Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr Oluwaseun Faleye
Nigeria’s push to grow businesses must not leave workers exposed to workplace dangers without adequate protection, Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr Oluwaseun Faleye, has warned.
Faleye made the call on Monday at the Grow Nigerian Conference 2026 in Lagos, where he urged entrepreneurs and policymakers to give workers’ welfare the same attention as access to finance, markets and other support for business growth.
The three-day conference, organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), held at the Ecobank Pan African Centre, Victoria Island, under the theme, _“The Next Frontier for Innovation, Policy and Market Access.”_
Commending SMEDAN and its Director-General/Chief Executive, Mr Charles Odii, for sustaining the platform, Faleye said Nigeria must look beyond encouraging people to start businesses and focus on helping them survive, expand and compete.
He acknowledged the difficulties facing entrepreneurs, including high energy costs, inflation, exchange rate pressures, limited access to affordable financing, poor infrastructure and logistics challenges.
He described the manufacturer in Aba struggling to expand, the woman processor in Kano searching for new markets and the young technology entrepreneur in Lagos with global ambitions as examples of the people driving Nigeria’s MSME sector.
But he said the success of their businesses should not be measured only by profits, expansion or the number of jobs created.
“Behind every successful enterprise are people whose skills, commitment and labour sustain its operations. A business cannot truly be considered sustainable if its economic success is achieved at the expense of the safety, dignity and wellbeing of its workforce,” he said.
Faleye explained that NSITF administers the Employees’ Compensation Scheme under the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010. The scheme provides compensation, medical support, rehabilitation and income replacement for workers who suffer work-related injuries, diseases, disability or death.
He clarified that employers fund the scheme through a contribution of one per cent of their total monthly payroll, stressing that the money is not deducted from workers’ salaries.
He said businesses also stand to benefit from protecting their employees, as workers who feel safe are more likely to be productive, motivated and committed.
Faleye expressed concern that many small businesses remain unaware of the scheme, calling for better public education, simpler processes and closer engagement with entrepreneurs.
He also drew attention to the challenges posed by changing patterns of employment, particularly in digital platforms, e-commerce and logistics, where new opportunities could leave workers without adequate social protection.
He warned that Nigeria must not allow innovation to create “economically productive but socially unprotected workers.”
As a way forward, Faleye proposed a stronger partnership between NSITF and SMEDAN to bring information about employee compensation and workplace safety closer to small business owners.
He suggested that entrepreneurs attending SMEDAN’s business development programmes should also receive guidance on workplace safety and how to register for the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.
Other areas of possible collaboration include joint awareness campaigns, occupational safety training, engagement with business associations and easier access to registration and compliance support.
Faleye urged government agencies, financial institutions, development partners and entrepreneurs to make worker protection part of Nigeria’s wider economic development plans.
He specifically called for the proposed National MSME Policy to recognise decent work, occupational safety and social protection as essential to building sustainable businesses.
He reaffirmed NSITF’s commitment to supporting enterprise development through the effective administration of the compensation scheme and the promotion of safer workplaces.
“Let us grow Nigerian businesses, protect Nigerian workers and build a prosperous, productive and globally competitive Nigeria,” he said.
