Pay us now, Ojukwu varsity retirees cry out

By Emma Elekwa, Onitsha

Retirees of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Uli, Anambra State have demanded for their pensions, gratuities and other entitlements while they are still alive.

The pensioners, aged between 70 and 85 years, said they had not been paid their entitlements since 10 years after retiring.

Some of the inscriptions on their placards read: “Pay us for job well done. Many of us have died”; “Govt pay us, save our lives; we have dependants;” “Life is hard without money, please, we need our entitlements;” “Do we not deserve our dues or do you want to pay our dead bodies.”

Speaking during a protest at the Igbariam Campus of the university, leader of the group, Emenike Frank, appealed to the management to pay them as many of them were not only incapacitated but had dependants.

He said no fewer than seven of them had died in course of their agitation with no solution at sight.

He said: “Most of us started work with the institution since 1996 when it was still Anambra State Polytechnic before it converted to a university.

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“Most of us retired in 2010; some retired earlier, but since then, we have not received our entitlements as pensions and gratuities.

“About seven of our colleagues have died since we started this agitation; but government and the school management have not addressed our anxieties. We have written several letters to that effect, but we got no response.

“We appeal to the management to come to our aid because we are aged and cannot do any other work. We also have dependants.”

Another retiree and former Chief Caretaker at the Department of Works, Lawrence Uhuoha, an octogenarian, begged the university and the state not to wait until they died before paying their dues.

“At this age, I believe I am very close to my grave. I worked hard during my active years. I want to enjoy the fruit of my sweat before I join my ancestors,” he pleaded.

Addressing the aged protesters on behalf of the university, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Prof. Solomon Ekwenze, praised their maturity in their approach to the matter.

He called for patience, assuring that the management was working assiduously to offset their accumulated pensions and gratuities.