By Nwachukwu Godson

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is delivering visible and distinct progress across the nation’s world of work. This transformation is not episodic but linear, marked by measurable and sustained improvement. An era of institutional awakening aptly describes current developments within the nation’s apex social security agency.

A clear example is the revival of the Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP)-a flagship social intervention initiative that had been abandoned for nearly a decade. SWIP is a programme designed to promote and reward excellence in occupational safety culture across workplaces. It is jointly run by the NSITF and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), with the Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment as the technical audit partner.

Last held in 2018, the programme had largely faded from public consciousness. But the tide has turned. SWIP has returned with the kick-off of the delayed 2025 edition, in Lagos on January 20, 2026 for the South West zone; continuing in Enugu on January 22 for the South East/South South zone; and concluding in Abuja on January 27, 2026 for the Northern zone. This essay focuses on the Enugu edition for specific and compelling reasons.

SWIP is conceived as a fulcrum for the continuous growth of occupational safety and health (OSH), with expanded social protection driving increased participation in the Employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS). It serves as a lever that pivots the ECS from a reactive compensation framework to a proactive prevention model, recognising that accident prevention is the first and most critical step in employee compensation. In essence, the scheme prioritises safety first, and compensation only when the inevitable occurs.

The programme provides a structured interface between employers, employees, and regulators, rewarding outstanding safety consciousness through rigorous workplace audits. It measures occupational safety performance, identifies infrastructural gaps, and advocates upgrades in safety infrastructure. In doing so, SWIP foregrounds OSH standards and ECS compliance within the broader social security ecosystem, while instilling a strong culture of accident prevention in workplaces.

In Enugu, the event held at the Amadeo Event Centre in the heart of the Coal City. The gathering evoked palpable nostalgia, as employers and employees converged from across the old Eastern Region on their former regional capital. Attendance included the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, represented by the Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Samuel Ogbu-Nwobodo; the Honourable Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejiocha; the Managing Director of NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye; the Chairman of NECA, Ifeanyi Okoye; NECA Director-General, Adewale Smart-Oyerinde; NSITF Executive Directors Mojisola Alli-Maculay (Operations) and Sama’ila Abdu (Administration); the representative of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); captains of industry; and workers.

In his address, the Governor reaffirmed Enugu State’s commitment to creating a safe and investor-friendly environment, noting significant improvements in the ease of doing business. The Minister of State for Labour and Employment emphasised the Ministry would continue to enforce occupational safety standards to protect workers and enhance national productivity.

The Managing Director of NSITF, Oluwaseun Faleye, stated that the future of work would be defined by how well the nation protects its workforce. He stressed that every worker matters and that no job is worth a life, describing these principles as central to the Employees Compensation Scheme. He further described SWIP as a strategic platform for raising awareness on ECS compliance while placing occupational safety and health at the forefront of national discourse.

NECA Chairman, Ifeanyi Okoye, who noted that he is the first South-Easterner to lead the association and the first NECA chairman outside Lagos, described the occasion as historic. He said the programme enhances employers’ understanding of their legal obligations regarding occupational safety and health. Echoing this view, NECA Director-General, Adewale Smart-Oyerinde, described workers’ safety and welfare as the most profitable investment any employer can make.

The session drew significant applause when the representative of the Nigeria Labour Congress, an associate professor, called for wages and incomes to rise proportionately with inflation. “As the prices of goods and services surge, we want the same inflation on our income and wages,” she declared, to loud approval from workers in attendance.

In her presentation, the Executive Director, Operations, Mojisolaoluwa Macaulay, revealed that the Fund has registered over 197,938 companies, covering more than seven million employees. She noted that in 2025 alone, occupational safety awareness programmes were conducted in 2,763 companies, while 814 workplace accidents, including 23 fatalities, were investigated. She added that over ₦1 billion was paid in compensatory benefits during the year, including more than ₦400 million paid to 39 Nigeria Customs Service personnel. She concluded that when prevention is prioritised, compensation becomes a safety net rather than a system under strain.

The 2025 SWIP exercise involved audits of 250 selected workplaces nationwide, conducted by trained teams from the Ministry of Labour to ensure integrity and transparency. Continuous feedback was provided to the Project Planning and Coordination Committee throughout the process. Winners emerged based on seven thematic audit areas, including outstanding workplace safety, safety innovation, leadership excellence in OSH, emergency preparedness, sustainability and emergency management, zero-accident achievement, community impact and corporate social responsibility, as well as overall zonal performance. All audited workplaces received certificates, while winners were rewarded with items such as ambulances, wearable digital exposure monitoring devices, fire extinguishers, safety signages and posters, reflective jackets, and industrial safety helmets.

While the exercise was widely applauded, it also raised important questions about occupational safety culture in the South East. All 24 prizes, from first to third positions, were won by companies in Enugu and Abia States, leaving workplaces in Anambra, Imo, and Ebonyi States without any awards. Notably, no company from the industrial clusters of Onitsha and Nnewi featured among the winners-raising a timely alarm on the need to strengthen workplace safety consciousness across the zone.

Nwachukwu Godson is the General Manager, Estate and Maintenance, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).