NSITF: WELL CONCEIVED COMPENSATION INITIATIVE FOR NIGERIAN WORKERS – Erijo

The Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has been identified as a well conceived compensation initiative of the federal government for Nigerian workers.

The. Chief of Staff to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, Hon Prince Johnson Erijo, stated this today when he played host to the management team of the Asaba branch of the NSITF.

Hon Erijo noted that the passage and harmonization of the Employees’ Compensation Bill by the two Chambers of the National Assembly and its assent the President in 2010 was one sure way of showing concern for the plight of injured Nigerian workers.

He said the fact that the Act, which gave rise to the birth of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund met the general demands of employees with respect to compensation, rehabilitation, vocational training and empowerment in cases of incapacitation, made it a must embrace for government and employers of labour.

The Chief of Staff, however, noted that not much was known about the NSITF, even with its beneficial programmes, and advised the interventionist agency to reach out to the various state governments in order to achieve a greater compliance with the enabling law and make the NSITF more functional and relevant to the target employees.

Hon Erijo promised the state government’s support for the agency, which had established presence in the three senatorial districts of the state.

Earlier, the Asaba branch Manager of the Trust Fund, Onuorah Ifeoma, said the Act applied to all employers and employees in the public and private sectors of the nation’s economy, including the three tiers of government, the organized and unorganized private sectors.

Ifeoma said the compensation could be in the form of cash or non-cash benefits, pointing out that the Asaba, Warri and Sapele branches currently had over 6,000 registered employers and no fewer than 73,000 workforces already covered by the scheme and benefitting from it.

She urged the Chief of Staff to help facilitate the registration of the state’s workforce for the scheme and make the presentation of the NSITF certificate a prerequisite for the patronage of any contractor, vendor or service provider in the state