An overview of the Nigerian Pension Scheme from 1951-2004

This paper reviews the various pension schemes in Nigeria since 1951 to date with emphasis laid on the pre and the post 2004 era. It identifies the reason behind the failure of the previous schemes and also carryout a comparison of the pre and post 2004 pension Schemes in terms of which of the Pension era have minimized the plight of Pensioners. To achieve this objective, an hypothesis was formulated and several literatures reviewed. Sixty (60) staff drawn from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, was administered with a well structured questionnaire with questions measured on a five point Likert scale. The data collected were analyzed with the aid of a Chisquare(X2).From our findings, the 2004 pension Scheme have significantly minimized the plight of Nigerian Pensioners when compared to the Pre 2004 Schemes and should be encouraged. The Paper conclude that with the contributory and fully funded nature of the Scheme couple with the clear legal and administrative sanctions spelt out for erring parties, the underfunding ,and corruption which informed the frequent pension verification exercise that characterized the Pre 2004 Schemes have been reduced to the barest minimum and that the effort of successive governments in Nigeria towards encouraging Pension Schemes from Colonial period to date is commendable but considering the present day significance of pension, leadership of government and other stakeholders apart from encouraging the 2004 Scheme, should give pension matters top priority because after hard service comes a period of retirement. Series of recommendations have been made which if adhered to with a proper pension management orientation would distinguish Nigeria among her contemporaries in termsof having a hitch free Pension management system for her retirees.&#160