NSITF tasks NBA on legal protection for gig, informal workers

"Nigeria’s changing labour environment had made it imperative to move beyond the traditional definition of an employee and workplace." Faleye Esq, MD  NSITF 

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, has challenged the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to lead efforts to expand Nigeria’s legal framework on workplace protection and social security to cover informal sector, gig and platform workers.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive of NSITF, Mr Oluwaseun Faleye, made the call while speaking at the 66th Annual General Conference of the NBA in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Faleye, who was represented by the General Manager, Abuja Region of the Fund, Mrs Bridget Ashang, said Nigeria’s changing labour environment had made it imperative to move beyond the traditional definition of an employee and workplace.

Speaking on the theme, “Beyond Limits: Expanding the Legal Frontiers of Workplace Protection and Social Security in Nigeria,” he urged lawyers to deploy their expertise in reshaping laws to ensure that workers outside the formal sector are not left without social protection.

According to him, social security, as defined by the International Labour Organisation, ILO, is a foundation for human dignity and resilience, providing access to healthcare and income security in situations including old age, unemployment, sickness, injury, maternity and loss of a breadwinner.

Faleye said, “Social security is not charity. It is social justice,” stressing that the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, ECS, was established to ensure that workers who suffer occupational injuries or diseases are not left to bear the consequences alone.

The NSITF administers the ECS under the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010. The scheme provides employment injury benefits to workers in the public and private sectors, except officers of the Armed Forces.

Contributions to the scheme are borne solely by employers, while deductions from employees’ salaries are prohibited.

The NSITF boss said the ECS not only provides compensation to injured workers but also reduces employers’ liability, supports workers’ recovery, ensures income continuity and protects productivity.

He added that the scheme contributes to economic growth by helping injured workers return to productive activities while encouraging employers to improve occupational health and safety standards.

However, Faleye noted that despite the broader social security framework envisaged by the ILO, Nigeria’s legal protection remained largely concentrated on formal employment.

He cited ILO Social Security Convention No. 102, which identifies nine branches of social security, including medical care, sickness, unemployment, old age, employment injury, family, maternity, invalidity and survivors’ benefits.

To close the existing gaps, Faleye called on the NBA to raise public awareness on workplace protection and social security and assume stronger advocacy and advisory roles in labour-related policy and legislation.

He also urged the association to support corporate audits and test-case litigation aimed at expanding the legal definitions of “employee,” “employer” and “workplace” to reflect the realities of the emerging labour market.

The NSITF chief further called for amendments to existing labour laws to accommodate informal workers, gig workers and platform-based workers, as well as exploration of the issue of platform liability.

He urged the NBA to facilitate the ratification and domestication of relevant ILO conventions, saying this would establish minimum standards and strengthen confidence within Nigeria’s labour ecosystem.

Faleye also called for greater consciousness when drafting laws establishing government agencies and other organisations to ensure that no category of workers is inadvertently excluded.

He challenged law firms and the NBA to lead by example through regular self-audits and compliance with workplace protection and social security obligations.

“Legal frontiers should be expanded from protecting only ‘formal sector’ to ‘ALL,’” he said, adding that “when a lawyer speaks, everyone usually listens.”

Faleye said failure to expand the legal frontiers of workplace protection would continue to facilitate exclusion and undermine the dignity of work.

He urged lawyers to use the law as an instrument of social change, in keeping with the NBA’s mandate.

“Social security is how we honour that sweat. It is how we say: Your work has dignity and your life has value,” he said.

He added: “Without the law, the Fund is silent. Without the Fund, the law is empty. Together, we can write a new social contract for Nigerian workers.”

The week-long NBA Annual General Conference, which attracted thousands of lawyers to Port Harcourt, is expected to feature discussions on labour reforms, workplace protection and other emerging issues affecting Nigeria’s legal and socio-economic landscape.