12-7-2025.

The pension scheme was introduced by ex President, Olusegun Obasanjo, sometimes around 2004, to ( no doubt) stupendously enrich himself, and some of his tribespeople. 

Not long ago, a former number one citizen in the country is alleged to have bribed some high ups in the Police with a sum said to be in billions, so that they would not allow the proposed strike by the Labour Union, aimed to stampede the appropriate authorities to release the pension of hundred of thousands of pensioners nation wide. Some of the pensioners have passed to the world beyond while either on the queue to collect their meagre pension, or at home waiting for a pension that never came.

It is to be noted that politicians, many of whom hardly ‘served’ their people for more than eight (8) years, pay themselves in millions, with houses in places of their choice, and the vehicles they use, which are renewable after some years. But the real owners of the money (pensioners), who had served their country for 35 years, hardly get paid, with not a few of them even dying before they were paid.

The accumulated quadrillions of the pension money is being used by some influential people (mostly) of the South West extraction, and the Nigerian government, who have turned the fund into their cash cow for milking whenever they want.  

A pensioner who had worked for the New Nigeria Newspaper (NNN), is fond of ‘dreaming’ about the payment. The payment of the retirees entitlement has become like an obsession with him, talking about it all the time. And talk, it will remain, because those who manage the fund are not keen to pay out. It is simply a SCAM.

I have once written an article titled, ‘Pension Scheme Or Pension Scam’ on 13-1-2025. In the write up, I narrated the ordeal of a two friends, who went to their pension administrators to get their pension money. 

One of them complained that he “was stranded in the office for lack of money to get his way back home. His house was some kilometres away from where he worked. He had severally went to his pension administrators to have his money, since he had retired from his previous job, and was over 60 years old. 

“But the (pension) providers kept on asking him to come back after one month, even after he had filled the forms, and signed all the papers that needed to be signed. Still, the money was denied to him. Even half of the ‘kept’ amount that was promised to be given in lump sum the moment the pensioner reaches sixty years of age, was denied him in a charade that has been going on for more than one year. 

About the other friend I wrote that, “about 13 years ago, a colleague and a close friend at one of the leading newspapers in the country, went to his pension providers to take his money to enable him send some of it to his aging parents in the village. He was told he would only be given half of the money, and the rest would be given to him in bits as monthly pension. But he was told that even the half would only be given to him when he clocked the age of sixty. 

“He resined from the newspaper, as he did his preceding lecturing job at the University of Benin, Edo state, where he taught Philosophy, to go to a greener pasture, so as to be able to take good care of his parents. After one year of clocking his 60th birthday, he went to his pension providers, expecting to get the money, but it was not be, as they kept on the usual ‘go and come back on . . .’.  

“Being someone from a part of the country where money is not a joking matter, my friend showed to them the kind of stuff he was made of, and they gave him half of his forced savings before he made the ‘scene’ he promised to make, if he did not get half of the money he was promised the last time he was there. 

“He had lectured Philosophy at university level, meaning he was a person who knew what he was doing. The colleague and friend, had also worked as a journalist in a very influential newspaper, which meant he could cause a bad publicity for them. Bad publicity was, and still is, the last thing such ‘scammy’ organisations require. 

“The ordeals suffered by the latter friend made me hesitant about going to ask for my involuntary contribution to my pension, administered by PREMIUM PENSION FUND. The organisation is always quick to send me closed seasonal and birthday greetings text messages that cannot be replied to. They therefore, remained incommunicado, even though I desperately want the money NOW. 

“Several people reached the conclusion that the pension scheme was introduced to scam many hapless and helpless citizens who have retired, of their hard retirement money to further enrich the already very rich. The Pension Scheme was introduced by then President Olusegun Obasanjo sometime in 2004, and Jigawa was one of the first states to internalise it. 

“The Federal Government, especially the current one, periodically borrows trillions of Naira from the funds from the Nigerian Pension Commission (PENCOM).

“it is now almost impossible for the common pensioner to get their money from their pension fraudsters, who go by the nomenclature of ‘Pension Administrators’ in the country.”

On 1-2-2025, I wrote ANOTHER article on the subject of pension, in which I noted that, “to  the best of my knowledge, state governments pension scheme was started by Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa, who took over from the genius Saminu Turaki, then called ‘the globetrotting’ governor. 

“This writer very much understands the trauma that pensioners, and unemployed people like me, go through everyday, especially during this period. It is therefore the expectation, hope, plea, and prayer of every unpaid pensioners that their pensions be paid to them without further delay, or before some of them finally MEET their CREATOR.”

Now, concerning the DARKNESS most Northerners are served, bad news is coming their way, as the number one man in the ministry of DARKNESS stated that the government would very soon increase electricity tariff in the country.

Time without numbers, I have written so many articles on the ministry, or Minister of Power (electricity), or the lack of it, making one to derisively call them either ministry of DARKNESS, or Minister of DARKNESS, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu.

One of the articles is penned on 20-4-2025, and titled, ‘More Tariff For Darkness’. In the said article, I said, among other things, that, “I had hardly come to terms with the N36,000 I was to pay every month for the DARKNESS I was regularly supplied with when a another bill for N47,500 was brought to me as the new bill I am NOW expected to pay monthly. 

“The delivery person said apologetically that he was only a messenger who did not have the answers, but would advise that some members from our street go to the headquarters of the electricity supplying company and ask for the reason of the latest increase. 

“Even the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) believes that there were too many incidents of disturbances on the National Grid and the resulting power outages experienced in the country. 

At the moment, my street is without electricity for nine (9) days straight, despite the fact that the my house is supposed to be a BAND A area, for which electricity is supposed to be available for at least 20 hours EVERYDAY. Darkness is what we regularly get here.

Many other articles on the constant power failure in the country have been written by yours sincerely, to show WHAT ‘electing’ as president, someone who does “NOT believe in Nigeria” does to a country, made up of many religions, regions and tribes living in one ‘united’ nation.

Anyway, a lesson ought to have been learnt from the fate of an ex president, who travels to foreign countries without the retinue of aides that used to follow him wherever he went, when he was president of the country.

May God provide Nigeria with the leadership that will consider pensioners ahead of politicians, many of whose purpose of joining the ‘business’ is to make easy money without working for it.

Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.