BY ZIK GBEMRE
It is sheer wickedness and heartlessness, that after 35 years of daily risking their lives to protect citizens of their country, retired Officers of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), would be treated so badly by the Government and relevant Authorities in the payment of their entitled pensions and gratuities. Call it man’s ‘deliberate’ wickedness to his fellow man, or man’s inhumanity to others; you would be correct, in describing how past and present Federal Governments have treated, and are still treating retired Pensioners of the nation’s Police Force. We simply cannot understand why, and how can a supposed Federal Government not prioritize the prompt and consistent ‘entitled payment’ of gratuities of its men and women who have retired from active policing service? How can Police Officers in the country, sacrificially put in 35 years of their lives and sweats, yet their gratuities are deliberately delayed, underpaid, or not paid at all until they eventually get sent to an early grave?
These were the questions that are worth given answers to when a recent report, noted how retired Police Officers cried out to the Federal Government, the Senate President, and the Speaker of the National Assembly, and relevant Authorities concerned, over their unjust pension and gratuities payments. The said report showed pictures of the sad faces and deplorable life conditions of retired men and officers of the NPF, who came out in their numbers to register their gross displeasure over their underpaid pension and gratuities. They questioned the N1million to N2million pension paid to them after 35 years of service to the nation, in comparism to their counterparts who were paid N8million and above in other Federal Government establishments. This, to them, is in gross violation of their pension rights, especially as retired Police Officers. Another part of the report that troubled us, was the fact that even after one year of their retirement, no dime has been given them. How does the Government expect these men and women to survive with their families and children during this period? Then after, they are still grossly underpaid.
With this anomaly and wicked practice, how do the Government and relevant authorities expect newly recruits and serving Police Officers not to engage in bribery practices? Especially since it is obvious that they do not have a bright hope after retirement. THIS BAD ATTITUDE OF THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT AT ALL LEVELS, TO ABANDON THEIR CITIZENS AFTER DECADES OF MERITORIOUS SERVICE TO THE COUNTRY, IS SIMPLY EVIL AND WICKED. WE SEE THIS EVERYWHERE, EVEN AT THE STATE LEVELS.
For example in Delta State, it was observed that, for Pensioners in Delta State who have ‘connections’ in Government and the Public Service Authorities, it takes between 4 – 5 years after retirement, before they are paid a dime of their gratuities, which nobody actually understands the exact amount that is due to them. In fact, no about-to-retire civil servant in Delta State knows exactly how much he/she will be paid as gratuity when they retire. And for those who do not have any ‘connections’ in Government and within the Authorities of the Public Service, their expectant of their gratuities is without any number of years. Hence, many of them are sent to their early grave without receiving a dime of their gratuities. So, Delta State pensioners that are without any other regular income after retirement from service, would either wait for at least four years (for those with connections) or wait for endless years, most times to death, before any payment, if at all. One then begins to wonder what the Delta State Government expects such pensioners to be doing to sustain their lives and family all these years they are forced to wait for their gratuities? Even at that, they still find ways to cheat Delta State pensioners as they retire. It was revealed that if the month one is required to retire falls within one’s birthday, that person does not get paid for that month. And it is not because the Delta State Government and its agencies concerned do not have the money to pay the State’s pensioners as they should, otherwise they would not be wasting funds in paying/maintaining MORE APPOINTED AIDES who practically do nothing. It is simply because the past Delta State Governments of James Ibori, Emmanuel Uduaghan and the present Government of Ifeanyi Okowa, are nothing but wicked, selfish and greedy politicians who are only interested in their bellies and status. The above pathetic situation has been the system practiced in Delta State since 1999 till date.
With all of this, how do we expect Federal and State Government Workers not to engage in bribery and corruption? Not that we are supporting anyone to do so, for two wrongs cannot make something right. But the fact is that, if the Federal Government really wants to address this issue of corruption, then they should avoid creating loopholes and circumstances that would encourage people and Police Officers to fall into corrupt practices. For instance, can the relevant authorities tell Nigerians how much is being given by the Police Authorities and the Government to every Police Station across the country for their upkeep and daily logistics/maintenance? How does the Police Stations across the country get money for their upkeep and take care of the running costs of their Stations? The simple answer is that they mostly depend on monies they take from complainants and suspects for the upkeep of their Police Stations. In other words, they depend on the money from the public to fund the daily logistics of the Police Stations. With this prevailing and unacceptable situation, how would the Nigerian Police not continue to detain and arrest people indiscriminately, especially since funds are not provided for them? The Nigerian Government must adequately fund the running cost of the operations of the Nigerian Police Force at all levels.
We should not expect an effective Police Force when most Officers and men of the Force are not provided with money to carry out their duties, specifically funds for logistics to go and effect arrests. And then after they retire in 35 years, they are still grossly underpaid. What will N1million do for a retired Police Officer who has served his country for 35 years? Especially in the current Nigerian economy. Yet, in the midst of all this, all we have seen, and have continued to witness in the country, are political leaders across all levels of Government and public officials who are living large in affluence, splendor and stupendous wealth they enjoy as supposed custodians of our collective public funds. Yet, the cost of governance and the amount of funds daily expended as recurrent expenditure in maintaining the Federal and State’ Executive and Legislative arms of Government in Nigeria, is the most expensive in any part of the world, and has become the channel through which public funds that would have been invested in providing needed infrastructure, are wasted. Despite all the privileges that they enjoy in Office, one would have expected Nigerian Politicians to be satisfied and content. But not so, as they are known to still steal/misappropriate/mismanage public funds meant for the development of their various State and people. And now they are underpaying the retired men and officers of the NPF, most of whom were posted as Orderlies to guard and protect the same Nigerian Politicians. What a shame to this country!
All we are asking and advocating for, is that the men and officers of the Nigerian Police Force (be they retired or still serving), deserve to be treated a lot better than what they are getting from the Federal Government of Nigeria and relevant Federal Authorities. These issues raised above, should be given the needed attention and addressed appropriately. The pension and gratuity of retired Police Officers of the NPF, should be reviewed, upgraded and promptly paid without delays and any stress. Let the right thing be done.
Zik Gbemre.
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