PENSIONERS in Nigeria are regrettably having a large chunk of the national economic challenges that has obviously sent many to the early graves.
Pension as the name implies is a regular payment made to an individual, typically after retirement for service or contribution to an organization or government by providing a steady stream of income during their golden years It is therefore preposterous for some persons to scam retirees of their little entitlements, after spending 35 years in service or attaining mandatory 60 years.
Certainly, while the old pension scheme was bedeviled with a lot of issues, the new pensions Act, however, appears easier to operate but not without its own challenges, including adequate funding; reasons while those states that frontally embraced it are gradually overcoming the initial challenges.
Beyond the endless rituals of pensions verification exercises and piled up of unpaid entitlements to deserved senior citizens, who perhaps had put up a greater part of their lives in the service of their fatherland and rightly deserve pensions benefits , the scary tales of fraudulent activities of some unconscionable elements that are deviously scamming pensioners with assurances that they would facilitate the payment of their pensions and gratuity could be heart- drenching and disturbing.
Indeed, it is sad enough and troubling that the new Chairman, Delta State Bureau for State Pensions, Sir Edwin Ogidi-Gbegbaje had to raise the alarm over the insipid activities of the unscrupulous elements and warned scammers that the Delta Government would deal decisively with any person or persons who demand money from pensioners or their family members to process their retirement benefits.
The Pensions Bureau Boss, who disclosed this when members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Indigenous Correspondents’ Chapel, Delta State Council, paid him a courtesy visit in Asaba, cautioned that those involved in the unscrupulous act would soon meet their waterloo and urged them, as a matter of urgency, to desist from it as the Bureau under his watch has zero tolerance for corrupt and fraudulent elements.
Obviously this is a worrisome development, given the fact that while the Delta State Government is making conscious efforts to ensure that retirees get their benefits promptly upon retirement, some persons are out there devising ingenious means to scam these elderly men and women in the guise of assisting them get their retirement benefits without hitch, most of which turned out to be scam at the end.
While such unsavoury incidences, if any, may have prevailed in the past, we have no doubt that Deltans are in a new era at the pensions agency considering the enviable track record of performance of the new helmsman of the Bureau, Ogidi-Gbegbaje, known in various circles for his unassailable transparency and forthrightness and determined to tackle the monster of corrupt tendencies head on
Essentially, a state like Delta no doubt, has become a leading light particularly in two critical areas that are of great importance to humanity- Contributory Health Insurance and Contributory Pensions Schemes; that had clearly defined how craftily woven concepts could turn out to be a game changer in the lives of a people. It is on the scale of these milestones recorded in the two key agencies, that we have to commend the various leadership of Delta State for maintaining the trajectory and staying the course.
Ordinarily a government that has been working assiduously to bring smiles to the faces of retirees in the state, having committed billions of Naira to that effect, honestly would not in any way requires facilitation by a third party in the processing of pension benefits for retirees, provided that all relevant documents had been submitted. It is in the light of this, we appreciate the genuine efforts of the state Governor, Rt.Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, who from all indications, holds pensioners so dear to his heart and would do anything humanly possible to make them happy .
We, therefore, call on the new management of the Bureau and other relevant agencies of government to spread their dragnets with a view to apprehending anyone found to be culpable in this inhumane act, in order to serve as deterrent to others who may be inclined to corrupt tendencies while there is also the need for prompt payment of retirees so that these elements would not leverage on the gap.
