ABUJA – Malam Umar Abubakar, the Managing Director, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), on Thursday, stressed the need to build an international coalition to extend social security to all Nigerians.
Abubakar said this in Abuja during the Royal Commonwealth Society of Nigeria 2014 Annual Lecture.
According to him, the place of Universal Social Security System to cover all citizens cannot be over-emphasised.
He said “macro-economic stability can only be guaranteed with social security as a strong pillar of social policy.
“Sustainable economic development cannot occur unless attention is paid to providing adequate social protection against the risk of sickness, disability, injury, unemployment and old age.’’
Abubakar said strengthening the implementing agencies in the area of good governance, provision of adequate operational infrastructure and tools were necessities in the country.
The Guest Speaker at the lecture, Mr Yakubu Ugwolawo, who spoke on “Democracy and Good Governance’’ said democracy and good governance could only be achieved through collective experiences accumulated from one country to the other.
He said that “within the last 15 years of the country’s democracy, the will and ability to learn from our mistakes and internal corrective mechanisms have been employed to address many issues of governance.
“This is a remarkable development which needs to be encouraged and institutionalised.’’
Ugwolawo said democracy and good governance were essential for the economic development of the nation.
“The success of many countries has been attributed to their practice of good governance and democracy, while failure of several other governments has been explained mainly in terms of their non-conformity,’’ he added.
The President of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Mr Tunde Akogun, said the objective of the society was to encourage the understanding of ethnic and cultural values within the commonwealth in Nigeria.
Akogun says the Society has a range of youth projects and research activities and promotes international understanding, particularly among youths. (NAN)
