By Toye Olori
LAGOS, Feb 4 2004 (IPS)

While African culture may venerate the aged, the continent’s pensioners don’t always find themselves living out a peaceful retirement. This is nowhere more true than in Nigeria, where the collapse of pension schemes has pushed many former civil servants into poverty.

A number of retired government workers have been awaiting pension payouts for periods of between 10 months and two years.

Perhaps the worst part of their plight is that many are people who resisted benefiting from the rampant corruption that has characterised Nigeria’s government for most of its recent history.

"I was in a position to make money when I was in service but that was not my nature. But, my colleagues who made money have houses and something to fall back to – and today they are not regretting," says Olumomi Moyo, a retired civil servant.

"Can you imagine at my age (71) I still have to work as a gateman for this school to survive?"

Like Moyo, many retirees have had to resume work – or resort to begging to make ends meet.

"Learning to survive has become our second nature. The majority of us (pensioners) survive through begging or through some kind-hearted persons who occasionally assist," says Razak Azeez, a senior official in the office of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) that deals with former railroad employees.

"We are not happy with what is happening to retirees generally, especially with the delays in paying our pensions," he adds.

Railway pensioners are currently owed 20 months’ pension money, which amounts to about 37 million dollars. They were last paid in June 2002.

The Nigeria Railway Corporation – which has 18,974 pensioners on its books, due to a mass retirement in 1996 – says the organisation requires about 24 million dollars to pay the pensioners every year. Payouts for retired civil servants range between 56 dollars and 500 dollars, depending on length of service, and rank at retirement.

"We were told nothing has been budgeted for pensioners in this year’s budget, so our principal national officers are in Abuja to investigate the truth of the matter. We do not know who is deceiving whom," Azeez told IPS.

Although the current administrative chaos can doubtless be traced back to previous regimes, some are starting to look back on military rule in Nigeria with nostalgia.

"We have not enjoyed regular pensions since the inception of the civilian administration. Payment was regular under the military," argues Vincent Anaele, another NUP official.

Military pensions are also said to be in arrears.

An official in Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance, who declined to be named, confirmed that government currently owed civilian and military retirees several months’ pension funds.

The official said the lack of payments was partly the result of high-level corruption in the Department of Military Pensions, particularly as concerned money given to "fake pensioners" who had collaborated with officials. A 2002 survey by the Presidential Technical Committee on Pensions revealed that 24,000 such individuals had been collecting pensions from Nigeria’s government for over a decade.

The Chairman of the committee, Peter Ebhaleme, says "The figure includes those who have been collecting the pensions under the guise of qualified pensioners, whereas they were either dismissed soldiers, or those who disappeared without official leave – (as well as people) who falsely claim…medical disability."

"Also in the list of those who were collecting pensions were…relatives…(on behalf of) deceased pensioners," he added.

In a gesture of protest, retired officers set up camp at the Ministry of Defence

headquarters in Abuja several months ago, saying they would wait there to have their pensions paid out. Some also brought their families with them, although they were later dislodged from the premises.

According to retired Commander Asuquo Bassey, Chairman of the Military Pensioners Anti-intimidation Squad, five retired soldiers have died since the beginning of this year in Abuja whilst waiting to be paid their pensions.

Excerpt: