It was with bated expectations, and if you like, in some cases, trepidation, that many pensioners, across Edo State, who have since not been paid their gratuities, received the news of the Edo State government’s readiness to begin payment of a-29-year backlog of gratuity for pensioners in the Edo State Local Government Staff Pension Board.

While critics and members of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state fear that this present government’s plan could be an empty promise and “a scam,” a public affairs’ commentator, Mr. Clifford Osazemen, has urged the Edo State government to address the pitiable fate of pensioners of the College of Education, Ekiadolor, insisting that “Governor Godwin Obaseki seems to be defying all manners of reasonable and passionate appeals to pay these pensioners of former College of Education, Ekiadolor their monthly pensions and gratuity for the past four years.”

An official statement from the Head of Local Government Administration (HOLGA) and Permanent Secretary, Local Government Staff Pension Board, Mrs. Osas-Ehigie Sandra, last week, disclosed that a screening exercise would be held for the payment of pensioners on the payroll of the Local Government Staff Pension Board between 1979 and 2008, beginning from Monday 16th through to Friday, 20th October, 2023 from 8.00am to 4.00pm daily.

While disclosing that “His Excellency, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has graciously released fund for their gratuity and that screening exercise will be carried out in the Local Government Staff Pensions Board Premises, King Square, Benin City,” the HOLGA statement, therefore, enjoined all “confirmed pensioners to physically present themselves at the venue with their pension identity card, biometrics slip and pay advice.”

However, while reacting to the declaration by the Edo State government, Mr. Victor Ofure Osehobo, the Assistant State Publicity Secretary, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Edo State, queried the ambiguous nature of the state government’s statement because it did not state in clear terms, for the sake of proper accountability, whether the benefiting local government pensioners included those who served in the defunct Bendel State, and how government could approve funds “without knowing the exact number of beneficiaries involved in this long-overdue payment.”

Osehobo, in an article titled “Obaseki's plan to pay 104-year old pensioners is a scam,” maintained that the procedure outlined by the Head of Local Government Administration dictating that confirmed pensioners must physically present themselves at a specific venue, raises concerns about the practicality and fairness of government’s approach, querying for emphasis, how practically possible, it would be, (considering the bad state of our roads in the state) for “a 104-year-old retired primary school teacher from a remote location to make the journey to Benin City since all the roads leading from across the State are federal roads.”

Read some paragraphs of Osehobo’s article: “The core issue in this situation is whether gratuity, a rightful entitlement, should be contingent on a physical presence and biometric verification in an age of a digital governor like Obaseki!

“While it is reasonable to ensure the accuracy of pension payments and prevent fraud, there should be a more compassionate and practical approach for elderly pensioners who might not be able to travel. Why not (do the screening) at the local government areas or wards or places of retirement? Payment to deceased pensioners could be addressed through probate courts and legal channels, ensuring that the funds reach the intended beneficiaries.

“This 28-year label for a 44-year scam is an entire process designed to defraud Edo State. While screening for monthly pensions may be necessary to prevent payments to deceased individuals, gratuity is a different matter. It is a long-overdue obligation that should be fulfilled without unnecessary hurdle. My take is that the Edo State Government's plan to pay a 44-year backlog of gratuity to pensioners is a fluke.”

Meanwhile, the public affairs’ commentator, Mr. Osazemen, while making an ample case for pensioners of the defunct College of Education, Ekiadolor, to be paid their monthly pensions and gratuity, in an article titled Obaseki and Edo Pensioners’ welfare, a copy of which was made available to our reporter, insisted that a majority of “these deprived pensioners and their dependants are ardent and conscience-driven supporters of Governor Obaseki which manifested positively in his first and second tenure elections,” and, therefore deserve “to be treated with dignity and respect as retired government workers by earning their designated wages, hence Governor Obaseki should put smile on their faces by approving the payment of their pension benefits and gratuity without further delay.”

Read Mr. Osazemen’s article: “It is inconceivable that senior citizens could be subjected to economic hardship in these harrowing times. A case in reference is the excruciating pain, hunger, and disease culminating in death, which pensioners of former College of Education, Ekiadolor are experiencing in Edo State. Governor Godwin Obaseki seems to be defying all manners of reasonable and passionate appeals to pay these pensioners of former College of Education, Ekiadolor their monthly pensions for the past four years and gratuity.

“Governor Obaseki has continued to treat this category of pensioners in Edo State as if they were second class citizens by denying the pensioners their right to life after their thirty-five years of meritorious services to Edo State. These pensioners contributed immensely to service the teaching profession with qualified Nigeria Certificate in Education graduates that are now regarded as engine rooms for the dissemination of knowledge in many primary and secondary schools in Edo State.

“As senior citizens, it is improper to subject them to financial strangulation and intimidation when it is realized that they need money to nurture their ageing bodies and care for their dependents. That unending bottlenecks and bureaucracy are placed on their way, in the process of getting their legitimate monthly pensions and gratuity, is very disheartening. It is surprising that a state that boasts of digital information system cannot leverage on this technological attainment to pay these pensioners without unnecessary delay.

“Furthermore, payment of monthly pensions to civil and public service workers are usually amplified as prompt and unfailing by Edo State government. It is inexplicable why this olive branch by Edo State Government has not been extended to pensioners of former College of Education, Ekiadolor.

“There is also the much talked about imminent plans to pay gratuity to retired Edo State Government workers. It is expected that pensioners of former College of Education, Ekiadolor will be included, and not excluded, in this payment arrangement. Monthly payment of pensions and gratuity is a sine qua non for economic prosperity and sustenance of those who served the state without blemish. Moreover, everyone in the state who patronizes the economic circle will gain from the patronage of these pensioners if they are timeously and adequately paid their pension benefits. The dependents of these pensioners will also not be left out.

“However, if the Edo State Government, under Governor Obaseki, continues to relegate pensioners of former College of Education, Ekiadolor to the present abysmal level of subjugation, poverty, hunger and death that have become their inglorious hallmark, then it is quite unfortunate and regrettable.

“It is trite law that retired workers are statutorily protected by the extant laws of the land hence their service guidelines are usually regarded as tinted with statutory flavour. This is fundamental and cannot be dissipated by any form of executive discrimination.

“Pensioners of former College of Education, Ekiadolor are yearning for executive relief from Governor Godwin Obaseki to reduce their agonizing pains. When it is realized that our society despises and treats with disdain the financially unempowered, then the current unenviable status of these pensioners can better be imagined. That this category of unpaid pensioners transcends the cleaners to the Chief Lecturers gives more cause to worry about as everyone of them seems to be suffering from the unending sledge hammer of the Edo State Government.

“It is pertinent to point out that these pensioners of former College of Education, Ekiadolor are neither enemies of the present state government nor enemies of Godwin Obaseki. In fact, these deprived pensioners and their dependants are ardent and conscience-driven supporters of Governor Obaseki which manifested positively in his first and second tenure elections. They deserved to be treated with dignity and respect as retired government workers by earning their designated wages, hence Governor Obaseki should put smile on their faces by approving the payment of their pension benefits and gratuity without further delay.”