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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Anambra and Abia State Governments have pledged to ensure that workers in the states are enrolled into the Employee Compensation Scheme of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund(NSITF).
The NSITF Spokesperson, Mr. Nwachukwu Godson, revealed this in a statement over the weekend.
According to Godson, this was to enable public sector workers at the state and local governments to enjoy the remarkable benefits of the scheme in the world of work.
The Anambra State Head of Service, Barr. Theodora Igwegbe, reportedly promised to coordinate with all relevant offices to ensure that the state government enrolls its employees in the Scheme while speaking in Awka during a visit by the state branch of the NSITF to the Government House to raise awareness of the Fund.
“Igwegbe was quoted saying: “while I served as the Deputy Clerk of the Anambra State House of Assembly in 2017, I engineered a private member bill, through my representative, on the Employee Compensation Scheme, for possible adoption by the State Government, but that did not see the light of day.
“With my current position as the Head of Service, I believe a great opportunity is here for me to liaise with other necessary offices in the state government towards the implementation of this laudable scheme.”
She promised to liaise with the state’s Accountant General and other relevant officers of the State government in a joint push, to actualise the programme.
According to the statement, the NSITF Acting Manager of Awka Branch, Mr. Okpala Chibikem on his part, said Governor Soludo’s vision of Dubai-Taiwan would receive a big boost with the enrolment of workers into the Employee compensation Scheme.
According to him, “the ECA 2010 is aimed at providing guaranteed and adequate compensation to registered employees in the event of death, injury, disability or diseases arising from work or in the course of work, at the place of work or outside of it.
“It also provides compensation to the next of kin of an employee who may die at work or in the course of work,” noting that “the 1% of the workers emoluments to be paid as contribution by the State Government is not deductible from workers’ salaries as the State Government by ECA 2010 should shoulder the responsibility.”
Also, the Chief of Staff to the Abia State Government, Ajagba Chukwurah, assured that the new administration in the state would deploy employee compensation as one of the tools to lift the lots of Abia workers.
Ajagba was said to have commended the federal government for establishing the scheme but noted that a lot needed to be done to sensitize the public on its benefits.
In his presentation, the Manager of the Umuahia Branch of the Fund, Uzoafia Ulari informed that the Fund was making steady progress in the enrolment of private business in the State and urged the state government to avail its workers the benefits that NSITF provides by registering them.
He further stated that the family of a deceased doctor at the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia, who died in the course of work, was currently receiving death benefits from the NSITF, amidst other residents of the state who benefit from either medical expenses, disability or retirement compensations.
He averred that once claims were properly made, with all the verifiable documents attached, the NSITF didn’t not hesitate in discharging its responsibilities.
