Dr. Olusegun Mimiko

For more than two decades now, pensioners in Ondo State have been going through agonies and pains due to the failure of past administrations to settle their entitlement. But the jinx was broken recently when the present administration paid the entitlement of 1, 551 retirees to the tune of N1.4 billion. A new beginning now beacons on the retirees that are still alive. GBOYEGA AKINSANMI writes via ThisDay (‘Thought I’ll Get My Gratuities in Heaven’).

Pa Jonathan Olusegun Bamigboye retired from Ondo State Teaching Service Commission precisely in 1984. For the octogenarian, the era of retirement was a period of rest after putting well-above 30 years in the state service perhaps with heart of commitment, patriotism and service. But this impression was quickly dampened when the past governments failed to settle his entitlements decades after his retirement.

Pa Bamigboye, now 85, was disappointed. He had apparently lost hope of claiming his pensions since 1984 given the failure of past administrations to address it. He fell sick and was left with nothing to take care of himself, though God has made his children a blessing. He could not have been alive any longer if not because he was blessed with caring and compassionate children, reinforcing a saying that teachers’ rewards are in heaven.

Perhaps due to old age, the octogenarian is currently bed-ridden and being attended to in a hospital in the state. Like Pa Bamigboye, there are thousands of retirees that have been denied their statutory entitlements by past administrations in Ondo State. For decades, a good number of retirees died while waiting to settle their entitlements, a situation that has provoked several protests in the camp of retires.

But Governor Olusegun Mimiko brought Pa Bamigboye succour recently, when he began settling the entitlement of pensioners in the state. It was in the cool afternoon of Wednesday, October 28 when the octogenarian was led to Saint Peter’s Unity Secondary School, Akure, one of the six collection centres for the payment of his retirement entitlement perhaps with mixed feelings, failed promises and renewed promises of the new administration.

The octogenarian was in company of his children, looking frail and fragile apparently due to old age. Mimiko passionately held the octogenarian from the back and assured him that his plight over the years had ended. Surprised by the new government’s effort, Pa Bamigboye simply commented that he had thought he would get his backlog of gratuities he was owed in heaven, suggesting that he had lost hope after waiting for 25 years.

He shared his gory experience in the hands of corrupt pension officials. He said he never believed that he would be able to personally collect his final entitlements after 25 years of “come today, come tomorrow,” even though he was paid a paltry N50, 000 on yearly basis after much stress and rubbing of palms of greedy pension officials. But with the new state intervention, Mimiko has revived the hope of state retirees.

Pa Bamigboye added: “I now know I will live longer. I will actually go to my grave a happy man. I thank God for making me witness today. I also thank Governor Mimiko for reversing the saying that teachers’ rewards are in heaven. I have cheated death. I have been rejuvenated. Some of my colleagues have today received our rewards on earth, even though many have died. I am grateful to this government. I pray God will make Ondo a better state under the leadership of Mimiko”.

The case of Pa Bamigboye is just one out of the 1551 retirees that received their entitlements recently at six different locations in Ondo State. The state intervention was designed to put paid to wanton impoverishment, want and deprivation for which most retirees are known. And their plight was occasioned by decades of non-payment of their pension and gratuities amounting to N1.4billion by past administrations.
Commenting on the state retirement intervention, Mimiko regretted that about 32 per cent of their colleagues were not “so lucky having died while waiting for a day like this when they will smile to the banks with their cheques. As a government, we cannot close our eyes and watch more of our retired senior citizens die waiting for their entitlements having used the better part of their lives serving their fatherland.
“No responsible government will fold its arms and let those who have contributed their quota to the development of this nation to die in want, poverty and deprivation occasioned by non-payment of their rights. This is the reason we have taken the bull by the horns to offset this huge debt, which is the responsibility of the federal government. But we shall take up with them at the appropriate time and get them refund what we spent to pay our retirees on their behalf.

“We have resolved that instead of paying these benefits in piecemeal without making intended economic impact on the pensioners, we decided to pay out in lump sum, a total sum of N1.4 billion owed all primary school pensioners and retired local government staff in the state. This is the first time this is being done in Ondo State. We are sad to read stories that some pensioners died while still pursuing their gratuities and arrears of pension. This is unacceptable,” Mimiko explained.

The governor explained that to ensure that retirees are “not subjected to undue hardship, six payment centres was created, two in each of the three Senatorial Districts in the State. The centres include: Ikare Town taking—care of retirees from Akoko North East, North West, South East and South West Local Government Areas and Owo Town for the pensioners in Owo and Ose Local Government Areas.

Other centres include Akure for pensioners in Akure South, Akure North and Ifedore Local Government Areas, Ondo for those in Ondo West, Ondo East, Idanre and Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Areas; Okitipupa for retirees in Okitipupa, Ese-Odo and Ilaje Local Government Areas and Ore Town for those in Irele and Odigbo Local Government Areas.

The intervention of Mimiko has elicited positive reactions from different stakeholders in the state. For Ondo State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Momoh Braimoh, it is a good development. While speaking at the flag-off, Braimoh said Mimiko had continued to demonstrate a high sense of commitment to state service. He said the governor “is not just a lover of the workers, but also the entire people going by his numerous laudable programmes all aimed at making the people happy and taking Ondo State to its pristine heights.

“I wish to sincerely congratulate you and your government over the release of funds to offset arrears of gratuity and pension of retired primary school teachers and local government staff. This is highly commendable. We pray that God will continue to strengthen you and give you grace to do more for the people of the state. On behalf of the entire workers of Ondo State, I want to thank Governor Mimiko for this effort,” Braimoh said.

In his comment, Chairman of the Ondo State Pensioners’ Association, Chief Eni Olotu also praised Mimiko for remembering the retirees in the state. He said the governor was God-sent given the decision he had made “to save our people from going down the grave untimely. Mimiko is a man destined to wipe the tears of the people of Ondo State and bring them to the Promised Land. We pray and pray to God to spare his life so that he can do more for the people of the state and Nigerians.

“We are happy to witness what we have been clamouring for in our association. Pensioners must not be allowed to die in penury while waiting for their entitlements. Ondo State has started a good thing. This is a novel development. We wish the federal government would live to its responsibilities by paying its own share of the money. We want other states of the federation to take a cue from Mimiko’s example. He has done well and we are glad,” Olotu said.

For the pensioners who went home with smiles (as all of them collected between N880,000 and N2.5million), they were full of praises and gratitude to Mimiko for bringing joy unspeakable into their lives. For Mr. Kehinde Simon, 61, a retired local government staff, the governor could not imagine the good things he has just done for him and his family members by paying him in one lump sum his entitlements.

He explained that Mimiko “has just saved me from a major embarrassment. I have been working hard to complete my building, which I have been erecting for years. The education of my children has been a source of major concern. I can now pay their school fees and use the rest to support my farming activities, which I have taken to since retirement. I pray God bless the governor. Mimiko has just made me a millionaire. I am renewed. I am very happy to be alive and witness this kind of development”.