Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barrister Olúwaṣeun Faleye, has warned that sustainable economic growth is impossible without deliberate protection, responsibility to, and respect for Nigerian workers.
Faleye gave the warning in Abuja at a press conference to flag off the 2025 Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP), a collaborative initiative between the NSITF and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), reconvened in January 2026 due to operational exigencies.
According to him, SWIP was conceived as a direct response to a lingering national challenge in which many Nigerian workers remain exposed to avoidable workplace hazards, while some employers still lack full understanding of, or compliance with, the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010.
“The reality is that economic activities and growth are anchored on the protection of workers. You cannot grow productivity where lives are endangered and safety is treated as optional,” Faleye said.
He explained that the core objective of SWIP is to save lives, protect livelihoods and boost productivity by making workplace safety and regulatory compliance the norm rather than the exception. While noting that the Employees’ Compensation Act is robust, Faleye stressed that laws alone do not change behaviour without awareness, trust and sustained engagement.
“Many workplace injuries and fatalities do not occur out of malice, but because safety systems are weak, risks are poorly understood, or compliance is seen merely as a regulatory burden,” he said, adding that SWIP was designed to bridge this gap by translating statutory provisions into practical understanding and demonstrating the real business value of compliance.
Faleye also called on the media to help elevate workplace safety to a national priority, stressing that sustained reporting, storytelling and the promotion of best practices are critical to repositioning occupational safety and health as a core national concern.
In a goodwill message delivered on his behalf by the Director of Regional Health and Safety, Mrs. Florence Owie, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Sally Ousmane, commended NSITF and NECA for sustaining the initiative. He described SWIP as a clear demonstration of what effective collaboration between government, employers and social security institutions can achieve.
Dr. Ousmane disclosed that the audit component of the project covered no fewer than 200 workplaces across the six geopolitical zones, with active technical participation of the Ministry’s Occupational Safety and Health Department to ensure alignment with national standards and global best practices.
Also speaking, the Director-General of NECA, Mr. Adewale Smatt Oyerinde, said occupational safety and health has now become a core convention of the International Labour Organization (ILO). He explained that the SWIP awards are designed to promote voluntary compliance, rather than punitive enforcement.
Oyerinde revealed that some of the winning organisations would be presented with ambulances and personal protective equipment in Lagos, Enugu and Abuja on January 20, 22 and 27, 2026 respectively. He assured stakeholders that the selection process underwent rigorous multi-level auditing and vetting, adding that future occupational safety efforts would increasingly focus on emerging challenges posed by artificial intelligence, remote work and other technological innovations.
In a call-to-action address, the Executive Director, Operations, NSITF, Hon. Mojisola Ali-Macaulay, said the joint assessment by the Federal Ministry of Labour and NSITF confirms that safe workplaces are achievable when leadership, regulation and responsibility work together, in line with the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010.
She urged employers to urgently institutionalise preventive safety measures and called on award-winning organisations to become ambassadors of best practices within their sectors. Ali-Macaulay also enjoined NECA to intensify advocacy and employers’ mobilisation, while calling on all stakeholders to deepen collaboration through evidence-based inspections, faster interventions and stronger enforcement.
She concluded by urging the media and the Nigerian public to keep occupational safety and health in the spotlight, stressing that safe work is everyone’s responsibility and a critical foundation for national productivity and economic stability.
