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INTRODUCTION
Pensions as a form of social security against old-age poverty and other uncertainties have attracted great interest virtually everywhere in the world, both in developed and developing countries, in recent times. Pension programmes, especially those that are publicly financed and administered, have become an issue of concern to economists, policymakers and the general public. This is not only because such programmes are central to the well-being of pensioners and the elderly, but also because the majority of pension programmes are not actuarially balanced (that is they are not financially stable), and as such they are run at deficits, thus making the present values of their future liabilities to be enormous. 1 To this end, an overview of what a pension programme/scheme entails is needed for a general under-standing of this form of social security service.
A pension scheme is a transfer programme that serves as a channel for redistributing income to the elderly or retirees, after a stipulated number of service years. A pension is usually a regular payment made by the government or by private companies or organizations to their retirees as a form of social security against old-age risks and uncertainties. In some countries, especially those that are economically advanced , pensions are usually extended to other categories of people apart from retirees, such as widows, orphans, disabled people (in the form of disability pensions), and the elderly or the aged. Pension programmes are usually put in place to serve as protection for the elderly and retirees against old-age risks, poverty and other uncertainties. In addition, they are also used to promote a 'saving culture' among current employees, and this stimulates savings. 2, 3
As pointed out earlier, pension programmes have attracted the attention of the general public because of their inherent problems. Nigerian pensioners are suffering badly from the stings of the problems of the public pension scheme, which was largely governed by Pension Decree No. 102 of 1979 and was a non-contributory scheme that was largely unfunded. It has featured persistent problems in recent times, especially in the civilian regime. Various problems can be identified that serve as costs to the pension scheme. These include the dependency of the pension scheme and the erratic budgetary allocation to the Federal...