By a Retired Nigerian
From all indications, to retire especially as a Federal civil servant appears to be a misfortune in Nigeria.
Honest and diligent public servants,who put in 35 productive years of their lives into serving their nation are treated as thrash upon their retirement.
This is very disheartening and it causes our hearts to bleed.
These group of people are forced into a scheme called contributory pension.
They are enrolled under pension managers who feed fat on their hard earned life savings and give them peanuts on retirement as gratuity and monthly pension.
A meager 50% of total savings is paid as gratuity while the remaining is spread over a period of about 10 years as the case may be as monthly pension.
Whoever is unfortunate to still be alive after the stipulated time is on his/her own.
An assistant director that retired on a salary of above 300k May receive as low as 70k as pension monthly.
Neither gratuity nor pension is even paid or commenced until after 12 to 18months of retirement.
God help you if you don’t have other means of income or children and relatives who have the capability to factor you into their own budget, judging from the present economic reality.
The retiree is as good as being sentenced to untimely death, with no money to feed, buy drugs and maintain primary needs.
In the year 1996, this group was forced into the national housing fund scheme under President Abacha.
Some percentages were deducted from their salaries monthly as savings to help them own their own houses.
Many of them I’m sure did not enjoy the dividends of this scheme as majority of them took cooperative loans to build their personal houses.
After retirement, despite presentation of evidences from the accounts/salary department of their institutions of employment, of deductions for the scheme and evidences on payslip to the Federal Mortgage Bank to at least pay that one to cushion the effect of their suffering, it was story galore.
They were being tossed up and down.
At a visit, they said Ippis did not remit payment for some years except they’re ready to forfeit those years before their payment can be processed.
Another said, the update of deductions according to their data commenced in 2013 and not 1996 as reflected on the passbook, except they agree with their own data they cannot process their money. This has been on going for almost a year now.
This is the type of torture that these group of people are subjected to.
Many of them have died of hunger, ill health and frustration before the maturation of their payment.
The children they invested on that should have taken care of them are jobless.
Where will their deliverance come?
Who will be their Messiah?
Who will be their advocate?
This is a clarion call to President Tinubu and an SOS message to Nigerians to come to the aid of retired Nigerians. They are dying in silence.
