Mr. Peter Obi, Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, has lambasted the Bola Tinubu administration for delaying payment of pensions and gratuities to retirees.
He stated that many elderly citizens struggle to meet their basic needs and access healthcare because they have not received their entitlements.
The former Anambra State government, in a statement yesterday, shared a touching experience he had with a retired civil servant in Nsukka, Enugu State when he visited Shanahan College of Nursing Sciences. He said he noticed an elderly woman trying to speak with him. Although people around attempted to silence her, he insisted on hearing her out.
The woman introduced herself as a retired civil servant who had dedicated her working years to serving the country. She told Obi that she had not received her pension for some time. Even more heartbreaking was the fact that she had been hospitalized for over a week without any money to pay for food, let alone medical bills.
“I felt a surge of anger and pity. Anger at leaders like me, who, out of greed and insatiable desperation for material acquisition, have made life a living hell for others by denying them the fruits of their labor. And then pity for the poor elderly woman, and many others like her whose painful stories may never be heard.”
He urged the government to make retirees’ welfare a priority. He emphasized the need for compassion and humanity in leadership.
“I have said it before, and I still maintain, that any government that withholds the pensions and gratuities of our senior citizens in their vulnerable years is wicked. As a governor, I inherited and paid off over N30 billion in pensions and gratuities accumulated over the years, because I understood the pain the elderly citizens were going through.”
The former governor mentioned that he gave the woman some financial support and promised to follow up on her case with the hospital. However, he expressed deep concern for the countless others suffering in silence across the country.
“We must fix this nation. Nigeria must work for all, and everyone will get their due rewards for their productive contributions,” he declared.