Chairperson of the Conference of Civil Society of Nigeria (CCSN), Adams Otakwu, has encouraged workers in the informal sector to properly plan for their retirement lives.

Otakwu reminded workers on the importance of planning for life after retirement during a pension sensitisation gathering.

Development Diaries learnt that the gathering, titled ‘Boosting Micro Pension in Nigeria’, started with a zoom meeting and climaxed with a town hall meeting in Abuja.

The meeting, according to CCSN, was organised to encourage citizens in the informal sector to become registered contributors to the Micro Pension Plan (MPP).

MPP refers to an arrangement for the provision of pensions to the self-employed and persons operating in the informal sector.

According to the National Pension Commission (PenCom) third quarter 2019 report, only 4,257 citizens had registered as contributors to the MPP, bringing the total participants under the MPP to 25,691.

Speaking on the importance of the plan, Otakwu explained that it will help prevent old age pains and miseries.

‘Nigeria, being the giant of Africa, needs to set a good example that should be emulated by other countries on the continent with respect to pension and retirement benefits’, he said.

‘As a civil society, we are concerned about a pension plan that will be beneficial to Nigerians who are in the informal sector.

‘We need a pension plan that will be beneficial to the people and elevate them from suffering.

‘All that is needed is your willingness to save some monies for the future, no matter how small’.

Otakwu commended the federal government and the National Pension Commission for introducing the MPP, adding that CCSN is ‘determined to sustain the pension education in order to enrol as many civil society and members of the informal sector’.

Source: Pension Nigeria

Photo source: Zouzou Wizman