Corruption is widely recognised as a clog on the wheel of Nigeria’s quest for greatness. Mr Franklin Erinle, a former banker and the current General Secretary of the Federal Parastatals and Private Sector Pensioners Association of Nigeria (FEPPPAN), in this exclusive interview with CHRISTIAN APPOLOS, said that prioritisation of payment of pension by the federal and state governments, and private sector companies will drastically restore workers’ prudence, accountability and due process in both public and private sector economy.
You are a pensioner and the General Secretary of pensioners’ union in Nigeria. Is there a connection between the prevalence of corruption as seen in the public sector today and corruption?
Well, things have continued to degenerate in this country. In the 80s, the pension arrangement then was like the government was paying. There was no private pension. So people were happy to work for a long time. With the hope that when they retire, they will be able to draw their pension and they are quite comfortable with that.
It affected their behaviour because people knew that after saving for 30 years, if they misbehave and get fired, they would lose their pension. So they were working within the arrangement then to be sure that they won’t lose their pension.
I can’t be specific, but a particular government in this country made corruption an official organ for governance. In that instance, the workers now saw that even to get their pension when you leave, you must tip people very well. The government pension officers showed no sympathy. It was not a matter of ‘oh, I will soon get into your situation’, no. They will tell the pensioner ‘if you want your money, we are collecting so so percentage of your pension.’ For God’s sake this person is not going into investment. He has lost in a way his source of income and what is left to him is just something to keep him going yet, you want to collect his or her money.
It now became a case of if you don’t directly practise corruption, you must get involved in it in one way or the other because you now must give money to somebody to influence him to work out your pension entitlement.
You can imagine! This literally means that the thinking of the man you insist must give you money for him to get what he laboured for many years will automatically change. If you need anything from him in the future, he must also want something in return before he can do it because that’s what was done to him.
So the issue of corruption has really spoiled many things in this country. When I was in the bank, pension was one of the reasons some of us worked prudently and productively. We used to calculate it because ours was a private pension arrangement.
You get your statement every year and we were looking forward to seeing what it has come to (what it has amounted to). And will we be calculating how much it will be next year. But the banks also got involved in firing people in the name of retrenchment. Before you know it, people started thinking of how to get their share before they get fired.
There was this top officer in the bank then who said ‘if this is the type of treatment I will receive, I won’t wait here to retire.’ Before we knew what was happening, he made away with millions of Naira in cash. He took it away and left. When they were phoning and writing to him, he was replying them. Till date, he disappeared with the money.
I have another colleague who, after many years of working, is involved in fighting for pensioners. He went to see somebody in authority to make a case for pensioners’ entitlement, the man he went to meet said to him ‘Oga you should have taken care of yourself when you were working. You should have taken your share. If you had taken your share then, they will call us and we know how to scatter the case.You were in a very high office. You are not the type of person that should be fighting for pension.’ What was he talking about? He was confirming that this officer was honest when he was working and should not have to stress himself to get his pensions today.
So I strongly believe that to avoid going through hell just to get their pension is why many workers in public service especially, engage more in corrupt practices. The mindset is, get what you can! Whether it is embezzlement or fraud is not important. What is important is you don’t suffer after leaving office. So people have sanctioned corruption. Corruption is now the organ for you to be stable in the future. It is like, don’t rely on your salary, don’t rely on gratuity or rely on pension, just take what you can take from the system because the chances of not getting your laboured entitlement is very high.
Do you think prioritisation of pensions by government both at state and federal level, and private sector businesses can possibly re-enforce workers’ confidence and reduce corruption in the public and private sector, and increase productivity?
Well, yes. I seriously believe that prioritising pension payment will go a long way in reducing corruption and scaling up productivity in both the public and private sector working environment. When people are sure that they have something to fall back on after many years of service, when they see that they can easily access their pensions without having to pay bribes or suffer, I think the mindset will gradually reset for the better.
Let me give it to this present government. The attention they are giving to pension matters is next to no other governments in recent times. This government has given priority to pensions. Pensioners of the Federal Government receive their pension regularly. PTAD (Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate) is working hard to clear the backlog.
If subsequent governments continue to refine this, I guarantee that it will enhance productivity in the sense that workers will feel secure that when they get out of here, they will get their entitlement without stress. So, they will feel less worried and the effect on corruption is that it will not be take what you can take now because there may be nothing for you again. So payment of pensions really has the capacity to change workers’ mindset against corruption tremendously especially in the public sector.
For the private sector like banks where I worked, they got the money. But it is the government officials who are supposed to supervise that are not doing their job. If the public sector is sanitised and government pension regulators and their officers are doing what they are supposed to do, the private sector is not waiting for government subventions, the money is with them. They will pay. But if the regulator or their officers in charge is so corrupt that when they bribe him or her, he or she looks the other side, then the private sector will suffer. Honestly, if the regulators are upright and up and doing, the private sector will not have problems.
For example, I don’t know how many banks that owe the government the taxes in months and are still in operation. They know they can lose their licence. So if the authorities in charge of taxes will not let go and the authorities on pensions also insist that the right thing must be done, then everything will normalise.
In all of these, do you think state governments have the capacity to replicate what you said the current Federal Government is doing as regards to regular and prompt payment of pensions?
Yes, government is government and has the capacity to pursue and achieve any objective it wants. So the state governments in Nigeria honestly have what it takes to prioritise payment of pension. That is why the key word is prioritisation. But come to think of it, it should not be an issue or problem for the government, be it federal or state, to pay pension to retirees. However, since it has become an issue whose effect causes our country a serious problem, it is very necessary that serious attention be given to it.
I think importantly, a serious legislation should be made so that whatever mode that is utilised in prioritising pension payment will be recognised by all. We should move beyond making statements in Nigeria to taking step by step action towards the progress of our nation. The issue of corruption as it affects every facet of Nigeria’s economy and growth must be taken seriously.
Therefore, prioritisation of pension payment can be one of the many policy plans and actions targeted at eradicating corruption in our public and private service. It is very important that public office holders take this issue seriously. The sanitation must begin with public servants because they play an important role. They are the engine room of the government. So restoring their hope in the pension system will definitely mean taking two steps ahead to winning the war against corruption.
Let it be very clear to everybody that winning the fight against corruption in the public service sector will be possible if workers are aware they can access their pensions easily after retirement. And the government should go beyond the issue of payment of pensions to ensuring affordable housing and other necessities. A step in this direction will be the best step to getting our country to the Promised Land.
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