Revisão do Jornal Árabe de Negócios e Gestão

Pension Scheme in Nigeria: History, Problems and Prospects

Abstract

Dr. Nafisat Abdulazeez

Older persons are a particularly vulnerable group of people, due to a decline in their physical, mental and consequently economic powers. In Nigeria, westernization and urbanization is also eroding away the traditional extended family kinship system which hitherto took care of the elderly. Social security systems that have been in evolution right from the colonial era have not been very effective owing in the main, to administrative negligence, poor planning and poor policy implementation. To stem this tide, the Nigerian government introduced the pensions reform in 2004. This paper seeks to examine the evolution of pension fund administration in Nigeria, the problems associated with the scheme, and suggests ways in which the scheme may be improved to better the lot of retirees.