Dakuku Peterside, former director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has berated governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State over his failure to address the plights of pensioners in the state.
On Wednesday, pensioners in the state protested the non-payment of their gratuities and pension arrears “since 2012”.
Reacting to the protest in a statement on Thursday, Peterside said Rivers State has not justification for not paying the Pensioners and he described the protest as a shame for the state.
“At no time in Rivers state history have senior citizens been treated with so much disdain and disrespect. Here are men and women, some who may have taught Wike in primary and secondary schools, begging the governor to pay them what is their right,”
“I was moved to tears when I saw the pictures of old men and women protesting at their age. This is embarrassing and shameful to a state that has enormous resources to pay them all their entitlements and allowances.
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“Governor Wike still has an opportunity to redeem his battered image by immediately commencing the processes to pay them. On no account should they come out protesting again. Enough is enough of their unmerited sufferings every year.”
