By Efe Onodjae

Members of the Nigeria Port Authority Pensioners and Welfare Association (NPAPWA), on Monday, staged a protest at the NPA head office in Marina, Lagos, demanding that management address the delay in the review of their pensions under the new pension scheme.

The protesters were seen carrying placards with inscriptions such as: “Nigeria Port Authority is owing its pensioners 16 years’ constitutional benefits,” “President Bola Tinubu, save our souls. NPA pensioners are dying daily; we need your intervention,” “My pension is N30,000 per month, save my soul,” and “Dantsoho!! Allah Ya Yisha NPA” (God will judge you), while a 69-year-old woman was seen in tears at the venue.

President of NPAPWA, Charles Binitie, told Vanguard that last week’s planned protest was suspended after the association received assurances that steps were being taken to resolve the issue.

“We suspended it because we got sufficient information that something is being done. But what we are asking for is for the management to address us. In any relationship, there must be dialogue. You cannot work on our behalf in silence. If I do not have the privilege to know, I would not know that something is being done. That is why we suspended it last week.

“This time around, we came out to make them know. Why didn’t they call us for dialogue? That is the main purpose,” he said.

Many of the protesters highlighted the disparity between their pensions and the salaries of current staff.

“We are witnessing 16 years of constitutional denial of our rights. The main problem is that 16 years ago, they reviewed their own salaries and refused to adjust those of pensioners. This created a widening gap.

“When the new pension Act was implemented, they increased their own benefits but did not touch anything for the pensioners. That is why we are still receiving N30,000, what a person earned 16 years ago. There has been no increment, no review, and that is what we are demanding,” he said.
Binitie further warned that the protest could escalate if their demands were not met.

“Our protest is nationwide. The next protest will be larger and more aggressive, involving units in Lagos, Warri, Calabar and Port Harcourt if our demands are not met between now and mid-June,” he added.

Some pensioners, who spoke with Vanguard amid tears, narrated their ordeal.

A former staff member, James Igwe, who joined the NPA in 1977, lamented: “I am still receiving N30,000. Many of us are now sick, paralysed and homeless. Some are sleeping in churches because we cannot pay rent. Our children are out of school, and many families have been scattered because of lack of money.”

Another protester, Otaro, who joined the NPA in 1975, recounted the harsh realities of retirement.
“When we arrived here, we were struggling all the time. Sometimes I spend three days without eating. I retired during Obasanjo’s government in 2006; they forced us out. How am I going to train my children? Where is the money to train my children”.