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…Says retirement security begins during working life
By Bimbola Oyesola, [email protected]
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund’s Employees’ Compensation Scheme now covers more than 7.8 million workers, as the Fund moves to deepen social protection and improve access to benefits for Nigerian workers.
Managing director/Chief Executive of NSITF, Mr. Oluwaseun Faleye, said this on Thursday at the Policy Dialogue session of the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
The summit, themed “Own Your Retirement: From Planning to Action,” featured a policy dialogue on “Between Duty and Delivery,” where Faleye said retirement planning must begin well before workers leave active service.
“When we speak about retirement, we must begin much earlier than the point at which work ends. Retirement security is shaped during working life by occupational risks, health, protection of earning capacity, compensation when harm occurs, and what happens to families when a breadwinner is lost,” he said.
Faleye said pensions and personal savings, though indispensable, could not by themselves provide comprehensive retirement security, stressing that workers also needed protection against workplace injuries, occupational diseases, disability and premature death.
He explained that the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, administered by NSITF, was designed to provide compensation, survivor protection, medical care, rehabilitation and return-to-work support to workers affected by employment-related risks.
According to him, more than 7.6 million workers were enrolled under the scheme as of July 2026, with the figure subsequently rising to over 7.8 million. He said the Fund was moving beyond periodic registration exercises towards sustained participation and compliance.
Faleye attributed the expansion to partnerships involving Federal Government institutions, state governments, regulators, employers and organisations in the informal economy, stressing the need for broader participation in the social protection system.
He described the onboarding of Treasury-funded federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as particularly significant, revealing that claims payments had commenced less than four months after the integration process began.
“The first batch of five Treasury-funded MDA beneficiaries was paid on 4 August 2026. This is turning Federal Civil Service protection into a lived reality,” Faleye said.
He, however, cautioned that registration alone did not amount to protection, saying effective coverage must connect registration and assessment with contributions, accurate worker information, claims processing and timely payment of benefits.
The NSITF boss also stressed the need to keep families and dependants at the centre of social protection, particularly in cases where workers die from employment-related incidents.
“The system must be visible at the point of vulnerability. Claims administration, documentation, communication and inter-agency referrals should be designed around the beneficiary’s experience, with compassion, clarity and timely resolution,” he said.
On prevention, Faleye said NSITF’s occupational safety and health interventions, including workplace inspections, accident investigations and safety advocacy, were focused on reducing workplace accidents, while healthcare and rehabilitation interventions were designed to preserve workers’ dignity and earning capacity.
He urged workers to take greater responsibility for understanding their retirement plans and entitlements, but maintained that individual responsibility could not replace institutional obligations. “A worker cannot individually insure against an employer’s non-compliance or build a claims system,” he said.
Faleye said the Fund’s approach was based on shared responsibility, with government expected to build and regulate the social protection architecture, institutions to deliver within their mandates, employers to comply and maintain safe workplaces, and workers to understand and actively use available protections.
He identified five priorities for effective retirement security: starting protection during working life; ensuring that coverage translates into actual protection rather than registration alone; linking prevention with compensation; keeping families and dependants within the protection framework; and ensuring that individual ownership complements, rather than replaces, public and employer responsibilities.
“Between duty and delivery is where trust is won. For the Nigerian worker, social protection must be more than a statutory promise on paper. It must be felt when a worker is injured, when a family loses a breadwinner, when rehabilitation is needed, and when a worker approaches retirement,” Faleye said.
The NSITF chief executive further stated that the average claims turnaround time had improved from 14 days to 10 days, identifying deeper coverage, stronger compliance and improved institutional coordination as the Fund’s next priorities.
“A worker can plan for retirement only when the system is credible enough to plan with,” Faleye concluded.
The summit was attended by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chairman of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms and Director-General of the National Senior Citizens Centre, among other stakeholders.
