Imo pensioners owe Uzodimma gratitude

“There is no reasonable Nigerian who will not want to support the pensioners….If there is anything I would do to improve the lives of the pensioners in Imo State I will not hesitate to do it.”

The above statement was made in September 2020 by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State during one of his meetings where he addressed the concerns about delayed pension payment in the State.

Four months earlier, May 2020 to be precise, and in his determination to right certain institutional wrongs in Imo, Uzodimma had signed a bill into law that repealed an earlier one that gave former Governors and their deputies, former Speakers and their deputies, the right to collect pension and gratuity after leaving office as political office holders.

Uzodimma had reasoned that the operationalisation of such law in Imo State then violated the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, and that the past leaders in the State were simply taking undue advantage of the offices they had held in trust for the people to exploit them and undermine the system.

Mind you, Uzodimma did not bother that he would have been a beneficiary of the same law that made past Governors and their deputies, past speakers and their deputies, to collect pension and gratuity from the State if such law is allowed to stay.

But for this bold move by the Governor, what many Imo people did not know was that a bill was already in the works at the then House of Assembly where the lawmakers were seeking to be paid pension and gratuity after leaving office.

Today, if that bill had also been passed into law, together with the one already in existence to take care of the former Governor, his deputy, the former speaker and his deputy, all the resources of the State would have been used to service their interest.

The Governor had initiated the biometric verification and automation processes for pensioners in Imo State and before long, the verified pensioners started receiving bank alerts of payment of their pensions from the comfort of their homes. It never happened before.

I recall the leadership of the Imo Pension Union paying a courtesy call on Governor Uzodimma on behalf of their members to express their profound gratitude and support for the full implementation of the biometric verification and automation processes to ensure all the retirees were captured. Today, that request is history as the exercise has long been completed and all pensioners in Imo receiving their pay without let or hindrance.

Away from the challenges of payment of pensioners’ salary every month, the Governor also promised to commence payment of their more than 20 years unpaid gratuities which none of his past colleagues wanted to touch with a long spoon because of the princely sum running into billions of Naira involved.

In no time, the phased payment of gratuities started in Imo in line with the payment structure the Governor had envisaged and openly disclosed to the retirees accordingly. Again, the pensioners were excited and full of gratitude. In fact, it was the size of their excitement that made them to give the Governor an award as – “Most Pensioners- friendly Governor of Imo State”- which he cherishes till date.

As yours sincerely writes, the pensioners who fall within the first phase of the gratuity payment plan/structure have been paid. Arrangements are also in top gear to migrate another set of pensioners to the structure where they will get paid their entitlement.

The above short background is critical for us to understand the intention behind the decision of the persons claiming to be pensioners who were credited to have gone to the Assumpta Cathedral last week for a Thanksgiving for surviving the none payment of gratuities by the Governor Uzodimma administration.

Report had it that the so-called pensioners had  beseeched God to intervene on their plight.

Before I proceed to evaluate what the acclaimed pensioners must have done with their supplication to God over gratuity, it is important to note that the Union of the Pensioners in Imo State had long distanced the members from the Assumpta Cathedral excursion, describing those involved in the exercise as impersonators.

However, the point must be made that the Church, as God’s Sanctuary, desires that all manner of persons approaches it. That is why both the good, the bad and the ugly, even in behaviour, can boldly go to the Church to seek God’s face. No man of God drives anyone who has approached the Church for God to solve his or her problem away. In fact, the more persons that approach the Church for whatever reason, the greater the believe that God dwells therein and prayers answered.

But what is usually the challenge is the intension. Is it with good heart? Is it to kill or destroy or blackmail or slander? Is it for mischief purpose or for attention seeking? Or is it for just social outing?

I am really concerned about the intention of the so-called pensioners who were said to have gone to ask God to compel Uzodimma to pay them their gratuity.

I am also compelled to draw our attention to the book of Jeremiah 17:9, which says, “the heart is deceitful above all things.”

If we are in agreement that human emotions, desires and subjective reasoning are unreliable guides that can trick us into making poor decisions and judgement, as well as prioritizing selfish desires over truth, is it not possible that the so-called pensioners had a motive that was beyond seeking God’s face?

Given that their is no retiree in Imo State that is not in tune with Uzodimma’s intentional efforts to clear the backlog of gratuities owed to the pensioners since the past 20 years, is it out of place to describe these few respected elder statesmen and women who went to Assumpta Cathedral as mischievous retirees?

It was late South African President and anti Apartheid Czar, Dr Nelson Mandela who said, “it always seems impossible until it is done.”

Before now, no retiree in Imo State believes payment of gratuity was possible. But can they sincerely say that there is no action on the subject matter? If it is because you have not received your own, should that be a reason to deny the genuine effort of a man who has remained passionate about the welfare of not just pensioners but the entire workforce in the State?  Apart from Imo, which other State in Nigeria is paying N104,000 minimum wage in Nigeria, more than the Federal Government pays?  Which State in Nigeria is implementing a free Health Insurance programme for her workforce including for the pensioners? What happens to the our heart of gratitude?

Many believe that political opponents always find in our retired elder statesmen and women a willing tool to play politics because of their “vulnerability.” If the leadership of the Imo State Pension Union is unaware of the so-called Thanksgiving  prayer at Assumpta Cathedral and said those who went there are imposters, what message has their outing sent across – those praying to God for answers to their problems or those mocking Him for the sake of their selfish desires?

Interested political opponents may want to take advantage of the “vulnerability” of our aged retirees to get them engaged in any activity to keep them busy in line with George Bernhard Shaw’s caution that, ” a life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”

Unfortunately, did the Holy Book not warn us in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked?”

Mine is a frank advice to our respected retirees. They should rather engage in genuine and sincere prayer to God for the gift of a man like Hope Uzodimma at this period in the history of Imo State for what God has used him to accomplish for the State.

They ought to pray to God to continuously supporting, sustaining and encouraging Hope Uzodimma in his determination to leave Imo State better than he met in all ramifications. They should implore God in their supplication to help Hope Uzodimma fulfill his promise to make every worker and pensioner in Imo State happy by ensuring that the resources of the State are used, only for their good and not for the select few whose stock in trade has always been to play politics with their livelihood and future.  I am certain they will not lose anything should they pray the way Hezekiah did in 2 kings 19 and 20, because God is still in the business of answering prayers when the heart is genuine and pure.

The popular saying that an elder does not stay at home and watch a tethered she-goat suffer the pains of child birth ought to also apply to our senior citizens.

….Nwachuku, Chief Press Secretary/Special Adviser Media to Governor Uzodimma writes from Owerri.