ILO to support the Social Insurance Trust Fund in Nigeria

ABUJA (ILO News) - The International Labour Organization (ILO) pledged to support the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) by strengthening the capacities of its experts for effective delivery of services, stated Mrs Sina Chuma-Mkandawire, ILO Director for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.

The announcement was made official during a courtesy visit of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSITF, Mr Umar Munir Abubakar, his team and representatives of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity at the ILO Office in Abuja.

“We are here to strengthen NSITF’s partnership with the ILO and to request the ILO’s support towards repositioning NSITF in the area of capacity building for effective service delivery” Mr Abubakar said.

He informed the ILO that with the law of Employees Compensation Act (ECA 2010), the NSITF which was established in 1962 as a National Provident Fund, has been given an expanded mandate, hence the need for building the capacities of the officials of NSITF.

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund provides services to Nigerians in both public and private sectors:

• Open and fair system of guaranteed and adequate compensation for all employees or their dependants for any death, injury, disease or disability arising out of or in the course of employment;
• Rehabilitate employees with work-related disabilities as provided in the Act
• Establish and maintain a solvent compensation fund managed in the interest of employees and employers;
• Carry out fair and adequate assessments for employers;
• Implement an appeal procedure that is simple, fair and accessible, with minimal delays; and
• Combine efforts and resources of relevant stakeholders for the prevention of workplace disabilities, including the enforcement of occupational safety and health standards.

A call to ratify ILO Conventions on Social Security

Mr Abubakar stated that preparations were underway for the mandate of NSITF to being expanded to provide full scale social security to all Nigerians especially, workers, unemployed people, socially excluded and other vulnerable people. A national draft bill on social security is expected to soon be entering into law.

“Nigeria is making progress towards implementing the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012”, underscored Mrs Sina Chuma-Mkandawire.

The ILO Director urged NSITF to work with Federal Ministry of Labour and social partners to ratify ILO Conventions 102, the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952, and 183, Maternity Protection Convention, 2000.

“The ratification of the two conventions would help Nigeria to fulfil its obligations to Nigerians”, concluded Chuma-Mkandawire by reiterating ILO’s readiness to work with NSITF in the same manner ILO and other UN agencies supported Nigeria in the past in developing a draft National Policy on Social Protection.