Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos State Government has announced additional life and health insurance for all frontline health workers in the state.
This is coming due to the danger they face in the ongoing battle against coronavirus. The government added that there has been an increment in the hazard allowance of frontline emergency workers.
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced this on Friday, May 1 when he met with leaders of organised labour unions in Lagos to commemorate the 2020 Workers’ Day.
“I should also mention that we have put in place additional health and life insurance for all our frontline health workers in the state to ensure that they are adequately insured. This gives them insurance protection on two levels.
“As part of the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Lagos, we approved a 400 percent increment in the Hazard Allowance of Health Officers in the State for the month of April.
“We have also introduced a COVID-19 Allowance for all our frontline workers, which is a very generous amount that takes cognizance of the heightened risks of the jobs they have to do. All these are intended to appreciate the dedication of all our Health Officers in the fight against COVID-19,” he said.
Mr Sanwo-Olu also revealed that since January, his government had increased the employers’ contribution to employees’ Retirement Savings Account (RSA) from 7.5 percent to 10 percent.
This, he said, complemented employees’ contribution of 8 percent, bringing it to a total monthly contribution of 18 per cent.
He added that his administration had also approved the monthly release of a pension bail-out fund to the tune of N1.083 billion.
The Governor said the commemoration of Workers’ Day should be a reminder to stakeholders that the concept of development must be far-reaching and inclusive for it to benefit the society in general.
Mr Sanwo-Olu said his administration, since inception, had prioritised payment of new minimum wage to workers as a demonstration of his Government’s commitment to improving their welfare.
He also said his administration had continued to assist families of workers who have died in the line of duty, adding that the State had not relented, despite COVID-19 pandemic, in paying 418 pensioners for their pension bond arrears.
