INCIDENCES, PUBLIC PERCEPTION, AND RETIRED CIVIL SERVANTS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Christiana Olufunke ADETUNDE; C. Nana DERBY; David IMHONOPI

INCIDENCES, PUBLIC PERCEPTION, AND RETIRED CIVIL SERVANTS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Christiana Olufunke ADETUNDE¹, C. Nana DERBY², David IMHONOPI³
¹Dr., Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. christiana.adetunde@covenantuniversity.edu.ng
²Professor,Virginia State University, USA. cderby@vsu.edu
³Associate Professor,Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria.
david.imhonopi@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

Abstract

Nigerian civil servants retire at age 60 (70 for university professors and high court judges) or 35 years in service whichever comes first. After retirement, retirees have to wait for several years before their gratuities are paid while pensions are often irregular. The challenge of unemployment and under-employment among the youth make it difficult for many retirees’ offspring to offer adequate financial assistance to their parents. It is to this end that the study investigated the public perception of retired civil servants in the study area. Utilizing purposive and convenience sampling techniques, 10 members of the public, 3 officials of the State Pension office, and 9 retired civil servants participated in the study. In-depth interview was employed for data gathering. Interviews continued till saturation point, when subsequent data gathering added little or nothing to the data that had been gathered, was achieved. Interview lasted between 56 and 67 minutes. To analyze the data, constant comparative analysis of grounded theory was employed. For this analytical tool, both data gathering and analysis occurred iteratively. Open coding, axial coding, and selective coding procedures were adhered to, in that order, in the process of data analysis. Findings of the study revealed that: (i) retired civil servants in Kwara State did not plan for retirement; (ii) many retirees felt some civil servant friends deliberately avoided and severed bonds with them; (iii) a few retirees got involved in shoplifting to feed due to unpaid pension and gratuity; (iv) people viewed retired civil servants in the State as poor elderly people who should be pitied; (v) retirees developed new social bonds as they got integrated into the pensioners union clusters. Retired civil servants in the State called for prompt payment of gratuity after retirement to ease their suffering and erase negative public perception of retirees in the State.

Keywords: Retirement, pensions, civil servants, qualitative study