‎Desperate pensioners plan naked nationwide protest, say ‘we must show the wound our clothes are covering’

For months, 74-year-old retired postal worker, Baba Sola, has survived on borrowed money.
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‎His pension — already barely enough to live on — has not reflected the increment approved by the Federal Government in 2023.
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‎Each morning, he folds the same faded shirt over his shoulders, steps out of his one-room apartment in Agege, and waits for an alert that never comes.
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‎“We have eaten our dignity,” he says quietly. “Now they want us to swallow our pride too.”
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‎Baba Sola is one of thousands of pensioners across the country preparing for what they call the last resort — a nationwide naked protest on December 8, 2025.
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‎Their demand is simple: pay the arrears of the N32,000 pension increment and the N25,000 monthly palliative allowance promised to them last year.
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‎On Friday, December 5, the Coalition of Federal Pensioners of Nigeria — an umbrella body representing retirees from various federal agencies — announced their plan.
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‎The group’s National Chairman, Mukaila Ogunbote, said the protest would hold simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos and other states unless the payment is made before Monday.
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‎According to Ogunbote, who also heads the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NIPOST chapter), the decision to protest naked did not come lightly.
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‎“The Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General are not taking us seriously,” he said.
‎“We must show the wound that our clothes are covering.”
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‎For many of these elderly Nigerians, the unpaid arrears have already cost them access to medication, stable food supply and, in some cases, shelter. Some say they now depend on the goodwill of neighbours to buy hypertension and diabetes drugs.
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‎Under the plan, the protesters will gather at PTAD offices and NTA stations nationwide — locations they believe will amplify their cries to the government. Ogunbote asked all affiliate unions to mobilise their members.
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‎“The protest will continue until we receive the alert,” he insisted.
‎“Those who can’t go back home should come with mats. All pensioners must come out and fight for their rights.”
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‎As the date draws closer, retirees like Baba Sola say they are not afraid of embarrassment.
‎“When hunger has stripped you bare,” he says, “walking naked is nothing.”
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‎What remains uncertain is whether the government will act before elderly Nigerians across the country take to the streets — not only with placards, but with their bodies exposed, carrying a message of desperation no one can ignore.
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