…As Trustfund partners NUTGTWN
Bimbola Oyesola, 08033246177
Out of 80 million working Nigerians, barely 20 million are presently covered under the Contributory Pension Scheme. But with Nigeria lagging behind in social welfare provision at all levels, stakeholders believe that the pension scheme, which presently serves as a safety nest for workers in the formal sector, must be extended to the informal sector of the economy.
The National Pension Commission (PENCOM) in the last two years had been promoting the initiative, but was yet to finalise what it called the micro pension scheme , which would take care of the workers in the informal sector that cuts across marketmen and women, tailors, welders, drivers, artisans and others.
However, at the weekend, Trustfund Pension Limited, in partnership with the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), took the lead to sensitise workers in the tailoring sector of the union.
The programme, sponsored by Trustfund Pension, drew over 300 tailors from Lagos and Ogun states, the first of such events to be organised by a PFA.
The national president of the union, John Adaji noted that the programme became necessary to get all the members of the union, including those working in the informal sector, into the Contributory Pension Scheme.
He said, “It is important to let our members in the tailoring sector know that they have to save for retirement/rainy days. One of the most difficult things to do in life is saving. But everybody has time that he or she would retire.”
He commended Trustfund Pensions for always carrying along the workers on new initiatives in the pension scheme, adding that it was also noteworthy that the PFA identifies with workers in the informal sector.
The general-secretary of the union, Issa Aremu, also emphasised that the tailors should know that whatever they would enjoy at old age depended on what they are able to put in place during their youthful working age.
Aremu, who is also the vice president of the IndustriALL Global Union said PENCOM has done a good job by organising workers in the formal sector, but maintained that they were few compared to other workers in the informal sector of the population.
He said, “Our union is the first to have organised workers in the informal sector and Trusfund with this programme is also the first PFA to key into this micro scheme by PENCOM by packaging this workshop.”
He lamented how Nigeria, despite its level of advancement, has continued to diminish in textile manufacturing, noting that a poorer Nigeria in the 1970s had over 100 textiles companies, while richer Nigeria now has fewer than 10 companies.
“All of us have to be on the roads to resuscitate our factories; we cannot be wearing clothes not made in Nigeria, it is colonialism. If there is no factory, no workers, if there are no workers, no contributory pension. Ambode must join us if he wants to collect tax, we must bring back the factories,” he said.
In her address, the managing director of Trustfund Pensions, Mrs. Helen Da-Silva, represented by Mallam Musa Nasir, executive director, business personnel and administration, said the PFA was more or less owned by Nigerian workers with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) having substantial shares and on the board of the organisation.
In terms of success, Nasir said Trustfund was one of the five leading PFAs with over 700,000 registered contributors and 43 branches across the country.
According to him, “Between 2006, till date, we’ve paid 120,000 customers from NSITF, run the fund from N53 billion, paid out benefits in excess of N16 billion.”