By Uzoma Isiakpu
The Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, will, by the grace of God next year, join the sexagenarian age group. Despite his relatively young age, by his status as the Executive Governor of the State, he has automatically assumed the father figure of all citizens and residents of the State.
As the father of all including those who are biologically older than him, it behoves the Governor to be tolerant, humane, patient, accommodating, empathetic and caring. His office also calls for compassion, humility, fairness, and not being judgemental in his dealings with the public of the State.
Premised on the preceding, it has become imperative that Governor Alex Otti should do justly to Abia Pensioners over the alleged forfeiture of arrears of pensions and gratuities. Good enough, the Governor has repeatedly at different fora said that the welfare of civil servants and pensioners is dear to his administration. The Governor, therefore, should be commended for the regular and prompt payment of salaries and pensions as well as full payment of pensions, a positive departure from the immediate past.
Be that as it may, in the spirit of the New Abia, the vexatious Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) purportedly signed between the Abia State Government and the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Abia State Chapter, ought to be revisited and jettisoned. This is to prevent the labour of Abia senior citizens being in vain.
The hoary-haired men and women have deservingly served the state and her citizens in their prime and are entitled to enjoy the legitimate fruit of their labour. Not long ago, the State Officers of NUP addressed a press conference in Umuahia, the Abia State capital where they called on Governor Alex Otti to revisit the disputed MOA to expunge the offending clause “waive off outstanding gratuities, leveraging on Article 7 (a) and 7 (b) of the contentious Memorandum of Agreement.
For the avoidance of doubt, Article 7 (a) of the MOA reads: “Any dispute arising from this agreement shall be resolved first by mutual negotiation between the parties.”
Officials of the Abia State Chapter of NUP also stated: “… We never discussed gratuities at any point, let alone talking about waiving of any entitlements of pensioners outstanding gratuities.”.
According to the NUP leadership, if Governor Alex Otti is not willing to pay pensioners their accumulated pensions and gratuities as he promised during the 2023 governorship campaign and after, he should say so to the public and abrogate the word waive in the agreement to enable future administration continue from where payment of retirees entitlements stopped since government is a continuum.
In response to the narrative of the NUP at his monthly media interaction with journalists on November 7, 2024, Governor Alex Otti Abia said pensioners should return arrears of pension already paid them before there will be renegotiation. The governor’s reaction to be candid is most unfortunate, unbelievable as well as disheartening. To allow the MOA as it is to stand is a man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. It means that, like Biblical Aaron, the present government of Abia State wants Abia senior citizens to after their toil, sweat and labour of love to the State go empty-handed. God forbid.
As the father of the State, Governor Alex Otti should dispassionately and magnanimously reconsider his stand on the issue and begin to defray arrears of pensions and gratuities in earnest. The New Abia should be a model in the payment of accumulated retirement benefits of her senior citizens by taking a cue from the worthy legacy the former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi and the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) bequeathed to the State. The standard set by Peter Obi is the reason payment of pensions and gratuities is seamless in Anambra State to date.
Replicating such in Abia State will be another milestone achievement of Dr Alex Chioma Otti’s administration and will impact its sustainability beyond 2027.
As a man of his word, Governor Otti should not renege but strive to keep faith with his earlier commitment to Abia pensioners. Not abiding by his promise is tantamount to perpetuating what he vehemently faulted the immediate past administration for failing to do.
It is also worth mentioning that the senior citizens shall assist the Governor in further growing the State economy if they start to receive arrears of pensions and gratuities.
*Isiakpu is a Media/PR Consultant based in Umuahia.
