Letters

Pensioners’ plight fuelling corruption in civil service

I want to call on state governors to stop inflicting pain on pensioners with the non-payment of their gratuities and pension arrears. After working for 35 years for their various state governments, it is so unfortunate that our senior citizens are left to suffer in their old age.

I know this is what is fuelling corruption in the civil service today, as current civil servants now do everything in their power to make money before their retirement so that they won’t have to suffer in their old age.

It is painful seeing senior citizens struggling so much before they can receive their monthly pensions, and even their gratuities. Most of them go for years without collecting their gratuities, while their monthly pensions are not regular.

While current civil servants are still strong and can run around to raise money, our senior citizens have used all their energies in the service of their state governments, and they just resign to fate when they are not paid. Some even go as far as begging for what to eat.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that some retirees still have children who are yet to be gainfully employed, while some even still have children in tertiary institutions. With all these, why should it surprise anyone that current civil servants are corrupt?

State governors should, therefore, do everything in their power to ensure that retirees are well taken care of. It is the Federal Government that is trying in this area.