Oriire: Oyo govt approves death benefits for slain teachers

Officials of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, have commended the Oyo State Government for its pension administration and other local government policies under Governor Seyi Makinde.

The commendation was made during an on-the-spot assessment of the state’s local government administrative policies and strategic development initiatives, including the activities of the Oyo State Local Government Staff Pension Board, at the State Secretariat, Ibadan.

The NIPSS team also expressed satisfaction with what it described as best practices observed in the administration of the pension board.

Speaking during the assessment, the team leader, Prof Ibrahim Choji, said the exercise was aimed at assessing policies, strategies and systems across local governments to identify practices that could be recommended for adoption at the national level.

Choji said: “NIPSS is a foremost Federal Government think tank in Nigeria and the purpose of the visit is to carry out assessment of local government policies, strategies and systems to see what is on ground to form part of recommendations and implementation strategies to the presidency, so that best practices can be adopted and award will be given to outstanding state or agency in December.”

He added: “I must confess that there are so many things that we have seen on ground at the Oyo State Local Government Staff Pension Board as best practices. Oyo State has been hospitable and accommodating.”

Receiving the delegation on behalf of the state government, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Musibau Babatunde, highlighted some of the achievements of the Makinde administration, including recruitment into the local government service, an integrated administrative system, improved functionality of local governments and the provision of equipment for primary healthcare centres.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Oyo State Local Government Staff Pension Board, Hon Akeem Ademola Ige, disclosed that Governor Makinde had approved the immediate payment of death benefits to the families of the teachers killed in the Oriire incident.

Ige said the payment would be made without unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles for the affected families.

He said: “Governor Seyi Makinde has approved the immediate payment of death benefits to the slain Oriire teachers. The payment will be seamless without any stress for the family members of the deceased teachers.”

The Chairman also listed some of the pension-related interventions of the administration, including the payment of N42 billion in gratuities and death benefits to retired and deceased pensioners, covering inherited backlogs and obligations accrued under the present administration.

According to him, the monthly allocation of the Local Government Staff Pension Board increased from N250 million to N3 billion, while total monthly pension payments to retired local government pensioners between 2019 and 2026 exceeded N103 billion.

Ige further listed other interventions to include payment of N15,000 wage award, N10,000 transport support and N50,000 Christmas bonus to pensioners.

He presented a comprehensive report on the activities and achievements of the pension board to the NIPSS delegation after a series of brainstorming sessions.

The National Coordinator of the assessment programme, Mr Yoni Charles, said he was impressed by the findings of the team.

“On behalf of the Director-General, I’m not disappointed. I’m impressed. I’m proud of Oyo State,” Charles said.

Earlier, the Acting Head of Local Government Administration of the board, Alhaji Musibau Ladele, said the assessment would help strengthen administrative excellence, strategic leadership, institutional performance, accountability and effective service delivery within Nigeria’s local government system.

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As part of the programme, newly retired primary school teachers and local government staff were enrolled on the pension payroll, while officials of NIPSS made a symbolic presentation of pension certificates to some of the retirees.

The retirees also had the opportunity to interact with the NIPSS officials.

Responding on behalf of the newly enrolled retirees, Mrs Balogun Abosede expressed appreciation to the state government for what she described as gestures extended to retirees under the Makinde administration.

Among those present at the event were the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Budget, Finance and Economic Planning, Alhaji Gafar Bello; Permanent Secretary, General Administration, Office of the Executive Governor, Mr Kadri Akeem; NIPSS Director of Administration, Mr Rotimi Mustapha; Mrs Adenike Ademola; Miss Ibrahim; Director of Finance and Supplies, Mrs Temitayo Adeyemo; Director of Budget, Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr Oluwole Kehinde; Director of Education and Social Services, Mrs Banke Adeyemo; Internal Auditor, Alhaji Raifu Najimdeen; and Deputy Director of Administration and General Services, Mr Abiodun Muraina, among others.