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Nigerian retirees who served their fatherland in the three tiers of government are now faced with the reality of the present time.

While in government service, certain amounts were deducted monthly from the source of their legitimate earnings and labelled contributory pension deductions.

However, in several states these pension deductions were not remitted to the Pension Fund Administrators(PFA) and has resulted in the pensioners’ inability to access money for their daily sustenance.

In addition accruals which are supposed to be paid by the Federal Government are not forthcoming.

With no respite in sight for the precarious situation, the pensioners lament that a sizable number of them have passed on to the world beyond, as a result of their inability to collect their entitlements.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the Pension Fund Administrators only deceived the workers to register for the scheme, that has resulted in the the death of several of them after serving their fatherland all their lives.

What do you think can be done to salvage pension deductions of retirees by states which failed to remit same to the Pension Fund Administrators(PFA) ?

In 2004, the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo introduced the contributory pension fund.

This was considered to be better than the old process for the payment of pensions and gratuity by government.

Those who joined government service during or before 2004, perfectly fell into this category. For those who had joined before 2004, the service of the Federal or State Governments, their pension funds, after retirement, had to go through the process of reconciliation.

However, some states failed to join at the time of its commencement, while some are also yet to join the scheme as of now.

For the states that are yet to join the new scheme, retirees have up till now been contending with a lot of difficulties, when it comes to getting their pensions as and when due, while thousands are still been owed their gratuities, which are very huge amounts.

In the process of unnecessary delay from government, many retirees have died because of lack of funds to take care of themselves, particularly, feeding and health condition.

If not for the delay in getting their rights and the fruits of their labor, they wouldn’t have encountered the Waterloo of untimely deaths.

These deaths are preventable.

As commendable as the new scheme is, workers prior to their retirement, face a great deal of discriminatory deductions from their employers, when they compare notes with their colleagues from sister places of work, depicting that even before retirement they’ve been putting up with the trauma of playing games with their salaries.

The institution pays 15 per cent of the workers’ salaries, while the Federal Government pays the remaining 15 per cent into the same purse of the workers for their future glorious exit from service or for a better retirement period.

Unfortunately, even while at work, workers have been very much confused about the truth regarding the myth surrounding the deduction process saga, but they were powerless to resolve issues, even through their so called unions.

The Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) usually raise the hopes of the intending retirees, through various sensitization programmes, but this is within the limits of what their organizations can divulge as necessary information for the intending retirees.

In Nigeria life after retirement, usually snow balls into that of frustration, most especially when one experiences unnecessary delay due to lack of the much needed information that could show the stage of development of the processes, regarding the exact time, one’s accrued rights of entitlements would come and the possible amount both for your pension, for a lifetime savings and for gratuity for a lifetime venture and planning.

The fifth column in every bank is another headache for the retirees, when the issue of their safety and security is taken into consideration, when the amount eventually arrives.

The delay been experienced by several pensioners, has prompted members of the public to call for the need for transparency in the calculation of their final entitlements.

Government on it own must try as much as possible to work on the delays, to disabuse the minds of the public on the fact that politicians in power, usually disregard, the ethical principle of the no go area for the retirees pool of accrued substantial amount of funds, that is meant for their sustenance, after a meritorious service to their fatherland.

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities(SSANU) has called on the Federal Government to release the earned allowances due to its members to avoid industrial disharmony.

This call was made by the National Vice President of SSANU, who doubles as the Chairman of the association in the West zone, Comrade Alfred Jimoh.

‘’It is equally important to let Nigerians know that the contentious issue of earned allowance is yet to be resolved in the Federal Universities despite the claim of the Federal Government to have released 25 Billion Naira to all unions in the Federal Universities to take care of the Earned allowances of all staff since last year. It is disheartening to note that as we speak, government is yet to release the said fund to the universities.’’

‘’Furthermore, SSANU wishes to reiterate that the money should be released to Universities and not Unions for the purpose of paying to individual staff, since the Bursary of each university has the record of staff and should be in the best position to know what each staff is entitled to as Earned allowance,’’ Comrade Jimoh stated.

The Almajiris comprise of downtrodden parents and their children, orphans and destitute. Alamajiri system of education commenced in Kanem Borno, a long time ago.

Sokoto and Borno caliphates were the pioneers in this system of education.

Under the system, children learnt moral upbringing from their parents. All schools at this period were within the vicinity of  the students. Matters pertaining to the schools were handled by inspectors who reported to the Emir of the province in question. These schools were financed by parents, zakkah, sadaqqah and in some instances through the farm output of the students.

With time, the British abolished the system of education, thereby ensuring that government no longer funded the system of education. This resulted in the Teachers and students resorting to begging for alms and undertaking menial jobs for sustenance. 

Sadly, presently, the system of education lacks qualified Teachers, educational facilities and other essentials.

Worried stakeholders of this system of education insist that proscribing the system would be a great disservice to humanity, since the government in the present dispensation has done next to nothing to impact positively on those in the system, even though government made use of the stakeholders to achieve self serving interests.

In this interview with Federationews2day, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that for this and other issues to be resolved Nigerians must pray for President Muhammadu Buhari and all the 36 state Governors to have the political will to curb institutional indiscipline and endemic corruption which has consumed the fabrics of society. Excerpts :

The Federal Government is toying with the idea of doing away with the Alamjiri system of education, even though the administration of the former President Goodluck Jonathan spent considerable amount to ensure that the system of education remains. Do you think this would be beneficial to the country in the long run ?

During the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, he ventured into building schools for nomadic education, which Nigerians hoped then, would have taken care of the Alamajiris, who lived like orphans,but returned their proceeds from the streets to some wicked surrogate parents.

Fortunately, President Muhammadu Buhari referred Nigerians to section 18 : 3 of the 1999 amended constitution, which places on all Nigerians, the obligation to eradicate illiteracy.

Free and compulsory education accroding to international standards demands that every government in Nigeria must provide free and compulsory education for every child of Primary and Junior Secondary school age.

The President also stated that it was indeed a crime for any parent to keep his or her child out of school for this period.

By implication, when the government fails to provide the schools, Teachers and teaching materials necessary for basic education, it is actually aiding and abetting crime.

Based on this assertion, the President emphasized on,with affirmation to all state Governors, the need to ensure proper education during the first nine years of schooling, to be able to inculcate in the children, the right moral values.

The President equally realized that the age long Almajiri system of education, resulted in the North of Nigeria witnessing orgies of crimes which have eventually snowballed into insurgency and uncontrollable acts of violence and terrorism.

The President, believes that the problems confronting Nigeria are rooted in the fact that a lot of people have been denied the opportunity to get formal education and this has led to the accumulation, over the years, of  large mass of Nigerians who have taken to crime, drug addiction among several other social problems. Again these category of Nigerians have also become willing tools in the hands of some elements in the wider society, who have always nurtured dangerous intentions.

The President then made mention of the Alamajiris, as a group to be proscribed, as they happen to be the symbol of informal education, that could be likened to absolute illiteracy, considering the fact that their activities spread beyond the geographical contraption of the North, to the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

Firstly, as street urchins, they continue to become the future monsters, who work against society.

The President now went on, to recognize and recommend the Western region of Nigeria philosophy, under the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who started free and compulsory education at both the Primary and Secondary levels, when he was Premier.

My worry and take on this issue, ranges as follows :

In the face of the present scenario of poverty for the people and kleptocracy in government, would the state Governors be able to meet up with the calls of Mr. President ? Which equally aligns with the UNICEF’s stand that education is the right of every child and the United Nation’s charge on countries of the world on the need for sustainable development.

Unfortunately, it is imperative for the state Governors to find a means of achieving this, most especially if one considers the two digit interest loans, even for those who have access, poor remuneration for workers, excluding the political class and the unfortunate state of dilapidation of the buildings of several public schools. All these put together have given way for the quacks to foray into the education sector. They put up schools that are never accredited through the laid down government rules and regulations.

Another challenge, is on the strength of the political will of Mr. President to abrogate the Alamajiri system in the North and the possible ‘’hostility’’ from the states outside the North, that would quickly seize the opportunity to ‘’deport’’ the beggars within their environment.

My Prayer and Nigerians must also pray for Mr. President and all the state Governors, for God to give them the needed will power and wisdom to curb institutional indiscipline and endemic corruption in both low and high places.

Equally, it is important for government to take the issue of functional education seriously, by first, reviewing downward, the wages and allowances of the political class as a form of the necessary sacrifice from them, to be able to make the Nigeria project feasible.

They equally need to down size the number of ‘’servers’’ in their cabinet to meaningfully control wastage in governance while we must equally look inward to resuscitate the ‘’dead’’ industries to be able to provide employment for those who are been turned out as fresh graduates for the country’ institutions.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has warned that any proposal by the Federal Government on the new national minimum wage that does not meet the expectations of Nigerin workers would be rejected.

The AWC gave this warning through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

''It must be noted that any proposal by the FederalGovernment on the new  national minimum wage that does not meet the expectations of  Nigerian workers would be rejected and visited with protests and strikes. The AWC therefeore calls on government to retrace its steps and fine tune the table to reflect public servcie  rules and regulations. The AWC also calls  on workers at the state level and their labour unions to resist and protest against any state government that attempts  to pay below the legally accepted new national minimum wage . Labour is called upon to give a final notice of June ending for the implementation of the new national minimum wage or else the labour unions should declare a nationwide strike action from 1st of July, 2019'', Comrade Emelieze concluded.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has called on called on local and international organizations to assist in the combating of a measles epidemic currently ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).

MSF made this call through its Medical Coordinator in DRC, Rachel Séguin,''MSF teams, in collaboration with the teams of the Ministry of Health, are doing their utmost to cut the chain of transmission of the disease by providing vaccination responses as soon as cases of measles are reported, and by providing care for patients.''

"But in addition to the efforts already made in recent months, more resources and organisations are needed. Ensuring the supply of vaccines and medicines is essential - the sooner the better."

The Ministry of Health in DRC, recently declared an out break of the disease which has officially recorded more than 1,500 measles-related deaths in the first five months of this year.

This accounts for  75 per cent of the total number of deaths recorded throughout 2012 during the deadliest epidemic of the last decade. 

Since January,  MSF has been working with local teams of the Ministry of Health in 10 provinces of the country: Haut-Lomami, Haut-Uele, Ituri, Lualaba, Kasai, Kasai Central, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tanganyika and Tshopo, to combat the  measles epidemic.

The Cameroonian Government has ordered the idenfitication and crackdown on suppliers of hard drugs to schools.

The Government gave this order, recently,  through the Minister of Terrotial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, during a meeting with administration and security officials in Douala.

The order is coming on the heels of the increasing rate of drug abuse  amongst school children and the youth in the city of Douala and the rest of Littoral Region.

Atanga Nji maintained that urgent steps had to be taken to  the  curb trafficking of Tramol, Tramadol and cocaine in the region, just as he warned of  the consequences of their abuse on school children and youth .

Safiya Hassan Sheikh Ali Jimale has been appointed the first female Mayor in Somalia.

Safiya Hassan Jimale,  will  oversee the affairs of Beledweyne in central Somalia.

The city  is the capital of Hiiran Province, located in the Shebelle Valley near the border with Ethiopia and about 210 miles north of Mogadishu.

She becomes the second Mayor of the city, which has more than 1,7 million inhabitants, after Beledweyne held municipal elections in 2012, the first since the beginning of the civil war in the early 1990s

Women currently in position of Mayors in  the Africa include Yvonne Aki Sawyerr of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Marie-Chantal Rwakazina of Kigali, Rwanda, Rohey Malick Lowe of Banjul, The Gambia and Soham El Wardani of Dakar, Senegal).