The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has charged the legal community to be advocates of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme and set examples through compliance.
Managing Director of the Fund, Olúwaṣeun Faleye, made the call in Enugu at the recently concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) 65th yearly conference.
“The implementation and impact of the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010, cannot rest on the NSITF alone. Like every piece of transformative legislation, the ECA lives and breathes through the interpretation, advocacy and enforcement carried out by lawyers, judges and policymakers,” Faleye said.
He contended that apart from the Fund’s expectation of lawyers as advocates of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, the most crucial expectation it has for lawyers is to lead by example.
Faleye, who is a lawyer, added: “We must comply with the law ourselves. We must ensure that all law firms practising in Nigeria subscribe to the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.”
In his paper, ‘Enhancing Workplace Safety and Social Protection: The Role of Employees’ Compensation Act 2010’, at the VI breakout session, he further solicited making compliance with the ECA a prerequisite for becoming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
He enumerated occupational hazards and risks that exist in the legal profession, including injuries, disabilities and deaths from accidents while travelling for work, as well as diseases such as acute back pain from sitting for long stretches and mental breakdowns.
His words: “As you all know, law practice, particularly that of our colleagues engaged in dispute resolution practice, comes with its risks. Lawyers travel to different parts of the country, practising their trade, advocating, and defending clients. These journeys come with risks. For corporate and commercial lawyers, we tend to sit for hours reviewing documents, amongst other things, leading to back injury. The pressure of work could sometimes lead not only to physical challenges but also to mental stress. Yet, the majority of our law firms are not complying with the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.
“The NBA must do more and ensure that all law firms comply with the Employees’ Compensation Act to safeguard our workforce.
“We must ensure that compliance evidence becomes part of the documentation for taking silk. As part of law firm inspection, I urge us to ask for evidence that law firms are complying with the Employees’ Compensation Act, akin to our position on payment of pension obligations for lawyers.”
The NSITF chief charged corporate lawyers to educate their clients on the importance and benefits of the scheme and went on to tie social protection, as provided for in the ECA, to human rights, which, he said, were sacrosanct to lawyers.
Faleye added that the legal profession’s voice was respected on crucial matters, hence its importance in advocacy for compliance with the ECA.
He urged the legal community to “serve as advocates for systemic reform, engaging with government and civil society to strengthen workplace safety and employee protections.
“The Nigerian Bar Association can serve as a bridge between policymakers and the workforce, ensuring that the law keeps pace with global best practices and local realities,” he explained.
Acknowledging the pivotal role of the courts in giving life to the Act, Faleye said: “Judicial interpretation must consistently reflect the protective, worker-centred philosophy.
“The judiciary must guard against narrow, technical interpretations that undermine the law’s purpose. Instead, it must elevate the principle that the protection of human dignity is paramount.”
