THIS is not the best of times for retired Nigerian workers who are gripped by avoidable economic hardship and already grappling with survival after meritorious service to their fatherland. Their fate is based on the inadequacies that characterized the subsisting pension and gratuity scheme that experienced payment delays and reduced their takeaway after service to peanuts.
The scheme known as the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) for both workers in the public and private sectors, which came into effect via the Pension Reform Act of 2024, has stolen joy from retirees, reducing them to beggars, irresponsible parents, and undignified elites.
Before the enactment of the Act, Nigerian retirees were darlings of their families and communities, with respect and dignity as somebody who has seen it all and is comfortable in all ramifications. They have their own houses and motor vehicles and engage in subsistence farms that can feed the family, get recognition at community meetings and functions, and are sought after in the event of a crisis that requires mediation.
This was made possible because at retirement a civil servant will be paid all that he had contributed throughout the service years in addition to support from the government at both state and federal levels. That is not all. He must be paid within 90 days (three months) and encouraged to stay in a place of his choice. This is either his village or place of domicile.
Presently, the story has changed for the worse. The contributory scheme, touted as easy access to gratuity and one that will sustain workers for a lifetime after service, has become their undoing and a nightmare. The thought of retirement has also become a nightmare, and those who retire will have to wait for upwards of five to 10 years to get their gratuity and pension.
Unfortunately, not all are opportune to live to enjoy the benefits, as some die while waiting. Besides, many are humiliated by landlords, town unions, neighbours, children’s schools, and shop owners as they incur debts awaiting their gratuities.
While the workers are bearing the brunt of the policy, the operators are living in affluence and trading with the money contributed by retirees. Besides, the contributory scheme has been marred by irregularities and inefficiency, including lack of awareness of the operations, delay in payment, irregular contributions by the governments, poor management of the funds, delay in payment, corruption and embezzlement, and stressful and poor records.
While some unions and individuals have protested in silence, the members of the Union of Retired Police Officers have once again taken to the streets and have also proposed July 21, 2025, for another round of protest dubbed the “Mother of All Peaceful Protests. They are pushed by what they have suffered in the process of gaining access to their contributions after retirement.
These pockets of protests spurred the renewed moves to reintroduce the gratuity payments under the Contributory Pension Scheme. The National Pension Commission and the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation are nursing the idea of reintroducing gratuity to allow civil servants full access to their contributions and save them from economic hardship, nightmares, and suffering after retirement.
We welcome the idea of reverting to the period of gratuity payments to workers. The stress and economic hardship that currently face retirees are enough reasons to allow them to enjoy the fruits of their many years in service.
The move by the PENCOM and the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation is commendable and should be pursued with the desired interest to bring it to fruition and save retired workers from state-inflicted hardship. It is important to point out that similar policies were proposed in the past and abandoned midway. This should not be the case this time.
We also enjoin the proponents to initiate a bill for a law to back up the position and ensure that all categories of workers, both public and private, are accommodated in the proposed scheme.
The proposed gratuity, if achieved within a short while, will surely return retirees to their glorious days.
