PUBLIC POLICY AND THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIA

A CASE STUDY OF THE 2004 CONTRIBUTORY NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME

Abstract

The advent of the Pension Decree No. 102 of 1979 formed the basis upon which all pension schemes in Nigeria developed. Nigeria pension administration has been inundated by diverse problems, such as inadequate funding and mismanagement, poor documentation, inability to determine appropriate investment portfolios, corruption and embezzlement of pension funds among others. The introduction of the “defined” contributory pension scheme in 2004 was a welcome development that remedied the defects of all previous pension schemes in Nigeria. This study investigated public policy and the problems of policy implementation in Nigeria: A case study of the 2004 contributory pension scheme. One of the objectives of this work was to understudy the role of PENCOM in pension administration in Nigeria. The theoretical frameworks were citizens’ participation theory and structural functional theories. The research relied on secondary and primary sources data from federal, state and local government public servants. Chi-square was used to analyse the data collected, the findings showed that PENCOM as the umbrella body of pension could manage effective implementation of pension policy. With elimination of corruption, proper data base and high awareness, and pension administration would also contribute to national development. Also successful implementation of Pension Scheme is directly related to the identification and elimination of problems associated with the administration and implementation of the new contributory pension scheme. The study also revealed that mismanagement of contributory pensions funds, lack of capacity building, non-remittance of pension contributions by employers are among the problems which affect effective implementation of the New Pension Scheme in Nigeria. Based on this, the study recommended amongst others, the sanction of defaulting employers by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) to ensure their compliance with the relevant sections of the Pension Reform Law.