Employee Compensation Scheme: NSITF Boss Laments Non-Compliance by States

By Chinedu Echianu

The Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye has lamented what he described as the low level of compliance by state governments in enrollment of their workers in the Employee Compensation Scheme, ECS.

The Managing Director who spoke during a visit to the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, at the NLC headquarters, Abuja Tuesday, noted that the non-compliance “speaks to the vulnerability of the workers if some of the key protection mechanisms that are provided for them are not being utilized for one reason or the other”.

The Employee Compensation Act which establishes the Scheme mandates employers of labour in both public and private sectors to contribute 1% of workers’ salary to the Fund. The NSITF is mandated to indemnify, compensate and rehabilitate workers affected by workplace injuries, diseases and deaths.

Speaking further, Barrister Faleye debunked the idea of the Fund as a revenue generating agency, explaining that the purpose of the NSITF was workers’ welfare and safety through compensation and rehabilitation in case of work-related injury, disease or death as well as promotion of workplace safety and health, adding that the investments undertaken by the Fund were primarily for sustainability and not for profit.

Barrister Faleye sought partnership between the NLC and the NSITF with a view to leveraging the apex labour union’s reach and influence to enhance enrollment into the Scheme.

He reminded the labour leadership of its role as a critical stakeholder in the Fund with its representation on the Fund’s Management Board. He appealed to the common interest of the two organizations which has workers’ welfare as the overriding interest.

The visit was in continuation of Barrister Faleye’s effort at expanding enrollment into the ECS through stakeholder engagements, sensitization and inter-agency collaboration.

In his response, the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero promised to work with the NSITF to ensure compliance on the ECS scheme, saying the scheme is a lofty initiative aimed at improving the fortune of the working class and expressed his excitement at having the NSITF fully in charge of social security in the country.

Ajaero also pledged organized labour’s support to the Fund’s awareness campaign geared toward enhanced ECS compliance in the country.