The Executive Director of the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO), Oluseyi Oyebisi, has commended men and women working in the nonprofit sector for their ‘labour of love’.
Speaking on the occasion of the 2022 International Workers’ Day, Oyebisi thanked the workers for all they do in addressing numerous problems faced by Nigerians.
These problems, including poverty, corruption, inequality, unemployment, poor education, gender-based violence (GBV) and other harmful practices, are common in developing countries.
International Workers’ Day, observed every 01 May, is a celebration of working people and a day when people campaign for decent work and fair pay.
‘To all men and women working in the nonprofit sector, doing good works in communities across the country, volunteering their time, resources and energies, thank you for your labour of love’, Oyebisi said in a Facebook post.
‘It is because of you that we: have a democracy, can address issues of out-of-school children, provide shelter to the orphaned, tackle gender-based violence, increase openness and transparency in government, ensure digital rights and protection of civic space among others. Once again thank you for all you do’!
Meanwhile, the Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD) has urged the government of Abia State, southeast Nigeria, to carry out massive reforms in the pension and gratuity sector.
The foundation made the call following claims by protesting retirees in Abia that ten to 15 pensioners die every month in the state due to non-payment of pension and gratuities.
The retirees said they embarked on a two-day state-wide protest to demand the payment of their 38 months of pension arrears, 20 years of non-payment of gratuities and non-harmonisation of pensions from 1998 to 2010 by the state government.
‘We have been dehumanised and subjected to unimaginable suffering as our death toll ranges between ten to 15 old pensioners every month’, they said, according to a report by the Nigerian Tribune.
In its reaction, FENRAD, a pro-democracy and environmental rights advocacy group, said it was ‘painful’ that senior citizens who exhausted their prime in service to their state are not pensioned for a period of three years and two months now.
‘FENRAD is more alarmed that Abia State stopped payment of gratuity to her old citizens since 2002; that is 20 years ago! This casts serious doubt on the issue of salary and allowance payments to state workers, and on whether the state can actually pay the minimum wage at ₦30,000’, the foundation said in a statement to Development Diaries.
FENRAD also noted, ‘While it is indeed true that a huge part of this problem preceded the administration of Governor Ikpeazu who only inherited it, the governor who has vowed to begin implementation of payment, FENRAD maintains, must be considerate with Abia pensioners some of whom are now demented, dependent, invalid, aged and, of course, impoverished.
‘These pensioners need their pay to manage their old age and challenges that come with that, especially in this era when the nation faces sharp rise in inflation rate amid purchasing power decline accompanied by skyrocketing price of foodstuffs’.
Photo source: CCD
