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OPINION: Protesting Police Pensioners And Fela’s Double Wahala Melody

Published

2 months ago

July 23, 2025

By Israel Adebiyi

Fela Anikulapo Kuti didn’t just sing, he bled truths. His lyrics, raw and volcanic, unwrapped the Nigerian experience in ways that no policy paper or commission report ever could. And in his classic hit “Confusion Break Bone,” he sang of a dead body caught between the indignity of abandonment and the cruelty of its mourners—betrayed in life and dishonored in death.

This week, that metaphor leapt out of vinyl and echoed in real life: Retired police officers, drenched in the Abuja rain, stood like withered monuments at the gates of Nigeria’s National Assembly. Their uniforms are long gone, their batons traded for placards, and their obedience—once unquestioning—now curdled into a desperate defiance.

These are the same men who once obeyed the “last order,” whether it was to disperse protesting students, to break up industrial actions, or to quell dissent with shields and tear gas. They were Nigeria’s iron fist. They bore the insults, the bullets, the loneliness. They were denied the right to strike, to unionize, or to say no. Now they are in the same trenches as those they once confronted.

And what a sight it was.

Elderly men—some stooped, others on walking sticks—stood in the rain with sagging clothes and heavier hearts. Their chant was not angry; it was haunting. Remove us from the contributory pension scheme, they cried. We are tired of dying poor. The Contributory Pension Scheme, a policy built with the pretense of reform, has become a gaping wound that bleeds out whatever dignity retirement is supposed to offer.

Retired Chief Superintendent Manir Lawal, 67, spoke with a quiver in his voice:

“We served this country faithfully. We deserve to retire in dignity. This scheme has impoverished us. It is our right to demand better.”

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] BUHARI: The Man Who Missed Redemption

But what is dignity in a country where old age is a curse? Where retirees slump and die in biometric verification queues? Where pensions are delayed like unwanted handouts, and where death is often the only exit from poverty?

This is not just the police story. This is the Nigerian worker’s tragedy. The nurse who gave 35 years to a state hospital only to beg for her gratuity. The teacher who moulded generations but now eats once a day. The civil servant who used to process others’ salaries and now doesn’t receive his.

Nigeria, it appears, is a nation that celebrates you while you bleed and forgets you once you collapse.

These retired officers are the faces of a broken promise. The very system they upheld has turned against them. The guns they once bore are silent now. And no sirens accompany them as they sleep on floors in the rain outside the so-called hallowed chambers of power.

Why does Nigeria treat its labour force like chewing sticks—use, discard, forget?

The Monday protest wasn’t just a cry for pensions. It was a funeral for faith in the system. It was a statement that even uniforms do not shield one from poverty. That after the medals are given and the rifles turned in, hunger becomes your new commanding officer.

We must ask the hard questions: Why are those who dedicated their productive years to protecting the country begging for bread? Why must every retiree become a lobbyist for their own entitlements? Why does justice retire the moment service ends?

But even this heartbreak is not equal-opportunity.

While the average Nigerian retiree fades into the background of national neglect, the political elite write golden exits for themselves. In many states, governors—some of whom could barely pay salaries during their tenure—have enshrined laws that guarantee themselves lifetime pensions, fleet of cars, luxury homes in multiple cities, foreign medical trips, and even security details paid for by the state.

A retired civil servant gets a verification form.
A retired governor gets a diplomatic passport.
A retired police officer gets rain.
A former senator gets a seat at the next constitutional review committee.

The contrasts are obscene.

It gets worse. These looters of public legacy do not just walk away with the treasury keys—they pass the code to their children. Nigeria has become a democracy of dynasties. Fathers rig the system. Sons inherit it.

So, when the ruling class clinks glasses in Abuja over another fuel subsidy cut, or celebrates “pension reforms” that deepen inequality, who really weeps for the rain-soaked old men at the gate? Certainly not the elite who now fly private jets to Dubai, London, France and other choice locations, for annual medicals. Not the lawmakers who collect severance packages in millions after just four years of sitting pretty in power.

The average Nigerian worker retires into penury. The ruling class retires into paradise.

The old men in uniform have served their time. The question is: when will the country serve them back?

Even the police—agents of state repression in the eyes of many—are waking up to the betrayal. And if the state could do them this dirty, what hope is there for teachers, local government workers, secretariat cleaners, and the army of underpaid civil servants?

The retirees didn’t break the laws. They enforced them. They didn’t shirk duty. They endured it. Now, their tears join the long, sorrowful river of abandoned patriots.

One hopes the tearful protest of these police retirees does not go the way of other protests— powerful noise drowned by official deafness. Because beyond their drenched uniforms and trembling chants is a deeper truth: Nigeria is a graveyard of gratitude.

Let this protest mark a turning point, not just in police welfare, but in how Nigeria treats those who give their lives in its service. Because, truly, double wahala dey, not just for the dead body, but also for the country that lets its elders die in vain.

News

Edo To Immortalise Late IGP Solomon Arase

Published

9 hours ago

September 27, 2025

Editor

The Edo State Government is set to immortalise the late Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, who is an indigene of the state.

Governor of the state, Monday Okpebhole, disclosed this on Saturday while receiving the body of the late Arase at the Benin Airport.

Represented by his Chief of Staff, Gani Audu, Okpebholo described late Arase as “one of the finesse police officers and lawyers we have in Edo State,’ adding that “losing him at this time that the Nigeria Police Force and the country in general need him is not good for us”.

“As a State Government, we will work with the family to see how we can Immortalize him. He was a great son of Edo State.

“It is very painful to the government and people of Edo State but we are consoled with the good life he lived”.

Okpebholo described Arase as a team player and a man that was always willing to help.

“It is painful that we lost somebody who always listens to every complaint and tries as much as possible to solve them”.

He, however, prayed to God to give the family the fortitude to bear the loss, assuring that the government will do all that it can to support his family.

News

Edo Activist In Police Net Over Alleged Assault On Abure

Published

11 hours ago

September 27, 2025

Editor

Edo-based activist, Precious Oruche, popularly known as “Mama Pee”, has been detained following a heated confrontation with the factional National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, at the Abuja Airport.

The incident, which had since gone viral, had sparked controversy and conflicting accounts from both parties.

According to reports, the saga began at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, where Mama Pee allegedly confronted Abure as he prepared to board a Max Air flight to Benin.

Eyewitness accounts said the activist approached Abure and accused him of being responsible for the hardships Nigerians are currently facing.

“Is this not Julius Abure? You’re the one frustrating Nigerians,” she reportedly told Abure in a confrontational manner.

Abure was responding by saying ‘how can…’ when Mama Pee interjected, saying, “In case nobody has told you, you’re the one frustrating Nigerians. Are you not Julius Abure? What are you now doing with Labour Party? Police are looking for you. You’ve destroyed the Labour Party, and you’re entering an aeroplane? May God punish all of you.”

Arriving at the Benin Airport, things took a more violent dimension as Mama Pee was allegedly attacked by a group of young men believed to be thugs loyal to Abure.

A video circulating online shows a scuffle at the airport’s exit, with several individuals attempting to drag the activist, before security and immigration officials stepped in.

Speaking in one of the video recordings, Mama Pee claimed she was assaulted by the group.

“Look at them oh!!! See them oh!!! They want to beat me after I told Julius Abure that he is the one frustrating the lives of Nigerians, and then he brought thugs. He brought thugs to harass me. Look at them, can you see them,” she exclaimed.

She further alleged, “I saw Julius Abure of Labour Party inside the Max Air, and I told him that you are the one frustrating the lives of Nigerians. You sold Labour Party, and then he called his thugs to wait for me at the airport in Benin.”

Another activist, Peter Akah—widely known as ‘Peter for Nigeria’—released a video calling for Mama Pee’s immediate release.

He appealed to Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo, and the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika to intervene.

Akah argued that the activist, who he described as a victim of political violence, had been wrongly turned into a suspect by the police.

Meanwhile, the Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has issued its own version of events, condemning what it termed an “unwarranted attack” on their chairman.

In a statement released by the National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, the party claimed Mama Pee accosted Abure at the Abuja airport in an unprovoked manner while he was boarding his flight to Benin.

“The assault, which attracted a large population of onlookers, continued unabated on disembarkment at the Benin Airport while she continued recording the scene,” Ifoh stated.

He added that Abure had to be quickly escorted to safety by security agents, while the activist was handed over to police for questioning.

The statement further alleged that Mama Pee, who is described as a known figure in the ‘Obidient’ Movement, bragged in one of her videos about her connections to top police officers.

“She vowed that she will not stop attacking Abure or any member of the Labour Party executive because according to her, ‘you have killed Labour Party and you are the reason why Obi is no longer in the Labour Party,’” Ifoh said.

He called for a thorough probe, just as he urged the Inspector General of Police to look into what they termed cyberbullying and political provocation.

As of the time of filing this report, attempts to get a comment from the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Moses Yamu, were unsuccessful as calls were neither answered nor returned.

News

Educationist Gets Guinness World Record For Largest Teachers’ Gathering

Published

12 hours ago

September 27, 2025

Editor

Nigerian teacher and education advocate, Mr Seyi Anifowose, has officially entered the Guinness World Records for convening the largest gathering of teachers in history, a feat achieved at the “Let There Be Teachers Conference 2025” held on September 20 at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

A statement by 1 Million Teachers on Friday said the confirmation was announced via a Zoom call on Wednesday, September 23, by Rishi Nath, a representative of Guinness World Records.

Nath commended Anifowose and his team for drawing global attention to an issue that, according to him, “should be on the front burner of policy and dialogue nationally.”

The record-setting event, powered by 1 Million Teachers, drew an unprecedented number of educators from across Nigeria.

Organisers had projected attendance of 60,000 teachers, underscoring both the scale of the mobilisation and the urgency of the message: that Nigerian teachers deserve greater recognition, welfare, and policy support.

“This is more than a number. It is proof that teachers matter. It is a victory for education, and it is a victory for Nigeria,” said Anifowose.

He explained that the choice of Tafawa Balewa Square carried symbolic weight. He said, “It was the same ground where Nigeria declared independence in 1960, and its use for the conference marks another proud national moment—this time celebrating those who build nations in classrooms.”

Anifowose admitted that achieving the milestone was not without challenges.

“This is not just about breaking a record. It is about resilience. Teachers stood in the rain, braved the sun, and endured long verification lines but refused to back down just to achieve this record,” he noted.

He expressed gratitude to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State for hosting the event and to his home-state governor, Abiodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, for his encouragement.

He also thanked teacher unions and education agencies at both state and federal levels for their support in ensuring the conference’s success.

Beyond the record, Anifowose emphasised that the next phase would focus on policy advocacy. He revealed plans to engage the National Assembly on reforms aimed at improving Nigeria’s education system and boosting teachers’ welfare.

Nigeria’s education sector has long grappled with underfunding, poor infrastructure, and low teacher morale.

According to UNESCO, the country faces one of the world’s most severe teacher shortages, with many classrooms overcrowded and educators underpaid.

Stakeholders have repeatedly called for reforms to strengthen the sector, improve teacher training, and make the profession attractive to younger generations.

By securing this world record, Anifowose hopes to transform symbolic recognition into tangible change for teachers nationwide.

(PUNCH)