing the agency, made the expansion of the ECS to the states and local governments in line with the social security inclusion of the ILO Convention 102 a top agenda of his leadership.
It was in line with this that he led a delegation comprising members of the National Assembly Committees on Labour and Employment on an advocacy visit to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The visit came on the eve of a two-day Lagos retreat organized by the NSITF to acquaint members of the National Assembly Committee on Labour with the mandate and processes of the fund as well its procedures. For Faleye, it was a homecoming of sorts. He was an assistant director in the Lagos State civil service and cut his teeth in private law practice with the sprawling law firm in the city. On hand, therefore, to accompany Faleye on the mission to Lagos, apart from the executive directors of the NSITF, were the chairman of the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Labour, Senator Diket Plang and Adegboyaga Adefarati, respectively, among other members of the National Assembly.
The visit, which brought together key figures in labour policy and administration, highlighted the importance of collaboration between federal agencies and state governments in mitigating push factors of poverty in the world of work. It further underscored the commitment of the NSITF in fostering strong relationships with the sub-national governments to lift the lot of the workers. While addressing the governor, Faleye said he led the team to solicit the enrollment of the Lagos State workforce into the Employees’ Compensation Scheme. He noted that, being a leading state in the federation, Lagos embracing the ECS would be a big motivation for other states to do likewise. He said, “We are here on a two-day retreat on how we can collaborate with lawmakers so they can better understand what we do and use their legislative influence to help us achieve the mandate of the fund.” He added, “The Employees Compensation Scheme, which is our mandate, is a no-fault scheme, which replaced the Workman Compensation Act. This act makes it compulsory for every employer of labour in the public and private sector to enroll into the ECS by paying 1% of its total emolument to the NSITF to take care of the workers or their dependents in case of accident or death in the course of work. We have robustly been doing this since 2012, and we want to continue doing it. We know Lagos State can give us critical support in what we are doing.”
While responding to the request by the NSITF, Sanwo-Olu echoed the need for transparency and accountability in the administration of the agency, further charging the NSITF to be responsive in dispensing claims and compensations to the people. He added that, even though the Lagos State government has a robust insurance package for its workers, Lagos will be willing to explore collaboration with the NSITF to further boost social security to Lagos workers.
Sanwo-Olu’s pep talk on accountability and responsiveness in the discharge of compensation to injured workers comes in sync with the cardinal agenda of the new managing director of the NSITF who has already cut the ice in the restructuring of the agency for efficiency through the digitization of its processes and procedures. He had while taking briefings from the agency’s heads of department two weeks ago stated that no stone will be left unturned in re-positioning the fund to be at par with similar agencies in global best practices. Expressing determination to clear all the inhibiting factors to the digitization of the NSITF, he described it as key to efficiency as well as transparent delivery of its programmes. Faleye has also taken steps to overhaul the fund’s claims and compensation process to widen the net and accommodate more injured workers, noting that the percentage of injured workers under different categories of claims was not at par with his vision.
While the chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour, Senator Plang Diket, said the National Assembly was committed to assisting the NSITF discharge its responsibilities to the Nigerian workers, his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Adegboyega Adefarati, commended Gov. Sanwo-Olu for being worker-friendly, hoping that bringing the benefits of the ECS to Lagos workers would be accorded attention.
Apart from members of the National Assembly, others who were part of the NSITF’s embassage to the Lagos State Governor included the fund’s executive director of finance, a chartered accountant, and former long-standing staff of the NSITF, Adegoke Adedeji, Prof. Gabriel Okenwa, the executive director, administration, and the newly appointed executive director of operations, Hon. Mojisoluwa Ali-Macaulay.
•Nwachukwu is the general manager, Corporate Affairs, NSITF