NIGERIA
Nigerian Public Servants say they are tired of being praised as “the backbone of the country” and “the engine room of Government” and want a pay rise to match the rhetoric.
President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Bobboi Bala (pictured) said even though PS employees possessed the same qualifications and experience as their counterparts in Government-run companies, they were paid far less.
“We have presented a Memorandum on Demand for Upward Wage Review in the Civil Service to the Federal Government to redress this situation,” Mr Bala said.
He said he had also identified some of the obstacles faced by Public Service retirees in respect of not getting their entitlements on time, while regular monthly pensions had not been increased since the 2004 Pension Act was introduced.
“Cases of officers who retired from the Public Service but who have not been paid their initial lump sum let alone their monthly pension stipends two years after exiting from the service abound,” Mr Bala said.
“It is indeed worrisome that patriotic citizens, who have served their fatherland meritoriously for 35 years or attained the retirement age of 60 years while in service cannot be paid their entitlements to enable them to keep body and soul together, let alone support their dependants.”
He also attacked illegal appointments to the Public Service and the extension of tenure for Permanent Secretaries.
“On no account should people be recruited from outside the Civil Service as Permanent Secretaries because the practice not only blocks the chances of senior Civil Servants from reaching the peak of their career, but also demoralises them,” Mr Bala said.
Abuja, 17 November 2018
