By Favour Nnabugwu
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF has paid 23,615 workers claims of N1.2 billion in the last one year.
NSITF also said it has built strong walls against negative trails that retarded its Employee Compensation Mandate, saying it has met all targets set in the last one year.
The Managing Director of NSITF, Dr. Michael Akabogu, while speaking at the Management Performance Review meeting in Abuja, said the strategic reforms unveiled a year ago, has not only front loaded transparency and accountability in the operations of the fund but has also broken new grounds in expanding the execution of its mandate.
Noting that the fund now touches the lives of workers and their dependants like never before, he stated that the essence of the review was to “gauge the activities of Nigeria’s foremost social security institution and track the measured progress reports of regions and branches.”
The NSITF MD in a statement by Ijeoma Okoronkwo, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, averred that targets set at the last Management Review Meeting held from 20th to 21st January, 2022 which included setting up of the five syndicate groups to identify key issues effecting the operations of the regional and branch offices have been met.
According to him, “Other targets which we have also met since the last review are the automation of the fund’s operational process which is in progress and intended as a bulwark of accountability and transparency, review of staff salaries which we have completed and forwarded to the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission as well as securing operational vehicles for all regions and branch offices.
“Instructively, we have narrowed the time frame between complaints and compensation from time-indefinite we met, to 14 days and now 10 days. This will further reduce when we introduce our duty-free call centre in the next few months.
“The NSITF under this administration has been touching the lives of workers and their dependants with a total of 23, 615 claims and compensation, worth N1,170,409,977.02 – One billion, one hundred and seventy million, four hundred and nine thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven Naira, two kobo paid in the last one year. We have moved very far from what we met on the ground.”
He observed that this includes medical expenses refund to 603 employers, loss of productivity to 174 employers, death benefits to 10,610 beneficiaries of deceased employees as well as disability benefits, retirement benefits to 3506 disabled employees among others.
“We have also implemented a merit-based staff promotion exercise and demonstrated that you don’t need a godfather to earn promotion where you deserve it. The promotion examination for graduation into the management cadre has just been held yesterday while other carders will take theirs in September. We can’t do less.
“We have equally paid the Consequential Adjustment of the Minimum Wage with relevant taxes deducted appropriately. It is now left for all of us to double our efforts to sustain the improved welfare since the fund is non treasury funded.”
The Managing Director who took time to clear the air on the recent negative press the agency has had to confront with, noted that aberrations and financial malfeasance of the past administration which has been taken care of by the law must not be allowed to distract its ongoing strategic reforms. He therefore urged the staff to help educate the general public and correct the falsehood
In her remark, the Executive Director Operations, Maureen Alegoa said the forum is an opportunity for a review of services to the internal and external publics of the fund. She added it will further enable management staff members relate and develop friendly, productive work environment, insisting the administration was focused on collective success.
Also, speaking, the Executive Director Operation, Modu Gana assured that the fund is better equipped to tackle all challenges impeding the successful implementation of its mandate, and enthused, “the daily operational tracking templates, monthly scorecards models and quarterly MPR report” were carefully developed to improve our service.
