Retired teachers in Kwara State are displeased with the delayed payment of their gratuity benefits after decades of service in the state’s education sector.
FIJ spoke with more than 10 of these retirees between December and January. The retirees, some had retired as far back as 2011, shared their struggles and frustrations over the unpaid gratuities. Although the government has been faithful in the payment of pensions, these former workers have experienced prolonged delays with gratuity payments.
While a pension is a regular payment made in instalments into one’s bank account from the balance in one’s Retirement Savings Account (RSA) at the time of retirement, the gratuity is a one-time lump sum employers pay when an employee retires or resigns.
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Ideally, the gratuities should have been paid immediately after retirement. This particular retirement benefit is calculated based on the civil servant’s years of service and final salary.
The retirees told FIJ that while many of them had not received a dime out of the lump sum, ranging from over N1 million to N5 million, some of them got part-payment through political connections.
One of the retirees, who did not want to be named, told FIJ, “I have been getting pension, but I am still owed about N4 million in gratuity.”
While another retired teacher had only received over N1 million out of N5 million, despite being retired for almost 13 years, one had only been paid N250,000 out of his gratuity benefits.
On January 6, the state government, through its Ministry of Finance, issued a statement directing all pensioners to update their data with the Kwara State Residents Registration Agency (KWSRRA) to qualify them for the payment of outstanding gratuities dating back to 2011.
Considering the past instances of “selective gratuity payment”, especially to those who knew someone in government while others got nothing, many retirees fear that gratuities may once again be distributed unfairly.
“Before now, it is only those who have people to connect them here and there that they give a token. Many of us have received nothing,” a retiree explained.
This delay has robbed many of them of their plans and dreams, with some battling health challenges that could have been addressed if their gratuities had been paid.
“I have some health challenges that the money would have been able to sort. I had plans for the money then. I wanted to use it to invest, but you can only invest when you have money,” a teacher who retired in 2013 told FIJ.
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Another affected Kwara retiree hinted at the current economic reality in Nigeria and the inflation that has eroded the value of the unpaid gratuities. Her plan was to either invest the money in a profitable venture or acquire a building of her own. “But even if I get the whole money today, and the amount is tripled, it can’t buy cement. It is not enough to do anything,” she said.
When FIJ contacted Rafiu Ajakaye, the chief press secretary to Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, on Tuesday, he directed our reporter to the pension office.
“Please, talk to the pension office,” Ajakaye responded.
He refused to respond with the contact of the pension office when FIJ asked.
The post Kwara Rewards Retired Teachers With Unpaid Gratuities After 35 Years of Service appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.