‘I saved for 2yrs’ needs before retiring’

Apensioner has revealed that he had to save money he will need to meet his two years postretirement needs before he left active service.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Trust, the pensioner, who is also a member of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Mr. Gabriel Ikenna, said the savings acted as a buffer for the period he waited for government to verify him and approve his retirement benefits.

Mr. Ikenna, who retired from Anambra State civil service, said before he retired, he discovered that it took months and sometimes years for retirees to access their retirement benefits, a realisation that made him save for the money to meet his needs during the waiting period.

“I started saving knowing what would befall me if I failed to be wise. Nobody advised me. I saw it happening and said my own would be different,” he said.

His fear came to pass as he could not access his benefits until after a year and eight months.

“The saving grace was the backup in my account because I saw it coming. If it happened to others before me, it could happen to me. It happened,” he said.

He said he used his savings to relocate to his village, went into farming and grew the crops his family needed to survive before he was eventually paid.

The retiree said though Anambra State had improved in payment of retirement benefits, delays were still common in many states due to paucity of revenue.

He advised workers to consider saving for their needs to avoid being left stranded when their retirement benefits were not immediately paid.

Many states in Nigeria are still battling with many years of unpaid pension backlog, accumulated under the defined benefits scheme.

Some states are now gradually migrating to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to offset the pension burden but the transition has not been smooth except for states like Lagos, Kaduna and a few others.

Retirees waiting for years to get their post-service entitlements keep increasing even as some of them have taken to the streets to protest against the payment delays.

Recently, the Imo State government was in the news for asking pensioners to forfeit 50 per cent of their pensioners as a condition for then to get the 50 per cent balance.

The pensioners rejected the offer and hit the streets in protest, spurring condemnations across the country.

Also recently, the Nigerian Union of Pensioners and the Nigeria Labour Congress jointly spoke against the nonpayment of pension to federal government workers who retired in 2015.

The next of kin of deceased pensioners are also caught up in the situation as they are unable to get death benefits for the service rendered by their loved ones.