NSITF pays N1b compensation claims to injured workers

By Collins Olayinka, Abuja 

 Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) office. Photo: FACEBOOK/

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has paid above N1 billion to injured employees who are enrolled under the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) this year. 
 
The Acting Managing Director of the Fund, Dr. Kelly Nwagha, disclosed this when he received the National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer of Servicom, Mrs. Nnenna Akajemeli, who was on a courtesy and advocacy visit to the Fund’s headquarters in Abuja.

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Nwagha explained that the payment followed over 13,000 claims of work-related injuries and diseases since the beginning of the year.  
 
He explained that the Fund’s new mandate is targeted at improving services. He listed the services to include the preventative services where the Fund ensures that the health, safety, and wellbeing of all employees are guaranteed in the workplace or in the course of work.  
 
He argued that the services NSITF renders engender improved the productivity of the employees, which in turn ensures increased revenue for the employer.
 
Nwagha said should accidents or diseases occur in the course of work, the Fund provides rehabilitative and curative services, adding that “this has to do with the reimbursement of the cost of Health care services incurred by the injured employees and provision of artificial limbs or members, as the result of the accident/disease arising out of or in the course of the employment. This is to enable injured employees to improve their working capacity”.

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In addition to these services, Nwagha noted that the Fund equally provides compensatory services, which include payment of disability claims, periodic payment to the next of kin of a deceased employee, and payment for loss of productivity to the employer.  

He reiterated that repositioning the NSITF for greater efficiency remains the commitment of his interim management team.
 
The National Coordinator of Servicom, who led a delegation of senior officials from her office, emphasised the mantra of ‘customer needs above all needs’, which guides their operations.
 
She advised that the place of stakeholders in running government service delivery should always remain a focal point in the activities of the NSITF.  
 
She also urged the Fund to maintain more media visibility in the traditional and the new/social media space.