By Chesa Chesa
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to champion the expansion of Nigeria’s legal framework on workplace protection and social security to cover workers in the informal sector, as well as gig and platform-based workers.
Managing Director and Chief Executive of the NSITF, Mr Oluwaseun Faleye, made the call at the 66th Annual General Conference of the NBA in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Faleye, who was represented by the General Manager, Abuja Region of the Fund, Mrs Bridget Ashang, spoke on the theme, “Beyond Limits: Expanding the Legal Frontiers of Workplace Protection and Social Security in Nigeria.”
He said social security, as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), is a foundation for human dignity and resilience, providing access to healthcare and income security in cases of old age, unemployment, sickness, injury, maternity or loss of a breadwinner.
“Social security is not charity. It is social justice,” Faleye said, adding that the Employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS) exists to ensure that “in Nigeria, no worker falls alone.”
The NSITF administers the ECS under the Employees’ Compensation Act 2010. The scheme provides employment injury benefits to workers in both the public and private sectors, except officers of the Armed Forces. Contributions are paid solely by employers, while deductions from workers are prohibited.
According to Faleye, the ECS reduces employers’ liabilities, supports workers’ recovery, ensures income continuity and protects productivity, thereby contributing to economic growth. He added that the Fund also promotes safer workplaces through improved occupational health and safety standards.
He noted that although ILO Social Security Convention No. 102 recognises nine branches of social security — medical care, sickness, unemployment, old age, employment injury, family, maternity, invalidity and survivors’ benefits — Nigeria’s existing legal framework largely focuses on the formal sector.
To address the gap, Faleye outlined six areas in which the NBA could contribute, including raising awareness and building knowledge around workplace protection and social security, as well as assuming stronger advocacy and advisory roles.
He urged the NBA to support corporate audits and test-case litigation aimed at expanding the legal definitions of “employee,” “employer” and “workplace,” while advocating amendments to existing labour laws to reflect the changing nature of work.
The NSITF boss also called for the exploration of platform liability and the ratification and domestication of relevant ILO conventions to establish minimum standards and strengthen trust within Nigeria’s labour ecosystem.
He urged lawyers to ensure that laws establishing organisations are drafted with inclusivity in mind so that no category of workers is excluded.
Faleye further encouraged law firms and the NBA to lead by example through self-audits and compliance with applicable workplace protection and social security laws.
“Legal frontiers should be expanded from protecting only the ‘formal sector’ to ‘ALL,’” he said, stressing that “when a lawyer speaks, everyone usually listens.”
He called for closer cooperation between the NSITF and the NBA, noting that social security was a means of affirming the dignity and value of workers.
