Retired BOUESTI Staff Decry Pension Ordeal and Seek Oyebanji’s Intervention

Retired academics and non-academic workers of the Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti, say delayed pensions and unpaid benefits have pushed many of them into severe hardship.

The BOUESTI Pensioners Association made its appeal in a September 7 letter to Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji, the university’s visitor. The letter was signed by the association’s chairman, Dr. Kola Ajaja, and its public relations officer, Alao Odeyemi.

The retirees said they had not received their August 2026 pension, while the university had paid only 50 percent of their July pension. They said the delays had made it difficult to pay for healthcare and meet basic responsibilities. The association also said some pensioners had reportedly died amid the prolonged financial strain.

The pensioners alleged that the university owed gratuities and arrears linked to the new minimum wage and a 20 to 28 percent pension increase. They also said the institution had not implemented the 2019 consequential pension adjustment for retired workers.

They asked Oyebanji to facilitate immediate payment of the full August pension, the remaining July balance and all other outstanding entitlements. The association said it chose dialogue over public protests because it believed the governor would respond urgently. “We have chosen to send this appeal to you rather than embark on public protests because we believe that you will answer our prayers with utmost urgency,” the pensioners said.

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We have chosen to send this appeal to you rather than embark on public protests because we believe that you will answer our prayers with utmost urgency.