KAYODE
ADELOWOKAN
Introduction
It
is quite disheartening that successive governments in Nigeria have only paid lip
service to true governance so much so that one wonders if they invest the word
leadership with any seriousness. Indeed, nothing could be truer than the
submission of the late literary giant, Chinua Achebe, that Nigeria is plagued
with leadership problem. Or how will any responsible and responsive government
continually subject about 99.5 percent of the citizens to unnecessary woes?
It
is now clear that the investigation following the damning pension saga
involving individuals and corporate bodies is just a ruse to douse the ensuing
tension from the revelations and reduce the unending causes of the numerous
poor pensioners on a daily basis. It is a fact that pensioners from the Federal
Civil Service, Nigerian Railway Corporation, defunct Nigeria Airways and State
Civil Service, among others, keep dying by the day.
Generally,
the pension scheme is good for workers, as they might not be able to save their
pension deductions directly. But the operators remain the impediment to this
laudable scheme. In Nigeria, it appears it is designed to favor only the
operators. The pertinent question is: who really are the operators? It may be
rightly said that it is composed of government’s stooges planted to drain the
sweats of Nigerians through the back door.
The
chairman of Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), South-West and Lagos State,
Alhaji Nasirudeen Ibrahim Adebayo, lamented that pensioners in Lagos State, who
are on 142 percent, are owed three years while some of the parastatal
organisations are owed four to five years. One of such is the printing corporations
while those on six percent have not even be implemented since 2003, not to talk
about their arrears which will be 10 years now. A total of 15 percent from 2007
have never even be implemented, not to talk of the arrears which will be six
years now.
According
to him, pensioners in the primary schools and local governments alone are owed
over N600million of gratuities which is their life savings. There are some
parastatal organizations in Lagos State that have not been paid for over 10
months now. For example, the printing corporations, Lagos State Television and
Radio Lagos, among others, are suffering under the Lagos State government and
any attempt to speak with them about is always is a serious headache. What they
always talk about is bureaucracy.
“Pensioners
in Lagos State alone, according to the data given to me as at February 2013, is
over 90, 000 and when 90,000 families are suffering in Lagos State alone, then
what else are we talking about? We sent children to schools, but they can get
jobs after graduation; yet, some heartless individuals feed fast on our own
sweats.”
Case study
According
to a report from an online media, a member of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners,
who retired from the Nigerian Postal Service, Silifatu Adetola, slumped on
Monday, January 7, 2013 as members of the union picketed the Lafiaji Post
Office, Obalende, Lagos State.
The
reports claimed that all Adetola could mutter as she was being revived by the
aggrieved pensioners was that she had not eaten anything that day.
She
went down as the protesters chanted in front of the post office. But her
colleagues quickly poured water on her and was quickly rushed to a hospital
afterwards.
The
pensioners were protesting their unpaid 69 months pension arrears. It further
revealed that similar protests took place simultaneously in other post office
branches in Apapa, Lagos Island and some other states.
The chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the
union, Elijah Akindutire, said the incident was an attestation to the
sufferings they were subjected to as a result of the unpaid pension.
He
said, “The government owes us 69 months of pension arrears. Most of us came
here on empty stomachs. That woman could have died because the government did
not see us as important enough to pay what they owe us after serving
meritoriously for several years.
“Some
of us retired as far back as 2005. Some were paid while some were not. Even
those who were paid got a fraction of what they were owed.
“I
retired in 2006 and got just a little out of the pension the government owed me
since then. The same thing is applicable to other members of the union.”
He
explained that the union had previously given the government an ultimatum,
which expired on December 11, 2012.
The
union’s National Public Relations Officer, Mukaila Ogunboje, said the
pensioners were tired of unfulfilled promises by the government.
He
explained that the union had recorded 420 deaths among its members since they
started agitating for the payment of the arrears.
A
civil rights activist, Mr. Darlington Ajitemita, who shared in the pains of the
retirees, said the government was being deliberately wicked to the pensioners.
It
will be recalled that a 78-year-old pensioner, Mrs. Enang Ekpenyong, and her
other colleagues on Monday, January 7, 2013 locked up the premises of the
NIPOST in Calabar, Cross River State, insisting that their pension which was
last paid in October 2011 should be paid before the premises could become
operational again.
Ekpenyong,
who earns N26,000 monthly since she retired in the mid 90s, insisted that her
pension should be paid or the NIPOST premises would remain closed indefinitely.
This
came just as the Cross River State Chairman of the pensioners, Mrs. Ekanem
Effiwatt, said no fewer than 15 NIPOST
retirees in the state had died in the last one year.
“I retired in 1996 and I was short-changed
when my gratuity was paid. We have made a series of complaints to that effect
but no one would listen. I have children, but they too have their issues. I was
last paid my monthly pension of N26, 000 in October 2011,” she said.
Vice-chairman
of the union, Mr. Christopher Andem, said the pensioners had no intention of
vacating the premises until their request was met.
“We
have nowhere to go; we must remain here until the management and the Federal
Government listen to us and answer us,” he said.
The Nigeria law
The General-Secretary, Joint Action Front (JAF),
Comrade Abiodun Aremu, in a recent interview with Daily Newswatch, said the greed mentality, which has permeated the entire society, has been
carried to the level of callousness, where Nigeria governments, both at federal
and state levels, do not have regards for the citizenry. He added that even the
compassion for the aged is now a rarity in our society. “They wait till the
aged will wait in the queue and in most cases die there; yet they are not
bordered. They usually make airy promises to give empty promises.
According to him, “The
pension money is not begging money; rather, it is the legitimate money that the
people have worked for. So, both the Federal Government and the state government
that owe pensioners have the responsibility to pay. This was what informed the
protest. Beyond this, there are agitations for living pension. A living pension
means that their pension must relate to the prevailing economic situations. In
other word, if there is inflation that affects pension, then the pension
payment must be improved upon on the basis of that so that they can earn the
value. Much as the workers want improvement in their wages and conditions of
service, the retirees, who had also worked, must be granted some of those
awards. That is why if you look at the concept of the present protest, it not
just about the Federal Government owing pensioners’ money, the states are also
owing. As a matter of fact, the Lagos State Union of Pensioners of Nigeria has
declared the Babatunde Raji Fashola-led government has the most notorious in
undermining the implementations of the various awards. In the harmonization
awards of pension (42%, 6%,15%), which are given between 2000 and 2007, the Lagos State government
has failed to implement it, except for some.
As of now, Lagos State government still owes 142% due to pensioners for
about three years. They have only paid three years out of that. There was the
issue of the award of 2003, which was the six percent for the past 10 years,
but Lagos State government has not paid any kobo. So, our clamour is that it is
not just enough to pay the pensioners what you are owing, you must ensure that
the pension funds are managed by the beneficiary themselves and that they are
paid promptly, so it can be a living fund for them.”
In the same vein, the
Comrade said that every reasonable government has the responsibility to cater
for the aged in society. “If you look at the Constitution today, it makes it
mandatory for the government as part of its social welfare responsibility as
stated under section 16 that “the state shall ensure maximum happiness of its
citizenry as to include a national minimum living wage.”
Beyond giving them their
legitimate allowances, the aged deserve some compassion from the government and
that is why a responsible society would make health care facility free to the
aged in the society, while also making transportation easy for them. These,
among many others, are part of the struggles that Joint Action Front (JAF) is
all out for,” he added.
He also decried the stance
of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), describing it as
a conduit pipe for looting. The perfect example is the case of police
pension fund.
“It is the law in our
society that allows the rich to escape justice. The laws are specifically made
to benefit the looters in the society. It encourages corruption. You cannot
expect that law to change because it is a deliberate plan to free those who are
looting,” he explained.
In Nigeria today, Aremu said
there is no poor man that can access the loan of N10,000 without collateral.
Aremu said, “Meanwhile, if
the law has been such that there is capital punishment for those that loot, no
one will ever attempt loot the resources of the society because those funds are
meant to take care of social welfare responsibility of the society.
“Therefore, if you don't
want corruption and looting to be on the rise, you have to change the present
system that encourages looting and exploitation. We need a system that takes
care of the welfare and happiness of Nigerians. So the issue goes beyond paying
the pensioners. The issues also have to do with the struggle to ensure that the
resources of Nigerians are maximally deployed for the benefits of every
Nigerian.”
He recounted the January 28,
2013, where a Federal High court ridiculously sentenced former Director of the
Police Pensions Board, John Yakubu Yusufu, to two years imprisonment with an
option of N750, 000 fine, after he pleaded guilty to charges of stealing N23.3
billion from the Police Pension Fund.
“This condemnable judgement
is not accidental because corruption in government at all levels is now a state
policy, despite the much-parroted fight against corruption by the successive
governments since 1999.
“What proof do Nigerians
need that the fight against corruption is a charade than the latest state
pardon granted by the Jonathan presidency to the former governor of Bayelsa
state, Diprieye Alamieyesiegha, who was convicted for looting Bayelsa State’s funds
and is currently being requested for extradition by the British judiciary for
corruption charges?”
He, therefore, called on
Nigerians not to be silent in the face of the brazen looting of the treasury
and daylight robbery of the legitimate benefits and entitlements of the
pensioners.
“JAF is committed to taking
up the cases of pensioners to wherever those cases may be in Nigeria because
what has happened in the last few days is an eye- opening. Before now, the
Lagos State government used to give the impression that it owed nobody any
pension. But it took the declaration of this protest by pensioners to unveil
the lies that have been given to the public.
“We want to encourage the
unions across the country to bring out their facts and expose those governments
owing them,” he empathised.
So, in view of the
prevailing circumstance, those who are
still in active service should intensify their prayers that they don’t labour in vain.
