NSITF covers 250,144 workers in 10 months as informal employment dominates economy

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has brought an additional 250,144 employees under its Employees’ Compensation Scheme between January and October 2026, surpassing the 160,971 workers covered throughout 2025, as the agency intensifies efforts to extend workplace protection to more Nigerian workers.

The expansion comes against the backdrop of the country’s labour market structure, where informal employment accounts for approximately 93 per cent of total employment, leaving a significant proportion of workers outside conventional social protection arrangements.

Managing Director and Chief Executive of NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye, disclosed this in his address at the 40th Lagos International Trade Fair in Lagos on Thursday, noting that extending workers’ protection beyond large corporations to small businesses and the informal economy had become critical to national economic development.

According to him, the Fund registered 17,435 additional employers between January and October 2026, bringing its cumulative employer registration to 214,519 since the commencement of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme in July 2011.

He said the Fund had also covered a cumulative 8,005,027 employees across the public and private sectors, while integrating 73 Ministries, Departments and Agencies into the scheme.

The figures indicate a significant expansion in coverage, with the 250,144 employees registered in the first 10 months of 2026 representing an increase of about 55 per cent over the 160,971 workers covered in the whole of 2025.

Faleye, however, acknowledged that expanding social protection remained a major challenge because of the large number of Nigerian workers operating in the informal economy, including traders, artisans, transport operators, small-scale manufacturers and service providers.

He said many of these workers either lacked awareness of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme or did not understand its benefits and registration requirements.

To address the gap, the NSITF registered 2,133 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises between January and September 2026 as part of efforts to bring more businesses and their employees into the workers’ compensation framework.

The Managing Director said the Fund was increasingly engaging businesses through markets, workshops, trade associations and business clusters to ensure that workplace protection was not restricted to formal corporate establishments.

He explained that the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, administered under the Employees’ Compensation Act 2010, provides compensation and support to workers who suffer work-related injuries, occupational diseases, disabilities or death, with benefits extended to eligible dependants.

Depending on the circumstances, the benefits include medical treatment, compensation for temporary or permanent disability, rehabilitation, vocational support and payments to eligible dependants of workers who die from occupational injuries or diseases.

Faleye stressed that the statutory one per cent contribution to the scheme was the responsibility of employers and must not be deducted from workers’ salaries.

He warned that operating a small business, workshop, market stall or production facility did not exempt employers from their obligations to protect employees under the law.

Beyond expanding coverage, he disclosed that the Fund had improved its claims administration turnaround time to 14 days, while its workplace safety audits and inspections currently covered 2,848 workplaces.

He said the NSITF was also sustaining workplace wellness and emergency preparedness interventions, including hypertension screening, blood pressure checks, first-aid awareness and public health sensitisation.

According to him, workplace safety inspections, risk assessments and accident investigations remain central to the Fund’s efforts to prevent occupational injuries and diseases rather than concentrating only on compensation after workplace incidents.

Faleye maintained that protecting employees was an economic necessity, arguing that businesses depended on healthy and secure workers for productivity, continuity and sustainable growth.

He urged employers to regard compliance with the Employees’ Compensation Act as an investment in their workforce rather than an additional business burden.

The NSITF chief said the Fund would continue to strengthen stakeholder partnerships and expand the reach of the scheme to ensure that workers in smaller enterprises and vulnerable sections of the economy could access the protection provided by law.

He added that the true measure of economic growth should extend beyond production, business expansion and investment attraction to include how effectively workers whose labour drives economic activities are protected.

In his remarks, President and Chairman of Council, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Leye Kupoluyi, warned that workplace accidents and occupational diseases are threatening business productivity, increasing operating costs and weakening the competitiveness of Nigerian enterprises.

He urged employers to prioritise workers’ safety as an investment in business sustainability.

He said workplace injuries not only expose employees and their families to financial hardship but also disrupt production, undermine workforce efficiency and threaten the long-term viability of businesses.

Kupoluyi argued that workforce protection should no longer be treated merely as a corporate social responsibility issue but as an investment in enterprise sustainability and economic competitiveness.