NSITF presents 78 beneficiaries with prostheses

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has presented prostheses for different degrees of injuries to 78 beneficiaries in continuation of its Prosthesis Provision Exercise.

Managing Director, Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye, at the formal presentation of the final report on the current phase of the exercise in Abuja, said “the cooperation and commitment demonstrated by the prosthesis providers, beneficiaries, employers, and the monitoring team greatly contributed to the successful completion of this intervention.

“The providers also demonstrated flexibility by accommodating special clinical needs, including the provision of a hip disarticulation prosthesis where necessary”.

Represented by the Executive Director (Operations), Mojisola Alli Macaulay, the MD explained that following the commencement of the prosthesis provision exercise in April 2026, the Claims & Compensation Department of NSITF monitored the implementation of the programme from inception through to its successful completion.

In his words, “Sequel to the interim report submitted previously, I am pleased to report that the prosthesis provision exercise has now been successfully concluded. All identified beneficiaries under the approved programme have been assessed, fitted with the appropriate prostheses, trained on their use, and discharged after satisfactory evaluation.”

According to him, “Where beneficiaries could not participate due to reasons such as inability to establish contact, refusal to attend after notification, or death, they were replaced from the supplementary list to ensure the successful completion of the exercise”.

The various categories of prostheses successfully provided include: Above-knee prosthesis: Total beneficiaries 8, all 8 beneficiaries satisfactorily discharged; Hip Disarticulation Prosthesis: Total beneficiary 1 (provided for a beneficiary whose assessment indicated a hip disarticulation rather than an above-knee amputation), 1 beneficiary satisfactorily discharged

Below knee prosthesis:  Total beneficiaries 11 (All 11 beneficiaries satisfactorily discharged), Below elbow prosthesis:  Total beneficiaries 12 (All 12 beneficiaries satisfactorily discharged); Above elbow prosthesis: Total beneficiaries 5 (All 5 beneficiaries satisfactorily discharged), Trans-humeral prosthesis: Total beneficiary 1 (1 beneficiary satisfactorily discharged).

Silicon partial hand prosthesis: Total beneficiaries 40 (All 40 beneficiaries satisfactorily discharged), Total beneficiaries scheduled for prosthesis provision 78, Total beneficiaries duly discharged 78.

Also speaking at the event, the General Manager (Claims and Compensation), Nkiru Ede-Ogunnaike, noted that throughout the exercise, beneficiaries underwent assessment, measurement, prosthetic fabrication, fitting, gait and functional training, evaluation, and final discharge.

“The prostheses were successfully fitted, and beneficiaries expressed satisfaction with the services rendered. Discharge letters stating completion and warranty with the beneficiaries' satisfaction forms have been duly completed and filed in their respective dossiers.

“In conclusion, the prosthesis provision programme achieved its intended objectives and has been completed successfully. The exercise has significantly improved the mobility, functionality, and quality of life of the beneficiaries while fulfilling the Fund's mandate of providing appropriate rehabilitation support to eligible employees who sustained work-related disabilities".

Speaking on behalf of all the beneficiaries, Solomon Sunday, a staff of Zodoson Industries in Abia State, praised NSITF for giving them their lives back.

He stated that most of them were depressed and frustrated with life after their accident before NSITF came into the scene to redeem their lives with prostheses which have given them  the opportunity to live normal once again.

In his words:" we are deeply grateful to the fund and appreciate NSITF for all they have done for us and have been doing, you can see how excited and happy l am as a young man who can look forward to a bright future and the fund has given me opportunity to acquire new skill to earn a living.  Honestly, we are deeply grateful and thank God for using NSITF to change our stories."

NSITF assures Gambia of technical support, stronger partnership

...As study tour ends in Abuja

Barrister Faleye, MD/CE NSITF (l), with Mr. Lamine Camara of The Gambia 

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has promised to provide technical support while continuing to share knowledge with the Industrial Injuries Compensation Fund (IICF), Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) of the Gambia in advancing social protection and workers' welfare in the West African sub-region.

Managing Director/CE of NSITF, Barr. Oluwaseun Faleye, gave the assurance at the closing ceremony of the one-week study tour by the Board of the Industrial Injuries Compensation Fund (IICF), Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) of the Gambia to the Fund.

(l-r), Mr. Lamine Camara of The Gambia, Barrister Samaila Abdu, Executive Director Administration NSITF, and Hon. Mojisola Ali-Macauley, Executive Director Operations NSITF 

He said the “NSITF will continue to support the Industrial Injuries Compensation Fund under the SSHFC by sharing technical knowledge, exchanging experiences and providing guidance wherever we can.

“We see this as a partnership between brothers, working together towards the common goal of strengthening social protection and advancing the welfare of workers across our sub-region”.

Faleye, who was represented by the Executive Director (Administration), Barr. Samaila Abdu, said, “I therefore wish to assure you that this relationship does not end with today's closing ceremony. Rather, it marks the beginning of an even stronger partnership between our two institutions.

(L-r), Barrister Faleye, Mr. Lamine Camara, and Dr. Dayo Alao 

“As you return home, please convey our warm regards to the Managing Director, the Board, Management and the entire Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation of The Gambia."

The NSITF boss expressed his appreciation of the visiting Gambia team  saying, “Your decision to understudy our institution is both an honour and a demonstration of the growing spirit of collaboration among social security institutions within our sub-region. We are grateful for the openness, professionalism and mutual respect that have defined our engagements throughout the week.” 

Dr. Emmanuel Ulayi of Corporate Affairs Unit of NSITF, (l), with a delegate from The Gambia 

“Over the course of this engagement, we have shared experiences, exchanged ideas and explored practical approaches to strengthening the administration of employment injury compensation and social security,” he continued, adding that “beyond the presentations and technical sessions, what has been most rewarding has been the quality of our interactions. We have engaged in frank discussions, asked important questions and learned from one another. That, indeed, is the true value of a study visit”.

Speaking further on the collaboration by the two agencies, the NSITF helmsman stated that “We are particularly delighted by your invitation for NSITF to visit The Gambia and witness first-hand how some of the lessons from this engagement will be adapted and domesticated within your institution. We deeply appreciate that invitation and will certainly give it due consideration.

“As an institution, we readily acknowledge that we are still strengthening and expanding our own social security implementation. Like every progressive institution, we continue to learn, innovate, and improve. However, we remain committed to sharing our experiences and best practices in areas where we have made meaningful progress”.

Giving a summary of what transpired during the tour, the Managing Director said, “We began by examining the evolution of social security administration in Nigeria, tracing the journey from the National Provident Fund through the NSITF and ultimately to the Employees' Compensation Scheme established under the Employees' Compensation Act, 2010.

“We also had the opportunity to exchange views on institutional governance, policy evolution and the future direction of social security within our respective countries.

“We examined the operational backbone of the Scheme, employer registration, compliance management and contribution assessment. Discussions centred on the legal obligations of employers, our compliance strategies, assessment methodologies and the role of technology in enhancing transparency and accountability.

“The interactive exchanges demonstrated our shared commitment to improving compliance while expanding coverage, particularly within underserved sectors of the economy.

“We explored claims administration, compensation delivery, rehabilitation and return-to-work programmes. Beyond the statutory obligation to compensate injured workers, we highlighted the importance of restoring dignity through medical rehabilitation, vocational training and economic reintegration.

“Our discussions also focused on research, evidence-based policy formulation, actuarial planning and the role of digital transformation in modern social security administration,” he highlited, adding that “the demonstration of the Employees Compensation Scheme Application (ECSA) illustrated how technology is enhancing efficiency, improving compliance and strengthening service delivery within the Fund. More importantly, our discussions on future cooperation reaffirmed our collective resolve to sustain this partnership beyond the confines of this study visit.”

Faleye maintained that together, the two social security agencies have reaffirmed that effective social security administration is not a destination but a continuous journey of learning, innovation and improvement.

“Perhaps the most important outcome of this engagement is our shared commitment to continue working together. The invitation extended to NSITF to visit The Gambia and witness your own reform journey is one we sincerely appreciate, he summed.

In his response, the leader of the Gambian delegation, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Employment, Lamine Camara, expressed appreciation for the opportunity, expressing the desire to improve on their operations.

“We are very pleased and not happy that this tour is coming to an end. We want to take this collaboration further in every area of social security. We are also looking at improving capacity from this collaboration.

“We are eager to learn from the NSITF experience. We also want to improve the areas of research we are behind in that area, and this will help improve us, and our experience can also be of great benefit to Nigeria. We also use this opportunity to invite NSITF to visit us in the Gambia, and we are very happy,” he stated.

When the Budget Is No Longer a Fiscal Control

 By Kareem Abdulrasaq

In February this year, the Senate Committee on Appropriations summoned the federal government's economic team and delivered a blunt verdict: the revenue assumptions behind the proposed ₦58.47 trillion 2026 budget were unrealistic, oil projections were not credible, and capital implementation in recent years had been so poor that lawmakers openly asked whether the budget should be cut. The committee chairman pointed to oil revenue performance of 18 per cent in one recent year and asked how anyone could project 36.5 per cent the next. Weeks later, the same National Assembly passed the budget not reduced, but enlarged by more than ₦9trillion, to ₦68.32 trillion, the largest appropriation in Nigeria's history. A parliament that declares a budget too optimistic and responds by making it bigger is telling us something important: the annual budget has stopped functioning as an instrument of fiscal control. It survives as a ritual,va bargaining table, and a signalling document. But the thing a budget exists to do bind the state to a credible plan for raising and spending public money is no longer happening.

What a budget is for

An appropriation act is supposed to performtwo functions at once. It authorises spending, and it limits it. The ceiling is the point. When the ceiling moves whenever it is inconvenient, when revenue targets are set with no serious expectation of being met, and when money is spent outside the document entirely, the budget becomes what accountants would call a memorandum item: recorded, gazetted, ceremonially signed and not binding on anyone.

Consider the evidence from just the current cycle. The revenue numbers are fiction, and everyone involved knows it. The federal government itself admitted realising only about ₦10 trillion of the ₦40 trillion revenue it targeted for 2025, a performance rate of roughly 25 per cent. The head of the Nigeria Revenue Service put it plainly to

senators: if you think you have ten naira and plan with a hundred in mind, you create problems for yourself. Yet the 2026 framework projects ₦36.87 trillion in revenue against ₦68.32 trillion in

expenditure, a deficit larger than the entire realised revenue of last year. When the projections failed to add up, the borrowing plan was quietly raised mid-course from₦17.89 trillion to ₦29.20

trillion. A budget whose financing plan can expand by ₦11 trillion after passage is not controlling anything; it is chasing events.

The ceiling floats upward on contact. The ₦9 trillion added between proposal and passage was framed as accommodating "legacy commitments." Some of it genuinely regularises unpaid obligations to contractors, itself an indictment of earlier budgets. But the enlargement also

carried the familiar cargo of constituency insertions. Only this week, the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children's Education publicly distanced itself from projects in its own budget, explaining that they were National Assembly constituency projects assigned to it for

implementation, these projects it neither conceived nor considers within its mandate. When an agency created to tackle the out-of-school children crisis is statutorily obliged to execute unrelated projects nominated by lawmakers, appropriation has been inverted: the legislature is no longer scrutinizing the executive's spending plan; it is writing its own spending into other

people's mandates.

The fiscal year has dissolved. As of early 2026, the government was simultaneously paying for 2024 capital projects, implementing the 2025 capital budget (its deadline extended first to March, then to June 2026), and commencing the 2026 budget. Three appropriation acts running

concurrently means no single one of them describes what the state is actually doing with money at any moment. The government's promised "fiscal reset" ending overlapping budgets and chronic rollovers was the right diagnosis. The extension of the 2025 capital deadline into the middle of 2026 shows how quickly the cure was postponed.

The accountability loop never closes. Control is not only about what is approved; it is about consequences when approval is ignored. Ministries record zero releases against approved allocations, capital performance disappoints year after year, and the Auditor-General's findings

arrive late and are acted upon rarely. Nobody is sanctioned when an appropriation is not implemented; nobody is sanctioned when spending occurs outside it. A rule without consequences is advice.

Why citizens should care

This may sound like an argument for technicians. It is not. When the budget stops binding, the costs land on ordinary Nigerians through three channels. First, deficits that were never honestly planned get financed anyway, through debt whose servicing already consumes ₦15.81 trillion in

2026, more than the allocations to health and education combined, on a public debt stock that closed 2025 at about ₦159 trillion. Every naira of debt service is a naira pre-committed before a single teacher is paid. Second, unrealistic budgets guarantee arbitrary implementation. When only a fraction of projected revenue arrives, someone in the executive decides outside any appropriation debate which projects get funded and which get abandoned. The published budget promised everything; the cash office quietly chooses. That discretion is where influence, not need, determines outcomes, and it is the poorest constituencies, with the least voice, whose projects die first. Third, credibility compounds. Citizens asked to accept new taxes and tariff adjustments are entitled to ask what happened to the last trillions. A decade of budgets with no visible

connection between allocation and lived improvement has drained the social contract. Fiscal reform that raises revenue into a broken control systems imply feeds the leak.

Restoring the ceiling

The remedies are not mysterious, and civic organisations in Nigeria have pressed most of them: anchor budgets on independently stress-tested revenue baselines, with published sensitivity analyses for oil price, production and exchange-rate assumptions; hold mandatory mid-year reviews that adjust spending to actual revenue, in public, rather than letting the cash office ration in private. To these I would add four harder edges.

Cap in-year expansion. 

Any increase of the appropriation beyond a small threshold should require a supplementary budget with the same scrutiny as the original, not an accommodation folded into passage.

Publish constituency projects as data: sponsor, location, cost, implementing agency, and completion status, in machine-readable form. Insertion thrives in opacity; sunlight is cheap.

End the rollover economy with a genuine hard stop. Unspent capital should lapse and re-compete in the next budget, forcing realistic annual plans instead of a perpetual backlog that no one can audit.

Give budget failure a consequence. Accounting officers of MDAs with chronic non- implementation, and of agencies executing outside mandate, should answer publicly and the Auditor-General's reports should trigger time-bound responses enforced by the Public Accounts Committees.

None of this requires new theory. It requires the National Assembly to remember that its power of the purse is a duty of restraint, not a licence for insertion; and the executive to accept that a smaller budget that binds is worth more than a record budget that does not.

Nigeria has crossed ₦68 trillion on paper. The real milestone worth chasing is more modest and far rarer: a budget the government intends to keep. Until then, we should stop calling the annual document a fiscal plan. A budget that cannot say no to lawmakers, to ministries, to its own

assumptions is not a control. It is a wish list with a gazette number.

Kareem Abdulrasaq is a socioeconomic researcher based in Abuja, Nigeria. He writes on public finance, poverty, and development policy. He is an Agora Policy Writing Fellow (Cohort II) and a PhD candidate in Political Science (Political Economy and Development Studies) at Nasarawa State University.

Labour Minister Hails NSITF Reforms, Applauds Partnership With Gambia

The Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, has commended the Managing Director/CE of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barr. Oluwaseun Faleye, for the reforms he has instituted at the Fund.

He made the commendation when the Managing Director led the delegation of the Board of the Industrial Injuries Compensation Fund of the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation, SSHFC of the Gambia, on a courtesy visit to the Minister on Monday.

Dr. Dingyadi expressed his delight for the visit of the Gambian delegation to Nigeria to “Interact and understudy our social insurance trust fund, ably led by Mr. Faleye, who has been doing tremendous work with the administration of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.”.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr  Kamil Shoretire, the Minister stated that “Our compensation mechanism has improved, and a lot of digitization is happening now to ensure that claims are attended to as soon as possible, while a lot of transformation that has been going on in the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund.”

On the partnership between NSITF and The Gambia’s SSHFC, the minister said “It is very important that the two countries exchange ideas on how to improve the lives of their citizens, particularly the working subsets of the population that those agencies primarily support, and also by extension, giving government the much-needed impetus to be able to attend to the needs of the large majority of the population.”

Continuing, he stressed that “Our own is an ongoing process. We have not reached where we want to be. And we also want to see what Gambia has been able to do, so that our fund too will be able to scale up the best practices you're going to share with us.”

In his response, NSITF’s Managing Director, Barr. Oluwaseun Faleye, expressed appreciation for the minister’s warm reception, while recalling that Nigeria and the Gambia have a long history of collaboration in different areas, which underscored the ongoing partnership between the two agencies.

“This exchange of ideas and collaboration has been in the making for a long time, and that's why when we received the request from the Gambian Social Security Institution to visit Nigeria for this engagement, we readily accepted.

“We accepted because we felt that our demographics, our background and dynamics are somewhat similar. We are, you know, even though we're a much more larger country, but when we look at the demographics in terms of the former market population, or look at the young age groups that you'll find in these countries, we have similarities across West Africa, indeed across Africa, and even if our institutions may differ, the issues that we deal with are similar, and we think that learning from each other will be very, very critical in dealing with the challenges that we both face in our respective countries.”

Recalling the last International Social Security Association (ISSA) workshop that was hosted by NSITF in sometime April this year, the MD noted that The Gambian delegation was in attendance alongside other countries in West Africa including Cape Verde, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, amongst others.

“It was a follow-up to that we had this request from Gambia to come for a few days to really see how we deal with achieving our mandate on a day-to-day basis, and we are glad that they made the time to come.

“We had our first session today where our internal teams from the respective departments have gone to the nitty-gritty of how we carry out our services.

“I'm hoping that in the next day or two they'll learn much more about how we do things. And we don't see this as learning from us alone; the interaction that we've been having also demonstrates to us the peculiarities of their own situations and how we can learn from that. But we felt that it was important to bring them here because we wanted to show that the labour ecosystem is united; this ministry is a supervising ministry; they articulate the policies, which we then seek to do.

Speaking during the visit to the Minister, the leader of the Gambian delegation, Pierre Gomez, expressed satisfaction with what they have experienced so far at NSITF, noting that “This is not our first time coming to NSITF. We've been here NSITF and Nigeria is our big brother and that is why we are coming back to our big brother on knowledge sharing and we can  share a lot of experience together.

“I'm very pleased with the transformation I've seen so far. I think I was here about a decade ago, and I've seen a lot of changes happen, so, it is imperative to come back and get that information or that knowledge from Nigeria, take it back and share with our colleagues before back home,” he stressed.

The Managing Director had earlier welcomed the delegation in his office, where he expressed the desire to collaborate and share knowledge, saying, “It’s important we share ideas on safety and hazards at the workplace and how to protect our workers. We hope to visit you in the future to interact with you on your operations. On behalf of the NSITF board, it's our honour and privilege to have you here”.

NSITF Hosts Gambian Delegation on Study Tour of Employees’ Compensation Scheme

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, on Monday, July 6,2026, formally opened a week-long study tour for the Board of the Industrial Injuries Compensation Fund of the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation, SSHFC, of The Gambia.

The study tour was declared open by the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Barr. Oluwaseun Faleye, at the Fund’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja.

He said the visit is aimed at undertaking a comprehensive study of the operations and best practices of Nigeria’s Employees’ Compensation Scheme, ECS, and at strengthening institutional frameworks between the two organizations.

“This engagement is not merely procedural; it is a solemn occasion of historic significance,” Faleye told the guests, adding that “it provides a noble platform through which both institutions may exchange knowledge, compare experiences, and glean invaluable insights that will enrich our shared mission of delivering social security benefits to our citizens.”

Represented by the Executive Director, Administration, Barr. Samaila Abdu, the MD, said NSITF holds the partnership with SSHFC in the highest regard and expressed delight at receiving the delegation in Nigeria.

He noted that at the end of the exercise, he expects the lessons learned to advance the corporate aspirations of both NSITF and SSHFC, and ultimately benefit citizens of Nigeria and The Gambia.

The week-long engagement is expected to feature technical sessions, facility tours, and discussions on policy, administration, and service delivery under the Employees’ Compensation Scheme.

The NSITF administers the ECS in Nigeria, which provides compensation for work-related injuries, diseases, and death, and promotes occupational safety and health in workplaces across the country.

Earlier in a welcome remark, the Executive Director Finance, Olufemi  Ayodele Samuel, had said the study tour was designed to foster cross-border cooperation and strategic collaboration in critical areas of industrial injuries compensation.

“On behalf of the Board and Management of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), and all relevant stakeholders in our social security and labour sector, I warmly welcome the Board of Directors and Management of the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) of The Gambia to NSITF.

“We are here to flag off a highly anticipated capacity-building and study visit. This engagement is designed to foster cross-border cooperation, knowledge exchange, and strategic collaboration in the critical areas of industrial injuries compensation and social security administration,” the ED, Finance and Investment had stated.

He expressed optimism that “This visit will offer a platform to explore practical frameworks for workplace accident prevention, disability benefits, and survivors' compensation. It is also an opportunity for NSITF and SSHFC to discuss the challenges of managing social protection funds and ensuring robust occupational health and safety standards.

“We hope this study tour will not only provide valuable insights into our operational procedures and claims tracking, but will also serve as a foundation for a lasting, mutually beneficial partnership”.

Also speaking at the flag off, the Executive Director (Operations) at NSITF, Barr Mojisola Alli Macaulay, welcomed the delegation to Nigeria and assured them of a robust study tour of the Fund’s operations, as NSITF is the standard for social security in Africa. She further enjoined them to enjoy the study tour.

Responding, the leader of the Gambian delegation and Chairman of the Board and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Employment, Lamine Camara, said the organization was in Nigeria to learn and share experiences and expressed delight for a partnership with NSITF.

According to him, “It's a way to sustain collaboration with sister organizations. We are here to learn from such engagement. We are motivated, and would be glad to share all the experiences we learn here back home.”

SSHFC is The Gambia’s statutory body responsible for social security and housing finance, including the administration of industrial injuries compensation.

NSITF MD Urges Partnership, Worker Protection at 5th NECA Summit

…Says ESG, reforms key to inclusive growth, enterprise competitiveness

Barrister Faleye (2nd from right), with other dignitaries at the Summit 

The Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barr. Oluwaseun Faleye, has called for stronger collaboration between government, employers and workers to drive sustainable economic growth.

Faleye made the call on Monday in Abuja while delivering a goodwill message at the 5th Annual Summit of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

Barrister Faleye making a presentation at the Summit 

The NSITF boss described the theme of the summit, “Leveraging Reforms and ESG for Enterprise Competitiveness and Inclusive National Growth“  as timely as businesses navigate policy reforms in the new economic realities.

“Across the country, businesses are adapting to reforms, responding to new realities and seeking innovative ways to remain competitive while creating value for society,” Faleye said.

Referencing a Nigerian adage, “The left hand washes the right, and the right hand washes the left,” he stressed that “lasting progress is built on partnership.”

According to him, “Government, employers and workers each have a role to play, and when we work together with trust and shared purpose, everyone benefits,”

noting that at NSITF, worker protection and enterprise competitiveness are viewed as complementary goals.

He argued that a safe, protected, and confident workforce is more productive and resilient, while businesses that invest in employee wellbeing build stronger, more sustainable institutions, and further highlighted the Employees’ Compensation Scheme as a critical pillar of social protection, saying it supports workers and gives employers “confidence to operate within a fair and predictable framework.”

“As Nigeria pursues economic reforms, we must remain deliberate in ensuring that growth is inclusive and that no segment of our workforce is left behind,” he stated.

Commending NECA for sustaining the platform, Faleye expressed confidence that the two-day Summit would “Generate practical ideas that will strengthen enterprise competitiveness and contribute meaningfully to our national development.”

The NECA Summit is an annual gathering of private sector leaders, policymakers and labour stakeholders to discuss issues shaping Nigeria’s business and economic environment.

NSITF and South Africa’s Rand Mutual Assurance Sign MoU on Technical Cooperation and Knowledge Exchange

MD/CE NSITF, Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye (right), with Chief Executive of South Africa RMA, Mr. Bilal Adams 

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) of South Africa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalising a framework for institutional cooperation across social insurance administration, occupational health and safety, and employee compensation.

The agreement was signed on 25th June, 2026, at the conclusion of a three-day Strategic Technical Engagement and Bilateral Sessions hosted by NSITF at Fraser Suites, Abuja. The sessions brought together the management and technical teams of NSITF, led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye, and RMA’s technical delegation, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bilal Adams.

Over the course of the three days, both delegations engaged in structured knowledge exchange, institutional benchmarking, and deliberations on potential areas of cooperation. 

Discussions spanned social insurance administration, occupational health and safety systems, injury prevention programmes, rehabilitation frameworks, actuarial modelling, and digital transformation — providing a substantive basis from which the MoU emerged.

“Any project, transaction, programme, investment, commercial arrangement or collaborative initiative arising from the MoU shall be subject to separate negotiations and the execution of definitive agreements, approved in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and the internal approval processes of each Party.” — MoU, Article on Implementation

The MoU sets out six areas of agreed cooperation. Chief among them is the facilitation of technical exchanges and capacity-building initiatives covering occupational health and safety, prevention programmes, rehabilitation frameworks, claims administration, actuarial modelling, and digital transformation. 

The two institutions also agreed to share technical information, research materials, and best-practice frameworks, subject to applicable confidentiality and regulatory requirements.

To operationalise the MoU, both organisations have committed to establishing a Joint Technical Working Group, comprising representatives from relevant departments on each side, tasked with identifying, developing, and coordinating collaborative activities. This structure is intended to ensure that the MoU translates into concrete, time-bound programmes rather than remaining a statement of intent.

The agreement further provides for joint exploration of prevention and incentive-based models adaptable to the operational framework of Nigeria’s Employees’ Compensation Scheme, as well as continued dialogue on digital transformation initiatives and technology benchmarking.

The MoU was jointly reviewed by the Legal Teams of both institutions prior to signing. The document is expressly non-binding and does not create legally enforceable obligations or impose immediate financial commitments on either Party. It serves as a statement of mutual intent, providing a structured framework to guide future engagement.

In a joint statement, NSITF and RMA reaffirmed their commitment to “fostering cooperation and knowledge exchange for the advancement of social insurance administration, workplace safety, rehabilitation services, and employee compensation systems.”

The partnership has drawn measured interest from sector stakeholders, who note that RMA — founded in 1894 and one of the oldest social security institutions on the continent — brings a deep body of operational experience to the relationship. For NSITF, the engagement represents an opportunity to benchmark against an established model as Nigeria continues to develop and strengthen its own social security architecture.

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is the statutory body mandated to administer the Employees’ Compensation Scheme under the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010 and the NSITF Act.

Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) is a South African mutual assurance company established in 1894. It is one of the oldest social security institutions in the world, specialising in the administration of occupational injuries and diseases compensation.

The MoU was signed on 25th June, 2026, at Fraser Suites, Abuja, at the conclusion of a three-day bilateral engagement between both institutions.