The Federal Government yesterday said it has approved the opening of employment and job creation portals for Nigerians living in the country and in the Diaspora.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Senator Ngige also said the council approved the digitization of the operations of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF.
According to him, “The ministry presented two memos to council today (yesterday). The first memo was presented on behalf of our parastatal, the Nigeria social insurance Trust Fund (NSITF). As you are aware, a lot has happened in the NSITF in terms of revenue losses and pillage of funds that have been given to that organization.
“The NSITF implements the Employee Compensation Act ECA 2010 and by that Act, Employers in both public and private sectors are supposed to pay one percent of the emoluments of their staff into a social fund in NSITF.
“This one is to be used as a premium or insurance fund to cater for workers or staff who have accidents, injuries, disabilities and even deaths that occur in the cause of their work. So it’s like an accident or injury insurance.
“The Pension Act makes reference to it that it must be done for workers in addition to the group life insurance. So, the monies that have gone in have not been properly utilized, the payments have not been tracked.
“So, today we brought to council a memo for an e-NSITF by which its operations will now be digitalized. Both the payments that are put in from any of its stations, it has 56 branches and 11 regional offices. In the comfort of your office, you can pay and register in that platform and that money is now tracked into Central pool.
“From the central pool if claims are made and payments are also made to the insurance on those who are beneficiaries, you also track them. So, this is one of the things the government has done in the spirit of digitalization of the economy and ease of doing business for everybody.
“This will make for efficiency and help the organization to grow in leaps and bounds.
“Today, NSITF can pay all its salaries, it can boast of even doing capital projects. This digitization of the fund’s operation is part of the capital project that it is doing and like I said earlier, the accountability that is there will make for non-leakages of funds.
“So, over the years we have not been able to expand it. But on a bilateral, multilateral agreement now the funds are provided. We are redesigning it, remodeling it, and then upgrading the infrastructure.”
“Council approved that consultant also do that with a completion period of 12 weeks and with that we have passed the first stage of digitalizing that particular platform.
“One of the good things about our platform now when it becomes operational, all those phones platforms that ask people to register for work, pay in N10,000 or N20,000, will become a thing of the past because this will be a government platform. And when you go there, you know is a genuine platform.
