Governor Obiano and wife must hear this: Anambra state, metaphor for pensioners’ lamentation By Polycarp Onwubiko

Sequel to the delegation of over 23 state governors to President Muhammadu Buhari, to solicit for financial
lifeline to liquidate the arrears of salaries and pensions, the Radio Nigeria correspondent sought the views of labour leaders in Anambra state. The most lamentable comment was that of the chairman of pensioners association in Anambra state. The former governor of Anambra state Mr. Peter Obi like his predecessor Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju (who allegedly referred to pensioners as dead woods as he blocked his ears to their passionate appeals to pay them and review their monthly pensions in accordance with the law pertaining to new salaries), dumped the three verification exercises for the pensioners which he specifically directed the head of service to conduct so as to know the financial implications with a view to upgrading their pensions and pay the arrears.  His successor Dr. Willie Obiano is lamentably on the same ignoble path, allegedly dumping the verification exercise and ordered for another round of verification of pensioners from October 2014 to be implemented in March 2015, this could be seen as a delay tactics, even as the simple exercise could not have taken one or two months to conduct by the office of the Head of Service.
It is pertinent to point out that this generation is positioned to worship God in spirit and in truth so as to gain the much prized eternal life which gives meaning to man’s earthly sojourn. The July 1, 2015 Open Heaven of the General Overseer of Redeemed Church of God, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, is apt in the narration of the privations, plight and lamentations of workers and pensioners in this seemingly accursed nation.
It says: “… God is a righteous God, He hates all forms of fraud. According to Leviticus 19:13, it is a crime to delay your workers salary for 24 hours. Do you promptly pay your staff, whether church or secular? Another aspect of fraud is manipulating your workers salaries. One Bible character who was a victim of this is Jacob”…Owe no man anything. But to love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law (Romans 13:36-42)… besides pride, another vice that God cannot stand in people is breaking of agreements. If you make a promise, you must keep it”
The lamentable situation where governors do not accord top priority to salaries and pensions shows that they do not believe that human life is the primary objective of instituting government. By human life, one specifically refers to the employees of government referred to as the ‘engine room’ of government. The colonial masters who designed salary chart for the grade levels/steps and pension took cognizance of the fact that people who expended their youthful blood and energy to serve government have to be receiving pensions which must not only be prompt but updated whenever national minimum wage is reviewed so as to make their stipend align with the cost of living to alleviate the financial predicament of those who do not have other sources of financial succor. 
Governors who implement salary review without pensions upgrade is sheer sadism. In civilized polities, government functionaries who fail to pay workers and pensioners normally vacate the office because human beings are acclaimed to be the epicenter of development. Sadly, in countries like Nigeria where impunity is celebrated as it were, they sit tight and live like medieval kings and overlords while workers who fail to turn up for work are sanctioned and even dismissed from the service. 
The case of Anambra state could be taken as a metaphor in the sense that the state has no reason not to pay more than minimum wage to workers and pensioners because it is richly endowed with sources of internally revenue generation to augment statutory allocations from the current dwindling federation account. The undoing of the governors in Anambra state since 2006 is that they do not factor priority setting in initiating policies, projects and programmes for financial disbursements.  Also they relegate the welfare of workers and pensions to the background in budgetary preparation and execution. In terms of recognizing the imperative of priority setting in the initiation and execution of projects, if the roads and streets are reconstructed in addition to pipe-born water and electricity in the industrial hubs and commercial towns like Onitsha, Obosi, Nkpor, Ogidi, Ogbaru, Ogbunike, Nnewi, Oba and Awka, internal revenue generation will record quantum leap and surpass monthly statutory receipts from the federation account for accelerated economic activities to uplift the standard of living in the state. 
To demonstrate His disavowal with improper treatment of pensioners, God probably made it a virtual impossibility for Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju to secure the ticket for second term generously given to other PDP governors through the imprimatur of the imperial President Olusegun Obasanjo. His sycophantic overtures to past presidents for a juicy political appointment were rebuffed since he is apparently being haunted by the mistreatment to workers and pensioners.
It took a God-fearing “authentic Igbo leader” thrown up by divine calculations in the person of Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige of PDP in 2003 governorship election in Anambra state to wipe away the tears of pensioners. Governor Chris Ngige promptly empathized with the lamentations of pensioners and reviewed their monthly pensions even as he deprecated the unconscionable deeds of his predecessor.  But Anambra state workers and pensioners were to dwell on the illusion that the glorious path charted by Dr. Ngige on workers and pensions welfare would be followed by his successor, Mr. Peter Obi. The upgrade of workers salary two times was across board while the salary chart was distorted making new salary on promotion disgusting. Critical needs of workers like housing programme was neglected even neglecting to reconstruct roads and premises in the Real Estate (civil servants) quarters and Udoka housing estate initiated by Dr CP Ezeife, leaving the place as a slum and ghetto.  Instead of spreading the price of brand new cars (about N4 million) to about 8 senior staff from GL 12-16 to enable them buy fairly used cars (tokumbo), he spent the money on each director. The spirit of his mistreatment to workers and pensioners like Dr. Mbadinuju drove him to political perdition as he dramatically dumped APGA (contrary to his alleged oath) for PDP which has died natural death due to rejection by Nigerians because of its brazen impunity and corruptive malfeasance in governance.
Governor Willie Obiano should deviate from the path of his predecessor who flouted laws by hijacking local government council statutory allocation which is meant for the infrastructural development of the 177 communities. Sadly, all the roads in the communities are destroyed by flood and erosion notwithstanding the irrational policy of the former governor and continued by him in dolling out N1.5 million to presidents general of town unions for the so-called palliative work on roads in the communities.
Governor Willie Obiano should review the monthly pensions immediately to align with the new minimum wage implemented in May 2011 and pay the accrued arrears according to the law relating to review of national minimum wage, even when the letters and reminders from pensioners association were dumped.  For instance, it is lamentable that a retired permanent secretary is paid N30,000 as pension while his counterpart who retired in May 2011 when new minimum wage came into effect is paid over N100,000.
Due to the craze among newly elected governors to record supposed impressive achievements within 100 days in office, Governor Willie Obiano instead of according top priority to review pensioners’ earnings, reconstruction of interconnecting roads and streets in Awka to ease traffic snarl and miasma along the Enugu-Onitsha express road and other urban towns and completing ongoing road projects like CBN road to NULGE and others, he is sinking billions of Naira on the fanciful three overhead bridges along Enugu-Onitsha expressway. The money guzzling gargantuan project is prone to be abandoned since the federal government may not be disposed to make a refund due to mounting debts and dwindling revenue profile. If people make constructive criticisms, the governor would have known that the project is not a priority now going by the unsustainable cash flow from the federation account and the woeful dearth of basic infrastructural facilities and amenities like tarred roads and streets, pipe born water in urban centres especially in Awka and the capital territory, which retard economic activities. 
Sadly, pensioners are now paid in batches due to rationing of funds to pay the numerous contractors for the exuberant roads awarded within the 100 days in office without facing the stark reality of financial constraints facing competing basic needs of the masses.
It is lamentable that the labour in Anambra state is a lame duck and comatose as they have been compromised with new buses and alleged soothing of their itching palms. It appears that the rank and file of the labour unions lack intellectual robustness to proffer ideal directions to government functionaries as experienced bureaucrats and professionals even when they ought to know that most politicians perceive prompt payment of workers’ salaries and pensions as waste of public funds.  
 For instance, the labour felt helpless on the closure of the rear gate of government house which has subjected staff of offices behind the government house and even the staff in the government house to trekking up to a kilometer along Ifite road to transact government business in the government house and vice versa. The simple thing for the former secretary to the state government to have done was to draft security men to guide the rear gate. It is inhuman to subject workers to inhuman conditions in the name of security without creative alternative to remove the stress on the staff of the offices. The Labour Bulletin which is a platform to ginger government operatives to good governance and welfare of workers and pensioners is moribund in the naïve contention of “labour- government friendly activism”.  For the past eight year, during May Day rallies, labour speeches were naively suffused with governors’ achievements without hammering on workers and pensioners needs and lamentations with threats. This sycophantic posturing was a far cry from the former vibrant labour team led by Comrade PCH Okafor of ASCSN (The Third Eye) and this humble writer which kept government operatives on their toes with the fiery writings in the Labour Bulletins.





Mr. Onwubiko is an author and public affair analyst
[email protected]; Awka Anambra state