The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Information, Mrs Titilola Cline, has charged workers to inculcate the habit of putting something aside as a way of saving towards retirement.
Cline gave the charge at a sendforth ceremony of two retired staff of the Administration Department of Rivers State Newspaper Corporation (RSCN), publishers of The Tide Newspaper, at the Corporation on Friday.
“I want to encourage you who are still in service to prepare for your retirement by putting something small aside every month. This way, when you finally retire you’ll have something to tall back on pending when your retirement entitlements would be paid,” she said.
The permanent secretary also advised them to begin their retirement documentation ahead of time to forestall any delay that may arise in their documentations with the Parastatals Pension Board.
To the retired staff, Cline advised them to be prudent with their earnings and engage themselves in worthwhile activity while congratulating them on their  meritorious service to the state for 35 years and thanked God for seeing them throughout the years of service.
The General Manager, RSNC, Mr Vincent Ake in his address described the retirees, Mrs Fyne West Deputy Director, Administration, and Mrs Blessing Emeka-Onu, as diligent workers and enjoined them to apply the same principles in their endeavours while on retirement.
He challenged the staff still in service to emulate the two women’s sterling qualities in the discharge of their duties.
Responding, West who retired as the Confidential Secretary to the General Manager, thanked the Administration department for finding them worth of such honour.
She used the opportunity to thank the state government for giving them the opportunity to serve the state through RSNC.
West however expressed regrets that after serving the state for 35 years, retirees are left to live a beggarly life, lamenting that the non-payment of their entitlements, 20 months after leaving the service was worrisome as it has thrown them into untold hardship.
She appealed to the government, saying, “after working for 35 years and retiring without blemish, l expect to be paid my entitlements but to my greatest surprise and dissappointment nothing has been paid to us. I wish to appeal to our amiable Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike to look into our matter and positively address it”.
She noted that uncertainties and hardships lead workers to falsify their ages and alter their documents to enable them stay in service longer than necessary thereby increasing the number of the unemployed youths in the society she advised that all who are due for retirement should retire to give room for the younger generations to make a living for themselves.

Tonye Nria-Dappa