The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund has completed a major prosthetic rehabilitation programme for workers who sustained amputations and other permanent injuries through workplace accidents.
According to Independent Newspaper Nigeria, 74 beneficiaries received prosthetic devices through the latest phase of the NSITF Prosthesis Provision Exercise. Each participant underwent assessment, fitting, user training and final evaluation before being discharged from the programme.
The initiative demonstrates the important role that workers’ compensation systems can play in ensuring that people injured at work receive more than financial payments. For employees living with limb loss, access to an appropriate prosthesis, rehabilitation and continuing support may determine whether they can regain independence and return to employment.
Programme completed after assessments and rehabilitation
The latest prosthetic provision exercise began in April 2026 and was monitored by the NSITF Claims and Compensation Department until its completion.
NSITF Managing Director Oluwaseun Faleye said all approved participants were assessed, fitted with suitable devices, trained to use them and discharged after satisfactory evaluation.
Faleye was represented at the presentation of the programme’s final report in Abuja by Mojisola Alli Macaulay, the Fund’s Executive Director of Operations. He credited prosthetic providers, employers, beneficiaries and the monitoring team for contributing to the successful completion of the initiative.
This structured pathway is important because a prosthesis cannot be treated as a product that is simply handed to an injured worker.
A complete rehabilitation process may include:
- Medical and functional assessment.
- Residual-limb examination.
- Measurement, casting or digital scanning.
- Socket design and fabrication.
- Component selection and assembly.
- Static and dynamic alignment.
- Training in device use.
- Physiotherapy or occupational therapy.
- Final evaluation and follow-up planning.
The inclusion of training and evaluation indicates that the NSITF programme recognised the need to prepare beneficiaries to use their devices safely.
Lower- and upper-limb prostheses provided
The devices reported under the exercise covered a wide range of amputation levels.
They included:
- Eight above-knee prostheses.
- One hip-disarticulation prosthesis.
- Eleven below-knee prostheses.
- Twelve below-elbow prostheses.
- Five above-elbow prostheses.
- One transhumeral prosthesis.
- Forty silicone partial-hand prostheses.
The published figures for the individual devices total 78, although the Independent report refers to 74 beneficiaries. Other Nigerian coverage of the broader programme has also reported that 78 people were fitted with artificial limbs. The difference may indicate that some beneficiaries received more than one device or may reflect inconsistent reporting between programme phases.
Clarification from the NSITF would help establish the final number of individual beneficiaries and devices delivered.
Special provision for a hip-disarticulation patient
One beneficiary originally expected to receive an above-knee prosthesis required a more specialised hip-disarticulation device.
The prosthetic provider adapted the treatment plan to meet the individual’s medical and anatomical needs rather than proceeding with the device initially anticipated.
Hip-disarticulation prostheses are used for people whose amputation is through the hip joint or at a similarly high level. These devices are considerably more complex than standard transfemoral prostheses because the user has lost the biological hip, knee and ankle joints on the affected side.
The prosthesis may require an individually designed pelvic socket, artificial hip joint, prosthetic knee, structural components and foot.
Successful use depends on careful alignment, appropriate component selection, physical conditioning and extensive gait training. The greater energy required for walking also means that not every patient will use the device in the same way or for the same length of time.
The decision to provide a specialised device is therefore a positive example of adapting compensation-funded rehabilitation to the actual needs of the beneficiary.
Supporting workers with upper-limb loss
A significant proportion of the devices supplied through the programme were for upper-limb and partial-hand loss.
Industrial machinery, cutting equipment, manufacturing processes and other workplace hazards can result in traumatic injuries to the fingers, hands and arms.
The forty silicone partial-hand prostheses represented the largest single category of devices reported.
Silicone prostheses may restore the appearance and shape of a missing hand or fingers and can help protect sensitive residual anatomy. They may also improve confidence and social comfort, although their functional capabilities vary depending on their design and the extent of the person’s limb loss.
Earlier NSITF reporting highlighted the experience of Festus Okpara, who received a silicone artificial hand after a workplace accident. He said the device reduced his emotional trauma and helped him feel more confident in public.
For other users, body-powered, activity-specific, mechanical or myoelectric devices may be more appropriate. Prescription should therefore be based on the beneficiary’s occupation, daily activities, residual-limb condition and rehabilitation goals.
Prosthetic care as part of workers’ compensation
The programme is delivered through Nigeria’s Employees’ Compensation Scheme.
The Employees’ Compensation Act 2010 established a compensation system for workers who experience injury, disability, occupational disease or death arising from employment.
The scheme provides for cash and non-cash benefits, including medical care, rehabilitation, counselling, replacement and repair of prostheses, and vocational rehabilitation. Its stated objectives include rehabilitating employees affected by workplace injuries and supporting their return to productive life.
This approach is significant for the prosthetics and orthotics sector because it recognises that compensation should not be limited to a one-off financial settlement.
A worker who loses a limb may need support for many years, including:
- Replacement sockets.
- Repairs and component servicing.
- New liners or suspension systems.
- Physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
- Workplace adaptation.
- Vocational retraining.
- Psychological support.
- Periodic replacement of the complete prosthesis.
A prosthetic device will normally experience wear, and a person’s residual-limb shape may change over time. Continued access to the compensation system is therefore important after the initial fitting.
Monitoring from assessment to discharge
The NSITF said its Claims and Compensation Department monitored the programme from its launch in April through to completion.
Beneficiaries who could not participate because they could not be contacted, failed to attend after notification or had died were replaced with people from a supplementary list. This allowed the allocated programme capacity to be used for other eligible workers.
Active monitoring can help ensure that approved beneficiaries actually receive their devices and that providers complete the clinical and technical stages required.
However, monitoring should ideally continue beyond discharge.
Outcome measures could assess:
- Whether the prosthesis is still being used.
- Comfort and socket fit.
- Ability to perform daily activities.
- Return to work or vocational training.
- Frequency of repairs.
- Skin complications or pain.
- User satisfaction.
- Need for replacement or modification.
Collecting this information would help the Fund understand whether the intervention produced sustained improvements rather than only recording the number of devices delivered.
Helping injured workers return to employment
The long-term purpose of occupational rehabilitation should be to help a worker regain the greatest possible level of independence and economic participation.
A prosthesis may support a return to the person’s previous role, but this is not always possible. Some workers may require modified duties, accessible equipment or retraining for a different occupation.
An upper-limb amputee who previously operated heavy machinery, for example, may need a task-specific device or a change in responsibilities. A lower-limb amputee working in construction may require workplace modifications, improved access or redeployment to a less physically demanding role.
Employers therefore remain important partners after the prosthesis has been fitted.
A coordinated return-to-work plan should involve:
- The injured employee.
- Prosthetists and orthotists.
- Physiotherapists or occupational therapists.
- Medical professionals.
- The employer.
- The NSITF claims team.
- Vocational rehabilitation specialists.
Without employer engagement, a worker may receive a suitable prosthesis but still struggle to return to meaningful employment.
Prevention must accompany compensation
The provision of prostheses demonstrates the value of an effective social-insurance programme, but every case also represents a serious workplace injury that ideally should have been prevented.
Employers have a responsibility to identify hazards, maintain equipment, provide protective devices and train staff in safe working practices.
The Employees’ Compensation Scheme includes the promotion of occupational safety and health standards among its objectives.
Data from prosthetic claims could also help identify sectors, machinery types or work processes associated with a high risk of limb injury.
NSITF and workplace-safety authorities could use this information to target:
- Machinery-guarding inspections.
- Safety training.
- Personal protective equipment compliance.
- Employer education.
- Reporting of occupational accidents.
- Enforcement in high-risk industries.
The strongest system is one that supports injured employees while also acting on the causes of preventable injuries.
A potential model for occupational rehabilitation in Africa
Across many African countries, workers who experience amputations may receive emergency treatment but have no guaranteed pathway into prosthetic rehabilitation.
The cost of a device, repeated travel to a specialist centre and limited insurance coverage can leave injured employees unable to return to work.
Nigeria’s inclusion of prosthetic provision, repair, replacement and vocational rehabilitation within its formal workers’ compensation scheme offers an important policy model.
The value of the system will depend on consistent employer participation, efficient claims processing, appropriate provider selection and reliable long-term follow-up.
It will also require sufficient numbers of trained prosthetists, orthotists, technicians and therapists to assess beneficiaries and maintain their devices.
Beyond the first fitting
The completion of the latest NSITF exercise marks an important milestone for workers who sustained life-changing injuries in the course of employment.
For beneficiaries, the devices may improve mobility, confidence, appearance and the ability to participate in family and working life.
The next priority should be ensuring that each person can access follow-up care, repairs and replacement devices when required.
A successful workers’ compensation programme should not end when a beneficiary is discharged after the initial fitting. It should provide a continuing pathway that combines prosthetic care, rehabilitation, workplace reintegration and injury prevention.
By funding prostheses and assistive devices for injured workers, the NSITF is demonstrating that social protection can play a direct role in restoring independence and dignity after occupational limb loss.
- Independent Nigeria: NSITF provides prosthetic limbs to workers with job-related injuries
- Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund
- Voice of Nigeria: NSITF restores hope to injured workers
- World Health Organization: Prosthetics and orthotics services
- WHO standards for prosthetics and orthotics
- International Labour Organization: Occupational safety and health
- International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics