By Victor Ahiuma-Young

Campaign for Democratic Workers’ Rights, CDWR, has called on Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, to end the perceived misery being faced by retirees in the state public service by immediately paying their pension arrears.

Secretary of Osun State chapter of CDWR, Mr. Kola Ibrahim, in a statement claimed since August, the retirees had not received their monthly pensions, while gratuities of those who retired since Aregbesola assumed office had not been paid.

According to the statement, “retirees who were forced into the Contributory Pension Scheme by government, have not also been paid their meagre stipends, because the state government has not committed its counterpart funds for the payment of the retirees.

These situations have put retirees in poor conditions. It will be recalled that it took several protests by Osun State pensioners since January 2014, before the government could pay some fractions of the pension arrears it owed retirees since last year.

Interestingly, the arrears were paid some days to the August 9 governorship election, in which the current governor won a new mandate. This has spurred many to ask if the payment of the arrears was an election gimmick.

Indeed, not a few retirees felt confident to cast their lots with the governor in the election, hoping for a better future. However, it seems their optimism is misplaced, as reflected in government’s current attitude. It seems the government only used the pension issue as a political tool.

“While political leaders tell workers, pensioners, unemployed, students, parents and the poor to tighten their belts, and bear with their capitalism-created austerity, capitalist political and government officials justify their ostentatious and parasitic living on public resources on the lame excuse that cost of living is high.

This explain why politicians will awards for themselves millions of naira as illegitimate pensions while they tell workers to go into exploitative contributory pension scheme that jeopardises their future.

In a sane society where governments are held responsible, payment of pensions should not require constant protests and agitations.  We call on Aregbesola government to pay pensioners their entitlements, and resolve all outstanding pension issues without further delay.

The pensioners, having committed their active adult lives to public service, should not be made to suffer needlessly.”

The group lamented that at a time when anti-poor policies of all pro-capitalist governments at all levels had engendered poverty and higher costs of living, the need to defend the right of pensioners was urgent now than ever.

CDWR said “as a result of government-induced unemployment, many retirees still fend for their adult children, while commercialization of education has meant increasing cost of education for parents.

Public hospitals have been commercialised, if at all they function properly. All of these have made live unbearable for working people, retirees and the poor. Non-payment of pension is an added act of wickedness on the part of politicians.

Moreover, failure to attend to the legitimate need of pensioners, aside worsening the conditions of retirees, will put workers in desperate conditions, lower their morale and undermine public service.

This is why the society must get concerned about the plight of pensioners. More than this, the labour movement, under whose platform the pensioners are, should show more interest in the plight of its members.

“Nationally, hundreds of pensioners continue to die needlessly as a result of unpaid pensions and attendant poverty. In Osun State, the leaders of labour unions played active roles in forcing many workers to join the exploitative Contributory Pension Scheme that put workers’ future in jeopardy, while forcing other to retire prematurely. Yet, when pensioners’ rights were denied, they looked the other way.

We call on retirees to get more organised than ever, and build a fighting platform. Workers in Osun State, and nationally, must also compel their leaders to show commitment to pension issues and plight of pensioners.”

NOTE: Pension and You, got in touch with an official of the state government for reaction, but at the time of this report, the response was still being awaited. However, whenever the response comes, it will be given similar publicity.