Nigeria’s Pension Revolution Irreversible, Says PenCom DG

The Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, has said the revolution Nigeria has recorded in its pension industry cannot be reversed despite the various challenges and ongoing pushbacks.

In her book titled: ‘Fighting for the Future: Nigeria’s Pension Reform Journey,’ which can now be downloaded free of charge on the PenCom website, Dahir-Umar provides the first authoritative account of the history of Nigeria’s pension reform which was launched by former president Olusegun Obasanjo with the introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in 2004.

According to a statement yesterday, the book, published by Cable Books, an imprint of Cable Newspaper Ltd, provides an in-depth analysis of the intricate landscape of pension reform in Nigeria and offers invaluable insights into the nation’s evolving pension system.

“Nigeria’s pension reform can be summarised in two stats. One, in July 2004 when the reform was kickstarted, national pension deficit was N2.4 trillion.
“Two, by February 2023, accumulated pension assets had grown to N15.45 trillion. It was miserably in the red and now abundantly in the black. That is the Nigerian pension revolution in summary,” she wrote.

According to her, “In the history of economic reforms in Nigeria, pension easily ranks among the most definitive and successful. It has opened up a new economy, creating a cluster value chain, expanding the financial markets and providing funding for infrastructural development.
“Only the telecoms reform can lay claim to producing more results during the same period.”

She argued that the success of pension reform in Nigeria was an indication that the country has the capacity for change contrary to popular notions.
“Less than 20 years after the landmark pension reform, the success stories are phenomenal, putting a lie to the notion that it is impossible to make a fundamental policy change in Nigeria. All it takes to achieve success is the formulation of feasible policies and a fidelity to implementation by the relevant institutions.

“Compared to the previous pension system when pensioners went through an unpleasant experience while trying to claim their entitlements, the turnaround is worth celebrating and, most importantly, sustaining,” she added.

In his Foreword to the book, Mallam Muhammad K. Ahmad, the pioneer DG and CEO of PenCom in 2004, wrote: “I consider this book to be an informative, educative and honest account of the evolution of pensions in Nigeria and I have no doubt that every reader will find it valuable and highly insightful as well.”
Fighting for the future provides an in-depth perspective on the evolution of Nigeria’s pension system over the years and highlights the key policies that have shaped the pension industry since 2004.

It also provides an expose on the challenges that have beleaguered the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme and the numerous media wars against the Commission offers and how the reform has been sustained. A section is devoted to the Glossary of common terms used in the pension industry.
Dahir-Umar, a 1983 graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), became a pioneer member of staff of the Commission in 2004 after serving as the Secretary of the Fola Adeola Pension Reform Committee that birthed the pension revolution.

She was appointed the substantive DG of PenCom in October 2020.