By Maria Famakinwa

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Many civil servants nowadays do not like to retire despite the fact that it attracts some benefits and allows them to rest and enjoy with their families, having put in 35 years of meritorious service to develop their fatherland.
A lot of them are always sad when they approach retirement age, even when their health demands that they take a break. Some of them who ought to have retired are still on the pay roll of government after doctoring their dates of birth, thus preventing the agile and able youths from being employed.
In order to make employment possible for the youth, some state Governors embarked on workers’ verification exercise to address the problem of ghost workers, forged certificates and to flush out civil servants who have refused to retire despite attaining retirement age. At the completion of the verification exercise, many ghost workers were discovered aside workers who ought to have retired due to their age. Why then are Nigerians afraid of retirement?
A former civil servant, Mr Hamed Kareem, explained that most civil servants who have attained retirement age are not willing to quit the job because of the present economic situation.
His words,” even though salaries of civil servants are not being paid promptly none of them is ready to leave the job. Being a government worker comes with some benefits like obtaining loans from the banks or cooperative societies. So, a good percentage of them will prefer to die in the service.” he said.
A federal civil servant, Mr Bello Iyanda, hinted that most Nigerians don’t like to retire because of what they would miss. He revealed,”Some of my colleagues who will soon retire are not happy due to fear of the unknown.
“Aside the belief that civil service is stress free, most Nigerians fear retirement because no employer will need their services again, while others have the view that once they retire and have no place to go, they will be falling sick, they also believe, it will make them age abnormally.
“The easiest job currently in the country is government job be it Local, State or Federal. Go to any Local Government, for instance, you will see that the workers are doing their jobs without stress or intimidation compared to working with a private company. Aside the peaceful working condition of government jobs, workers also enjoy job security” he said.
In the words of a businessman, Mr Chinedu Emmanuel, he described civil servants who failed to bow out honorably after attaining retirement age as enemies of progress. “most workers in this category are not doing so because of the love they have for the job, but because they are greedy.
“There is no reason for someone who has spent 35 years in the service not resign voluntarily, in order to pave way for the employment of agile youths. The same parents who refused to leave for fresh blood to be ejected into the civil service are the one crying that their children are not employed.”
On what could be done to solve the problem Mr Chinedu said that Federal and state governments should not relent in their efforts to flush out those who had attained retirement age so that youths could be gainfully employed.
Sharing a similar sentiment, a public servant, Mr Niyi Ige, observed that Nigerians generally do not like to retire because of the present economic situation. He said,” many workers are contemplating how to feed their families after retirement. This is why some of them doctor their ages.
“What do you expect? Most of them who are still in the service collecting salaries are not fairing better, let alone when they are out of the service. The current situation in the country should be blamed for it. Civil servants are afraid of retirement because most of them do not have other sources of income. The treatment meted out to retirees in the country is another reason civil servants don’t pray to retire. Some of them involve in shady deals to make life better while still in the service because they know that such opportunity might not be there once they retire.
“There is need for government at all levels to have better plans for civil servants after retirement which may include sensitizing them on how to live happily and comfortable, after retirement. This can be done by inviting some successful retirees across the country to organise lectures for them on life after retirement.” he said.
In the submission of a retired civil servant, Mrs Abigail Ijato, who spoke extensively on the topic she accepted the fact that Nigerians do not like to retire because of many factors ranging from economic hardship to lack of good planning among others.
Her words,”some civil servants while in active service fail to plan for retirement and when they bow out of service have nothing to show for many years they put in. Also the treatment meted out to retired civil servants across the country when they want to get their pension makes many workers unsettled when it is time to retire.” she disclosed.