Akintola Benson Oke
Lagos State is already noted and severally lauded as being the primus inter pares in the nation in the area of pension management and retirees’ welfare. Even so, it is apparent that the administration is not ready to rest on its oars or to become complacent in this area. Rather, the administration is poised to revise the very framework that has been so applauded in order to ensure that the system moves from being ‘very good’ to ‘much better.’
Second, Lagos State Government highly values officers of the public service and is absolutely committed to their post-service welfare. As I always point out, Lagos State has an administration led by an able and indefatigable governor who fully understands and appreciates the role that civil servants play in governance. Thus, I am hopeful that officers of the Lagos State Civil Service Pensions Office will appreciate why the task of designing, revising, and implementing pensions and retirees-related policies should not be strictly informed by legal and regulatory considerations only but should be moderated by the human instincts of compassion within the bounds of an approved framework.
On this note, I am delighted to join in the efforts to ensure that Lagos State continues to blaze the trail in designing and operating a system that caters to pensioners’ welfare in the most efficient way. I am certain that training will lead to improved efficiencies in the system. This, indeed, is absolutely important and critical. Yet, I wish to advocate for the development and inculcation of the element of compassion into the design system for retirees’ welfare in Lagos State. In so advocating, I will be showing that it is in the interest of the society at large for government to embark on certain gratuitous initiatives that benefit the most vulnerable in the society.
In the book, A Fearless Heart by Thupten Jinpa, the point is made that “Most of us value compassion and agree that it is important both in our own lives as well as in society more generally. Undeniably, compassion is also part of our everyday experience of being human. We love and care for our children; confronted