Between Civil Service And Retirement Benefits

The condition and service in the civil service is fashioned in a way that the retired civil servant is placed on pension on retirement.

Although, if compared to the services at the corporate firms or enterprises, there are notable advantages and disadvantages. Interestingly, as the name implies, the civil service and public service operated either as a ministry or parastatals under the federal government, state and local administrations respectively.

It is obvious that without the inputs of the civil servants, the government institution may not have been in existence and would have operated in a vacuum. Civil servants are not only those working directly with the seat of government or at the helms of affairs. For instance, retirement proceedings for those working in Government House and its immediate establishments, are treated with urgency to actualise positive results, for the affected civil servants. Without controversy, civil servants are the hubs on which the government operates. Both parties reciprocate one another in the discharge of functional activities to move the state forward.

Conversely, the treatment accorded contemporaries of civil servants in corporate organisations at retirement is different. For instance, in the civil service, there are two categories of benefit on retirement namely, gratuity and pension. Truly, when a civil servant retires either through the required number of years or old age or death, the total amount of years of service are worked out and monetized, paid once to the retiree, while pension continues, thereafter for life.

Ironically, a lot of retirees have not lived to enjoy the fruits of their labour, primarily because of unnecessary delay for the processing of retirement document, even after the stipulated three months in lieu of notice. This ugly situation had led to the formation of pension associations in order to facilitate issues affecting the retirees.

Even the first retirement benefit that is, the gratuity usually takes a long time to come by. The retiree under-go perpetual agony for months or years before being paid the benefit. In the process, some had felt sick and died. At this point, it becomes more complex and of course, somewhere along the line, some case(s) may go into oblivion if there is nobody to follow-up the matter to a logical conclusion.

The counterpart in corporate companies enjoys quick attention in relation to the working of their gratuities without much pain. No wonder some civil servants question the rationale behind the delay in the government circle about the quick release of their retirement benefits. In fact, with the trend of things, the state of the civil service appears bleak its present recurring decimal continues unabated. It is pertinent that after retirement, the retiree could not accomplish or carry out any meaningful project due to delay in the payment of his/her right, probably at a time when he/she is psychologically, physiologically, socially and mentally incapacitated. However, one begins to nurse negative feelings about the civil service, when greater percentage of the life span of a civil servant is spent serving.

Nevertheless, civil servants are apolitical however, they cannot be designated as active politicians, even when they rather are very supportive to the political institution. Certainly, during elections, seventy-five (75) per cent of the total vote cast comes from civil servants, but later relegated to the background.

Summarily, it behoves one to beckon on both federal and state government in particular to see the civil servants as instrument for the implementation of polices and programmes of any government in power at federal, state and the third tier, and they should be accorded respect on their retirement. The modalities for the processing of their gratuity and pension benefits, should be within the range of three months instead of the agony associated with the delay in releasing their retirement benefits. The welfare of civil servants should be handled with care and the urgency it requires because they devoted life and energy to serve the nation irrespective of the meagre remuneration, unlike their counterparts in corporate companies that receive fat pay as their monthly salary. This would gender them to achieve higher productive while still on active service.

Philosophically, it is asserted, “one good turn deserves another”. Therefore, the younger generation are watching with kin interest, how their patriarchs are being treated, which may form major factor in their consideration to take up civil service job as future career.

The three-tier government should expedite action now to curb the ugly situation facing retirees in this land flowing with milk and honey. The long history of delay in payment of gratuities, pension to duly retired civil servants should be fast tracked to check minimum delay.

Ominyanwa resides in Port Harcourt.

Goddy O. Ominyanwa