…says youths in position to create a new Nigeria

The Minster of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has urged the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) to work towards a fair and equitable work environment beneficial to both the strong and weak in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration.

The Minister who gave assurances all agencies under the ministry would enrol to the Employees Compensation Scheme(ECS), noted that the Employees’ Compensation Act was a law that must be obeyed to guarantee social safety net to workers in the formal and informal sectors.

Speaking during an advocacy visit by the Managing Director of the NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye, over the weekend, Tunji-Ojo emphasized that the Employees’ Compensation Scheme was a creation of the law and pledged the compliance of all the agencies under the Ministry of Interior to the scheme.

He said, “ What the President wants is a new Nigeria, a Nigeria that will work not just for the strong but also for the weak, a renewed hope: to give hope even in the most hopeless situation, that’s what he wants.

“And I believe that as young people, we are in a better position to to think out of the box, to be able to create a new Nigeria, to change the story, re-write it that generations coming can be proud of. Nobody can write such a story better than we can.

“For us as Ministry of Interior, Federal Fire Service, Correctional Service, Immigration Service, National Identity Management Commission, NSCDC, others, we will obey the law.

“Putting it in proper perspective, the risk my officers take every day is huge, my officers at the border, when they are there, you never know what can happen. They don’t sleep so that we all can sleep.

“They go hungry so that we can eat, they sacrifice their blood, their sweat, and everything for this country. We will make sure that all the agencies under the boards of the ministry obey the law. It is a law, and compliance is mandatory,” he said.

The Minister also highlighted the need for direct deductions of ECS contributions from the accounts of ministries, parastatals and agencies of the federal government in line with the law, but stressed the need for accountable and transparent use of all funds.

The Managing Director of the NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye in his address underlined the preparedness of the NSITF to support the economic renaissance of the President and further spoke extensively on the benefits of the ECS to workers and employers. He stated that the Interior Ministry with agencies whose employees work in difficult terrains are better assured of better safety cover with the ECS.

“It is also very important to speak about the benefits that are expected if there is compliance with the law. I have mentioned the payment of medical refunds, where there is any injury or sickness that is work related, NSITF will step in and be responsible for such medical bills.

“In the unfortunate occurrence of death arising out of work, we will pay compensation to family members of the bereaved up to a certain threshold. There is also the payment of loss of productivity where employers are able to recoup loss of productivity that is associated with the death of an employee or sickness arising from work.

“All of these we believe are important social safety nets that ultimately improve productivity in the country and that is our contribution to the economic renaissance that is being led by the President of the federal republic of Nigeria.

“So our visit essentially is to really look at all of these issues, address the compliance barriers that may be between us and the relevant agencies and drive strategic initiatives together to the benefits to the nation’s workforce.”

Recall that wide and intensive stakeholder engagement is one of the key agenda of the new administration of the NSITF which aims to broaden participation in the scheme, taking the benefits of the scheme to the doorstep of all Nigerian workers.

Remember, too, that the Federal Government had in October 2021 issued a circular for the commencement of the mandatory contributions of one percent of the emoluments of all public servants to the NSITF’s Employees’ Compensation Scheme