- Scheme Poses Hardship To Retirees, Says Ofobruku
BY CLETUS NGWODO
CHAIRMAN, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Delta State Council, Comrade Goodluck Ofobruku has called on the state government to discontinue with the Contributory Pension Scheme, emphasizing that it has only brought hardship on retirees instead of catering for their welfare.
The NLC Chairman, who made the call while speaking with journalists in Asaba, yesterday, decried the plight of pensioners under the scheme, said inflation has eaten deep into the nation’s economy.
According to him, pensioners in Nigeria are being short-changed compared to their counterparts in other countries. “What is being paid under the Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria is not what is paid to pensioners elsewhere in the world and can no longer be tolerated”.
“In Nigeria, you retire and you get less than 15 per cent. Some workers who were initially earning ₦400,000 or ₦500,000 are being paid ₦30,000 upon retirement. Now, in this economy where inflation is harsh and the naira has fallen to the lowest ebb, how do they expect a retiree, particularly for a Grade level 17 officer for example, to survive on ₦30,000 a month?”
The labour leader lamented that many retirees are forced into destitution because the meagre pensions being paid to them cannot cover their immediate needs.
“Take, for example, a man who did not have children early or had not built a house before retirement. He retires from service, and he must look for money to pay rent and school fees for the children. He gets his pension and before you know it, it finishes; how do you reconcile that.
“Retirement is supposed to mean rest after labour—‘rest is sweet after labour’ which is the slogan of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP)—but now, rest has become bitter after labour. That is why we say government must stop the Contributory Pension Scheme and return to the former arrangement, the Defined Benefit Scheme, that was operational until 2010, where once workers retired, they received 80 per cent of their last salaries to take care of themselves for the remainder of their lives,” he said.
“On measures that could reduce the suffering of retirees, Comrade Ofobruku stressed that laws already exist to that effect but are not being implemented.
“The law in Delta State, especially Section 7, says when you retire, you should get 50 per cent of your last salary. However, people are not getting that. We have drawn the attention of the government to it several times. Instead of 50 per cent, retirees are receiving less than 20 per cent. If this law had been implemented, maybe we would not be complaining this much.
“But if somebody was earning ₦400,000 and is now getting ₦30,000 or ₦27,000, how do you expect him or her to survive? That is why I say, let us scrap this scheme. If the law exists only to undo civil servants and retirees, then it has failed its purpose. Man should not be made for the law; the law should be made for man,” he said.
Comrade Ofobruku, who commended the state Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori for the recent approval of N10 billion to offset backlog of arrears to retirees in the state, however, cautioned the agency responsible for that to ensure judicious management that it could get to the people the fund was meant for. On the ongoing screening of civil servants by the Delta State Civil Service Commission, the NLC Chairman disclosed that discussions were ongoing with the state government to make funds available to settle those that could be affected in the process.
“However, if any worker feels he or she has been unjustly treated, our doors are open. They should come to the Labour House and lay their complaints. We will take them up. We will not sit and allow anybody to be forcefully removed from service. We are here to protect their interest,” he assured.
