In Nigeria, retirement has turned into a struggle for thousands of civil servants who face delays in receiving pensions and gratuities. Elderly pensioners endure long queues and repeated verifications at offices like the PTAD in Abuja, while protests erupt across states demanding unpaid entitlements. The crisis highlights deep-rooted issues of corruption and mismanagement in the pension system.
Retirement, meant to bring rest and dignity after years of service, has become a source of suffering for Nigerian civil servants. At the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) office in Abuja, elderly men and women arrive at dawn, clutching files and leaning on walking sticks, in hopes of processing their claims before nightfall. This exhausting routine has persisted for years for many, with little progress.
Mr. James, a pensioner from Nasarawa who retired in 2015 after 35 years as a teacher, shared his frustration: “Since then, I have not received my gratuity. They keep telling us to come back. Meanwhile, many of my colleagues are dying.” Protests have become routine, such as retirees in Benue blocking roads over pensions owed for more than two years, elderly women marching to government houses in Imo and Ondo with placards reading “Pay us before we die,” and aged pensioners sitting in front of the state secretariat in Borno.
The disparity is stark: while pensioners face destitution, former governors receive generous packages including salaries, allowances, houses, and vehicles. Health impacts are severe, with reports of collapses and deaths in queues linked to stress, high blood pressure, depression, and cardiovascular diseases. Families bear added burdens as younger relatives cover costs meant for pensions.
Root causes include decades of corruption and mismanagement, exemplified by the 2013 pension scam where billions of naira were siphoned. The 2004 Pension Reform Act introduced a contributory scheme, which works in the private sector and some federal bodies but is poorly implemented in most states. Mrs. Hauwa, a retired nurse in Maiduguri, lamented: “I gave my youth to government service, now I cannot even afford my medicine.”
States like Lagos and Edo serve as models with effective contributory schemes and regular payments. Experts call for full implementation nationwide, ring-fencing funds, biometric verification to eliminate ghost pensioners, and prioritizing budgets for obligations to retirees. Without reforms, the crisis remains a moral failing, betraying those who built the civil service.