…Say members dying daily due to penury, anguish
…Remind those seating on pension funds of law of karma Â
Pensioners in Nigeria under the aegis of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme (NUPCPS) have called on the Federal Government to save them from untimely death plaguing members as a result of penury occasioned by non-payment of their pensions.
The pensioners, who spoke through the Secretary-General of the NUPCPS, Pastor Michael Borokinni said pensioners in the country died daily as a result various plights they passed through, citing an example of a 60-year-old pensioner who died on Tuesday but looked like an 80-year-old man due to anguish.
Borokinni stated these during the inauguration of the Executive Committee of NUPCPS, PHCN Oyo State Contributory Unit in Ibadan, the state capital.
The executives are the Chairman, Alhaji Mukaila Kayode Adedapo; Vice Chairman, Engr Niyi Morenigbade; General Secretary, Pastor Akinade Titus Aderemi; Treasurer, Mrs. Edna Oweseri Oyedele; and Auditor, Mrs Olufunmilayo Oloko. Other members are Mr. Akeem Oyedeji, Alhaji Sule Yusuff, Mr. Akingbuyi Attah, Mr. Nureni Idowu Bello, Mr. Rotimi Olotu, Mr. Sunday Kolawole, Mr. Thomas Aderemi Adeleke and Mr. Akeem Ajibade.
Borokinni said:‘’I wish you could look at my people now; we have some people that are not as old as me but look as old as my father because they say money answers everything. I have somebody here today who left as a senior manager at the point of retirement. If he goes on a good day, his pay should be N400,000 in a month, yet he is earning N100,000 in a month. That is a great plight. We are being shortchanged and being denied our rights.
”We have a lot of people who have worked for many years. There are a lot of serious plights. We left service in 2013, a lot have died and impoverished.
‘’The government should please rise to our challenges. Through the leadership of our union, all our plights have been presented and itemized. We are just imploring them to rise to our challenges. As a disengaged set of people, we are calling on them to give us what is actually due to us. It is our right.
‘’Recently, they said we should come for one deadly verification where they said they were going to pay 16 months and it was like a stipend. That is very meagre.
”So, we are pleading to the government to see to our plights and come to our aid at this time, because we don’t want to continue to lose people. We get reports of our people who die daily as a result of lack of money. As of this morning, someone from Enugu died. He was 60 but he looked like an 80-year-old person.  The government should do the needful before our members die one after the other’’.
The pensioners’ leader urged those in charge of the pension management to remember the law of karma as stated in the Bible.
He charged members of the union to support the new executives in order to move forward.
In his remarks, the Southwest Chairman of NUPCPS, Chief Joseph Oyadiran urged the new leaders not to victimize those who did not support them but court their friendship.
Oyadiran charged all members to have faith in their new leaders and pray for them in order to succeed in their new roles.
He added that PFAs and insurance companies are the greatest enemies, adding that insurance companies will not show the page where lies are.
On his part, Mr. Bola Adeyemi, who is the Trustee 1, PHCN Contributory Branch, said ,”We have passed through a lot of travail but we thank God that we have triumphed. Since we left in 2013, we were like orphans”.
The new Chairman, Alhaji Mukaila Adedapo,said with God on their side, the new executives would work together and hard to achieve the desired goal.
ENDÂ