Nigerians are Living in Retirement Hell!

On the 4th of January 2022, my mum forwarded a message to me concerning the plights of retirees in Nigeria, which was calling for the cessation of current pension manipulations by PFAs who have been accused severally of exploiting pensioners in Nigeria. The message called for Nigerians to share the message until it got to the right people who could help make change happen for retired Nigerians.My mum did her part by sharing because this was a really sensitive issue she was unfortunately dealing with herself.

My Mum retired as an Assistant Director on the 16th of November 2020 from one of the Federal Commissions, and had tried several times to access her pensions till she had to request my older brother, who thankfully works in the financial services industry to step in, as she was not making any headway by herself. He was able to get some former colleagues who eventually informed her of what to do. In September of 2021, her PFA, Stanbic IBTC said she should register on the PENCOM website, after which she was told to proceed for further verification of official documents last October.

After she completed the verification exercise, where she had to physically appear at the Stanbic IBTC office, she was given a Retirement Benefit Enrolment slip by her PFA. She was then told that they were waiting for the Federal Government to release money to enable them reconcile accounts.

This is over one year since my mother retired, a woman who is having to manage high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Within this one year of retirement, she has also lost her husband of over 4 decades to cancer, yet she has not been paid any part of her money. I wonder if she didn’t have children who were able to cater to her needs, what the story would be by now. All of this is still just so she can access just 25% of her entire pensions and not the full amount. 

There have been several reports about the corruption and unnecessary bottlenecks retired Nigerians across the country have to face in accessing their retirement funds yet we have not seen any major interventions.  In 2021 alone, there were several reports on this problem, including an undercover story by BBC’s Yemisi Adegoke which exposed several antics in Pension Offices. 

There have been several protests by retirees across the country calling for interventions to alleviate the pains of retirees, yet to no avail.

We cannot be silent, it will hit all of us! The millenials today or ‘the sorosoke generation’ will also become pensioners. 

Accessing pensions in Nigeria is a nightmare for senior citizens and many have died due to ill health and their families are suffering due to their loss.

Nigerians who served their country with integrity and passion are consistently tossed around with the bureaucratic processes of accessing their pension - many are compelled to make expensive and unnecessary long journeys to offices in far locations to meet their pension administrators.

While some of these visits are statutory requirements to effect the payment, it is sad to see that it has not changed their disbursement speed and not only is this discouraging, it is evil and it needs to stop. 

We are starting the petition to demand the following for the Pension Funds Administrators and the statutory authorities:

1. Beyond the Senate’s moves to amend the pensions act to enable retired Nigerians to withdraw up to 75% of their pensions, these PFAs must be mandated to ensure that pensioners are able to access their benefits within 3 months of retirement. 
2. Simplify the process for pensioners to access their money.
   Allow online verification, where applicable for elderly pensioners.
3. Virtual meetings can be scheduled with pensioners instead of insisting they appear physically at locations.
4. Improved communication between PFAs and their retired clients to ensure that retirees are kept aware of the status of the process
   Ensure transparency in the payment process

Retirement is a time everyone should look forward to, after adding one's quota to nation building, yet pensioners in Nigeria are forced to live as paupers in spite of the money they have saved during their active years in service.

 The exploitation of Nigerian pensioners must stop now.