.Son, widow recount gory details of how withheld salary led to the death of their loved ones
.“My husband died while I was running from pillar to post with my colleagues seeking how our withheld salaries would be released.
The plight of Nigerian workers, especially teachers, has again come under scrutiny.
Told by their son and widow, two Nigerian teachers have died waiting for arrears of salary in the tune of N900,000.
Alhaji Jimoh, a teacher in the service of the Nigerian Police education system, was elated when the Ministry of Education announced in 2021 that five years had been added to the number of years a teacher could engage in active service. By that announcement, those who were due to retire on attaining 60 years of age or 30 years in service had the privilege of staying on their jobs for an additional five years.
The cheering development meant Alhaji, as he was fondly called by his friends, would work for more years earning regular salaries to cater for his family. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as he and his colleagues expected. Their salaries were withheld shortly after the announcement was made, and it was about two and a half years after that they started receiving salaries. The arrears remained unpaid.
“In the course of doing his job and running around to have the withheld salaries paid, my husband fell ill and subsequently died,” Alhaji’s widow, who is also in poor health condition, told our correspondent
“I have been sick all along. I am always weak. It has been tough since my husband died. Our building remains uncompleted and flood comes into the building whenever it rains,” the embattled widow said.
Seeing that his mother could not muster enough energy to continue the conversation, the son took over from where she stopped. “My father died in 2023,” he said, overwhelmed by emotion.
After regaining his composure, he said: “My dad went to the hospital but eventually died at home because we couldn’t pay the hospital bills. Some of us dropped out from school because our dad, who was paying our bills, is no more.
“I completed my National Diploma at Kwara Poly, but I can’t go further because my mother does not have money to foot the bill.”
Another widow who gave her name simply as Queeneth, is a direct victim of the withheld salaries.
Like Alhaji Jimoh, Queeneth said: “My husband died while I was running from pillar to post with my colleagues seeking how our withheld salaries would be released.
“He died and left the burden for me at a time when I was not being paid for the work I was doing. I ended up borrowing money everywhere and getting indebted to so many.”
Following the humongous debts she owed, the troubled woman said, “I was always having anxiety because my creditors were always on my neck. My blood pressure rose astronomically to about 280.
“As I was battling with that, diabetes and an ulcer came up. I moved from looking for money to pay debts to begging for money to buy medications every month.”
At one point, she said, “I was spending more than N50,000 monthly on medications, but I have decided to skip some of the medications because of the high cost. Despite that, I still spent over N30,000 buying medications yesterday.”
Sobbing, she said, “If they had released the money that they withheld, my condition would not be this bad. I would repay the debts hanging on my neck, and by so doing, my blood pressure will come down.”
She noted with regret that the failure of the police authorities to release the withheld money has caused irreversible problems for so many of her colleagues.
“One of us has suffered brain fag. I learnt that she lost her only son recently and that compounded her woes. The son’s death could be as a result of not having money to go to the hospital or buy prescribed medications.
“I just told you about my experience. I can’t afford to buy the medications prescribed because I don’t have the money. Unfortunately, we have monies running into hundreds of millions naira held somewhere. It is sad.”
