Regina Otokpa 
Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barrister Olúwaṣeun Faleye, has called for the urgent reinvention of social protection systems to address the changing dynamics of work driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and to accommodate emerging risks.
Faleye made the call in his presentation titled “Social Security and Protection for Nigerian Workers Amid AI Disruption” at the 2025 Labour Writers Association of Nigeria Workshop held in Ibadan.
He emphasized the need for intentional policies and sustained investment in social security.
According to him, the growing integration of AI in workplaces is reshaping job structures, productivity, and employment patterns, making it imperative for governments and employers to redesign safety nets that protect workers’ welfare.
He explained that due to technological innovations such as AI, “work-related risks are expanding. They are no longer only injuries sustained on factory floors; they now include technological displacement, income instability, and psychological stress caused by rapid workplace changes.”
To mitigate these risks, Faleye proposed that “social protection must evolve. We must rethink coverage, redefine risk, and reimagine support. In the era of AI, social security must not only compensate, it must empower.”
While acknowledging the innovation and efficiency that AI brings to the workplace, the NSITF boss expressed concern about its attendant displacement of workers.
“AI promises efficiency and productivity, but it also threatens traditional jobs, from factory floors to administrative offices,” he said.
Faleye identified Nigeria’s peculiar challenges to achieving full social protection as low coverage, exacerbated by a large informal sector constituting over 80 percent of the economy and limited awareness of the benefits and rights under the Employees’ Compensation Scheme operated by the NSITF.
However, he noted that AI could also play a positive role in achieving global social protection coverage in Nigeria, saying, “AI itself offers tools to make social protection more efficient, from digital identity systems that verify workers to predictive analytics that help detect fraud or anticipate workplace risks before they happen.”
The NSITF Managing Director highlighted priority areas for achieving desired outcomes, including expanding social security and protection, investing in digital literacy and reskilling for workers, leveraging AI for social security delivery, fostering collaboration among government, labour, and employers, and placing workers’ welfare at the centre of innovation.
While urging journalists to help raise public awareness on the issue, he insisted that with the right policy reforms, preparation, adaptation, and adequate protection, “the future would be bright and no Nigerian worker would be left behind.”
