Plans are underway by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) to create new branches and service centres to expand social services in the country.
 
The Managing Director of the Fund, Maureen Allagoa, who stated this in Abuja, explained that the expansion complies with the social inclusion standards of the ILO Convention 102.
 
She assured that the agency will consolidate its 2023 achievements while expanding the percentage of the population protected by the social security scheme.
 
Allagoa added: “We are expanding our operations into the informal sector and other unreached areas in dire need of our services to save more people from lacerating social conditions. We will create new branches to this end as well as build service delivery centres to be activated in select regions as pilot, in the first quarter of 2024. The focus is to reach Nigerians in the remote hinterland while reducing commuting distance for our staff members.”
 
She hinted that the Fund has delivered social security benefits under different compensation packages to over 103,000 beneficiaries since inception. She added: “We are poised to cover more areas and reliefs to the victims of workplace accidents or their dependents in line with our mandate. But it is important to point out that this number, 103,000 beneficiaries, does not include 11 injured workers, whose conditions were so severe they couldn’t be treated in Nigeria and had to be flown abroad and over one hundred workers who had to be provided with artificial limbs.

“It does not also include the 670 dependent beneficiaries and 852 disability beneficiaries currently on our monthly payroll, besides some deceased dependents under our care, pending the graduation of their last child from the higher institution or attaining 21 years of age. These are visible achievements which form the base of our plans for the New Year.”

The NSITF chief stressed that the Fund is encouraged by the wider operation coverage as well as challenges occasioned by the directive of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, following FEC approval, that all the MDAs must now comply with the mandatory employees’ compensation contributions.
 
According to Allagoa, even though the SGF’s circular on compulsory implementation of the ECS in all the MDAs has been issued, a concerted effort is needed to actualize it and clear the arrears of contributions from 2012.
 
Fully aware of the central place occupational safety and health of the ILO Convention C155 occupies in the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, the Managing Director said that at the heart of the NSITF’s plan of action for 2024 is the increase in workplace accident prevention, with an expected 1,344 inspections and training.

She submitted that the steps are aimed at reducing risk at work, promoting a healthy workforce, and enhancing national productivity. Speaking on poverty reduction and the mandate of the NSITF, Allagoa revealed that the NSITF will tap areas of the ILO Convention 102 on old age benefits, unemployment and family benefits, saying that timelines have been set for the expansion of the agency’s corporate social responsibility programmes on skills acquisition and empowerment.
 
She revealed that the management of the Fund has begun the payment of the N35,000 wage award and will not relent, adding that staff conditions of service have been reviewed and a new consolidated salary structure.
 
She stated that the Fund’s strategic communication reforms have opened avenues and platforms for thorough ventilation of every staff matter in line with the social dialogue principle of the ILO.
 
“The performance management system beginning January 2024 will be utilised to identify and reward outstanding individual staff, branches, and regions in the key areas of contribution collection, ethical conduct and teamwork, among others,” she said.