The Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund have restated their commitment to enhancing their collaboration by forming a joint committee aimed at addressing the backlog of contributions owed to the Fund by the Customs Service.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
This was revealed in a statement on Tuesday by the Custom’s General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Nwachukwu Godson.
This development was announced following an advocacy visit by NSITF Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye, to Customs Comptroller, General Bashir Adeniyi.
At the meeting, which included senior officials from both agencies, Adeniyi emphasised the significance of the NSITF in promoting occupational safety.
“Social investment programs like the Employees’ Compensation Scheme of the NSITF are crucial for delivering the President’s Renewed Hope initiative to Nigerians,” he stated.
He further highlighted that effective collaboration could lead to improved welfare services for Customs officers, stating, “We want to promote workplace safety and ensure that officers who suffer accidents in the course of work are adequately compensated.”
Adeniyi proposed the establishment of a technical team comprising members from both agencies to assess the outstanding contributions, noting, “Reconciliation will be very, very important to us so that we know how to re-schedule the payments if we are found liable.”
He welcomed the NSITF’s involvement in conducting workplace safety assessments, adding, “It will be our pleasure to invite your officers to come around and do some inspections and assessments.”
In his remarks, Faleye praised the Customs Service for its contributions to Nigeria’s economic growth and underscored the need for deeper cooperation between the two bodies.
“NSITF is mandated to prevent accidents through our occupational safety and health programmes and to provide claims and compensation where work-related accidents occur,” he said.
He called for enhanced collaboration, stating, “Beyond the payment of claims and compensation, we are also mandated to create awareness and promote workplace safety.”
Faleye reiterated the importance of establishing a technical collaborative platform to address existing issues between the agencies.
“We need an open engagement to enable us to effectively carry out our mandate because beyond the payment of claims and compensation, we are more interested in preventing work-related accidents”, he affirmed.
