Employee Compensation Bill, Good For Nigerians

Contrary to wide-spread belief that the Employee Compensation Bill (ECB) currently before the National Assembly is an insurance legislation and that the insurance industry is in a better position than the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) to administer Social Security in the country, an expert says the ECB is the best for Nigeria for now.

Professor Olaseni Akintola-Bello, an expert in the emerging social security system in Nigeria, said the bill is “a comprehensive piece of legislation that addresses workers’ insecurity, safety and anxiety.”

The Professor of Finance, who stated this recently at the Public hearing on the bill conducted by the House of Representatives in Abuja, stated that the bill is about decent work social security and offers economic safety for the working people.

According to him, it focuses exclusively on social security with compensations payable extending beyond “a once and for all compensation for injury and death.”

He thus faulted insinuations by some stakeholders who see the bill as an insurance legislation which purpose the existing Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) could still serve with minimal amendments.

Akintola-Bello explained further that in line with the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions on social security, the bill seeks to protect the citizen against problems associated with disruptions and changes in their income situation, which could expose them to want, poverty, suffering and indignity.

“The bill consists of a nest carefully woven together into a series of interrelated products or services,” he said, adding that though the large members in pooling of risks applies in social security, it cannot be equated to insurance.

He continued that “ECB emphasised the social insurance principles as well as the role of the state in the funding of the social security scheme, through the provision of a take-off grant to cover the cost of establishing the employee compensation scheme.

“This bill will provide social protection, not only against poverty, but also against the hardships and suffering arising from income disruptions caused by many uncertainties, and will stimulate and strengthen indigenous social security institutions and mechanism,” Akintola-Bello stressed.

According to him, failure of the Nigeria Provident Fund (NPF) should not be interpreted to mean that NSITF cannot effectively deliver on this fresh mandate, arguing that those opposed to the Fund’s being in charge do not have a better alternative to offer workers.

“The trend in modern management is to focus on your main line of business and outsource other services which one is not competent to offer. This is what would happen in the case of ECB, it made provision for out sourcing  the service of medical practitioners, physiotherapists, etc.”