The Lagos State Government has reiterated its commitment to treat the welfare of its pensioners with utmost priority in the scheme of things.
Elizabeth Olabisi Ariyo, the chairman of Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) made this known at the year 2021 Pensioners’ Forum, tagged, “A day with the Teaching Service Pensioners’, held at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium on Monday, January 17, 2022.
Ariyo disclosed that the state government is not unmindful of the tremendous contributions of the pensioners’ and is doing everything in its capacity to ensure that their welfare is treated with dispatch.
”It is to this end that the administration of Mr. Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has treated the payment of salaries and pensions as a first charge item on its financial expenditure, making sure that they are paid as and when due”, she noted.
She affirmed that teachers are the bedrock of every successful society because everyone builds on the foundation laid by their teachers.
Besides, the chairman said that the reward of teachers was no longer in heaven as the greatest reward of any good teacher is to see their products thrive in society.
According to the chairman, part of the plans of the state government in making life worthwhile for these senior citizens was the online verification which was done from the comfort of their homes making the process seamless and stress-free.
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Ariyo in her address explained that the pensioners’ welfare programme is an annual event aimed at giving pensioners’ a deep sense of belonging, serving as a form of reunion, and also checking on their wellbeing which has always been a paramount interest to the government.
Toyin Machado-Onanuga, the permanent secretary of Teaching Service Commission, earlier in her speech expressed her delight at the pensioners’ contributions to the development of education in the state, which informed the program.
“This annual event is designed to appreciate and recognize your immense contributions to the educational development and growth of the State while in active Service. It is to reunite and bring together our retirees in a more relaxed atmosphere, to check on your well-being and also sensitise you on ways of maintaining a healthy lifestyle at all times,” she said..
Machado-Onanuga noted that the programme goes a long way in giving retirees a sense of belonging towards the education development in the state and some sort of assurance and encouragement to those still in active service of the state government of their welfare even after service.
The permanent secretary also appreciated Babajide Olushola Sanwo Olu, the executive governor of Lagos State, and the TESCOM board for their unreserved commitment to the welfare of pensioners in the state.
Oluremi Olanrewaju, the chairman of Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Lagos State Chapter gave kudos to the state government, particularly, Babajide Sanwo- Olu for his unflinching commitment and frantic efforts at making sure that the pensioners are well taken care of even after retiring from active service of the state government.
“His Excellency, Babajide Sanwo-Olu values and appreciates his state’s pensioners a lot. He owes no pensioners a kobo. As Lagos State workers receive their salaries as and when due, same he does to the payment of pensioners,” he stated.
He gave kudos to TESCOM for the online verification of pensioners’ which allowed them to be verified from their comfort zones while advising other agencies to take a leaf from the TESCOM verification exercise.
The pensioners were sensitised on ways to further live a healthy lifestyle while other medical teams carried out medical checks on the pensioners.
