“I only pay my light bill and my pension money is gone”…Phillip Egede, Retired Pensioner

Phillip Egede is a 67 year old retired Nigerian police officer, who has been receiving pension from the government for 6 years now, but the meagre sum and irregularity in payment has cost him his basic needs.

Pension is a regular income paid by the state to senior persons who have retired from work and usually in Nigeria, from the age of 50 to 60 years.  

However, the failure of government to meet the pension expectation of retirees has shattered the plans of many like Philip, as well as inducing economic trauma, which in some cases have led to fatalities.

Philip spoke to LN247 about the proposed pension increment by the government.

How has life been after retirement? 

“Very hectic, life has not been so easy for us, it’s like you finished from the job and the suffering continues, to suffer more than we were suffering when we were on the job”. He said

How much are you paid as a pensioner? 

“My take home pension is 36,000 naira every month”.

So what do you think about this amount paid to you?

“It’s not encouraging at all, it’s very bad, so many of my mates now are dead, some can’t make a call, some of them that their children are still in school, they had to drop out, it’s very hectic”.

With the Inflation in the country, is your pension able to sustain you?

“No, it can’t sustain me, how can it sustain me, it’s just 36,000. When the pension comes, I only pay my bill, I buy gas, 18,000, I pay my light bill and the money is gone.  So I live in borrowing and begging, the money is nothing to write home about”.

The government has proposed an increment in pension payments, how do you see this development?

“Good! if they can do that, fine at least to make us live life again because many of us there is no life in us again, we are just waiting for the day that God will call us, if the government can do that, it means they are praying for us to live longer so it will be good.

As a pensioner, what do you want from the government?

 “The government is supposed to know what is happening now in the country today, at least give us reasonable money for us to live the remaining of our lives”.

“I retired 2017, so I’m 67 years old now and I’m suffering, if they can give us a reasonable amount to sustain us, better”.

Philip is just one among millions of senior citizens who face this plight as a pensioner in Nigeria. Retired public servants have bemoaned pension fraud and government neglect while battling debilitating changes to their health and lack of funds to attend to their most basic needs due to inconsistencies in the payment process, or unpaid pensions. Some pensioners have also yet to receive their full entitlements.

The Federal Government has now taken some steps to ameliorate the pensioners’ plight, including a 20 percent increase in pay and the introduction of a minimum pension of N32,000 for retirees.