Why are pensioners having a hard life in Nigeria?

[Kingsley]

Working under the government is everyone's dream, because they believe if you work under the government your needs will be well taken care of. We believe that there will be welfare packages and the working conditions will be flexible and of top-notch. This is how it is in a civilized country. Then one of the most attractive thing about government jobs is the availability of pension.

But quite sadly this is not the case in Nigeria, as even those working under the government structure are seriously struggling, salaries are not paid as at when due, the working conditions are nothing to write home about. This actually makes government workers very corrupt.

Pension is suppose to comfort the worker who has given his or her all in the course of discharging their duties but at the end of their faithful service their pensions in most cases are either been embezzled or delayed unnecessary by the government making life unbearable for a pensioner in Nigeria.

The said aspect of this whole thing is the pension in question were gotten from the workers salary yet the government will hold on to the pension of the pensioners and many cases they will owed end their salaries together with the pension. Sometimes these pension die due to hardship.

Why is this the case in Nigeria?

 

[jemmy]

Life after work to some extent is sometimes a nightmare to many civil servants because of how they spent their life when working. Lack of proper planning during the years they were serving is one of the greatest mistakes they make and they have to go through a hard time after retirement.

 

[General01]

It all boils down to the leadership.
The problem in Nigeria is largely a leadership problem. When we have currupt, senseless and selfish leaders ,the system will definitely reflect their policies and selfish acts

 

[Deleted member 28127]

The salary you get when you are a pensioner is less or much less than the salary you get before means if you want to increase your salary you have to pay more VAT and subscription fee than others and then when you get a lesser amount of money then you will find that life is not like before you have fewer possibilities of purchase or divertisement or going to the excursion. This is one of the reasons and living expenses are increasing day after day.

 

[Mataracy]

The main reason why many pensioners are sovereign is that the government is not doing well and this is really affecting the living of the retiree in the country.
If the government is good there is nothing bad in it to pay them after they had served the country for that 35years and the money they ought to be given a pension is from their money being deducted from their main salary during their service years.

Its very bad when you see many retirees begging around for food after the had retired. That's why its very advisable for every body working under any government to be planning as from the day they resumed to work and invest so that the future will be good.

 

[funmi]

In your write up, you used a phrase, * in a sane country* I like that phrase a lot. In fact, you have said it all, there is nothing much to say about it. Nigeria is not really a sane country for me, so many abnormalities has become normal in Nigeria. Government even borrowed money from pension funds of resent. It is only you as a government worker that should work out your retirement by yourself and save ahead of it. If you do otherwise and wait for your old age to retire and you think Nigeria government will pay your pension fees as at when due? You are mistaken. Your life will only end up miserable and frustrating which may lead to someone's early grave.

 

[Good luck]

A lot of things have gone wrong in this country.Our leaders don't care about the pensioners at all.A lot of retirees die every year going to ministry to claim what it is rightfully theirs but reverse is always the case.The country is not fair when it comes to taking care of retirees.

 

[btaliat]

Pensioners should be treated like queens and kings. They have contributed their quotas in developing the economy of their countries. But instead of them to receive the accolade they deserve, they are treated with disdain and are left to survive on peanut given to them at the end of the month. The political class has turned their life to miserable ones. Whereas the politicians that have retired are collecting big money as pension. Ironically, I won't blame the Nigerian government but the citizens who are blinded by religious and ethnic sentiments. They do support the political class blindly so far they are from the same states or they practice the same religion.

 

[Alexandoy]

The pension plan of the government in our country is very minimal. I am receiving $100 only as my monthly pension although the new retirees have an increased pension of $200. Most of the retirees here have saved especially in the middle class villages. They own their homes so there is no problem with the rent. Fortunately I am one of them. We were able to own our home after paying 9 years of installment on the mortgage. I am glad that I have enough money in the bank so I don't really depend on my meager pension for my budget.

On the contrary, I know so many pensioners who are having a hard life in their old age years. They didn't have savings and they do not own their home. You can imagine the problem when you see old pensioners still doing dirty jobs of driving a pedicab or working in the construction. That should serve as a neat lesson to the younger generation.

 

[Abee111]

Many pensioners live a hard like for so many reasons.. And these reasons are
First of all, they don't have plans when they where still working with the organization they are. If one plans a very well while he was at a full salary, life won't be so hard to live. And these plans are savings,making an investment in different field of business, or making your own business buy assets like lands in different areas and other assets.
Secondly living a miserable life ( I.e I don't care life). These can also make one to live in a hardship and it will make one to think of past, things u are supposed to get them done when I were still at work but have not done them.
Although someone can still make a good life with the little pension he is receiving but unless he made up his mind toward his goals and start achieving them one after the other.
Thirdly, overdependence on income that is the pension. When one depend only on his pension, you will see that that person can not make anything of his own but moving up and down without achieving anything tangible in life. They will continue to live a hardship life.