There is the fact that the average Nigerian
worker needs strong conviction that government and stake holders in the ongoing
contributory Pension scheme (CPS) meant well for him at his retirement. Indeed,
he needs to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the ongoing effort being
made by both the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and pension Fund Managers
(PFAS) to carefully and gainfully manage his pension contributions are geared
towards ensuring that he does not pass through the pains of retirement without
benefit.
It is apparent that eight years down the
line in the experimentation of the contributory Pension Scheme, most Nigerian
workers still do not believe that the much talked about pension benefit after
his retirement is real.
Evidence to prove this is the fact that
today, some workers even in the formal sector have no pension plan put in place
by their employers yet they are not bothered neither do they complain to the
appropriate authority.
This
is simply because their employers do not deduct anything from their salaries
since there is no pension plan in place. One has severally heard such workers
say, “so long as they are not deducting anything from my salary I am not
bothered after all, how are you sure that this pension of a thing will be paid
to you when you retire.
Some said it is better they have their full
salary now rather than pay it to anybody to save for them.
This is why some workers immediately they
leave one employer for another wants to collect all their contributions from
their fund manager but thanks to the portion of the Pension Reform Act 2004
that says no to that, insisting that such money is not meant to be paid now but
at retirement.
The reason for this is obvious, the
confidence they have in pension and
pension related matters has totally been eroded by ugly experience in the hands of previous
institutions and people that managed retirees’ money before the contributory
pension scheme was put in place.
Indeed some
Nigerian workers will not forget the ordeal their father or mother
passed through while queuing up to meet their pension pay masters whose faces
they never saw until their death.
Against this backdrop ., most workers are
still far from believing in the activities of PenCom and pension fund managers.
But contrary to this thinking, going by their actions and programmes,PenCom
and members of Pension Operators Association of Nigeria(PENOP) are well determined in their effort to ensure that
present day Nigerian workers do not pass through the agony of sad retirement .
The stake holders through the contributory
pension scheme are out to prove to Nigerians that
Pension benefit is real and that pension is a
form of savings and not part of salary lost.
Having in the past eight years of
experiment with the contributory pension
scheme(CPS) put in place by the pension Reform Act of 2004 familiarised themselves and their activities
with the public sector workers and the formal sector workers and their
employees at least to a reasonable extent, they now want to extend their
tentacles to the informal sector operators to bring them into the contributory
pension scheme and ensure that at old age,
they must have put together enough savings that would sustain them for the rest
of their life.
PENOP Chairman Mr Dave Uduanu at a recent
media chat in Lagos said this is their major headache now.
He also said PenCom is leading the way in
this arrangement adding that the commission has mapped out strategies that
would attract the informal sector operators into the scheme.
PenCop on its part is gearing up for this
as investigations into the activities of the commission in the past one year
shows that it is moving faster in its effort to bring the people closer to
pencom and its activities. A source close to the new administration in Pencom
said the management is having sleepless nights on how to deepen awareness about
pension matters across the country.
Daily Newswatch gathered that the commission
has concluded plans to open up regional offices in different parts of the
country .According to the source, PenCon will soon open six zonal offices in
Awka, Kano, Gombe, Ilorin, and Calabar.Each of the zonal offices according to
Daily Newswatch findings will man five states.
This according to investigations is to
bring the commission closer to the people and enable it have cordial
relationship with the people for better understanding.
It was also gathered that the commission is
planning to hit various states with offices with the aim of penetrating people
at the grass with the good message of pension.
The pension operators said through the idea
of sweeping in the informal sector operators into the contributory pension
scheme; they would build huge long term investible funds for borrowers and help the growth of the economy in
general.
The pension operators said their target is
to ensure that Nigerians in all walks of life whether in public sector, formal
and informal sector workers understand the relevance of pension and willingly
imbibe the spirit of saving for their old age.
According to Uduanu, Pension Fund operators
are looking forward to seeing a time when Nigeria workers would ask their
employers to deduct more than the statutorily required percentage from their
salaries in a bid to save more for their retirement.
As good as their desires and aspiration
are, industry watchers have advised that for their target of the private sector
to be fruitful, both PenCom and PFAS
would have to put more effort in awareness creation and sensitization of the
people in order to prepare the mind of
the people for participation in the contributory pension scheme.
