Acting Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Ismail Agaka, has said that the scheme has registered about 51, 576 employers since its commencement on July 1, 2011.
Agaka stated this when paid a courtesy visit on the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, noting that 16,000 of the workers were registered between February and November, 2016.
According to him, “We have paid benefits to 8, 813 workers to the tone of about N789 billion while there are 138 families on monthly dependent benefits.
“Amongst these families is one that earns one million, five hundred and eighty thousand Naira per month. We have others who earn far less than that because compensation benefit is function of the level of contribution.”
He further disclosed that due to collaboration with the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) on safety issues in the workplace has raised safety standards in the work place.
Agaka lamented the reluctance of employers of labour to register on the scheme is one of the major challenges confronting the Fund, adding that a recent ministerial directive on the prosecution of recalcitrant employers would soon yield positive result.
“We also have a few challenges that include defaulting employers. If you recall, early this year the Minister ordered us to enforce compliance and we are happy to inform that the directive has spurred employers to comply with the law. We are in the process of taking other employers that have remained recalcitrant to court for prosecution,” he stated.
He called on the minister to assist the Fund to facilitate the renovation of its dilapidated state offices across the country, pointing out that the Fund has 11 regional offices, 55 branches and about 5,000 staff.
Responding, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, directed the Fund to drag defaulting companies to court, stating that it was imperative as such firms, are not only short-changing their staff, but are also putting their health at risk.
He said: “I want the NSITF to drag more recalcitrant companies to court over infractions. And I want as many companies as possible to go to court for not obeying the law of the land and the legal department must be active in this regard.
“The companies that are not complying are short-changing their workers because in those places, workers are still treating themselves when they sustain injury in the course of work.
“This is completely unfair and government will not sit by and watch Nigerian workers suffer unnecessarily. We want the little money they earn to stay in their pockets. Employers have responsibility towards their employees and they must be made to fulfil those responsibilities, which employees’ compensation scheme is a major part.”
The minister, who said any employer with more than five persons as workers must enrol them on the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS), urged the Fund to collaborate with relevant agencies like Federal Inland Revenue Several (FRIS), National Pension Commission on gathering of database of Nigerian companies and their location.
He said Nigeria was yet to ratify ILO Convention 102 on social security fully, but that the country was operating many of the branches of the Convention including health insurance, conditional cash transfer and other social intervention programmes.
