Governance is not about fine speeches or well-crafted assurances. It is about the relief people feel when a long-standing burden is lifted. It is about children who should be in school, not wandering in hunger because the system has failed them. It is about families who should be thriving, not weeping over entitlements trapped in endless corruption and bureaucratic circles.
Recently, I received numerous messages from people reacting to my letter to Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo, pleading for the payment of gratuities to the children of deceased retirees. Some carried a note of hope, like the one that read: “MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BE WITH YOU THAT WROTE THIS LETTER. GOD WILL BLESS H.E. USMAN AHMED ODODO FOREVER AND EVER FOR HIS ACHIEVEMENTS.” Others were filled with pain, frustration, and the weight of silent suffering. The message is clear—people are waiting for action, not just words.
It is said that a tree that abandons its roots will wither, no matter how tall it stands. Kogi State Pension Commission Director-General Mariam Abedo recently assured retirees that they need no connections to receive pensions and gratuities. She painted a picture of efficiency, of a government that pays over 200 retirees daily, of a system where documents are all that matter, not influence. But for the children left behind by deceased retirees, this assurance sounds like rain promised by dark clouds that never pour. Or is it raining in Okene and not all the local government in Kogi State?
Gratuities are not a gift; they are a right, an entitlement earned by years of service. Yet, for too many families, these entitlements remain as unreachable as a fruit hanging on a tree with no branches to climb. Many children of deceased retirees have to dropped out of school, forced to trade their dreams for survival. Some, once hopeful, now move through life with the weary steps of those carrying too many unfulfilled promises. The silence of the system is loud in their stomachs, in their unpaid bills, in the future they once saw but can no longer touch.
If governance is truly about the people, then SERVICOM in Kogi State must rise to its duty. It must not be a sleeping watchdog but a roaring voice that ensures justice reaches every family still waiting for their late parents’ entitlements. If payments are truly transparent, then let there be a clear process for these children to access what rightfully belongs to them. Let there be a dedicated line for complaints, an avenue where frustration meets immediate solutions.
Governor Usman Ahmed Ododo stands at a defining moment. A leader is not remembered for the number of roads he builds but for the number of lives he restores. The tears of deceased retirees’ children should not be the ink with which history writes his tenure. Governance should not be like a river that only quenches the thirst of those who can run fastest to its banks. It should be like rain, touching all, especially those who need it the most.
Kogi State must not be a place where workers serve diligently only for their children to inherit struggle. The governor must act—not tomorrow, not in the distant future, but now. Because every day that passes without justice is another day that buries the dreams of children who should not have to fight for what their parents already earned.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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