By Joan Nwagwu
Abuja – Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will partner Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) to expand the scope of social security coverage for Nigerian workers.
NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, made the statement on Tuesday in Abuja when the management of NSITF paid him a courtesy visit.
Wabba said that expanding the scope of coverage was imperative as several workers were not captured in the social security net of the Employees Compensation Act.
He said: “we must be able to expand the scope, importantly the workman compensation which I think we need to extend to all employers of Labour.
“Presently, I think it’s not all workers that have keyed into the new approach.
“I have seen situations where workers who are at the receiving end will have a work place accident.
“Some of them will lose their arms, some lose their eyes and at the end of the day the management will just give them N20, 000 and dismiss them.
“In such cases, when they come to us, whether they are unionised or not, we try to fight for their right and this has been the context why we are very passionate about the issues.
“We will continue to make sure that all workers have security cover and we will partner with you to expand the scope of the security cover.’’
The labour leader noted that the work of NSITF impacts directly on workers in the area of social protection, national health and safety, as well as compensation.
According to him, effective implementation of the NSITF Act will enhance national productivity.
In his remarks, NSITF MD, Mr Adebayo Somefun, said his administration was already working out modalities of speeding up payment of enrolees; including decentralising it to the regions and branches.
Somefun added that efforts were on to increase revenue accruing to the fund to meet its statutory responsibilities. (NAN)