Nigerian pensioners are threatening to go Naked in the streets to raise awareness of their precarious situation in the face of an ever-increasing expense of living.
The Nigeria Union of Pensioners, led by its National President, Godwin Abumusi, issued the warning at a news briefing in Abuja on Friday.
Abumusi emphasized the urgent need for significant improvements in the welfare of pensioners, highlighting the prevalent delays in pension payments across the country. He expressed deep frustration, lamenting the paltry sums some pensioners receive, citing examples like Enugu where some receive as low as N450.
“In Nigeria, governments don’t think about the poor people. They only think about themselves,” Abumusi remarked, highlighting the neglect pensioners face. He suggested that the national minimum pension be reviewed and significantly raised to N100,000. This aligns with the demands of organized unions pushing for a new minimum wage for workers, currently set at N200,000 by the Nigeria Labour Congress.
The Proposal to increase the minimum pension is a response to the harsh realities that retirees must deal with while facing financial difficulties. Anything less than this, Abumusi threatened, would provoke the rage of elderly people who are already finding it difficult to deal with the current economic hardships.
