Hope for senior Citizens

SENIOR CITIZENS WELFARE ADVOCACY (SCIWAD): THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Senior Citizens Welfare Advocacy (SCIWAD) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious organization geared towards ensuring a stable and anxiety free life for Senior Citizens.

SCIWAD is also working towards the integration of senior citizens into the scheme of things as they still have abundant knowledge to offer the society, especially the youths.

REGISTRATION OF SCIWAD

SCIWAD applied for registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in August, 2005 and the Certificate of Registration (RC 643647) was issued January 19, 2006.

Prior to the issuance of the Certificate of Registration, SCIWAD organized a seminar in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital City (FCT) on Saturday, November 12, 2005, titled: Prevention and Management of HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

Dr. Ibrahim Vatsa, the then Project Manager of FCT Action Committee on AIDS (FACA) and now Niger State Commissioner for Health lectured on HIV/AIDS while Drs. Folashade Momoh and Sadiq Abdulrahhmah of the FCT Department of Public Health lectured on Tuberculosis and Malaria respectively.

Attendance was very impressive because that was probably the first time a seminar of that nature was organized for senior citizens.
During the demonstration of the usage of the condom, it became apparent some senior citizens had never seen a condom. Questions asked pointed to their sincere ignorance about the issue of HIV/AIDS. This was rather disturbing to SCIWAD officials because some of our senior citizens are still sexually very active.
Some confessed to SCIWAD officials that they only have erection with younger girls as their wives could not arouse them any longer. They said they were aware of enhancement pills but regretted their financial inability for the procurement.
Interestingly, some senior citizens still believed the issue of HIV/AIDS was nothing but a fabrication aimed at scaring people from having fun. This group was of the opinion that it was destined unto man to die the modalities of the how, when and by what means rested with GOD.
They maintained that people died in their millions before the advent of HIV/AIDS adding that because of improvement in medical science, death rates had reduced. Though this was quite worrisome, SCIWAD officials took solace in the fact that they were in the minority with the tendency of changing their views. SCIWAD immediately embarked on discussion exercises with a view to changing their psyche about the pandemic.

Malaria did not evoke much controversy since it had been around for a while and is presently on the rampage. It was argued that most senior citizens could not afford accommodation in the cities where sanitation was taken seriously.. The cost of the treated nets, some said, was beyond their reach making them very vulnerable to malaria.

This school of thought argued that pension was not paid on time and with the high rate of inflation, they found it extremely difficult to make ends meet with such meager funds. According to a pensioner, “no money to pay school fees for children, talk less of buying mosquito treated nets or medicines for the prevention of malaria.”
Another school of thought argued that hygienically, African villages were the safest as keeping the surroundings clean was a sine qua non. They argued that it was in the cities where filth competed with city dwellers for space. The air, they said, was polluted with toxic fumes.
In the case of Tuberculosis, it was generally agreed that since it was widely associated with HIV/AIDS, there was need for senior citizens to avail themselves for periodic medical checks whose cost have become problematic.

Since it was difficult sustaining the attention of most senior citizens during the lecture on Tuberculosis, Dr. (Mrs.) Momoh proffered a solution by requesting them to stand for light exercises. This electrified the atmosphere and like Oliver Twist, they asked for more.

KEEP FIT EXERCISE
It was unanimously agreed that keep fit exercises for senior citizens be held last Saturdays of every month. The exercise took off on Saturday, December 10, 2005, at the Wuse Zone 5 Park, Abuja, with the then 78-year-old Joshua Jegede, a retired Director from the Public sector, drilling both senior citizens and SCIWAD officials.

Before the commencement of the exercise, Mrs. Susan Aku, former Director of Co-operatives and Head of HIV/AIDS Unit in the Benue State Government Ministry of Commerce and Industries and now Director of Cooperatives, Benue State Ministry of Rural Development and Cooperatives, gave a talk on HIV/AIDS.
At the end of the exercise, senior citizens had breakfast and were very happy with the entire programme of activities. Unfortunately, that was the last time the exercise took place because of sponsorship and logistics.

SEMINAR ON PENSION ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA: TAMING THE MONSTER – APRIL 27, 2006

The issue of pension in Nigeria had defied all available prescription leaving majority of pensioners the worst for it. To this end, SCIWAD swung into action with a Seminar on April 27, 2006, titled, PENSION ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA: TAMING THE MONSTER.
In attendance were the former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Adams Ashiomole, former Chairman, House of Representative Committee on Pension Hon. Sani Sha’aban, Mr. Adesina Balogun, representative of the Central Bank Governor and Comrade Ali Abatcha, President of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), co-sponsor of the seminar and a host of others.

In a welcome address, the President of the NUP, Comrade Ali Abatcha, regretted the plight of pensioners within the last 15-years. According to him, “It is very regrettable that Pension Administration in Nigeria has become complex in the last 15-years so much to the extent that its management seems to have defied all solutions.”
The problem to him was largely due to the increasing number of retired workers which to him had become the order of the day.
He went on, “expectedly, as the number of retired workers increased, there is a corresponding increase in the number of pensioners on the pension payroll. In fact, there is the fear being expressed that in the next few years, the number of pensioners may out number that of workers on active service”.

The then President of the NLC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, urged the government to rethink on the one-to-one ratio of the new Contributory Pension Scheme. He said Nigeria was endowed with abundant natural resources so making government and the worker to contribute on a 50-50 basis was unacceptable. He urged Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members of Nigeria’s National Assembly to go back to the drawing board and work out a befitting plan for workers and pensioners.

The former Chairman of the House of Representative Committee on Pension, Hon. Sha’ban, assured participants that his Committee would ensure full implementation of the New Pension Scheme since they have an oversight function over PenCom. He urged SCIWAD to work closely with his Committee for the achievement of better results.

NEW PENSION SCHEME

The plight of senior citizens of Nigeria prompted the government to come up with the Pension Reform Act of 2004 which gave birth to the New Contributory Pension Scheme to replace the PAY-AS-YOU-GO (PAYG) System in which the entire cost of pension rested with the government. It is on record that the Nigerian Government carried a pension liability in excess of two Trillion Naira as arrears for the about 300,000 pensioners.
The PAYG Pension System was shrouded with lots of problems such as insufficient budgetary allocation, late release of funds and increase in salaries rose to huge unfunded liabilities.
According to reports, the cost of pension and gratuities as a percentage of total personnel cost between 1995 and 1999 had almost doubled having increased from 16.7% to 30%.
It is on record that pensioners have over the years encountered problems accessing their pensions as a result of weak benefit administration. The absence of a comprehensive data base of pensioners had either delayed payments or denied pensioners of their entitlements. To this end majority of pensioners, especially those of low income group, were still being subjected to starvation.
There was absolutely no comprehensive frame work for the regulation and supervision of the pension industry until the enactment of the Pension Reform Act. 2004.
Government needed a system that would among others be financially sustainable, simple and transparent, less cumbersome, cost effective and would encourage savings among workers.
This called for the establishment of the National Pension Commission (PenCom) saddled with the regulation and monitoring of Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) and Pension Fund Custodians (PFC). PenCom would guarantee prompt payment of pension to retirees as and when due, a system welcomed by SCIWAD and the NUP.

The objective of this laudable system was to ensure that every person who worked received his/her retirement benefits as and when due to prevent old age poverty and secure decent retirement. It would also ensure sustainability when they were no longer able or too weak/old to work.

A lot of people lacked faith in the new system and needed re-assurance through public education and credibility of the stakeholders.
Public awareness became a key issue in the unfolding pension scheme because it deals with issues bothering with the organization, operation and benefits of the scheme; hence the Seminar on Pension Administration in Nigeria: Taming the Monster.

WORKERS DAY CELEBRATION

On May 1, 2006, Senior Citizens and SCIWAD officials turned out in their numbers and joined the Nigerian work force in celebrating the day. The match past was very colourful
with senior citizens as the centre of attraction.

APRIL 2007 GENERAL ELECTION

SCIWAD contacted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) requesting the participation of Senior Citizens AS OBSERVERS. The request was granted and Senior Citizens, made up of retired professionals most of whom are not tired, participated successfully as observers in the 2007 general election and were commended by INEC. They are found in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria making them very available for assignments, especially national assignments.

CONSULTANTS

SCIWAD intended contacting The Directorate of Small and Medium Scale Industries for possible engagement as small scale consultants. Retired accountants, auditors, etc., could be very useful in consulting with small scale industries at very reduced cost. This would keep the accounts of the organization in good shape and senior citizens would also keep themselves very busy while promoting a near perfect business environment in Nigeria.

HEALTHCARE

SCIWAD also intended contacting the Federal Ministry of Health with a view to making consultations in public health facilities easier and cheaper for senior citizens. There is also a dearth of medical personnel in Geriatrics and Gerontology in spite of the fact that the number of senior citizens is growing at an alarming proportion. Available data from the United State Bureau of Census estimated that by 2010, the population of Nigerians from 35-59 years of age would be 24,691,000.

HISTORY OF THE NIGERIA UNION OF PENSIONERS (NUP)

The history of the NUP dates back to 1977 when the then Military Government headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo, the immediate past democratically elected President of Nigeria (1969-2007) scrapped all the former Pension House Unions and merged them into one formidable union called the Nigeria Union of Pensioners.
The NUP was officially inaugurated on Wednesday, November 9, 1977, at the British Council Hall, Ibadan, in the then Western State and now Oyo State.
Late Chief Laleye Adegun, pioneer President of the NUP, played a very vital role in uniting pensioners under one umbrella.
Prior to the birth of the NUP, there were several pension associations. According to Chief I. O. Omotosho, JP, in his book “Nigeria Union of Pensioners Struggles and Achievements, “ there were many pensioners associations but only five were registered and recognized by the Federal Government”.
The five recognized associations, he said, were:

a) Western State Civil Service Pensioners Association
b) Association of Retired Civil Servants East Central State
c) Association of Nigerian Railway African Pensioners
d) Western State Railway Pensioners
e) East Central State Civil Service Pensioners Association

These five associations met and drafted the Constitution for the NUP on Wednesday, September 7, 1977, at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Labour, Ibadan.

The NUP is among 43 registered and recognized Industrial Unions affiliated to the Central Labour Organization, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) with the automatic check-off system in place.
36 Senior Staff Unions are not affiliated to the NLC making the deduction of dues individualistic with written consent
The Harmonization Committee set up in 1990 on Restructuring of Trade Unions rescued the NUP from the claws of a Technical Committee which was intent on scrapping the NUP.
According the Comrade Oshiomole, “retired workers are indeed a special group of workers whose interest must continue to be one of the cardinal objectives of the Labour Movement”.
The existence of six Pension Boards automatically provides six check-off points. Namely:
a) The Head of Service
b) National Universities Commission (NUC)
c) Police
d) Army
e) Customs, Prisons and Immigration
f) Nigeria Railway

SCIWAD is geared towards uniting all the pensioners irrespective of their check-off points for the better organization of programmes. NUP as a Union has the right to send its representatives to International Seminars, etc.
SCIWAD is looking forward to sponsorship from individuals or corporate organizations to actualize its aims and objectives.

The NUP is a staunch ally of SCIWAD and both organizations have pledged to work together towards enhancing the welfare of Senior Citizens.
SCIWAD and the NUP are discussing modalities of attending the next IFA conference in Canada in September 2008. Both organizations would appreciate sponsorship from individuals or corporate organizations towards this very important seminar.