By Victor AhiumaYoung

The two-day retreat on “Building a Stronger NSITF,” organized to acquaint the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Labour and Employment on the workings of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, in Lagos, could have come at a better time when the fund is working assiduously to enroll states and informal sector employees.

Among the participants were almost all the members of the Labour and Employment Committees in both chambers of the National Assembly, the NSITF executive leadership, as well as select regional managers and heads of department across the country.

Welcoming participants, the Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye, expressed optimism among the social security stakeholders.

While acknowledging the not-too glittering past, he said the NSITF under him would overcome the challenges that have hindered full realization of its potential as a “transparent, efficient, and resilient social security agency.”

He declared that the NSITF was targeting a yearly registration of one million employers, noting that the feat would become easier with the intervention of legislators in the fund’s advocacy drive.

It was a complete change in the climate of enrollment drive which resonated with the theme of the retreat, “Building a Stronger NSITF,” which he said was a mantra for “sensitization, open dialogue, strategic planning, and collaborative problem-solving to revitalize the NSITF.”

Arguing that the NSITF and the National Assembly were bound by shared commitment to the welfare of Nigerians, Faleye related that evolving demands have made rejigging the NSITF as the bulwark of social security mandatory.

He averred that beyond rehabilitation and compensation of accident victims or claims to employers, the first stage in the ECS processes is accident prevention through the Occupational Safety and Health, OSH, activities.

The Managing Directors’ address was not just prime but also delivered with demonstrable quiddity.

It was received with thunderous ovation as attested to by spontaneous remarks by the participants.

For the Senate Committee Chairman on Labour and Employment, Senator Diket Plang “I am highly delighted because of the robust engagement we have had at this retreat. The new vision for NSITF presented by the Managing Director further gives me confidence that the President has made a great choice in appointing the new leadership for the Fund. I have no doubt that NSIFT is in good hands and will grow in leaps and bounds, satisfying the yearning of Nigerians. On our part, we shall do everything within our legislative sphere of influence to aid their success.”

His counterpart in the House of Representatives,  Adegboyaga Adefarati, enthused, “this is one of the best retreats I have ever attended. If you look around, all of us from the House Committee on Labour are here. Despite the fact that House is on recess, we have, however, taken our time to attend this very important retreat. “

From the presentations, no one is in doubt that the Managing Director has the capacity, character, and competence to build a stronger NSITF.  What is left is to give him every support to succeed.”

The Senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh capped the remarks when he said, “from what you have presented to us this morning – all within one month of your resumption, it is obvious to all that  you have a firm grip of your responsibilities in the NSITF.”

Following this was a flurry of other paper presentations led by Arc. K.B Ma’aji, General Manager Compliance.

His paper captioned “NSITF Compliance Core Mandates and Journey So Far” was challenging.

A participant and member representing Nnewi North, Nnewi South and Ekwusigo Federal Constituency, Peter Uzokwe, who first critiqued Ma’aji’s presentation termed it “bold and assertive” but raised issues on how the “NSITF is not a revenue generating agency, yet has enough fund for investments.”

He was cleared later by the Managing Director, who in his off-handed responses to questions emphasized that the NSITF was not a revenue generating agency and that its investments were for sustainability.

Nwachukwu is the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, NSITF