THE PROBLEM OF RETIREMENT IN THE ENUGU STATE CIVIL SERVICE (A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU STATE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION BOARD)
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Members of working class are individuals who are deeply engaged in paid employment mainly in work place and organizations not their own. These places could be in the private or public sectors of the economy. These workers are remunerated on fixed wages or salaries instead of on commission or profit basis. They open the better part of their active life working for the growth, development and expansion of their organization. For their contributions to the progress for these organizations they receive virtually nothing in return other than salaries and/or wages. Salaries and wages are prices paid for their training, qualifications, experiences, risk taking, productivity and their other x-efficiency contributions to the overall development of their areas of employment as well as other sectors combined. However, they are not appropriately compensated for their contributions and based on this, they cannot be able to invest in other business ventures that will yield profits to them for the rainy days during the post retirement period and so, they face a lot of problems.
Retirement is an inevitable fact of life every employee must look forward to experience, it further confirms that whatever that has a beginning has an end. But due to unpreparedness and lack of adequate compensation on the part of the employers, there abound problems in the post retirement period and these made many retiring employees see retirement as the ultimate end of their careers and lives. It is phenomenal in Nigeria that there are army of retired government workers and teachers who have not received their retirement benefits after five (5) years. These people are made to undergo excruciating processes of verification and revivification and in the end some of them die without even collecting any benefit.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The federal Government in 1988 through Decree N0.31 established National Primary Education Board, and the State Government through Edict established the State Primary Education Board and they manage the affairs of tutorial and non-tutorial staff of primary school by paying them salaries. These establishments were undergoing some reforms in their administration until 2004. However, in 2004 there was another remarkable event and this was the establishment of Uniform Contributory Pension Scheme for both the public and private sectors throughout Nigeria. Contributory pension scheme is in vogue now where government contribute seven and half percent (71/2%) of the employee’s basic salary on a monthly basis while employees shall contribute the same. In this regard, the research work intends to x-ray the problems facing retirees, causes effects and possible solution to the problems of retirement in Enugu State Civil Service.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
There were many cases of frustration, economic hardship, stress meted to the retirees which in most times resulted to untimely deaths while in pursuit of their retirement benefits. This constitutes a lot of problems in the management of their homes and the society at large. It therefore, becomes necessary to examine the problems which under assumptions might be responsible for these. Looking at the situation of this country one can broadly say that the management is inability to prepare the prospective retirees for retirement while in service have contributed immensely to both physical and emotional stress. Some people’s opinion hold that the problem should be tagged inaccurate data while some are of the view that it was as a result of non implementation of retirement benefits.