The Executive Secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Dr Chioma Ejikeme, has reiterated the commitment to service delivery for pensioners.
Ejikeme said this during the Customer Service Week in Abuja, yesterday.
He said that commission had a mandate to deliver good service delivery to the pensioners.
Ejikeme, who was represented by the Director Civil Service Pension Department, Mr Kabir Yusuf, said that the customer service week was important to operations of PTAD.
“Customer service is the support that you give to a customer, whether it is an existing customer or potential customer in the process of delivering or making enquires about a service.
“To be a good customer service representative you need to be knowledgeable, have good attitude and attribute especially to the senior citizens and have empathy,” he said.
Ejikeme said that all PTAD staff had most of the attributes of a good customer representative.
“We provide excellent customer service by going to verify our aged pensioners who cannot do it by themselves anywhere across the country.
“There is a dedicated team that was mandated to go round to confirm the aliveness of those who can not confirm their aliveness either because the are too old or have health issues,” the executive secretary said.
The National Coordinator, SERVICOM, Mrs Nnenna Akajemeli, said that the official theme of the 2024 customer service week was “ We Go Above and Beyond For Our Customers.”
She commended PTAD and the SERVICOM team for organising the 2024 customer service week.
“This is in line with the best practice of celebrating frontline workers and service takers.
“Customer service week is celebrated annually during the first full week in October.
It calls attention to the importance of people to boost morale team work and departmental collaboration in supporting pensioners.
“ It is a platform to reward employees for the significant work they do,” Akajemeli said.
She said that the objective of the customer service week was to celebrate the hard work and dedication of employee who strived to create positive customer experiences.
She said that it was time to show customers that the organisation valued their experience and feedback, through comment cards, dedicated hotline, among others.
Akajemeli said that it raised awareness internally and externally about the importance of good customer service in building customer loyalty and satisfaction.
She said that the benefit was to increase motivation, show appreciation, encourage friendly competition, boost employee retention, create a positive workplace and increase productivity.
The Head, Surveillance Department at the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Mr Abdulrahman Saleem, said that good service delivery was the key success of every establishment.

Salem said that PTAD operated with standard, considering the success it had achieved so far.

Saleem said that pensioners required the best service attitude and behavior.

“ I give kudos to PTAD for its efforts and encourage it to do more.

“Therefore I urge PTAD staff to keep up the standard and continue to give good service to the pensioners,” he said.

National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has advocated private sector involvement to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system.
The Director-General of the authority, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, made the call at a high-level policy dialogue on sustainable health system reforms in Nigeria in Abuja, yesterday.
The Tide’s source reports that the dialogue was organised by the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), a coalition of private sector stakeholders, to address the multifaceted challenges plaguing the country’s healthcare system.
The dialogue has “Private Sector Support for SWAP (Sector Wide Approach) in Healthcare” as its theme.
Represented by Dr Yakubu Agada-Amade, the NHIA Director of Standards and Quality Assurance, Ohiri explained the crucial role of private sector collaboration in strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare system
He highlighted the “One Plan” under the SWAp framework, which seeks to unify health sector efforts, ensuring efficient resource use, effective governance and expanded healthcare access.
He also stressed the importance of overcoming barriers that historically hindered the implementation of healthcare interventions in Nigeria, such as inadequate financing, weak governance systems, and bureaucratic bottlenecks.
He added that “the dialogue explored innovative approaches, including digital health innovations and financing mechanisms to accelerate the implementation of the National Health Act and mandatory health insurance coverage.
“With enrollment in health insurance growing by 14 per cent over the past year, NHIA can push for greater inclusivity, particularly targeting the informal sector through flexible payment systems and partnerships with telecommunications companies.”
He called for stronger synergy between public and private health actors to ensure universal access to quality healthcare and sustainable reforms in line with the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII).
Panelists from the Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP), Healthcare Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN) and Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN) echoed the sentiments, underscoring the private sector’s role in expanding insurance coverage and improving healthcare delivery.
They commended NHIA’s efforts toward driving reforms to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp).

Some financial experts have called on the Federal Government to implement a two-way approach to address the rising unemployment rate.
They made the call in separate interviews with The Tide’s source in Lagos, yesterday.
They said that this two-way approach include liberalising the railway system and providing greater support to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
They further said that these measures would not only create jobs but also stimulate economic growth and improve overall development.
Dr Ayo Teriba, CEO of Economic Associates, emphasised the potential of railway privatisation to attract private investment and unlock employment opportunities.
He suggested that allowing multiple companies to operate in the sector would foster competition, improve efficiency and create jobs in various related industries.
”Allowing for private sector investment in the railway sector, just as it was done in the telecommunication, will unlock its employment prospects.
”Where different companies will jostle to operates in the sector, thereby creating economic growth,” Teriba said.
He noted that liberalising the railway would address the headwinds associated with hullage and people commuting across the country as well as creating jobs in the process.
In his view, Mr Chris Nemedia, a former Director, Research Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, said that the SMEs remained important in job creation and economic development.
He said that the government needed to invest in infrastructure, provide tax incentives and focus on productive sectors, to support SMEs and encourage local production.
Also, Mr Boniface Okezie, President of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), stressed the need for improved security to attract investment and create jobs.
He called on both federal and state governments to collaborate and implement innovative strategies to address security challenges and foster a conducive business environment.
Okezie highlighted the negative impact of foreign exchange volatility on businesses.
He urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to take measures to stabilise the market and support the growth of the private sector.
”The volatility in the market is negating businesses engaged in importation, which is slowing down their expansion process,”Okezie said.
The Tide source reports that Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased marginally to 5.3 per cent in first quarter 2024 from 5.0 per cent in third quarter 2023.
According to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics in urban areas, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.0 per cent, while rural unemployment stood at 4.3 per cent.
The unemployment rate increased to 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 from five per cent in third quarter of 2023.
The percentage of Youth Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET Rate) was 14.4 per cent, indicating a 0.7 perbcent increase from third quarter of 2023.