Get Guardian on GoogleThe Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Oluwaseun Faleye, has called on Nigerian businesses to make workers’ safety and social protection integral to enterprise development, warning that businesses cannot achieve sustainable growth at the expense of their workforce.
Faleye said protecting workers was not only a social responsibility but also an investment in productivity, competitiveness and long-term business sustainability.
He made the call on Monday, in his goodwill message at the Grow Nigerian Conference 2026, themed: ‘The Next Frontier for Innovation, Policy and Market Access,’ held in Lagos.
The three-day conference, organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), brought together representatives of the Federal Government, development partners, industry leaders and entrepreneurs.
Commending SMEDAN’s Director-General, Charles Odii, for sustaining the platform, Faleye said the conference theme challenged Nigeria to move beyond encouraging business start-ups to building productive and resilient enterprises capable of creating sustainable employment.
He noted that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) remained central to Nigeria’s economic transformation, describing them as employers, innovators and critical sources of livelihood for millions of households.
However, he identified high energy costs, inflation, exchange rate pressures, limited access to affordable financing, inadequate infrastructure and logistics constraints as major challenges confronting businesses.
Faleye argued that discussions on enterprise development must go beyond access to finance, innovation and market opportunities to address the welfare of workers who sustain business operations.
He explained that the NSITF administers the Employees’ Compensation Scheme under the Employees’ Compensation Act 2010, which provides compensation, medical support, rehabilitation and income replacement for workers who suffer work-related injuries, occupational diseases, disability or death.
According to him, the scheme is funded through employers’ contributions of one per cent of their total monthly payroll, stressing that the contribution is not deducted from workers’ salaries.
He maintained that workplace protection should be regarded as a business investment rather than an additional operating cost, noting that safer workplaces promote productivity, employee motivation and organisational commitment.
The NSITF chief, however, expressed concern over low awareness of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme among small businesses, calling for stronger public education, simplified administrative processes and institutional collaboration to improve coverage.
To address the challenge, Faleye proposed a stronger partnership between NSITF and SMEDAN to integrate occupational safety and social protection into MSME development programmes.
Faleye further urged the Federal Government to ensure that the proposed National MSME Policy incorporates decent work, occupational safety and social protection as fundamental pillars of enterprise development.
He reaffirmed the NSITF’s commitment to supporting enterprise development through effective administration of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme and the promotion of safer workplaces.
