AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR
Your Excellency,
We, the concerned and long-suffering public servants and retirees, write to you today with a heavy mix of hope and profound anxiety. We have followed with keen interest the recent speculations and unofficial reports indicating that the outstanding Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) salary arrears may be paid in installments or piecemeal.
While any mention of payment is a welcome development after years of patience, the proposed method of piecemeal payment is a source of deep distress and reopens old wounds of broken promises and systemic deception.
Mr. President, you have consistently championed the cause of “Renewed Hope.” This mantra resonated with millions of Nigerians who believed in your capacity to rectify the injustices of the past. For us, the bearers of these arrears, “Renewed Hope” meant an end to the endless waiting and the psychological torment of unfulfilled commitments. It promised a clean break from a culture of prevarication where civil servants and pensioners were placated with token payments that were often followed by years of silence and renewed struggle.
The speculation of a piecemeal payment does not signal renewal; it echoes a painful history. We have been through this before. Promises of staggered payments have, more often than not, been a prelude to a system of deliberate delay, where subsequent installments are forgotten, budgets are re-appropriated, and we are left to begin our agitation all over again. This approach fosters a corrosive atmosphere of mistrust between the government and its workforce—the very engine of your administration.
The hardship we have endured cannot be overstated. These arrears are not mere statistics; they represent medical bills paid with loan sharks, children’s education funded by debt, and dreams deferred indefinitely. To pay this money in fragments is to prolong this agony. It is an administrative decision that fails to comprehend the full weight of the suffering it seeks to manage.
Therefore, Your Excellency, we appeal to you not as a faceless bureaucracy, but as Nigerian citizens who have served our nation with dedication. We implore you to:
- Categorically reject the piecemeal payment model for the Consolidated Public Service Arrears.
- Authorize and ensure the full and bulk payment of all outstanding arrears to all eligible beneficiaries.
- Uphold the principle of “Renewed Hope” by making this full payment a testament to your government’s integrity and its respect for those who have served.
A bulk payment is more than a financial transaction; it is a powerful restorative gesture. It will instantly inject much-needed funds into the economy, provide tangible relief to thousands of families, and, most importantly, restore a significant measure of the trust that has been eroded over the years.
Do not allow the legacy of this long-standing issue to be another chapter of delayed gratification and broken faith. You have the opportunity to close this painful book once and for all.
We pray you heed this appeal and direct the appropriate action.
Respectfully Yours,
Damilola Omosebi
For The Concerned Public Servants and Retirees of Nigeria
