|
Listen to article
|
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has announced an emergency meeting to discuss the proposed Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF Bill.
The announcement was made in a notice by the union spokesperson, Benson Upah, on Wednesday.
The sole agenda of the meeting is to deliberate on the NSITF bill, which has undergone its second reading in the Nigerian Senate. The bill, aimed at amending the NSITF Act, has been strongly rejected by the NLC on the grounds that it is ill-motivated.
Speaking to Newsmen on the NLC’s stance regarding the bill, Upah said, “We are strongly opposed to the bill, it is ill-motivated, ill-advised and will spell doom for the letter and spirit of what NISTF ought to be.”
Barely two days ago, the organised private sector of Nigeria also opposed the bill, stating that it would benefit the government at the expense of employees and other stakeholders.
The bill, which seeks to repeal the existing NSITF Act and replace it with the Nigeria Social Security Trust Fund Act 2025, was sponsored by Senator Fasuyi Cyril, an All Progressives Congress senator representing Ekiti State in the 10th National Assembly.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has accused the government of deliberately neglecting the health sector and frustrating health workers through poor welfare, unpaid entitlements, and broken promises, describing the situation as a national tragedy.
In other news, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the government’s attitude towards public healthcare and the welfare of medical workers reflects a preference for foreign hospitals over building a functional domestic system capable of serving Nigerians equitably.
He stated this at the opening ceremony of the 51st Regular National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, in Abuja.
Ajaero said: “Our health sector continues to bleed. It is not an accident; it is a direct result of a system that prioritises profit over people, that sees healthcare as a commodity and health workers as disposable instruments. You, the frontline workers in every pandemic — the pharmacists, the laboratory scientists, the porters — you are the lifeblood of this nation’s well-being, yet you are forced to work in conditions that sicken the very spirit of healing.
