By Bimbola Oyesola
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) at the weekend said Nigerians will soon enjoy several social security packages as applied in the developed countries.
According to the NSITF consultant, Paul Okwulehie, this is part of the reorganisation process ongoing in the organisation to enable it delivered on its core mandate.
Okwulihie in an interview with Daily Sun during a sensitization training organised for corporate bodies in Lagos, said presently the NSITF has only one product which is the Employee Compensation Scheme (ECA) where employers pay 1 percent of their total emoluments. The contribution from the employer is expected to take care of the employee who suffered any injury or accident during the discharge of official duty.
“Unfortunately not all employers of labour comply with this, thereby dragging the NSITF behind from carrying out its mandate.
“Besides, the organisation has also gone through several problems in terms of managerial deliverables and as such the reason for reorganisation and repositioning of the body,” he said.
Okwulihie said the training to sensitize employers on the reorganisation and need for total compliance will run throughout the Federation and will last for a month.
He explained that the NSITF has not been able to break even as an organisation because it relies on only one products whereas there are other products it can leverage upon.
He warned that it would no longer be business as usual for any employee of the Fund who is found wanting in the discharge of his or her duty.
He said, “Claims should no longer be delayed. Officers who delayed claims would be removed. There are time limit assigned by which every claim should be processed. The problem they have now is medical veracity.
“But I want to assure all that it’s now a new NSITF, speeding up process, leveraging technology.”
He also said safety must be included in government policy and ensure compliance by the organisation including payment of the 1 percent ECA.
“Most important aspect in safety is the fact that every member of the organisation must imagine every accident that could happen, plan for it as a scenario, drill for it and train for it. When you can’t deal with any serious emergency, that means you’ve not planned for it,” he stated.