The federal government has operationalised the Employees’ Compensation Scheme across the federal civil service, formalising a framework that will provide timely financial support and structured care for civil servants affected by work-related injuries, occupational diseases, disabilities, or death, in a move described as a landmark step toward institutionalising genuine workplace protection across Nigeria’s public sector.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, announced the operationalisation at the commissioning of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme Help Desk in Abuja, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the federal government and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund to govern effective implementation of the programme.
Walson-Jack described the scheme as complementing existing welfare programmes, including the Group Life Assurance Scheme, while significantly expanding the breadth of protection available to employees and their families. She said the initiative reflected President Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to safeguarding the wellbeing and dignity of public servants, emphasising that a productive civil service required workers who felt genuinely protected and valued.
NSITF Managing Director Oluwaseun Faleye described the Employees’ Compensation Scheme as a major step toward institutionalising structured care and protection for civil servants, backed by a transparent, payroll-driven system that removed the arbitrariness and opacity that had historically characterised welfare arrangements in the public sector. He stressed that the Help Desk would provide information, claims support, and a feedback platform to enhance service delivery and ensure that affected civil servants could navigate the compensation process without unnecessary difficulty or delay.
