The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has said that pension industry in Nigeria has become one of the undisputed social catalysts and propellers of the nation’s economic development.
Speaking at the formal commissioning of the Abuja School of Pension and Retirement Planning yesterday in Abuja, the Acting Director General of PenCom, Aisha Umar-Dahir, said pension has assumed global prominence due to its importance as a strategic component of social security.
“For us in Nigeria, the turning point of this discourse was the pension reform of 2004, which ushered in a new vibrant pension industry, that is strictly regulated and administered by tested professionals,” she Umar-Dahir.
Data sourced from PenCom show that the pension industry in Nigeria has assets under management worth about N8.91 trillion and registered membership of about 8.5 million as at February 2019.
“The modern economy is knowledge-based. The Nigerian pension industry was, therefore, able to attain these enviable feats within a relatively short period, substantially because it is knowledge driven,” she said.
The PenCom boss said the guiding principles of the pension industry include professionalism, research, innovation, customer satisfaction and the pursuit of excellence in all ramifications and that these principles can only be consolidated and sustained through continuous education and learning.
She said this informed the Commission’s participation in the partnership that birthed a National Curricula for National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Pension Administration and Management.