NLC urges government to make retirement easy for Nigerian workers

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Federal Government to make retirement easy for Nigerian workers, especially now that the country is facing economic challenges.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, made the appeal on Wednesday when he received a delegation from the XEM Consulting Limited, a subsidiary of XEM Group, organizers of the maiden Pre-retirement Summit, scheduled to hold in Abuja from April 24 to April 25.

Ajaero said that a lot had been said about contributory pension without significant improvement from the regulators.

“Majority of the states have not started keying in, and one begins to wonder the essence of enacting a law.

“Even when the law criminalized non-participation, no state has been prosecuted, fined or levied,” he said.

Ajaero regretted that pension matters in the country were becoming more about rhetoric than action.

He, therefore, urged the federal and state governments to take the issue of workers’ pensions serious and ensure they enjoy life after retirement.

“Governments in this business are not just employers of labour, they are regulators, and if regulators are not doing anything, then there is a problem.

“We are the main victims; even when people retire, the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) find it difficult to pay them, thereby making it a difficult long journey to access their money,” Ajaero added.