Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, has praised the Managing Director of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, Barrister Olúwaṣeun Faleye, for leading a positive turnaround of the Fund just within a year of his appointment.
Dr. Dingyadi gave this commendation on Monday in his keynote address at the Retreat for National Assembly Joint Committees on Labour, Employment and Productivity in Lagos.
The Minister said, “NSITF is a key agency under the Ministry of Labour and Employment and has witnessed a positive turnaround since the management team came on board last year.
“Aside their vigorous drive for expansion of enrollment into the Employee Compensation Scheme, the MD has breathed a new life into promotion of occupational safety and health and driven the prompt payment of claims.”
The Honourable Minister, who also commended the Fund’s management for organising the retreat with the theme “building a sustainable future strengthening social security and enhancing labour productivity in Nigeria,” described it as timely.
“The Nigerian social security system requires strategic reforms to expand coverage, improve benefits and ensure the sustainability of our social insurance programmes, he posited.
Earlier in his welcome address, the NSITF Managing Director, Barrister Olúwaṣeun Faleye, said the event demonstrated the “openness between the legislature and the Fund to collaborate on critical issues to advance the social welfare of Nigerians.”
He stated that the retreat, which was the second in a series, would deepen participants’ “understanding of the social welfare scheme in general, and the operationality of the Employee Compensation Scheme in particular.’
Highlighting the necessity of the Retreat, Barrister Faleye said, ” Our nation stands at a crossroads where the challenges of economic growth, youth employment, workplace safety and social protection intersect.”
According to him, workers are the bedrock of economic development and their welfare should be prioritised.
He urged participants, who included representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and those of National Employers Consultative Association, NECA, to see the Retreat as a working session and an open “invitation to reimagine how governance, oversight and operational leadership can reinforce the values of safety, justice, inclusion and impact.”
He stated further that, “The next two days would provide us all opportunity to interrogate our policy, refine our strategies and recommit ourselves to delivering a scheme that is effective, transparent and trusted.”
Barrister Faleye reminded all participants that the Fund has been delivering on its mandate especially through the Employees Compensation Scheme.
He admitted that more needed to be done on enforcement and awareness especially at the subnational levels and concluded that legislation would help mainstream social safety net for a resilient national economy and enhanced workers’ welfare.
