Charles Aniagwu
By Jon Egie
Delta State public primary schools retirees have vowed to teach the Delta State Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, the difference between Pensioners and Retirees during their next protest in Asaba scheduled for August, if the Okowa government further fails to meet their demands of payment of their gratuities.
Leader of the protesters and Chairman of Association of Contributory Retirees of Primary Schools, Hon Chief Mrs Helen Chionye Ejieh, made the vow while reacting to a media statement credited to the Delta State Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu denying that the July 14, 2022 protesters at the gate of the Govt House, Asaba were not retirees of the Delta State government.
She was baffled that the Information Commissioner, Charles Aniagwu, could address his elders who had served for 35 years in such a derogatory manner.
Expressing their disappointment at the unfortunate disposition of Mr Aniagwu who they described as uninformed and lacking proper information on the state of affairs in Delta State, the retirees said Aniagwu only succeeded in putting Gov Okowa in a tighter corner by his attempt to misinform the public with fabricated data and bundles of lies and insults for which he has been known since he came to public service in Delta State.
“Aniagwu’s unguided press statement of July 18, 2022 prompts questioning his educational background and the basis upon which he was appointed into an important office of the Commissioner for Information.
“It is quite unfortunate that while the protest was ongoing at the Govt House, Charles Aniagwu was at beer parlour, his regular beat, hence he was not at the scene to hear the Chief of Staff, Hon Festus Agas Esq who addressed the protesters and assured them of the Governor’s willingness to pay up the retired teachers.
“Since assuming office as Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu has contributed to over 80 per cent of Gov Okowa’s failure in governance due to his continuous misinformation and impolite vituperation on the state of affairs in the state.
“The protest carried out on the 14th of July was not done by pensioners but retired teachers of Delta State and for the records, it was the 7th protest organized and self sponsored by the Retired Teachers and LGA retirees over the complete neglect of the state government to pay up their pensions and gratuities since 2015.
“It is disappointing that the Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu lacks understanding of the difference between Pensioners and Retirees. We shall teach him the difference in our next protest if our demands are not met by next month.
“On the demand for the retirees for 10 billion naira to be injected into the bureau to offset the backlog of pensions, it is very disheartening that Gov Okowa is depending on the 150 billion naira he is seeking to borrow in order to pay, but had to spend billions of naira from Delta treasury in the just concluded PDP presidential primaries which earned him the VP candidate of the PDP.
“It is not farfetched that Gov Ifeanyi Okowa pays lip service and is insensitive to the plights of the Delta State retirees. Despite Gov Okowa’s receipt of Paris Fund for four consecutive times in 2019, he failed to use the fund for what it was released for but channeled it to his political sojourn ahead of 2023, leaving the retirees to their fate.
“It is very unfortunate that Gov Ifeanyi Okowa, instead of seeking a favourable way to pay up the accrued pensions and gratuities of senior citizens of the state who have faithfully served and retired since 2015, has resorted to bullying the protesting retirees through his Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu.
“Information at our disposal is that the governor has mandated the Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu to mastermind the arrest of the leaders of the protesting retirees should they protest the non payment of retirees by next month.
“Although we are aware of this, we will not back down on our demands for our rights and cannot be intimidated by hired thugs of the government as this protest continues on monthly basis should the governor fail to pay all retired teachers till 2022 as demanded in our protest held on 14th July 2022.
“The fact that the Delta State Government through the Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu could outrightly deny and disown the retired teachers is not only an act of wickedness and deceit but inhumane. Gov Okowa’s refusal to pay the retirees has caused a lot of deaths of our members and the living ones are not sure of receiving their gratuities anytime soon.
“Despite any form of intimidation from Gov Okowa and his political thugs, we shall be going on another protest by August 2022 if they fail to adhere to our demands.” Hon Chief Mrs Helen Chionye Ejieh said.
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