LIFE IN RETIREMENT

INTRODUCTION

Every Civil Servant knows on entry into the Service that the day of exit will one day arrive either statutorily or by the termination of Life unexpectedly. The probability of exiting as a punishment for misdemeanour or misconduct though an option is Least considered in our thoughts as a result of the typical Civil Servants resolve to adhere to rules, procedure and regulations.

BACKGROUND

Retirement for me was not strange as I had experienced my close relations retiring from the Public Service. My father had retired from the Local Government Service and died a few months thereafter, but courtesy of an auto accident, my mother successfully retired from the Kogi State Civil Service and went on to a very active and successful political career for a long time before she was called to glory. My Elder brother had retired from Customs Service before his death. I was closely involved in the transition that took place in the lives of these close relations hence when my retirement was get-ting close, I asked God to help me and prepare me for this inevitable development.

PREPARING FOR RETIREMENT

This is a very important aspect of life in retirement. Many human resources experts opine that this should start immediately upon the assumption of duty of an employee. Indeed the several plans and deductions on employee emoluments are all efforts to ensure a comfortable landing upon exiting the regular employment. This is a known fact yet many have found themselves stranded upon retirement.

In my opinion, planning for retirement should be a constant and conscious endeavour of a Civil Servant. Unfortunately, many have limited this plan to only the accumulation of resources and assets. But the possession of these alone do not ensure a comfortable retirement. Life in retirement is much more complex than that. Sometimes, these acquisitions are the pathway to early death either due to mismanagement or due to health challenges arising from inability to properly manage them.

Planning for retirement requires a conscious reorientation of the mind and of family members from dependence on the privileges and benefits of office to a regime of self-dependence upon retirement. It entails a lifestyle of modest consumption and of self-sustaining endeavours that will not require constant outflows without commensurate inflow. In planning for my retirement, my first questions as I approached retirement were what to do, when to do it and where to do it.

What to do in retirement is very important. I was determined not to embark on anything I had not experienced in my sixty years of life or encountered in my thirty-five years of service. I was of the opinion that if I’m to make mileage of my life in retirement, I must leverage on my rich experience as a resource to market and sell the capacities that I must have garnered in my several areas of post-ing and service. I found this to be less stressful as it was easy for me to share experience, advice on current issues and indeed proffer solutions from experience.

The world actually revolves on an axis, hence the typical Civil Servant will find out that the experience of the past will always come in handy to ad-dress current challenges no matter the advancement in technology and changing times.

Systems change and personnel changes take place but there is hardly an alternative to efficiency and good performance. All the current advancement and breakthroughs in Science and Technologies still largely depends on the basic first principles of science to find relevance.

No wonder the African adage that says no matter how many new cloths a young man has, he cannot beat his elder in possession of old age cloths. Therefore, the retired officer must search diligently inwards for the competence that he posses which will be in demand out there and prepare to provide that service upon retirement.

The second question that comes to mind is when to do it. Commencement date depends on what the office desires to embark upon. If for instance it is Consulting as I am into, registration of business name, the acquisition of relevant professional certifications are a pre-requisite. Embarking on this while in Service is not an offence. In fact, the Service encourages Civil Servants to acquire professional certifications and be on top of their professions while still in service. For any officer to be in demand upon retirement, he must acquire relevant competence that add value to the Service and upon exiting be in demand by both the public and the private sectors of the economy.

The third question is where to do it. Retirement is a time of reduced income in many cases. Thus, it is advisable to also profile a regime of a reduced expenditure. Two major areas that should be avoided is paying rent for accommodation, and paying children school fees. These two when it combines with the basic need of food and other pre-requisites of life can send a retiree to an early grave. As much as possible a Civil Servant should utilise the various facilities and provisions available in Service to address these two issues, and avoid confronting the two monsters of housing and educational cost for children in retirement. Every other need except food and healthcare can be deferred, but these two if not handled properly can make life miserable in retirement. With the above in mind, a potential retiree has to choose to be located where his overhead expenses are minimal in view of his reduced income. This will however, have to be balanced with where his potentials clientele in retirement will be and where they can easily access him.

COMMENCEMENT OF RETIREMENT

Commencement of retirement can be exciting. The fact that one is no longer under the beck and call of a superior officer, and that one can wake up and lazy about the house on weekdays is a new development that elicits excitement. It also requires someone getting used to is sometimes, you may wake up trying to hurry and get ready for work only to be brought to the reality that you are now a retired officer. This is why it is important to have somewhere to go to, and carry out some form of activity even if in advisory capacity. For very hard-working officers, this transition could lead to health challenges if not adequately managed. Great effort must be made by retirees not to vegetate. There are exciting things to do in the community, religious houses or even at local political levels.

The watchword is to keep busy. For me I got involved in as many areas as I could find opening and that has been very engaging. It may not be financially rewarding but it can be spiritually and morally up-lifting. Furthermore, it enhances visibility and relevance in the community.

CHALLENGES OF RETIREMENT

There are various challenges in retirement depend-ing on how one answered the three questions in preparing for retirement. Life is about choice. And every choice determines its consequences.

In retirement, not only is income reduced, contemporary experience in our country is that retirement benefits and emolument are delayed and sometimes un-paid. This is a tragic development which government must address in order to avoid Civil Servants lacking confidence in the ability of government to meet its ob-ligations to them upon exit from service.

Retirement takes place mostly when the retiree is three score(60yrs) in age. At this time, certain old age illness begin to manifest. Unfortunately, the NHIS de-registers the Civil Servant and his children upon retirement. I have been work-ing on getting re-registered back on as a retiree with my wife, but the process is not encouraging. I’m almost giving up. But thanks be to God who has not allowed me to be hospitalised. The society sees the retiree as a Senior Citizen and thus constantly makes demands on them for re-sources which he can hardly afford. If he has family members that are still dependent on him, this amounts double trouble for him.

Sometimes, reflections on past mistakes can be a real nightmare considering the fact that when out of service the opportunities to make amends any longer is readily available. I sometimes call up those who I may have offended to make up and restore relationships. Sometimes, in service, it is inevitable to offend some people if procedure and efficiency in performance must be adhered to. That’s one of the challenges of Public Service and the retiree must learn to live with it and manage the situation.

CONCLUSION

In all, life in retirement can be exciting if retirees are actually accorded the benefits of SENIOR CITIZENS by the government and the society. A Senior Citi-zen is a priced jewel of every society having spent their useful lifetime in the service of the nation. It is incumbent on the government and the society to show gratitude by making life in retirement comfortable for them. Until this happens in our country however, the retiree owes himself a duty to keep alive and meet his obligations to himself and his family. That is what I strive to do presently, hoping that there are better days ahead if the lord tarries. I commend this also to my colleagues in retirement.

Samson Ameh Opaluwah – Retired Director 1st October, 2018