Olawale, a huge income earning vulcanizer ending career without a pension plan

Rotimi Olawale, 54, a vulcanizer at Isolo Area of Lagos with four children and a wife has been in the profession for the past 28 years.

From an estimated monthly income of N450 when he started his profession in 1988, Olawale now earns at least N2, 500 daily and over a N50, 000 monthly.

The Ogbomosho born artisan has lived major part of his life training his children who are now in their secondary school levels and the last one in primary four with the support of his petty trader wife, Bola, who deals in foodstuff and fruits at a bus stop near their residence.

On other achievements outside providing for his children, soft-spoken Olawale said, “I have started building my own house in Ogun State where I will move to, when I stop vulcanizer work. And I am working hard to complete it before the next two years, so that I can have a place to call my own”.

Currently living in a one-room apartment at Ijegun area of Idimu, from where he goes to his business location in Isolo on daily basis, Olawale is looking at the next six years to retire when he will be 60 years old.

He believes his children are his investment and will take care of him and his wife when they grow up and start to earn income. But as to whether he has any plan on how to earn income in retirement, Olawale said his children are his own investment.

What if your children decide to face their individual families early in time, and are unable to take care of you and your wife? Olawale said, “That is not possible. I will curse them because I have laboured for them, so it is their own turn to take care of my wife and I.”

Do you mean you don’t have any plan for pension in your old age outside your children? Olawale said, “Pension is for those working for government. Pension for me is for civil servants. We don’t know about pensions, our own pension is our children.”

Assuming government comes up tomorrow with an arrangement where you will be saving small amount of money on regular basis, so that when you retire from vulcanizer work, you will have some money saved for you as pensions? He said, “You mean I will be giving them my money? Yes, so that they can save it for you against your retirement.” Is it like a bank? Yes, but you won’t be collecting it until you are ready to retire. He replies, “You mean government will keep everything? Yes. “I will first of all tell my wife.”

Like Olawale, there are thousands of Nigerians out there who are engaged in one form of small business or the other and even earning much more that some civil servants, but have no savings plan for retirement. They earn and spend all that they make, save nothing for retirement and depend on their children for old age.

This is major challenge facing the Nigerian informal sector, as many out there have similar orientation and thinking like Olawale, who incidentally is getting to retirement soon but with no focused plan in place.

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the industry operators have a serious role to play in driving the proposed micro pension scheme, given the characteristics and orientation of people in that segment of the economy.

There is need for a lot of awareness, education and reorientation of the informal sector workers, so that they can appreciate what is being planned for them and key in for their old age protection.

As to whether there is potential that should warrant good investment by operators, the answer is yes. There are many Olawales out there whose total monthly income is far higher than those working in the formal sector and saving nothing for retirement.

Before now, pension used to be seen as something for those working in government and corporate organisations in the formal sector. This is notwithstanding the fact that old age poverty is not limited to workers in the organised sectors because no matter how long a self-employed person decides to work, age will eventually retire him.

That is why the Pension Reform Act, 2014, by way of Micro Pension, is seeking to ensure that this class of Nigerians have something to fall back on when they grow old and retire from active service.

Micro Pension is a programme that seeks to give a chance to the poor and marginalised working class people to live a comfortable life at the end of formal work life, by building retirement income for them.

The Micro Pension scheme being championed by PenCom aims at saving many Nigerians who spent their active years working in the informal sector the sufferings associated with old age poverty.  The scheme, according to the Commission is in tune with the Pension Reform Act, 2014 which, in addition to making it mandatory for states, local governments and workers in organisations that employ three or more workers to join the scheme, made it possible for self-employed persons and workers in the informal sector to be part of it.

Pension, which was considered a thing for the privileged formal sector players, can now be enjoyed by the poor.  With continued education on saving for retirement, good government, better administration and optimal investment returns on contributions, the future of micro pension in the country is assured.