It has become pertinent to call for the redeployment of Mr. Emeka Nwonu, the Executive Secretary of Ebonyi State Local Government Pension Board because he is incompetent and lacks the requisite experience and knowledge to drive the process of paying retirees their gratuity. From all indications, retaining him in that position will continue to shade the government of Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru in bad light.
His outing today on Legacy FM was rather an insult and a slap on the faces of LGA retirees. While I am not in a position to hold brief for the Governor, but it is obvious that he is ready to pay, but the Executive Secretary of the board does not have the wherewithal to drive the process. He could not in simple sentence tell the public what his board has been doing or possibly make a forecast from what he thinks they are doing when the retirees will be paid. Emeka keeps saying that “each day we complete a process” and I ask, which process?
The Executive Secretary kept playing to the gallery, dodging questions that could lead to him being seen as incompetent. He even further shifted the blame of the delay to the retirees and it baffles me how a youth that is supposed to be charting a new course in a board is the one slowing the pace of things. And one will ask, how did the State counterpart deliver its mandate seamlessly and on time without telling us story of the blind men and the elephant?
I was irked the more when Emeka made a caricature of the death of retirees, with a wave of hand response that “Everybody dies. Whether you are in civi service or not. People must die. Let them not relate the death of retirees to delay in payment of gratuity” Defending that the delay in payment is not the cause of the reported deaths of retirees. It is obvious he does not interact with people placed under his care. He has no knowledge of what retirees are passing through.
He came on air with books and documents, but with no solutions to the issue. He just came to advance a propaganda to protect him from being seen as the cause of the delay.
His Excellency should a matter of urgency redeploy Emeka to any agency or board of his choice, as his stay in the LGA Pension Board is of no good to the retirees. And the Governor should appoint someone with traceable experience in civil service and not on the basis of political patronage. Critical area or sector should be manned by technocrats.
Our retirees have invested solid years in service to the State and deserve not to be played with. They deserve better and the Governor should ensure that this issue is resolved swiftly. Gratuity does not just gladden the hearts of these senior citizens, it makes them to live longer.
– Prince Igu Idika, Journalist/ Public Affairs Analyst