The Chief Executive Officer of the Pension Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Mr. Oguche Agudah has said that the vast majority of Nigerians are pension illiterates, therefore, there was need for more awareness creation.
Mr. Oguche spoke virtually at a Retreat/ Maiden Magazine unveiling of the Pension Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PenCAN), Thurday, February 24, 2022 in Abuja.
He stressed the need for more awareness creation to bring the informal sector into the Nigeria’s Micro Pension Plan, noting, that the culture of savings must be at the front burner to ensure that Nigerians have something to fall back when they are retire.
Making his submissions on the relevance of Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the 21s century, he said, “Nigeria has about 60% citizens in the informal sector that have not enrolled into the Contributory Pension scheme, they do not have any retirement plan at all.
“As such, stakeholders in the pension industry must keep engaging with the informal sector and create awareness by not only getting information out, but putting it in a way people can receive it, understand it and be interested to join”, he said.
Speaking on the relevance of savings, he added that “Micro pension is very important owing to the fact that it is private Sector driven and
transparent.”
He said, if the informal sector which forms a large chunk of Nigeria’s population do not have anything to fall back on, they will be a liability to the country, but with the Micro pension Scheme which is managed by professionals, it will provide as a buffer for them as they age.
Mr. Oguche admitted that the Contributory Pension Scheme is not perfect, but it has proven overtime to be of help to of great support to the elderly who make deliberate efforts for the retirement.
He urged the Association to keep the Advocacy drive in the pension sector and complement the efforts of the operators and regulator to
ensure a safe and transparent pension Sector.
Earlier in her remarks, President of PenCAN, Nana Musa highlighted the relevance of media participation in awareness creation in the pension industry.
She Also reiterated the Association’s commitment to partner with stakeholders in driving the growth of the sector.
