NIGERIA’S Population has grown from 45.1 million in 1960 to the current 211.4 in 2021. By the United Nations estimates, the population grew by 2.5 per cent from its 2020 figure.

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And according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 33 per cent of those within the workforce who were willing and looking for job were unemployed as at the close of 2020. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the informal sector accounts for approximately 65 per cent of economic activities in Nigeria.

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The question then arises as to how this mass of unemployed and those in the informal sector will cope with their lives when they are old and tired? Citizens working for government or the organised private sector have reasonable assurance of secured old age. They are paid gratuity after their years of service while some are paid periodic pension. A pension plan is defined as a retirement plan that requires an employer to make contributions to a pool of funds set aside for worker’s future benefit. The pool of funds is expected to be invested on behalf of such employees while earnings from such investments are then paid monthly to the worker upon retirement. However, neither the federal nor state governments maintained any sustainable pension pool that was invested to yield reasonable income to pay workers’ retirement benefit.

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