EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF PENSION REFORM ACT 2004 AND THE PROVISION OF SOCIAL SECURITY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The 2004 Pension Reform Act, which was a contributory system, was designed to address a plethora of problems associated with the previous schemes and improve social security in Nigeria. The objective of this paper is to appraise the implementation of the New Pension Act and ascertain the extent it has improved social security in Nigeria. Both primary data, generated through a survey method with the instrumentality of structured questionnaire, and secondary data through documentary observation, were used for the analysis, while Systems theory as propounded by David Easton, was adopted as a theoretical framework. It was observed that the New Pension System has not guaranteed prompt and regular payment of pension benefits to retirees, many establishments are yet to adopt the system; it marginalized millions of Nigerians who are not public servants; some pensioners still die on verification queues; diversion and mismanagement of pension fund was still prevalent; while social security has remained a far cry in Nigeria despite over 11 years of the implementation of the New Pension Act of 2004. It is recommended that immediate over-hall of the New System, adequate funding of the scheme, removal of all bureaucratic and legal bottle-necks, imposition of sanctions against defaulters of the new scheme, as well as enlightenment of the populace for improved active participation of a significant percentage of the citizenry on the New Pension Scheme.