ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has launched a service-wide sensitisation campaign aimed at enhancing the implementation of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS) across the federal civil service.
According to a statement released on Sunday, the Managing Director of NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye, led his team to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to flag off the initiative.
Head of Service, Mrs. Esther Walson-Jack, expressed strong support for the NSITF’s mission, pledging full cooperation in ensuring that civil servants nationwide benefit from the scheme.
She affirmed her commitment to collaborate with the agency as it rolls out its sensitisation drive.
Faleye, who praised the Head of Service for her worker-centered approach, said his involvement in the Head of Service Committee for the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2025 (FCSSIP2025) had deepened his resolve to push for the scheme’s full adoption within the federal service.
He noted that while other committee members focused on issues like housing and health, the NSITF remained firmly aligned with its mandate working to eliminate barriers to implementing the ECS across the civil service and expanding social protection for workers.
Faleye said, “We felt that what was key for us as we shared ideas and discussed initiatives during the strategy sessions we had under the auspices of the FCSSIP2025 was how to sustainably implement and deepen initiatives that were already available but not implemented and ensure that those welfare initiatives are implemented for the benefit of workers in terms of their welfare and social security.
And in that regard, what was key for us was to then ensure that our core mandates are reflected and highlighted as we discussed the initiatives at the FCSSIP2025, and we made the commitment to do everything within our sphere of influence to ensure that those initiatives become a reality.”
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He assured that NSITF remains committed to addressing the structural and financial obstacles that have hindered the scheme’s rollout, and expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for ordering the settlement of all government liabilities under the ECS.
Faleye explained the importance of the scheme, saying, “The Employee Compensation Scheme is a Scheme enabled by law that mandates us to pay claims and compensation to all Nigerian workers for injuries, disabilities, death or diseases that arise in the course of work. So, mainly it is a work-related social insurance, and we are at the forefront of implementing this.”
He added, “When we look at the size of the Federal civil service, there’s no better place to impact the welfare of workers than within the core ecosystem of the Federal civil service.
That is why it was important that we ensure that the Scheme is operational at the Federal level and all the associated MDAs related to it.
We have made some progress, basically in terms of the payment of the obligations related to the financial aspect of it.
We continue to engage with the Ministries of Budget and Finance to ensure that there are prompt payments of Federal Government liabilities so that we can then provide these very vital services to civil servants in fulfilment of President Bola Tinubu’s promise to always be there for the civil servants that are serving Nigerians.”
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He noted that while some payments had already been made, others remain pending “We will continue to focus on that.”
Responding, Walson-Jack recalled her early support for the ECS and welcomed its current momentum.
“The MD has outlined a very robust vision, which, as he did say, I bought into the very first time we met. The Employees’ Compensation Scheme, as captured in the Employees’ Compensation Act, is one Scheme that has been waiting for a robust push to ensure that it is mainstreamed into our welfare package service-wide.
I recollect that as a Permanent Secretary in the Staff Welfare Office in 2017, we began to talk about the scheme, which had not yet come on board and I want to say that I am delighted today that we have gotten to this milestone, wherein we are now ready to sensitise civil servants on this very important welfare scheme as we begin its implementation and I want to thank especially the Managing Director of the NSITF and his team for all the efforts you have put into getting us here.”
She assured full institutional backing for the scheme’s activation in 2025 “I want to assure you that this office, through the Service Welfare Office, will give you all the support, all the encouragement, and will work with you to ensure that this Scheme comes on board this year 2025, and that it comes to stay. I want to use the opportunity to thank our very worker-friendly President for bringing us this far.
This is another feather in the bag of welfare initiatives that this administration has come to be known for. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the Federal Executive Council approved the Group Life Assurance Scheme, and today we are here to discuss the implementation of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.”