The Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Muhammad Dingyadi, and the Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, Oluwaseun Faleye, have called for the adequate provision of a social security system for Nigerian employees under the Employee Compensation Scheme.

The duo spoke on Monday in Lagos during the 2025 retreat for the National Assembly Joint Committee on Employment, Labour, and Productivity. The event, which was organised by NSITF, was themed, ‘Building a Sustainable Future: Strengthening Social Security & Enhancing Labour Productivity in Nigeria.’

Dingyadi noted that Nigeria’s social security landscape requires strategic reforms to expand coverage, improve benefits, and ensure the sustainability of the country’s social insurance programmes.

“We must strive to create a robust social security system that provides adequate protection for workers against income loss due to unemployment, disability, old age, and other contingencies,” he said.

For Nigerian workers to be more effective, the minister added that they must be well motivated through programmes that guarantee their sustainability after retirement or work hazards. Dingyadi further said the ECS was created by the Federal Government to take care of workers in the event of their inability to continue working due to hazards.

According to him, a well-motivated workforce enhances productivity, stressing that since individual productivity combines to form national productivity, the prosperity of any nation is a function of how productive its labour is.

“Motivation and incentives of the workforce, however, go beyond wages, salaries, emoluments, and a pension because when the ability to produce is lost by a worker either temporarily or permanently, as in the case of temporary or permanent disability or death, the traditional compensation has often proved inadequate. This limits the extent to which a worker is ready to go,” he said.

The Employees’ Compensation Scheme established by the Employee Compensation Act 2010 sets out to address such situations. The Act makes it mandatory for all employers of labour in Nigeria to enrol their workers in the scheme at no cost to the employee. The Fund is mandated to provide just, equitable compensation to the employee who suffers from diseases, injuries, and disabilities, or in the case of death, to their dependents.

Dingyadi commended the Managing Director, NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye, for turning around the fortune of the agency since he came on board and for organising the retreat. He mentioned that the legislature will support initiatives that will improve the welfare of employees.

Earlier, the Managing Director, NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye, stressed that the agency will enforce the implementation of the employees’ compensation scheme at both the local and state government levels.

Faleye also called for the amendment of the ECS law to make provision for the inclusion of members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, as well as interns.

He noted that youth unemployment and economic growth are some of the challenges facing the country, adding that the retreat reflected the commitment of the agency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives to channel a new path for the benefit of Nigerian workers.

He acknowledged the role of the private and public sectors as the bedrock of Nigeria’s economic growth and, therefore, the need to build a resilient workforce.

“We must do more in terms of enforcement so that workers and employers can know their duties. We, as stakeholders, ensure the employee compensation scheme is operational at the local government level. It’s important for the private sector to know there’s a need for compliance with the scheme.

“This retreat is timely. Our nation stands at a crossroads where the challenges of economic growth, youth employment, workplace safety, and social protection intersect. We are being called, more than ever, to deliver a system that doesn’t just respond to injury but anticipates risk, protects livelihoods, and reassures every Nigerian worker that their sacrifice is honoured,” Faleye said.

He expressed optimism that the retreat would help stakeholders to “interrogate our policies, refine our strategies, and recommit ourselves to delivering a scheme that is effective, transparent, and trusted.”

The Chairman of the NSITF Management Board, Shola Olofin, said the retreat provided an opportunity for the agency to see areas where it can do better, reflect on its achievements, and arrive at actionable strategies for advancing the goals of inclusive worker protection and sustainable social insurance.

“This retreat provides a unique platform to strengthen collaboration, improve ECS compliance and enforcement, and align our governance framework with global best practices,” he said.

Between June and July, the NSITF paid a total of N172.5m to seven beneficiaries on the scheme, while employee enrolment rose by 151 per cent. The agency also recorded an increased number of Small and Medium Enterprises on the scheme from 1,665 to 2,279.