OWELLE, WHAT
NEXT FOR IMO PENSIONERS?
The
last time I checked, the revered senior citizens of Imo State were once again
ravaged by hunger, that, any observer could insinuate that they have been duped
and dumped. Their current physiognomies have suggested for a candid and drastic
rescue before the scenario degenerate into an untold and unbearable one.
If you don’t have a pensioner in your
neighbourhood, please endeavour to take a walk to your vicinity towards
ensuring that you embrace the presence of at least one. My last interaction
with one of them took me to an unannounced sober mood, thereby made my person
shed unimagined tears right before the ‘senior citizen’.
The retiree in question told me that after the
enormous sacrifice they made to ensure that the government was no longer
addressed as a debtor to the pensioners, the least he expected was that they
would be seemingly forgotten thereafter. He decried that three months after
they had a ‘cordial’ agreement with the government, nothing had been heard from
the governor. In order to usher in hope which apparently had been lost, in my
own capacity as a stakeholder, I told him that the governor Chief Rochas
Okorocha meant well for them, thus he should exercise some patience.
It would be recalled that penultimate
year, precisely in December 2016, the teeming Imo pensioners released a sigh of
relieve. The juicy situation was not unconnected with the laudable gesture
displayed by the Rescue Mission Administration led by Governor Okorocha, which
necessitated a piece I published on this column titled ‘Owelle’s Yuletide
hamper for the Imo pensioners’.
At the said era, the government
outrightly cleared forty per cent (40%) of 13 months arrears of pension
accruable to the retirees, based on the friendly agreement that transpired
between the two stakeholders involved. Though the retirees sacrificed something
tangible in return, the step taken by the governor was addressed as
‘commendable’ by everyone who means well for the state.
Since three months after the lofty
scenario, the pensioners are yet to receive even half payment of their pensions
form the governor they described as ‘amiable’ having showcased the December
2016 gesture, in spite of the fact that they were promised that as from January
2017, 100% of their entitlements would be regularly paid to them without
hesitation. The retirees are presently of the view that they have been duped
and relegated.
Let
the governor not presume that excess money was given to the retirees months
ago, thus do not need any dime at the moment. Contrary to such a presumption
that might arise from any Imolite, particularly government officials, let it be
noted that virtually all the pensioners used the funds to settle their
creditors over the backlog of debts they owed. In fact, the funds weren’t even
enough for most of them. I’m very close to some of them; hence, I’m in a better
position to comprehend their actual plights.
Going by the way and manners pensioners
are being treated in various quarters across the federation, one may begin to
wonder if they are truly senior citizens as they are called by all and sundry. Being
treated as second class citizens simply indicates that addressing them as
‘senior citizens’ is just a way of making mockery of their persons. In an
organized society, they are invariably regarded as frontiers when it calls for
decision-making as regards governance; but in Nigeria, among others, the
reverse is obviously the case.
I
personally weep for these people whenever I see them frantically begging for
what they could afford if they are accorded the deserved honour. They have
undoubtedly undergone colossal stress during the era they were meritoriously
serving the country, thus don’t deserve another round of suffering. It becomes
more saddening when realized that they are being deprived of their rights, not
privileges; that they are being denied of what they assiduously laboured for;
that they are begging for their entitlements.
Until we start differentiating
categorically between one’s rights and privileges as stipulated in any extant
constitution, we would definitely continue to get it wrongly. Till the Nigerian
society started seeing salaries and pensioners as rights, and not privileges,
the polity would continue to be awash with retrogressive issues when we are
yearning for progressive ones. These are facts we must not take for granted.
I
therefore sincerely use this medium to solicit for these revered citizens,
because I’m strongly not unaware that they are passing through both physical
and psychological traumas. If the Gov. Okorocha-led government isn’t a
compassionate one, or one who detest seeing the masses suffering, I wouldn’t
have come up with this critique or appeal in the first place; rather, I would
have considered doing otherwise. Having understood that the governor shares the
pains of these retirees, but owing to paucity of funds he is being trapped
underneath, I thought it wise to use this avenue to ask him to start seeing
other projects he is currently carrying out as secondary toward ensuring that
payment of pensions is treated as a priority.
As much as I immensely appreciate Gov.
Okorocha for ensuring that workers’ salaries are paid as and when due till
date, he ought to equally acknowledge that these teeming pensioners are damn
hungry and vulnerable, thus require absolute care and attention. We must note
that a drop of tear from any of them in regard to the ongoing maltreatment
could cause an unspeakable harm to the progress of the state at large. Think
about it!
Follow
me: @mediambassador
http://facebook.com/fred4nwaozor
