BUSINESS DAY NEWS

As part of its commitment to excellence in service delivery and stakeholder engagement, the Nigerian University Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO) marked the 2025 Customer Service Week with a nationwide campaign focused on pension awareness and youth empowerment.

The highlight of the week-long celebration was a Huawei-supported National Essay Competition, alongside high-impact workshops and stakeholder forums held across major Nigerian universities.

The celebration kicked off at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with an opening ceremony and an insightful workshop themed “A Critical Analysis of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and Its Impact on the Nigerian Worker.” The event attracted over 300 attendees, including academic and non-academic staff, retirees, and university administrators.

Kamal Bello, a professor of the National Open University delivered the keynote address, offering a thorough evaluation of the CPS and its relevance to the Nigerian workforce. A panel discussion followed, featuring experts and industry practitioners who dissected the successes and ongoing challenges of the scheme while recommending strategies to improve pension management within the university system.

The week-long activities concluded at the University of Lagos, where Mukhtar Halliru, a professor at the Bayero University Kano delivered the closing keynote. A major highlight was the announcement of winners of the NUPEMCO National Essay Competition, themed

“Securing the Future: Why Pensions Matter for Every Nigerian Worker.”,

which was part sponsored by Huawei. The competition was open to students across all Nigerian universities.

Austen Sado, team lead for the Essay Assessment Panel, noted that the competition received over 800 entries. After a rigorous screening process based on published guidelines, 340 essays advanced to the final round, culminating in the selection of six outstanding winners representing Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

Top Winners include: Torsen Sameer Kasmir – University of Jos (North Central)

Odo Chidiebere Getrude – University of Nigeria, Nsuka (South East)

Amina Ali Bello – University of Maiduguri (North East)

Muhammad Sani Musa – Abdullahi Fodio University of Science and Technology (North West)

Ita Mary-Kate Ikorr – University of Calabar (South South), and

Israel Eze – University of Ibadan (South West).

NUPEMCO’s 2025 Customer Service Week reaffirmed its commitment to stakeholder engagement, knowledge sharing, and the empowerment of young Nigerians to play an informed role in shaping the future of pension administration.

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