NSITF pays N267m compensation to injured workers in 4 years

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) paid N267 million compensation to workers injured in their work places between 2011 and 2014, an official, has said.

NSITF’s Regional Manager in Jos Edward Olobaayo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday that the beneficiaries were mostly from the private sector.

Olobaayo said that most of them were from the oil and gas sector, some from the manufacturing industry, building and construction industry and some were electricity workers.

He listed the injuries to include the severance of hands, wrists, phalanges and even deaths.

The other cases were people who had accidents on their ways to the offices.

He said that enlisted organisations were expected to contribute one per cent of their running costs to the fund.

The regional manager said that the requirement was being reviewed to ensure that the contributions depended on the hazardous nature of the job.

“From the payments we have made so far, we can see that the risk profile is not the same. We shall review the funding profile so that offices, where workers were more endangered, will pay more; in some cases, it could go up to 10 per cent or 20 per cent,’’ he said.

He said that the NSITF was more focused on prevention and rehabilitation with compensation as the last resort.

Olobayo said that the fund, which started in the 1960s as Defined Benefit Pension Scheme, currently had more than N65 billion worth of assets after the new Act that turned it into NSITF came into force in December 2010.

He said that its coverage was being expanded to include states workers and even domestic servants.

“The scheme is just coming on; many states are being persuaded to key into it. Our board and management have paid visits to governors and we expect that we shall soon register more participants that will swell our funding base and expand the scope of possible beneficiaries,” he said.

Olobayo said that the armed forces were, however, being exempted, but the Fund covers the civilians working in the force.