Death of journalist exposes pension fraud in Ogun

…OGTV Omo Esene dies at 61

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NIGERIA: THE death of a veteran broadcast journalist, Omoh Esene, in Ogun State, has exposed the decay within the pension administration in the state.

Esene, famous television star at the Ogun State Television (OGTV) where he rose to the Director of News and Current Affairs, died last Tuesday.

Family sources said that the 61-year-old journalist, who worked last at the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission before his retirement, was yet to collect his benefits till his demise.

The mismanagement at the pension board came to light in a tribute paid to the late broadcaster on a social platform, Penpushing, by his fellow journalists and participants.

A former Commissioner of Information in the state, Mrs. Doyin Ogunbiyi, said that the death was extremely depressing, particularly as the late journalist was not happy towards the time of his death due to non-payment of his entitlements.

Ogunbiyi said: “I am aware he was extremely depressed and always lamenting over non-payment of his contributory pensions and gratuity since his retirement to date.”

“Very disturbing and pathetic,” she lamented, adding: “My brief intervention revealed so much fraud and malpractices with pension funds e.g. some living people’s names were listed as late, while some were listed under ghost workers.”

The three-time Commissioner also said: “Some did not have their increments effected and were still paid N1,000 instead of N5,000 and much more; height of wickedness.‎

“What profits Omo after serving government so hard and dedicatedly to now collect his dues as late Mr. Omo Esene. Very unfair!”

However, the umbrella body of journalists in the state, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in a news release signed by its Secretary, Soji Amosu, on Wednesday said that Esene’s death was very shocking and surprising.

The union described the late journalist as an active member of the union, who contributed his quota to the growth and development of journalism.

It said: “He was a bridge builder, a journalist of note and a playmaker whose vacuum created by his death would be greatly difficult to be replaced.”

The NUJ, while commiserating with the family of Esene, prayed God to comfort them, and give them, the state government and the media industry the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Also lamenting the journalist’s death, ex-Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who disclosed that Esene was his senior at Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, prayed for his peaceful rest.

“We pray that God in his infinite mercies put an end to the sudden deaths,” Daniel said, adding: “After several years without communication I received a text from Omo Esene, a very cool headed Alumni of BBHS (in fact my senior), precisely on 1st October and I responded without knowing he was virtually bidding us goodbye.”

“May the souls of the departed rest in peace.  Amen,” Daniel wrote, just as a former colleague of Esene, US based Dr. Sulaiman Osho described him as a great journalist with Daily Times and OGTV.

Osho stressed: “We covered the Governor’s Office together in the early ‘80s.  My condolences to the family and Ogun State NUJ.  May God Almighty bless his soul.”

Also, Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Senate President‎, counselled fellow journalists to begin the recognition of their senior colleagues while still alive.

“It is high time Ogun NUJ started seeking out our heroes in the profession and giving them recognition, celebrating them and even helping them out of any inconvenient situation instead of waiting until after their death before we now mourn and struggle to be a part of burial plans,” Olaniyonu, who is the immediate past Information and Orientation Commissioner in the state, said.

Similarly, the Publisher of Canada based GatewayMail online newspaper, Chief ‘Femi Shodunke, also lamented the death of the veteran journalist.

“Unfortunately, Omo Esene may not have collected his retirement goodies after meritorious service to the Gateway State, whereas the lawmakers whose impacts could not be noticed in our nooks and crannies just took delivery of brand new cars in less than two years of almost, if not total, idle sitting?” Shodunke, who was voted as the Best Reporter in Ogun State in 2003, said.

“God wey your eyes dey?  See gamut of inhumanities to your precious creatures!  Injustice galore in the land!” Shodunke added.

Also contributing, a one-time Chairman of the state NUJ, Eddy Aina, said‎: “The news of the death of Omo Essene represents yet another tsunami reducing the clan members.”

“Good journalist, frank and soft spoken.  May his gentle soul rest in the bosom of the lord,” Aina, also broadcast journalist, said.

Another journalist‎, Pastor Ayo Arowojolu of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, also mourned the late journalist.

‎He said: “May I commiserate with all of us as we mourn the passage of veteran broadcaster, Omo Esene.  May the Lord comfort his immediate family at this time.”

The newly inaugurated Broadcast Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) also said that it received the news of the death of Esene with rude shock.

The BJAN stated that the late journalist was a thoroughbred professional and a gentleman, who practised the profession with dignity and high sense of decency.

The association stressed in a news release signed by its National Secretary, Wale Oluokun, that Ezene contributed immensely to the promotion of ethical standards among broadcast journalists.

The deceased, the BJAN further said, left an indelible mark at the OGTV where he worked for decades and rose to the position of Director of News and Current Affairs.

“Although he has gone too soon, the knowledge he impacted on many young journalists who are presently occupying different high positions in the media and politics across the country lives after him,” the BJAM emphasised.