The Ogun State Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Waidi Oloyede, has pleaded with Governor Dapo Abiodun to help float what he termed as health relief under the National Health Insurance scheme such that the retirees who subscribe to the scheme would enjoy a 50 per cent discount.
Oloyede said that this kind of request from the pensioners would help ease the burden of many retirees who are battling one ailment or another due to old age and other factors.
The NUP Chairman also appealed to the governor about the need to address the consequent adjustments of pensions in the state.
He said that while the mainstream workforce has not only enjoyed a wage increase since 2020 with an additional 40 per cent peculiar allowance from last year August, the pensioners have continued to receive the same amount despite the economic hardship occasioned by the subsidy removal.
Oloyede disclosed this on Saturday during the annual celebration of the Pensioners’ Day held at the state secretariat of the pensioners at Leme, Abeokuta.
He said, “The long-awaited but seemingly elusive consequential increase in pensions has greatly agitated the minds of the senior citizens whose monthly “take home” cannot take them to bank talk less of taking them back home.
“The paltry sum is grossly inappropriate to purchase drugs for various health challenges nor meet the demands of the present-day economic realities. We would definitely be happy if Your Excellency could help with the implementation of this consequential adjustment to ease the pains of the economically battered senior citizens.
“We also wish to inform you that most, if not all, the senior citizens battle one health challenge or the other. It is therefore pertinent to say that we, the aged, the senior citizens, mostly need health relief as it is provided by the National Health Insurance Scheme.
“We passionately plead that the pensioners be rightly captured on the National Health Insurance Scheme and a further rebate or discount of 50% benefit should accrue to would-be subscribers as such has been allowed the mainstream personnel, the active workforce”.
He also pleaded for the inclusion of pensioners alongside other labour unions in the negotiation forum for the new minimum wage, saying that this would also help to make informed contributions that could enhance the economic value of the retirees’ earnings.
Oloyede has, however, applauded Abiodun for tackling headlong the challenge of the backlog of unpaid pensions with the quarterly release of N500m, which was later increased into N2bn and was capped up with the recent release of N5.3bn.
The NUP Chairman said that the favourable disposition of Abiodun to the pensioners in the state has been quite unparalleled, pledging further support and cooperation from the retirees to the governor’s determination to leave the state better than he met it five years ago.
