Retired school teachers plan mass protests over unpaid gratuities, pensions

Tony Okoh, Uyo

Forum of Retired Primary School Teachers in Àkwa ibom State rose from its meeting yesterday at St Patrick’s Primary School, Uyo, Àkwa ibom State, with an October 14th deadline for the government of Akwa Ibom State to meet their demand or face mass protests from the octogenarians.

The meeting, which was attended by retirees from all the local government areas of the state, was presided over by Rev. Dr Richard Cookey, the state chairman, along with members of his state executive council.

The forum’s demand includes payment of the 11-year pension arrears owed to her members, payment of the gratuities last paid in 2013 to her members, payment of leave grants of 2013 partially paid to a few people, 7.5 percent promotion arrears owed to her members for 2011, 2012, and 2013, among others.

The forum chairman lamented that currently its members have yet received a pension for over 11 months, subjecting them to untold hardship and economic difficulties.

According to him, “These challenges of payment are just peculiar to retired primary school teachers; the forum of local government retirees have been paid their entitlements up to 2021, retired civil servants up to 2023, while the retired primary school teachers stopped at 2013.”

He added, ” We are mostly aged people and some of our members are sick and depend on daily medication after 35 years of meritorious service to our state, but can’t feed or get our drugs anymore because of financial difficulties”.

The chairman said the forum believes that the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, is a God fearing man, which informs their decision to publicly endorse him for a second term in office and made a passionate appeal to him to quickly intervene in their predicament.

He further highlighted, ” We sincerely appreciate the Nigeria Labor Congress for their love and kind intervention on our matter, but the forum will not join the September 14th protest, the reason being that our mother body, the Nigerian Union of Pensioners, has assured us that we are getting our entitlements by the end of this September “.

The forum warned that if the government fails to address their plight by the end of the month, they will have no option but to mobilize their members and protest from the NUP office to the Governor’s office in Uyo to get their demands.

” I want to say that no God fearing government will like to see this category of elderly people who gave their all to the progress of the state march under the sun and rain to press home their demand to get their legitimate entitlements.

” We have endured, our problem is different from others, all the funds the governor has released so far hasn’t reached us, we are suffering, we are tired of excuses, we give the government till October 14th if we don’t get our entitlements up to 2018 then we will embark on the protests, even those on sick beds will be brought all with their condition for the world to see what we are going through after serving our State. I believe no God fearing governor will wait to see this happen under his government,” he intoned.

Our Correspondent reports that most of the retirees who spoke at the meeting recount their extreme difficulties in meeting the challenges of eating decent meals and buying drugs for their health challenges after spending their active years in service to the state.