Inspen Media has launched a pidgin programme on radio, which is aimed at deepening pension awareness in the country.

A statement by its Chief Executive Officer, Chuks Udo Okonta, said the programme tagged: Retirement Mata, which is billed to commence Friday, April 7, 2017, will be aired on NAIJA FM 102.7 on Fridays from 5:00 – 5:30 PM. He added that the 30-minute live programme will focus on how to leverage the pension system to secure fulfilled retirement lifestyle.

He noted that the programme will be promoted through interviews with pension and insurance operators, regulators, workers and retirees, stressing that there will also be news updates and response to feedbacks from the public, which will be obtained through social media handles and live calls.

Okonta expressed optimism that the programme will help to address the issue of low awareness on the operation of pension operators and also provide an avenue for the public to interact with regulators and operators, thereby increasing the knowledge base of the public.

According to him, the programme, which is centered on lifestyle, was designed to reach out to people at the echelon and grassroots and provide opportunities for them to express themselves and proffer ways to improve the pension system.

He noted that robust awareness creation remains the best way to deepen the pension sector, stressing that the recent moves to integrate the over 50 million workers in the informal sector into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) using the Micro Pension initiative, could only be achieved through co-ordinated awareness campaign.

“The introduction of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has really transformed Nigerian pension system. With over N6 trillion so far pooled from about seven million workers and efforts by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) to integrate about 90 per cent of the working population in the country that are yet to be enlisted into the scheme, coupled with recent moves to bring in  over 50 million workers in the informal sector into the CPS using the Micro Pension initiative, the need for intense and robust awareness creation remains very necessary,” he said.