Pensions fund hits N5.7 trillion despite misconception – Pencom DG

The Director General of the National Pension Commission, Chinelu Onuha has said that one of the biggest challenges confronting the Commission is wide range of false impression and mistrust by Nigerians and institutions about the genuineness of the contributory Pensions scheme in the country.

Onuha said despite the misconception and mistrust, the total contributed pensions funds stood at N5.7 trillion.

The DG stated this at the weekend while presenting a paper “Investing for Tomorrow” at a Teen Career Conference tagged: Your Life, Your Future Not a Laughing Matter, organised by the Redeem Christian Church of God, TEAP Zone Abuja.

She however said that the N5.7 trillion contributed pensions funds would not be use for loan or put into any business because it belongs to about 7.1 million subscribers of the scheme, adding “It is for offsetting pensions of retirees.”

“I think one of the biggest challenges in the economy now is for people to understand what exactly the contributory pension scheme is all about, because what we found in our work is that, there is a lot of misconception, there are a lot of mistrusts and which we are addressing by series of sensitizations and seminars.

“It is part of the reasons I am here today so that people will actually understand what the scheme is all about, that way people would be able to key in.

This is the kind of things we should all be doing. When i looked into a room of over 700 youths and realise that really this is our future. It is incumbent on all of us, the adult, those in position of authority to sow the seed of hope and believe in themselves because that is the nation twenty years down the line,” Onuha said.

The DG decried the high level of unemployment in the country noting that she receives over 300 applications for job daily but lamented that 80 percent of the applications are full of errors with only less than ten percent employable.

Onuha further admonished the teens to be hardworking adding, “You are the future; you have so much to do think about your future. The mind as we have it today is a machine; it can give you what you want provided you know what you want.”

She therefore, urged the teens to be creative, hold firm to their dreams and aspirations with commitment to their career development. She advised that “If your work is good, people will look for you. The only thing that can work for you is your talent as such you must develop it; there is nothing impossible with God.”