An open letter to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu By Wumi Akintide

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 ……from an aggrieved but patriotic retiree of the Federal Civil Service who is speaking for thousands of other retirees.

My name is Dr. Wumi Akintide who retired in 1985 only to be invited back on a platter of gold to serve as a Federal Assigned pioneer Director of DIFFRI Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures in Ondo State under late Military Governor Okhai Mike Akhigbe.

I was in line to be appointed the Deputy MD of Aladja Steel Complex in Warri under one Fred Brume as the MD at the time as I recall.

I have completed all of the interview formalities in which I came first and I was waiting for my letter of appointment only to be told later that a northerner name Alhaji Mohamed from Kano who did not even qualify to be shortlisted for the interview was the one finally appointed to take the job on the orders of President Ibrahim Babangida who overruled Tam David West the Minister in charge of Mines and Power and what the Board of the Parastatal had recommended.

The word “Jakpa” was not yet in the Lexicon of Nigeria at the time in 1986 but you can now say on hindsight that I started the phenomenon in Nigeria when I decided to leave home to relocate to the United States on September 26. 1987 and I decided to take all of my children with me because I believed the country was not being fair to me as a citizen which is exactly the same point that Dele Farotimi is complaining about today and he is being victimized for, as we speak.

That said, this open letter to you, Mr. President, is about the suspension of the Payment of the Pensions due to me by your Pensions Department for my 25 years service where I served in different capacities.

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My last posting was as the Secretary to the Joint Economic Commission of Nigeria with the rest of the World under the Ministry of Economic Planning under. Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji and Ogbuefi Gilbert Chikelu.

I would urge you to investigate what I am talking about here if you please.

By your own admission and which I can testify to, because some of your colleagues and friends at Mobil Nigeria In Lagos where you once worked, were also my friends .

They included a gentleman named Solomon Oladunni from Oke Agbe, Toyin Obe from Akure, Bode Fadase from Ondo, Olawumi Omotosho from Akure and Mr. Sawyer from Abeokuta and Pius Akinyelure from Idanre who was your direct Boss as I recall.

I know you very well from your days at the Chicago State University and I wrote articles to debunk the silly notion from some of your political enemies who said you did not attend the University or graduate

I am happy for you as one of the builders of Nigeria and as a very thoughtful and resourceful and courageous President who has the wisdom and the experience to mend Nigeria.

The Federal Pensions Department did not start paying my pensions until more than 20 years after my retirement because I did not press for it.

When I did. they only paid me the backlog and paid the actual pensions fo 2 years to my Account at the Heritage Bank in Abuja but they stopped paying it again because they thought I was living for too long. All they wanted to see was my Death Certificate which is taking too long to arrive at their desk.

They thought I should have been dead by now and they stopped the payment of my pensions again for well over ten years now.

I did apoear at the Nigerian Consulate in New York to show that I am still alive and to identify myself but the Pensions Department still did not restore my payment till now.

I am writing this open letter to you in the hope and expectation that you will order your Minister or Permanent Secretary in charge to investigate my complaint because I am speaking not just for myself but for thousands of other retirees who are being victimized like me for no reason.

I am writing this letter to you, Mr. President, not because I desperately need the payment but because it is my entitlement and the Almighty God has allowed me to continue to live and to survive till now just like President Jimmy Carter has survived to 100 years but has continued to draw his pension of 217,000.00 Dollars per year by a grateful nation for 44 year as reported in the Social Media.

I am a long way from the 100 years of President Carter and I may not get to 100 like Jimmy Carter but I am still here. alive and well.

I would appreciate it, if you will get your Minister in charge of Pensions to look into the matter not just for me but for hundreds of retirees in the same predicament with me.

You left Chicago more than 50 years ago, Mr. President but you are still drawing your Social Security and Pensions in America even as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I currently live on my pensions and gratuity earned from America and I am forever grateful to America for that. I cannot say that about Nigeria, sad to say.

I have a premonition you might be sensitive to this kind of complaint from a persistent fighter and a patriot like you.

I just hope to God, that some of the people close to you who may stumble on this open letter would be kind and good enough to draw your attention or that of your First Lady Oluremi who is an ordained Pastor and a Pastor in the Redeem Christian Church of God to nudge you to do something about this open letter.

I am not going to give up until I hear from you or from someone close to you like your First Lady or your first son who is aspiring to go into full time Politics to run for Governor of Lagos State in the foreseeable future.

My Email address is Wumiakintide@gmail.com just in case you are moved enough to want to reach out to me at your earliest convenience.

I rest my case.

Yours in the service of Nigeria.

Sgd: Dr. Wumi Michael Akintide