Retirement as a curse

LAST week, pensioners in the South-East geopolitical zone  lamented that retirement from the civil service had turned out to be a curse rather than a blessing to them. The pensioners bemoaned their plight at the South-East zonal meeting of the Nigeria

Union of Pensioners (NUP) in Enugu, Enugu State. The senior citizens expressed concern over the pension situation in the zone, particularly in Imo State where it was reported that the state government had not only slashed pensions by 40 per cent but was also indebted to the senior citizens to the tune of N56.4 billion in arrears as of March 2018.

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But the South-East zone of the NUP could as well have been speaking the minds of all Nigerians with regard to the revocation of the social contract between the various governments and the people. The citizenry are always getting the short end of the stick in all transactions between them and their governments. In the same dismal situation in which workers’ entitlements are serially held in abeyance, or in outright denial, pensioners are regularly denied their entitlements. If salaries are owed in arrears and leave allowances are allegedly kept domiciled in accounts to earn compound interest for unconscionable politicians, how can pensions be paid regularly and promptly?

It is no surprise that many Nigerians, especially those who have no opportunity to pillage the public till, eventually retire into penury. In advanced climes where governance is regarded as a serious business, the delay or outright denial of the basic rights of citizens is unthinkable. As statutory duties of the state, these rights are never denied. They are considered just as vital as the state’s statutory duty of protecting the lives and properties of citizens.

Since the advent of a new Republic in 1999, the delay and denial of citizens’ rights in terms of salaries, wages, gratuities and pensions has arguably soared almost in direct proportion to the incidence of ghost workers. Thus, states’ wage bills are hiked unduly and this compromises their ability to live up to their responsibilities. Beyond that, many state governors have also been taking their citizens’ rights for granted, delaying salaries and pensions. Things have worsened to the point that some of them have used the payment of salaries and pensions to score cheap political points. We recall with indignation how the payment of salaries and pension arrears became one of the carrots dangled before the voters in the last governorship election in Osun State.

Ideally, the deliberate delay or non-payment of salaries and pensions should be criminalised in the country, the immunity enjoyed by the state governors notwithstanding. Any governor found to have engaged in such an ungodly act should lose his immunity. This should form part of the amendment to the 1999 Constitution that the National Assembly should consider in order to stop the deliberate anguish foisted on the citizenry by state governors who lack commitment and passion to protect the interests of their citizens. Being committed to the interests of the citizenry is part of the social contract which the state governors find so easy to abrogate.

We identify with the despondency of the South-East zone of the NUP and affirm that the feeling of despair is indeed general in the country and not restricted to pensioners. There is a desperate need to change the way this society is being run by its political elite. It is certainly beginning to look like being a Nigerian citizen, and not just retirement, is indeed the real curse.