The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has reaffirmed its role as a major stakeholder in the advancement of the welfare of Nigerian workers.

Managing Director and Chief Executive, NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye, said this in his goodwill message at the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in Lagos, emphasising the union’s importance as one of its veritable partners in the social protection of Nigerian workers.

Speaking on the role of the Fund in supporting the welfare of Nigerian workers, Faleye explained the statutory mandate of the NSITF, which is to provide benefits, pay claims, and compensation in case of any work-related injury.

Using the popular saying that prevention is better than cure, the NSITF boss stressed that the preventive mechanism was its responsibility under the Health and Safety Initiative, where it seeks to encourage workers and employers, most importantly, “Ensuring that workers all over the country, both in the private and public sector, are working and operating from a safe working place.

“Beyond that, where this prevention fails, as is sometimes inevitable, our primary responsibility is to ensure that, or any disability in the course of work, we come to the aid of the employee.

“And we do this all over the country, either in the private sector or in the public sector. And it is for that reason that I feel it is very, very instructive that I come here to address you, given that you are at the forefront of advancing the cause of employees,” he said.

Addressing the audience on why the fund continues to hold employers responsible for compliance with the Employee Compensation Scheme (ECS), Faleye said: “This is because it is through that scheme that we can build the necessary resilience that we need in our workforce.

Imagine a workforce where every worker believes and understands that if they go to work and anything happens in the course of that work, they have the protection of the agency that is responsible for providing compensation, claims, or medical reimbursement in case of any accident.”