NSITF Chief: Social Protection and Institutional Trust Key to Nigeria's Development
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Oluwaseun Faleye, has declared that institutional trust and social protection are critical pillars in Nigeria's pursuit of sustainable development. Faleye asserted that no nation can achieve lasting progress where workers remain unprotected and public confidence in institutions is weak.
Speaking at the 2026 Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Gwagwalada Branch in Abuja, Faleye emphasized that the future of effective governance in Nigeria depends not only on enacting laws but on strengthening institutions to fulfill their legal obligations. He argued that institutional trust is essential for building public confidence among citizens.
Service Beyond Office Occupation
Faleye stated: "For those of us entrusted with public responsibility, service must mean more than occupying office. It must mean using institutions to protect the vulnerable, uphold fairness, and leave systems better than we found them. For the Bar, it means defending the integrity of law and ensuring that justice remains accessible, principled, and alive."
He added that for institutions like NSITF, it means ensuring social protection is treated not as charity but as a lawful and necessary pillar of national development. Faleye identified one of the most important tasks confronting the nation as bridging the gap between legal rights and lived realities.
Challenges of Governance and Public Confidence
Faleye explained: "Across many societies, and certainly within ours, one of the greatest challenges of governance is not merely policy design but public confidence. Citizens want to know that laws will not remain on paper. Workers want to know that statutory protections will function when tested. Employers want clarity, fairness, and predictability."
He noted that the gathering was not only a celebration but also a moment of reflection, bringing together the conscience of the legal profession, custodians of justice, and individuals whose daily work shapes the relationship between citizens and the State.
Employees' Compensation Scheme: Legal and Moral Imperative
The mandate of NSITF, through the Employees' Compensation Scheme, is rooted in a simple but powerful principle: no worker who suffers injury, disease, disability, or death in the course of employment should be left alone to bear that burden. Faleye emphasized that this principle is both legal and moral.
He elaborated: "It is legal because it is established under the Employees' Compensation Act. It is moral because it speaks to the kind of society we must build, one in which work is not separated from dignity, and productivity is not detached from protection. At NSITF, we understand that trust is not demanded; it is built. It is built claim by claim, process by process, reform by reform, and decision by decision."
Human Labor and Social Justice
Faleye lamented that public discourse often celebrates enterprise, investment, growth, and productivity without giving equal attention to the human beings whose labor sustains them. He explained: "But behind every factory, every office, every construction site, every transport system, every public institution, and every service economy are workers who take risks, make sacrifices, and keep the nation moving."
He stressed that when such workers are harmed in the course of service, social justice demands a structured, lawful, institutional response—not just sympathy or rhetoric. "That is the essence of social protection," he added.
Law as a Civilizational Statement
According to Faleye, the law must not only be a framework for adjudicating disputes but also a civilizational statement of what a society considers acceptable, protected, and just. He maintained: "In labour relations, in social insurance, in compensation systems, and in institutional accountability, the law performs one of its noblest functions: it stands between vulnerability and abandonment."
He highlighted that the legal profession occupies a central place in the architecture of social trust. Lawyers must help shape the instruments that define rights and obligations, while judges interpret those rights, regulators enforce them, and public institutions implement them.
Faleye concluded: "Ultimately, the citizen encounters justice not only in the courtroom, but in the lived reality of whether institutions respond fairly, promptly, and transparently."
NBA Chairman on Rebuilding Public Trust
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Gwagwalada Branch, Clever Owhor, stated that restoring public trust in the nation's legal system requires shared responsibility by all stakeholders. Owhor said: "This year, we are united under a theme that is both timely and urgent: 'Rebuilding Public Trust in the Nigerian Legal System'. Today, we must confront an uncomfortable reality: Many Nigerians are increasingly losing confidence in the legal system."
He pointed out that concerns about delays in justice delivery, perceived lack of transparency, ethical challenges, and barriers to access to justice have combined to create a widening gap between the legal system and the public.
