PenCom DG urges young Nigerians: Start pension savings now or pay later
PenCom Director-General Omolola Oloworaran opened National Pension Week 2026 on Monday with a direct message to young Nigerians: start retirement savings early or risk trading today's "soft life" for tomorrow's hard life. She illustrated the power of compounding with two hypothetical savers—Emeka, who contributes ₦10,000 monthly from age 40 to 60 and retires with about ₦13 million, versus Tolu, who starts at 20 and accumulates roughly ₦113 million assuming a conservative 10% annual return. "More than eight times as much for less than twice the contribution," Oloworaran noted. "Tolu didn't earn more or work harder. Tolu simply started earlier."
The PenCom chief acknowledged real pressures—unemployment, family obligations, rising costs—but argued time is the one asset young people already own and cannot recover once spent. She outlined four commission priorities: making pensions easier to understand, improving digital access (noting "if a young Nigerian can order food in two clicks, opening a pension account must not take one day"), enforcing governance standards, and listening to young contributors.
The call comes as pension assets hit a record ₦31.8 trillion in August 2026, up 13.4% year-to-date from ₦28.04 trillion in January, with ₦289.4 billion added in August alone.
Will you start your pension contributions this month, or wait until the math works against you?