Disquiet over N45bn ex-airways’ pay off
…as West Coast staff petition Buhari
Former workers of the liquidated Nigeria Airways based in the West Coast have again petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over the non-release of the N45 billion pay off that was announced about three months ago.
The West Coast workers, Emetule Fina (Gabon), Eno Mao (Gabon), Bareng John (Cameroon), Ndoke Hannah (Cameroon), Afandoni Raymond (Cotonou) and Mensah Tetey (Lome) lamented that they were in agony and fear of abandonment as to the circumstances surrounding the delay to execute the payments after the approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on September 20, 2017.
The ex-workers further stated that efforts by the president seems to have been thwarted by some members of the regime because of bureaucracy, corruption, greed and selfish interest, thereby tarnishing the image of Nigeria According to them, “for close to four months after the approval of the entitlements of the ex-staff of the defunct Nigeria Airways, it is already four months since the announcement was made with different stories on when the verification and payments exercise would take place.
“We were very glad when it was reported in the media on Nov 8, 2017 when the Minister of State for Aviation announced that the payments will be in December and serve as a Christmas gift to the workers,” they added.
The minister’s message, they reiterated, received a further applause when they were told that they would be paid between the second week of November and the first week of December.
They decried the silence of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Auditing (PICA), an organ of government saddled with the responsibility of effecting payment of the workers. It was learnt that the fund has been released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The verification date, according to them, was to be released last week Friday, but they lamented that the work had not been concluded a few days to Christmas.
It would be recalled that over 1500 former workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways are uncertain and confused over their fate and wondered what is delaying the disbursement of the funds.
The ex-workers served the airline and the country with dedication and commitment. Many of them are dying daily waiting for their final entitlements 13 years after the airline was liquidated.
At their number 10 Afisman Drive secretariat in Ikeja, Lagos, over a hundred of the ex-workers under their umbrella body, Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Nigeria Airways branch, gathered at the dilapidated one storey building recently to demand for the release of their entitlements more than a month after President Buhari approved the release of N45 billion for the workers.
Approval was announced by FEC on September 20, 2017 for immediate payment of the N45 billion. It is now more than three months since the approval for payment was announced.
The irony of it all is that after the liquidation of the airline in 2007, their colleagues outside Nigeria were paid their 22 years severance benefits in full while their counterparts only got five years due to the efforts of the then late President Umaru Yar’dua.
Nigeria Airways foreign staff in the United States and Europe, it was gathered, were paid their 22 years benefits in accordance with International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Woleshadare News learnt that since the announcement, no one has contacted the union about this payment.
Experts opined that by now, PICA, which is handling the payment, would have called the union to a meeting to work out the modalities of payment with a view to informing the beneficiaries the date of commencement of verification but it is like everything is shrouded in secrecy. No one knows what is happening.
Recently, the ex-workers lost some of their members including Alhaji B. Izgu, Alhaji Dairu Musa, Alhaji Baba Gana Bukar, Dr. Aka, Musa Otoro, Capt. Akinyosade, Capt. Akintaju, Mr. Keneth Onyechere and Engr. K.C. Amah among others.
Lamenting their plight, Vice Chairman, NUP, Nigeria Airways branch, Segun Feyisetan, said: “We are here to fight for our severance benefits. They paid us last in 2008 and the Federal Government has approved N45 billion for us since September 26, 2017 for payment. Since then, we have been waiting for PICA.”
“We are begging Buhari, Sirika and Kemi Adeosun to look into our case. We have lost five pilots this week (last week). Capt Akah died just yesterday. We are appealing to them so that we don’t record more avoidable deaths.”
