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Govt moves to include informal sector in social security coverage

By Collins Olayinka, Abuja
03 November 2015   |   2:46 am
THE Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity is devising means through which to include the informal sector and other vulnerable groups in the coverage of social security in the country, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Clement Illoh has disclosed.

Clement IllohTHE Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity is devising means through which to include the informal sector and other vulnerable groups in the coverage of social security in the country, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Clement Illoh has disclosed.

Dr Illoh, who stated this in Abuja while declaring open a stakeholders’ meeting on ‘addressing the social security needs of the informal workers through cooperative delivery system’, said informal sector would be included through the instrumentality of cooperative system.

He insisted that every member of the society has the right to social security and entitled to its realization through national effort and international cooperation.

The Permanent Secretary who was represented at the occasion by the Director of Special Duties, Felix Ogenyi, called on all Nigerians both in the public and private sectors to support the efforts of the Federal Government at providing Social Security protection to the vulnerable groups.

He added: “The challenges of social security in our society today cannot be overlooked. A dynamic system to conquer the many constraints to social security delivery can only be attained through both public and private cooperation.”
Dr Illoh stressed the need to establish management of social security programmes at meeting the aspiration of people with special needs, households below poverty line, vulnerable and elderly persons.
He expressed optimism that the stakeholders’ meeting would create a stronger social protection system which will have all the requisite tools and technology required to deliver and complement the government’s mandate to alleviate the pains of the informal and vulnerable people in the country.

her remarks, the Director, social security/cooperative development department, Mrs. Mojisola Sonubi explained that over the years, the Nigerian government at various levels has adopted policies aimed at enhancing the performance of the informal sector including entrepreneurship development and international financial assistance stressing that the purpose of the stakeholders’ meeting was to further consolidate on the achievements made by using cooperatives as an avenue to meet the social security needs of the informal workers.She reaffirmed that the fundamental objective of the government according to the constitution is to ensure the security and welfare of all people, which means that the informal sector which accounts for as much as an estimated 57.9% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according to the United Nations should enjoy equally social security cover.

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