As is now a routine in Nigeria, last week more pensioners died on their way to a “verification exercise”. Aging is a natural phenomenon and old age is supposed to be a blessing not a self-inflicted predicament. African culture demands respect towards the aged irrespective of whether or not they are biological relations. Proper care and attention needs to be given to elderly persons who can no longer work and are more prone to illnesses.
In Africa there is a widespread belief in the potency of prayers and blessings from the aged, and taking care of aged parents is a sure way of getting blessings. Conversely it’s also believed that being cursed by elderly persons brings about misfortune. It’s been suggested that one of the many reasons government continuously fails is the curses rained upon political leaders by aged citizens. In Nigeria, government’s total disregard for the welfare of the elderly is as legendary, as their inability to get anything right.
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It was recently reported that an increasing numbers of civil servants die within five years of retirement. Condemnably most of them neither received their full gratuity or full pension before they passed on. Government acts as if it is under no obligation to give proper care and attention to the elderly, and as a result old age has become more of a curse than a blessing! It’s nothing short of scandalous that government pays no attention to alleviating the pains of elderly citizens, while an aged president routinely uses public funds to fly overseas for treatment and check-up.
It’s no surprise that an increasing number of aged Nigerians, who spent their whole lives working in Nigeria, are following the president’s lead by abandoning Nigerian healthcare to reside in countries where care for the aged is a priority and all facilities are readily available. Most Nigerians are never in a position to prepare for old age. Their main occupations are peasant farming, technical maintenance, and small-scale trading whose income is hardly enough to sustain themselves and their children let alone save for old age. The fading out of the extended family system serves to highlight the glaring suffering of the elderly in the absence of a social security system.
Ill-considered failed policies have caused an economic collapse in which young families struggle to take care of themselves let alone take care of aged parents and relations. Presently, Nigeria has no functional national policy on care and welfare of the aged. The pension system is ineffective and corrupt. It’s abominable that the majority of pensioners who spent their lives in service to the nation are sick and penniless, while former political office holders who spent only a few years in “service” live lives of luxury funded by unjustifiably outrageous, unethical and immoral self-granted retirement packages.
While “executive pensions” are paid regularly and many holders of top political office collect several pensions as well as current salary most retired civil servants don’t receive their pension regularly. Even worse, the amount is not index-linked and excruciating inflation means a former assistant director’s pension cannot pay their gateman’s salary!
Quite abominably, Pension Funds are routinely embezzled, and the perpetrators get away with it having “settled” the appropriate quarters! It’s no secret that in years to come there will be no money to pay pensioners because the current administration “borrowed” pension funds with no plan of how to repay. It’s also pertinent to note that the overwhelming majority of Nigerians never worked in any organisation which pays pension. In the private sector, long service is rewarded by paying a lump sum gratuity rather than pension.
The pension scheme, under which employers are supposed to deduct 7.5 per cent of salary to remit to government as pension contribution is idiotic. It ignores the fact that the majority of Nigerians don’t earn up to the minimum wage.
In Africa, there are two classes of elders, poor retirees and aged leaders. Citizens are apparently not bothered by the age of their leaders most of whom are more than 20 years past retirement age. In Nigeria, the only aged people who aren’t suffering untold hardships are those holding political office. The nation is a “geriocracy” where power is held by geriatrics. The lesson of history is that geriatric tyrannies such as the one Nigeria has entered into, have always failed. One of the biggest problems with aged leaders is that they no longer have the mental capacity to evaluate positions different from their own. So they go through life nodding sagaciously at both genius and stupidity alike, while stubbornly believing whatever they believed years ago!
Democracy requires young, vibrant, up to date, forward looking and vigorous leaders. This is why the majority of developed nations do their best to elect leaders whose faculties are still intact. The greatest figures in history tend to be young people. Those who write their names in history in old age, tend to be die-hard dictators and sit-tight presidents who ruin their countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) life expectancy in Nigeria is 54.7 years, and half of the population is below 19 years of age. This means that the president is four times older than the majority of Nigerians! One would have thought, considering his advanced age and that of most of the Federal Executive Council and Senate, care for the aged would be a priority for government. Alas this isn’t the case. They have abandoned their duty of care towards the elderly.
It’s imperative that Nigeria passes an “Elder Law” making specific provision for care of the elderly. It must be a first line charge even before financing government profligacy via an irresponsibly exorbitant National Assembly, flamboyant presidency or white elephant projects. Without such a law, the anti-corruption war is a total waste of time. It’s simply outrageous that while treasury looters enjoy retirement, the only reward ordinary Nigerians get for being honest all their lives is to suffer in old age!
