ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA
Pensioners’ welfare has become a very critical issue in Nigeria. Many of the retirees due to no fault of theirs are being owed arrears of benefits like their monthly pensions and gratuity.
These senior citizens had used their most productive years to serve their fatherland in various capacities and ought to use their old age to rest by enjoying the fruit of their labour.
It is very unfortunate that many of them had died while waiting for the payment of their gratuity which is their legitimate rights and could not wait to receive what was legitimately theirs.
During the electioneering campaign in the run-up to the 2022 governorship election in Ekiti State, Governor Biodun Oyebanji during a visit to the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) secretariat in Ado Ekiti made a solemn promise to the retirees that his administration would make their welfare a priority and also better their status.
Since Governor Oyebanji came on board on 16th October, 2022, he has accorded pension welfare with utmost priority. At every forum with pensioners in Ekiti, the Governor always remind them that his mother died as a pensioner while his father who is still alive is a pensioner.
As at the time Governor Oyebanji mounted the saddle, the pensioners’ gratuity had been paid up till year 2012 and determined to tackle the problem headlong, he has gradually but resolutely been reducing the gratuity liabilities in Ekiti State to the delight of the beneficiaries.
The celebration of this year’s Pensioners’ Day which the Governor personally attended (as he did last year) showcased his respect, love and care for the retirees most especially going the extra mile to put smiles on their faces.
At the 2024 Pensioners’ Day, the Governor distributed cheques of gratuity totalling N3.5 billion to 829 beneficiaries which represented “the single largest payment of gratuity to one set of beneficiaries in the history of Ekiti State.”
The ceremony offered the pensioners an opportunity to list one-after-the-other the Governor’s gestures of taking care of them as enumerated by the state NUP Chairman, Mr. Joel Akinola while making his remarks before a mammoth audience that thronged the Great Eagle Hall, venue of the event.
Pa Akinola hailed Governor Oyebanji for regularly liquidating the backlog of gratuity he met on ground since coming on board noting that paying gratuity to the tune of N3.5 billion at once has not happened in the history of Ekiti State.
Pa Akinola disclosed that unlike what it used to be before Oyebanji’s ascension to power, pensioners now receive their monthly pensions before the 25th of every month adding that the Governor also paid their deductions hitherto left unpaid.
The NUP chair also revealed that every pensioner in the state apart from the monthly pension also receives a pension award of N10,000 consequent upon a similar wage award given to state workers to cushion the effects of removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government.
Besides, Pa Akinola revealed that Governor Oyebanji also gives food palliatives to NUP for distribution to members to give them succour and protect them from old age hunger.
Another landmark in the relationship between the state government and pensioners’ body as mentioned by the NUP chair was Governor Oyebanji’s gesture of appointing one of them as Special Adviser on Pension Matters which was testament to his inclusivity and recognition of the retirees.
Baba Akinola also mentioned that Governor Oyebanji also carries out a free health scheme for pensioners under the State Health Insurance Scheme with 9,028 pensioners registered for the scheme out of about 28,000 pensioners in the state with the NUP boss urging members who are yet to register for the scheme to do so.
He further appreciated the Governor for hosting the NUP Prayer Summit at the Government House in Ado Ekiti and also bankrolling the Pensioners’ Day celebration.
It should also be noted that apart from clearing all the arrears of monthly pensions of state pensioners, Governor Oyebanji also announced that the three month arrears of local government pensioners have been reduced to two months with his latest approval of one month.
Governor performed a symbolic gesture at the Pensioners’ Day while distributing cheques to the latest batch of beneficiaries which was the high point of the ceremony.
When the Governor called the names of the benefitting retirees, he was told that the owner of a cheque whose name was being mentioned was inside a vehicle outside because she was too ill to come inside the hall to join her colleagues to celebrate the day.
After his attention was drawn to her situation, the Governor had to leave the hall to take the cheque to the beneficiary inside the car to personally present the cheque to her a gesture which delighted the recipient who prayed for the Governor.
Governor Oyebanji in his remarks shortly before performing the distribution of the cheques said he has not done anything spectacular by paying the arrears of pensioners’ gratuity noting that it was their rights which they worked for.
He explained that with the payment of N3.5 billion as gratuity to the latest set of beneficiaries, the payment schedule has now been extended to March 2015 assuring the commitment of his administration to defraying the gratuity payment as long as he remains the Governor.
The Governor’s gesture has become a healing balm to the pensioners and has raised the hope of others who are still waiting for their own turn to be paid their gratuity.
It can only get better and it will continue to get better for pensioners in Ekiti State under a compassionate Governor who cares for their welfare.
*Ogunmola is Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media (Print Media)
