Lagos assures employees of better life in retirement, organises training workshop for them

Benjamin Omoike

The Lagos State Commissioner for Establishment Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Benson-Oke, has assured retirees of the state of a better life after service with adequate arrangement made by the government, enjoining them to envision a productive future after service.

Benson-Oke said: “While many employers of labour and indeed, many state governments do not see the need to prepare their employees for a new life,

the Akinwunmi Ambode‘s administration, however, is a people-oriented one and we have resolved that everyone who has worked diligently for the state has to be recognised, paid his or her dues and assisted to prepare for future challenges.”

The Commissioner who gave this indication at a training workshop organised by his ministry in Lagos, noted that the State government has continued to organise training workshops for its staff on how to plan ahead for their retirement and expose them to the state reformed Contributory Pension Scheme.

This he said has becomes imperative so as to create a soft landing for those who will soon exit the service and also to expose others with more years ahead in service, on the intricacies of Public Service Pension Reforms.

In his presentation on the theme: “Planning for Retirement: Pension Reforms in The Lagos State Public Service”,

Benson-Oke said the effort was geared to reach out to the retirees of the Lagos state public service and to explore the reservoir of knowledge and wisdom of experienced facilitators on how to cope with the peculiar challenges of retirement.

He explained that over the years, the state had achieved tremendously in the area of strengthening it’s policies on welfare of retirees and pensioners, with the establishment of the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), and this has led to seamless transition of retirees in the system.

“Akinwunmi Ambode’s administration is proud to state that its diligent pursuit of the state pension scheme models has yielded fruits such that the pension obligations of the state are now managed to the satisfaction of the officers of the public service.

“Furthermore, this administration has also ensured that the vision of Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), to provide first class regulatory and supervisory services on pension matters to all stakeholders in the Lagos state public service is within reach,

while the mission to provide exceptional services on pension matters to employees in the Lagos State public service is faithfully fulfilled,” he said.

The Commissioner stated that the Lagos state government had signed into law the amendment of the Lagos State Pension Reform Law, which among others, increased the contribution rate under the Contributory Pension Scheme to 18 per cent.

According to him, “The state government’s contributions have now increased to 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent, while the employees’ contribution is 8 per cent from 7.5 per cent.”

One of the resource persons at the training, Prof. Pat Utomi, explained that there are lots of windows of opportunities in the Lagos Contributory Pension Reforms Scheme.

Prof Utomi, who empahsised the need for efficiency in the management of the Pension system in Nigeria, said that the involvement of both government and employees in the contributory scheme will make the process workable.

“It is important to focus on the fact that what we have now is the Contributory Pension Scheme, fully-funded, compared to the ‘Pay-As- You-Go’ scheme that we had before, the entitlement scheme in which you enter primarily by being a part of the service which is based on the number of years you serve.”

Speaking on the increase in the contribution rate of the Lagos State pension scheme, Utomi said that it means a bigger pool coming for each of the beneficiaries.

“What is even significant of the scheme is the idea of the Retirement Savings Account, RSA, which is your personal account. As the scheme gets more sophisticated, people will be able to borrow from that account to prepare things to make retirement easier while they are still in service.

In her remarks, the Permanent secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Rhoda Ayinde, enjoined participants to make use of the opportunity of the workshop to prepare a path towards a better life.

According to her, “Value is living and when you add value to yourself, life gives you better in return, because the information that you’re going to get today at this training, would transform you and will make your future very vibrant.

So, for you to have a better life after this programme, you have to act on whatever you get from this training.”