Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has condemned delays in the payment of pensions and gratuities of retirees by governments.
FocalPoint reports that Obi said many retirees across the country cannot take care of their health and basic needs because of government delays in payment of their entitlements.
In a statement on Sunday, the Labour Party chieftain narrated how an elderly retiree told him her predicament in Nsukka, Enugu State as a result of non-payment of her pension, on Saturday.
“My chilling encounter with an elderly woman, yesterday (Saturday), has left me seriously worried about the depth of insensitivity that characterizes our political and institutional leadership in Nigeria.
“While interacting with the management and students of Shanahan College of Nursing Sciences, Nsukka, during my official visit to the institution, I noticed this elderly woman struggling desperately to talk to me.
“People around tried to push her away and shun her into silence, but I instantly requested to have a word with her and hear her story.
“She introduced herself as a retired civil servant who devoted the productive years of her life working for the nation.
“She lamented that for a while her pension had not been paid. What was more heartbreaking was that she had been sick and admitted to the hospital for over a week, with medical bills, but her immediate worry was that she did not even have one Naira to buy food.
“I felt a surge of anger and pity. Anger at leaders like me, who out of greed and insatiable desperation for material acquisition, have made life a living hell for others, by denying them the fruits of their labour. And then pity for the poor elderly woman, and many others like her whose painful stories may never be heard,” he narrated.
The former governor of Anambra State called on governments to prioritize the welfare of retirees.
“That is the nation we live in. A nation that has lost its sense of humanity and compassion.
“I have said it before, and I still maintain, that any government that withholds the pensions and gratuities of our senior citizens in their vulnerable years, is wicked. As a Governor, I inherited and paid off over ₦30 billion in pensions and gratuities accumulated over the years, because I understood the pain the elderly citizens were going through.
“I instantly gave her my little support and promised to follow up her case with the hospital management.
“However, I am more concerned with the many others like her, dying in silence in many parts of the nation, because no one can speak for them. We must fix this nation. Nigeria must work for all, and everyone will get their due rewards for their productive contributions,” he stated.
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