By Victor Ahiuma-Young
The President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria ASCSN, Shehu Mohammed, has described retirement under the current pension arrangement as “an exit into hell,” blaming persistent delays, long queues and the failure of the contributory pension scheme to deliver on its promise.
Speaking on the plight of Lagos pensioners, Mohammed said the scheme, introduced to ease access to terminal benefits, has instead left many retirees and their families stranded.
He noted that some states are yet to migrate fully from the old Defined Benefit Scheme, while the valuation of past service benefits continues to cause prolonged suffering.
The ASCSN President welcomed the Federal Government’s recent move to restore the payment of terminal gratuities but insisted that state governments must follow suit if workers are to enjoy a dignified exit from service.
He stated: “You know, that is the main reason why I belieave the contributory pension scheme was introduced. It was observed that, at the point of exiting the service, retirees faced a lot of challenges in accessing their terminal benefits. At some point, when a retiree dies, the family is left to go from one place to another trying to access what they are entitled to.
“Unfortunately, the contributory pension scheme has not been able to meet the expectations for which it was introduced. Up till now, some states have not been able to migrate from the old system to the new system. So, the issue of harmonisation is also a major challenge.
“The actual valuation of past service benefits is another issue. When people exit the service, they often have to queue and waste a lot of time before their benefits under the old system can be properly valued and transferred to the new system. This creates a lot of challenges for retirees.
“But I believe that, especially now, with the efforts we have made at the federal level to restore the payment of terminal gratuities, this will go a long way in addressing some of these challenges.
Retirees should not have to wait until the valuation of their past service benefits is completed before they receive any payment. With the payment of gratuity, at least they will have something to fall back on, while the government processes the remaining benefits within the shortest possible time.
“So, we urge state governments to also emulate this gesture by the federal government by restoring the payment of gratuity. It will go a long way in addressing the challenges workers face after exiting the service.
“The long queues you see are largely made up of people who should have received these benefits long ago. The frustration and anger this situation creates sometimes make retirees come out to demand their entitlements even before the processes are fully due or completed. They have already spent too much time waiting for the system to address their concerns.
“We therefore want the government to look into this matter and address it holistically, so that, at the end of the day, civil servants will not have to be afraid of exiting the service. Retirement should not feel like an exit into hell.
“Let the service provide a dignified exit package—one that will give workers confidence and even make those still in service look forward to retirement rather than fear it.”
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