During his presidential campaign, the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT), famously promised, among other things, that “farmers will make more money“. While he’s yet to be sworn in, another group of people — pensioners — have come to cash in early on that promise. Because what’s good for the farmer is good for the pensioner.
Pensioners in the South West of Nigeria under their union, the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), are demanding a 35% increase in their pensions. They’ve made this demand known to BAT and governors in the South West.
[Nigerian pensioners / The Cable]
What’s the gist?
At a meeting in Abeokuta on April 3, chairpersons and secretaries of NUP from Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Lagos and Ekiti states said they want BAT to “show them love”. The SW NUP zone’s public relations officer (PRO), Olusegun Abatan, said the outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari “has done quite a lot for pensioners.”
In December 2022, the National Pension Commission approved the increase of retirees’ monthly pension to take effect in February 2023. However, the NUP alleges that governors in the SW still owe retirees huge sums in pensions and gratuities.
What else do pensioners want from BAT?
An increase in pension isn’t all the pensioners are asking. They also want BAT to create a separate ministry dedicated to pension-related matters.
What’s the FG’s latest response concerning pensioners?
On March 30, in an unprecedented turn of events, the federal government, through the director-general of the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) Emem Omokaro, said the FG would “create a portal to engage older persons who wish to continue offering services after retirement.”
The portal will go live this month, April. Omokaro said, “The aim of the collaboration is also to assist the centre to create an online portal that would engage older persons who are professionals in their different fields of endeavour to tap into their wealth of experiences.” There’s no rest for the wicked and the elderly.
As seen from their Twitter responses, Nigerians have not taken this news kindly.
With Buhari already set to leave office, the burden of responsibility on this matter falls on BAT. Will he create a new ministry for pensioners? Will he send retirees back to work to “make more money”? These are questions only time can answer.
