Old retirees in Benue state lead a life of poverty and hardship resulting from irregular payment of pensions and gratuities. IJEOMA OPARA writes about the distressing experiences of senior citizens in the state.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbAGrFjloWA

SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD George Okopi recalls with teary eyes, the death of a son whom he lost to an illness he could not afford to treat.

Losing a son due to his inability to pay medical bills was not the reality he imagined during the pen-down ceremony at the end of his career in 2010.

After thirty-five years of working with the Otukpo Local Government in Benue state, Okopi looked forward to retirement with the assurance of stable living.

He was confident of sustaining his small family with his gratuity, which amounted to N2.7 million, and a monthly pension of N59,000.

But, twelve years later, Okopi had received only about N200,000 of his gratuity, and his pension comes three times a year on average.

In 2018, Okopi’s son, Emmanuel, got diagnosed with typhoid and malaria.

Although the cost of treating malaria and typhoid at a government-owned hospital is usually less than N50,000, according to a medical practitioner Kachi Ugochukwu, the old retiree said he was billed N130,000 for Emmanuel’s treatment.

But he could not raise the money for the treatment, and shortly after, his son died.

He wiped off tears from his face with the left hand as he narrated how Emmanuel died barely three days before his final university examinations.

Okopi George wipes tears off his face. Photo: The ICIR.

“I lost one of my sons in the university because he was sick. We went to a government hospital but I didn’t have enough money to pay the bills, so we withdrew him, and he returned to school in Makurdi. He died there, three days before his final exams,” Okopi said in tears.

In 2014, Okopi himself suffered partial stroke that left his right side paralysed.

Since he does not have the money and physical strength to raise his other children, he handed some of them over to relatives who now care for them.

Workers, like Okopi, dread retirement because of challenges associated with idleness and old age, including declining health conditions. In Benue, these fears are worsened by irregular and, in some cases, non-payment of retirement benefits by the government.

The ICIR found that local and state government retirees in Benue receive pension payments only three or four times yearly, while gratuities are rarely paid.

Okopi is one of the thousands of Benue retirees plunged into a life of penury upon retirement.

While he could hand over his children to relatives to care for, fellow retiree Abu Acheme, who also became broke after retirement, married off his daughters to save the cost of living.

Acheme said his monthly pension is N110,000, but the government doesn’t pay regularly. He confirmed to The ICIR that he was being owed arrears of four years and a month, totalling N5.4 million as of September 10, 2022.

Out of his gratuity of about N4 million, the government only paid N300,000, less than 10 per cent, since his retirement in 2012.

“The state owes me four years and one month. I served the government with the hope that I could secure a better future for my children, but I cannot. There is no joy in marrying your children out because you cannot afford to give them a good life,” he said.

Pensioners retire to farming

The ICIR investigation shows that many Benue pensioners have had a raw deal with successive governments who have failed to fulfill labour contracts with their old workforce.

Many shared stories of huge loss, depression, hardship, and frustration due to the government defaulting to pay pensions and gratuities.

For survival, the majority have taken to subsistent farming, regardless of their age, declining physical strength, and security threat on farms. One of them is sixty five-year-old Florence Adogo, who retired as a headteacher under the Otukpo Local Government in 2016.

Adogo ran out of luck in April when she was abducted and brutalised by kidnappers.

Despite paying a ransom, Adogo was shot in the hand by her captors at the point of release.

She has undergone three surgeries and will commence physiotherapy soon. But Adogo is unsure of where the additional medical fee will come from, as she has exhausted her entire savings.

“I spent about N500,000 on the treatment here in Otukpo. Now, I go to Adoka almost every week for the hand. The money I have spent there is over N400,000.”

Despite the fact that her hand is not fully healed from the gunshot injury, Adogo has returned to the farm for sustenance.

“At first, I used to criticise my colleagues who were due for retirement but didn’t want to go. I thought this was a time to rest and receive a monthly bonus. But it is not so.

“My parents are in the village suffering. I have children I should take care of, but I cannot. The only thing that helps me sometimes is the little farming that I do. Thank God it was my left hand they shot,” she said.

In 2015, Nigeria adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDG 10 aims to reduce inequality by 2030, especially in vulnerable populations, such as older people. One of the targets is to empower and promote social and economic inclusion, irrespective of age, sex or other status.

For Nigeria, achieving this goal by 2030 seems unlikely, as older citizens continue to deal with social and economic insecurity worsened by non-payment of pensions.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/retiring-to-poverty-benue-retirees-live-in-penury-as-government-defaults-on-pension-payment/

I have never seen a Governor so freaking disappointing like Mr. Ortom.

Cubalabloo:
I have never seen a Governor so freaking disappointing like Mr. Ortom.

A very useless man, as usual he will blame President Buhari and herdsmen.

First animal in human skin to fail both as an APC & PDP Governor.

Gov Ortom is the best ipob gov of the year.

Reason being that he insults Buhari everyday.

Meanwhile, gov Umahi is their worst gov of the year. Ask them why, they tell you because he is in APC.

Ortom is a failure