The House of Representatives has described the
failure of some public and private organisations to comply with the provisions
of the law setting up the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) as an
act of sabotage against the interests of Nigerian workers.
The Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila,
stated this Monday during an investigative hearing on the ‘non-remittance of
contributions into the NSITF' by the three tiers of government, their
parastatals, public corporations, and companies from 2010 to date.
The Speaker, who was represented at the hearing by
the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Alhassan Doguwa, explained that the
NSITF was created to meet a specific need, which is the provision of adequate
compensation for all employees or their dependents, in the event of death,
injury, disease or disability arising from or in the course of their
employment.
He noted that the ad-hoc committee was set up in
response to a resolution arising from a motion the House considered during the
plenary session of July 18, 2019.
Gbajabiamila said: “It follows, therefore, that failure
to comply with the requirement of the law in this matter is an act of sabotage
against the interests of the Nigerian worker, and that is unacceptable.
“When, as is evidently the case, government
institutions themselves also fail to meet their obligations in this regard, it
shows a glaring repudiation of the government constitutional obligation to
serve the security and welfare of the people.”
The Speaker noted that the mandate of the committee
was, therefore, to identify what factors might be mitigating against full
compliance with the requirements of the law in this instance, and to make
recommendations on what the House could do to achieve full compliance and
properly penalise those who refuse to do what is required of them, whether they
are government institutions or private enterprises.
He stressed that if it requires that the House
amends the law, it would do so, and if it requires working with the NSITF to
improve on the internal regulatory framework, it would also do so.
Gbajabiamila stated categorically that the House
would make sure that the rights of Nigerian workers are respected and their
interests protected.
He, therefore, urged the committee to be meticulous
and diligent in the assignment, and to deliver a report to the House within the
shortest possible time so that it can begin to act in whatever capacity is
required of it.
Earlier, the Chairman of the committee, Hon. Sada
Soli, said the fact that the government and all its agencies are guilty of such
laxity was capable of giving the impression that the government does not
prioritise the social security and welfare scheme that provides comprehensive
compensation to workers who suffer from occupational diseases or sustained
injuries arising from accidents at work place or in the course of employment.
He noted that the government at all levels must
begin to show more compassion towards the fate of workers, especially in their
weakest moments.
Soli stressed that the government must remember
that the whole idea behind the NSITF was to ensure that workers were not abandoned during the most vulnerable
period of their lives when they could no longer look after themselves or their
families.
He explained that this was the principle behind the
Employee’s Compensation Act of 2010, which provides a guaranteed and adequate
compensation for all ‘workers and their dependents for any death, injury,
disease or disability in the course of their employment.
Soli stressed further that this assistance was
meant to be taken from the Solvent Compensation Fund which the worker and the
employer are supposed to contribute to.
He said it was therefore both a moral and legal
responsibility for the government and indeed all employers of labour to ensure
that those who spend the best part of their lives working to contribute to the
growth of the societies are not allowed to suffer neglect, occupational
diseases, injuries or death.
Soli noted
that besides, the only way that workers would be willing to sweat it and put in
their best is if they have prior assurance that whatever happens to them in the
course of their duties would be duly compensated.
The lawmaker noted that committees and indeed the National
Assembly called on the tiers of government and
their agencies, parastatals and private companies to immediately pay all
contributions due to the NSITF in order not to jeopardise the noble objectives
of establishing the Fund.
“I am therefore calling on all major oil companies,
particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its
subsidiaries-the greatest violators of this Act, to expedite action to rectify
this breach and pay their backlog of contribution to the NSITF before legal
action is taken against them.”
On his part, the Minister of Labour and Productivity,
Senator Chris Ngige, commended the committee for its interest in the social
welfare of workers, but urged them to assist in amending the Act to include
stiffer penalties for defaulters.
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