Story from Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos
The Contributory Pension Scheme if fully embraced by all and sundry has the tendency to sweep away corruption in the pension industry.
This is the submission of the Managing Director, Premium Pension Limited, Mr. Wilson Ideva during a summit for education ministries, agencies and institutions, which was organised by Exam Ethics Marshals International in Lagos.
According to him, “People steal what they do not need for fear of the unknown. The new Contributory Pension Scheme has provided an umbrella that guarantees decent life for workers upon retirement and secures a large pool of funds that can be deployed for national development,” the managing director said.
He noted that the success recorded by the pension industry within a short period of time would encourage workers to do their jobs honestly in the expectation that their future was guaranteed.
Ideva also said the funds under management in the pension scheme could be used to hold down inflation and develop the country’s infrastructure.
The pension administrator noted that more than N4tn was under management even though only six million out of the estimated 70 million Nigerian workforce was enrolled in the scheme.
Also speaking, the founding Chairman, Exam Ethics Marshals, Mr. Ike Onyechere, said corruption had permeated every sphere of the society, including educational institutions where teachers were now taking bribes from students.
