The new Managing Director of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Dr. Michael Akabogu, has promised a new beginning for the Fund devoid of scandals, disclosing that “the Fund is undergoing various levels of restructuring based on various past challenges.”

Speaking during a media chat in Abuja on Thursday, July 8, Dr. Akabogu, who recently assumed office, said: “In this new dispensation, we are focussed on fulfilling the core mandate and restoring confidence in our processes and dignity of the Fund.

“I believe that with God on our side, we will not waste this opportunity, rather we would work to deliver for the Nigerian workers.”

He named the objectives of the new NSITF Management under his watch to include; “Creation of pathways to reward excellent and outstanding service while maintaining utmost commitment to staff welfare; repositioning of the public perception of the fund; and increasing the productivity of every department of the Fund and using quantifiable metrics to measure our performance in the weeks and months ahead.”

Other objectives, according to Dr. Akabogu, are “to improve on and ensure prompt payments of claims and compensations to give value for money to all the Contributors in our ECA Scheme; widen the spread of our enrollees; create more visibility for the Fund through improved public engagement and public enlightenment activities; and create a conducive atmosphere in the organisation and make the Fund a great place to work.”

The NSITF MD expressed immense gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. (Dr) Chris Nwabueze Ngige, for his appointment. “I will bring transparency, do my best to maintain and further enhance the good working and personal relations that my predecessor has established,” he assured.

Earlier in her welcome address, NSITF General Manager SERVICOM and Board Secretary, Mrs. Ijeoma Okoronkwo, stressed the resolve of the new management “to rebuild the image of the Fund, and re-engage productively with our communities.”

Among senior members of the NSITF Management Team that graced the media interaction were the Executive Director Administration; Mrs. Maureen Allagoa; Executive Director Operations, Mr. Gana Modu; and Executive Director Finance, Mrs. Temitope Caroline Akinwale.

Regional and Branch Managers of the Fund also attended online.

Established vide Decree No. 73 of 1993 to succeed the defunct National Provident Fund (NPF), which had been in operation since 1961, NSITF is saddled with the responsibility to implement the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA), 2010, which provides for compensation to employees who suffer from occupational diseases, sustain injuries or disability from accident at work place or in the course of employment, whether at usual place of work or outside of it. It also provides compensation to the next-of-kin of an employee who dies at or in the course of work.

•PHOTO: Abdul-Lateef Musa, GM enforcement, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Ijeoma Okoronkwo, board secretary NSITF, Maureen Allagoa, executive director NSITF, Michael Akabogu, MD/CEO NSITF, Modu Gana, executive director operations, NSITF and Nkiru Ogunnaike, GM claims and compensation NSITF during a media interactive session in Abuja, on 08-07-2021.

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