‘800 families, individuals benefit from NSITF’s scheme’

• Nasarawa set to join
More than 800 families and individuals are benefitting from the Employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS), which is implemented by the Nigeria Social Insurance Scheme (NSITF). 

The Managing Director of the Fund, Adebayo Somefun, disclosed this recently when a team from the Fund paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule. He said since its inception in 2011, more than 50 employees have so far received prosthetic limbs from the Fund, having been injured in the course of their employment.He added that the injured employees are also being rehabilitated by NSITF to prevent the injuries from becoming impediments to their livelihood.

Somefun, who was represented by the Executive Director, Administration, Tijanni Darazo, told the Nasarawa State Governor that so far, the Federal Government has subscribed to the ECS, even as the private sector is clamouring to be a part of the scheme.He also disclosed that upon seeing the gains of the Scheme, some state governors have indicated interest to get on board, and are working with officials of the Fund to achieve it.

He explained that the ECS concerns workers’ welfare in both the public and private sectors of the economy, reiterating that when NSITF takes care of compensation for injured or deceased employees, the Fund is invariably assisting the employers (be they Federal, states, or private sector) reduce expenditure that would have gone into catering for such employees.

Somefun stressed that it is because of the importance of the ECS that the Fund is embarking on aggressively educating states and local governments on the gains of keying into the scheme, as well as explaining to them that the scheme is for every Nigerian employee.While expressing his conviction for a successful relationship with the government, people and workers of Nasarawa State, Somefun congratulated the governor on his election, emphasizing that his victory at the polls is an acceptance of commitment and good governance.

Receiving the visiting NSITF team, Sule expressed gratitude to the Fund, describing the visit as timely, coming at a time when Nasarawa State workers needed a lift in welfare.

The Governor, who affirmed he was familiar with the antecedents of NSITF, particularly commended the Fund Management for its rich investments in several institutions, especially the capital market.He told the NSITF delegation that Nasarawa is a diverse ethnic state with majority of its population being workers that need NSITF services, adding that 40 per cent of workers in the Federal Capital Territory reside in the state, and that informed his government’s interest in the Scheme.

He, therefore, mandated his Special Adviser on Finance, Special Adviser on Investment and Economic Development, Head of Service, and the Secretary to the State Government, to meet with NSITF officials to work out the modalities that will help the state key into the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.