By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has called on lawyers in the country to be advocates for the Employees’ Compensation Scheme and set an example through their own compliance.
Managing Director of NSITF, Olúwaṣeun Faleye, made the call in Enugu at the 65th Annual Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA.
He said: “The implementation and impact of the Employees’ Compensation Act 2010 cannot rest on the NSITF alone. Like every piece of transformative legislation, the ECA lives and breathes through the interpretation, advocacy, and enforcement carried out by lawyers, judges, and policymakers.”
According to the NSITF boss, “Apart from our expectation of you as advocates of the efficacy of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, the most crucial expectation we have of you, lawyers and leaders of the bar here, is to lead by example.
“We must comply with the law ourselves. We must ensure that all law firms practicing in Nigeria subscribe to the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.”
Faleye, who presented the lead paper titled- Enhancing Workplace Safety and Social Protection: The Role of Employees’ Compensation Act 2010” at the Vl Breakout Session, further solicited making compliance with the ECA a prerequisite for becoming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
He enumerated occupational hazards and risks in the legal profession to include injuries, disabilities and deaths from accidents while travelling for work, diseases such as acute back pain from sitting down for long stretches and mental breakdowns.
“As you all know, law practice, particularly those of our colleagues engaged in dispute resolution practice, comes with its risks. Lawyers travel to various parts of the country to practice their profession, advocating for and defending clients.
“These journeys come with risks. For corporate and commercial lawyers, we often spend hours reviewing documents, among other tasks, which can lead to back injuries. The pressure of work could sometimes lead not only to physical challenges but to mental stress. Yet, the majority of our law firms are not complying with the Employees’ Compensation Scheme,” he lamented.
“The NBA must do more and ensure that all law firms comply with the Employees’ Compensation Act to safeguard our workforce.
“We must ensure that compliance evidence becomes part of the documentation for taking silk. As part of the law firm inspection, I urge us to ask for evidence that law firms are complying with the Employees’ Compensation Act, akin to our position on payment of pension obligations for lawyers,” he solicited.
He charged corporate lawyers to educate their clients on the importance and benefits of the Scheme. He went on to tie social protection, as provided for in the ECA, to human rights, which he said was sacrosanct to lawyers.
Interacting with journalists after the session, Faleye said the legal profession’s voice was respected on any matter, hence its importance in advocacy for compliance with the ECA.
He urged the legal community to ‘serve as advocates of systemic reform, engaging with government and civil society to strengthen workplace safety and employee protections.”
“The Nigerian Bar Association can serve as a bridge between policymakers and the workforce, ensuring that the law keeps pace with global best practices and local realities,” he added.
Acknowledging the ‘pivotal role’ of the courts in giving life to the Act, the MD said, ‘Judicial interpretation must consistently reflect the protective, worker-centred philosophy. The judiciary must guard against narrow, technical interpretations that undermine the law’s purpose. Instead, it must elevate the principle that the protection of human dignity is paramount.”
