Retirees Urge FG to approve Upward Review of Pensions
South West Zonal Congress of Federal Pensioners, Colleges of Education Sector, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to speedily approve the upward review of federal pensions.
Speaking to journalists, the chairman of the zone, Dr Stephen Akinnifesi Fatusin appealed to President Buhari to kindly approve the proposed pension increase concluded last month, saying that the current review will go a long way to alleviate the untold hardship of the poor and old pensioners, many of whom have no other source of income and some earn as low as N8,000 only per month or even less.
“We sympathise with President Muhammadu Buhari, whose administration has been haunted by sundry problems ranging from rampaging insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, rape which has assumed epidemic proportions and now COVID-19 which has shrunk the economies of most nations, Nigeria inclusive with this array of problems, we need to sound a stringent outcry for Mr President to hear our plight and act.”
“One would expect the omnibus body of the pensioners union, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Headed by Dr Afolayan, to have swung into action to flag repeatedly the plight of pensioners. Unfortunately this is not to be, the so called national officers of the NUP appear to take delight only in collection of check off dues and enjoying themselves, leaving the body of poor pensioners to suffer untold hardship. We call on them to lend their voices so that the outcry can be more strident.”
“Above all, we pray as usual, that Mr. President will continue to enjoy good health and overcome the sundry problems of this country during the remaining part of his years in office.”
“When pensioners’ welfare are given a good treatment the government sends a good signal to the workforce that their future is secure, but when it happens the way it is now, a wrong signal is perceived by the younger generation who go out of their way to steal with the perverse intention to secure their future. If you treat pensioners very well, you discourage corruption by the active workers.”