Michael Chukwuebuka
The Executive Secretary of Pension Transitional Arrangements Directorate Dr Chioma Ejikeme has called on all custodians of cultures to do more to safeguard the core values of that which makes the people who they are in the growing face of aggressive modernism.
Dr Ejikeme made this known at the 21st Ofalla festival of Igwe Alfred Achebe, Agbogidi, the Obi of Onitsha which took place at the Obi’s palace in Onitsha.
According to the former Commissioner for Health Anambra state, what ndi Onitsha and Igbo people witnessed at Achebe’s Palace is the true reflection of the rich culture of the people that many far and wide have to come appreciate and admire.
*”First of all, I want to congratulate Agbogidi for his Ofalla festival. He is a traditional ruler of great repute. From the look of things. We have seen people converge from different parts of Nigeria and beyond to bear witness to this special occasion”,
“We need to cherish our culture. That’s who we are, we cannot trade that for any modern practice. I advise all other custodians of our culture especially the ones of Igbo extraction to do everything within their power to uphold the very core values of our tradition, culture and customs”, she said.
For 3 years now, PTAD has been partnering with Ime Obi in hosting the Ofalla festival and according to Dr Chioma Ejikeme, this is apt bearing in mind the main audience/players of the festival are PTAD major targets.
*”For us, we are happy to partner with Agbogidi. We have a good number of our pensioners here. So we have always seen this Ofalla festival as an opportunity to come and interact with them, get their complaints if any and try to resolve their complaints”,
“And I am happy to say that over the past three years we have been coming but today we are asking them to bring their complaints and no one is coming with any which means that we have resolved their complaints. So in effect, we have been able to achieve the reason why we have been coming here”,
“And continuously, we want to know about the welfare of our pensioners to make sure that they are getting their pension regularly and to celebrate with them as well”, she stated.
Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) takes care of pensioners that retired under the defined benefits scheme but didn’t transit to the contributory pension scheme.
/Michael Chukwuebuka
