Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr Oluwaseun Faleye, has said that Nigeria cannot build sustainable and globally competitive enterprises without protecting the workers who drive them.
Faleye stated this Monday, in his goodwill message at the Grow Nigerian Conference 2026, with the theme: “The Next Frontier for Innovation, Policy and Market Access,” holding at the Ecobank Pan African Centre (EPAC), Victoria Island, Lagos.
The three-day conference, organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) under the leadership of its Director-General/CEO, Mr. Charles Odii, brought together representatives of the Federal Government, development partners, captains of industry, and entrepreneurs.
Commending SMEDAN for sustaining the platform, Faleye said the theme was timely as it challenges Nigeria to move beyond starting businesses to building enterprises that are productive, resilient and capable of creating sustainable jobs.
Painting a picture of the Nigerian entrepreneur, Faleye described the manufacturer in Aba struggling to expand, the woman processor in Kano seeking new markets, and the young tech founder in Lagos with global ambitions, noting that MSMEs are employers, innovators and the economic lifeline of families and communities, and must remain central to Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda.
He, however, acknowledged the harsh operating environment in Nigeria, citing high energy costs, inflation, exchange rate pressures, limited access to affordable financing, inadequate infrastructure and logistics challenges as some of them.
“The challenge is not simply to encourage people to start businesses, but to create an environment in which those businesses can survive, expand, compete and prosper,” he said.
He argued that enterprise development discourse must also answer a critical question: what happens to the people who make those businesses grow?
“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,” Faleye said.
He explained that the NSITF administers the Employees’ Compensation Scheme under the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010, which provides compensation, medical support, rehabilitation and income replacement to workers who suffer work-related injuries, diseases, disability or death.
Faleye clarified that the scheme is funded by employers’ contribution of one per cent of total monthly payroll, and is not deducted from employees’ salaries.
“Protecting workers is also good for business. A safe and protected workforce is more productive, motivated and committed. Employee protection should not be viewed as a burden, but as an investment in long-term sustainability,” he said.
He lamented the low awareness of the scheme among small businesses, stressing the need for education, simplified processes and stronger institutional collaboration.
Faleye added that as the nature of work evolves with digital platforms, e-commerce and logistics services, Nigeria must ensure innovation does not create “economically productive but socially unprotected workers.”
He therefore proposed a deeper partnership between NSITF and SMEDAN, describing their mandates as complementary.
“Imagine an entrepreneur attending a business development programme and receiving not only guidance on financing and marketing, but also practical information on workplace safety and the Employees’ Compensation Scheme. These are practical possibilities through deliberate institutional collaboration,” he said.
He listed possible areas of collaboration to include joint MSME awareness programmes, integration of occupational safety into entrepreneurship training, engagement of business associations, and accessible channels for registration and compliance support.
The NSITF Managing Director called for a whole-of-economy approach involving financial institutions, government, development partners and entrepreneurs, and urged that the proposed National MSME Policy should embed decent work, occupational safety and social protection.
He reaffirmed NSITF’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s enterprise development through effective administration of the scheme and promotion of safer workplaces.
“Let us grow Nigerian businesses, protect Nigerian workers and build a prosperous, productive and globally competitive Nigeria,” he concluded.
