Well now, valued audience, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has just given his approval to a measure that would rival the benefits of nobility. The distinguished government representative made the declaration at what they call a "Ministerial Retreat" in Abuja, glowing with accomplishment.
What's this all about, you ask? Well, it's about ensuring that certain government officials will keep drawing their full salary until the Lord calls them home. But note this carefully - this luxurious arrangement ain't for your average government worker.
Certainly not! This extraordinary benefit is limited to those fortunate souls who retire at the elevated positions of the uppermost tiers of authority in agencies under the government's domestic apparatus.The official reason – and I relay this without a wink – is to guarantee these eminent persons maintain their dignity. Fancy such concern! As if a senior officer with decades of government service would be left destitute.
This curious policy comes alongside other reforms including clearing a backlog of over 50,000 pending promotions and creating what they're calling a "world-class Fire Academy" to rival the one in Arizona. Development proceeds, or so they tell us.
In my study of bureaucracies concoct schemes to benefit their members, but this endless compensation system stands apart. Any thinking person would ask: Why not extend such magnanimity to each civil servant? Or better yet, to the regular people whose taxes fund these benefits?
The difference with other public servants remains stark as midnight. Countless ex-policemen still wait years for retirement funds that barely cover basic needs.In bringing this tale to a close, I must come again to our theme: the lifetime compensation of Nigeria's senior officers. This August 2025 policy tells us volumes about the concerns of those who administer. And that, esteemed audience, is a fact worth pondering long after you've finished reading these words.
