Mr Uzor Emeka, a pension expert, has called on Nigerians to participate more in the Micro Pension Plan (MPP).

Emeka, who said this on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the plan would prepare enrollees for retirement.

NAN reports that MPP is an arrangement under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

It allows the self-employed and persons working in organisations with less than three employees to make financial contributions towards the provision of pension at their retirement or incapacitation.

According to Emeka, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) specially created the savings plan, and it is not restricted to self-employed individuals.

“It is also for persons working in organisation with less than three employees, and the minimum age to start the contribution was 18 years.

“The MPP has many benefits which include the opportunity to make a withdrawal prior to retirement,” he said.

Emeka said that the plan was faced with some challenges which had to do with Nigerians’ poor saving culture.

“Some people in the informal sector have a short-term saving culture, which prevents them from securing a financial future for themselves.

“Some also relied more on the traditional family structure for support at old age, which is wrong.”

Emeka said that the plan has come to ease the burden of enrollees after retirement and urged people to enroll in it.

NAN reports that the MPP was established through the Provisions of Section 2(3) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014, which aims at ensuring that the informal sector participants saved towards their old age.