by S’ola Filani

“I do not know the sin that I have committed that has made the concerned federal authorities not to pay me my federal share of pensions for 36 months now. Is it a crime to be a pensioner in Nigeria or is it a sin for one to be alive up to 87 years after retirement?”

These are the pleas of Timothy Dunbiri Akpede, an octogenarian blind pensioner who resides in Umunede, Ika North East local government area of Delta State.

Akpede who lost his sight 11 years ago has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and other relevant federal government agencies to pay his 3 years outstanding pension arrears.

In a chat with Leadership Newspapers, Akpede  disclosed that he was a headmaster of several schools in the defunct Ika local government area of the then Bendel State before his deployment to Ede Grammar School in Umunede where he retired in 1984.

“I have been receiving both federal and state shares of pensions from then until July 2010 when the payment of the federal share of my pensions became irregular. I appeared for data-capturing (screening) exercise in Agbor in June 2010,  and I was cleared and issued a cheque for one month. After that month, the federal government authorities in charge of the payment of retirees’ federal share of pension did not pay me for the remaining part of 2010 and 2011. When I appeared for another screening exercise in Asaba, I lodged a complaint about the non-payment of my pension but it did not yield the much desired result.”

He said that he would have since died if not for his children. The blind octogenarian disclosed that his medical bills were unpaid. He called on the authorities concerned to look into his problem since he can no longer see.