The Tide Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council, recently arranged a send-forth for five of  its retired members, Mr. Thomas Abbey, Mr. Jemina Amachree, Mr. Patterson Koko, Mr. Canice Amadi and Julie Jumbo. The theme of the event was “Life, Before and After Retirement”.
The event featured a seminar on the topics, Contributory Pension Scheme: Any Benefits?, Civil Servants and Housing Challenges and Planning Towards retirement, with citations on the retirees/presentation of gifts as its highlight.
Delivering his keynote address at the occasion held in the Executive Conference Hall of the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, Publisher of The Tide newspaper, the Special Guest of honour, Mr. Celestine Ogolo hailed the NUJ Tide Chapel for organising the event in recognition of the retirees’ contributions to the growth of not only the union but also The Tide Newspaper.
Ogolo who is the General Manager of the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation (RSNC) reassured of the management’s commitment to ensuring  greater welfare of the staff. As he puts it, “Management will give top priority to staff welfare”, reminding civil servants that it was important to prepare for retirement while still in the service, the RSNC boss said it was necessary for them to look forward to and plan for the future.
He stressed the need to imbibe the culture of planning for retirement, saying that although people’s problems vary, it is important to form the habit of saving a little from their salaries not minding the problems.
“You must imbibe the culture of planning for retirement not minding the problems. Although problems vary, you must do it no matter the problems you have”, Ogolo emphasised, pointing out that some civil servants are afraid of retiring because they have not planned for it.
In a paper titled: ‘Planning Towards Retirement’, the Permanent Secretary, Establishments, Training and Pensions Bureau, office of the Head of Service of Rivers State, Mr. Asoelu Gayamos Ogo enjoined workers to prepare for the challenges of life after active service and encouraged them to prepare for their retirement early in order to avoid a life of misery and pain. In fact, he said, “the preparation for retirement for the worker should start the very day he or she is gainfully employed. When adequate preparation for retirement is made, life after retirement becomes comfortable”.
He lined up some tips which if adopted and followed strictly would help potential retirees prepare for their retirement and make life after retirement very enjoyable. Some of the tips include;
(1)    To cultivate habit: Saving habit should be developed by workers. Workers should begin to learn how to save a minimum amount monthly in the bank from their salaries no matter how stressful it may impact on them. When a worker sustains this habit, on the long run, he or she will build up hope that at retirement, something to fall back on will be there to sustain the family before retirement benefits are paid. When this strategy is adopted, the retiree suffers minimum stress at retirement.
(2)    Readiness to disengage from the service: The Pension regulation says that any worker who is due for retirement should begin to prepare for disengagement from the service at least six months to the retirement date. This issue has been posing a number problem to some workers as there are those who have made up their minds to retire when due and therefore are quick to comply with the regulation whereas there are those who are reluctant.
For a comparative analysis of the two groups of workers, the first group suffers minimum stress during the documentation of their retirement benefits because they have their monthly salaries still running uptill the disengagement date while the second group will be uncomfortable during the documentation because they no longer enjoy their monthly salaries after the disengagement date. They may run into the problem of salary overpayment, so it is recommended that when this strategy is adopted to the pension regulation the retirees also suffer minimum stress at retirement.
(3)    Willingness to join cooperative societies: it is recommended that workers should join any of the flourishing registered savings cooperative societies that operate cooperative shops and share their profits yearly. Another advantage derivable from being a member of cooperative societies, especially the one that offers loan facilities to the general public is that interest rates for members are generally low. A member can obtain such facility and invest it in a small scale business that has the capacity to not only pay back the loan but afford the potential retiree additional income that can sustain the family at retirement.
(4)    Small scale investment: it is recommended that workers should invest on small scale businesses that do not require huge financial outlay that generate regular income. Before embarking on any project or business, it is advisable that one undertakes a feasibility study to determine if the return on investment is encouraging or not.
The following projects or businesses may be considered; fishery farming, snail farming, cellophyne bags making, pure water manufacturing, soap and candle making, private teaching, laundry services, buying and selling of retail shops, among others. When this is adopted, the retiree obviously has abundant hope to sustain the family at retirement.
(5)    The size of family: An effective retirement plan should begin very early as regards the size of the family to have or control. Marriages resulting to too many children should be discouraged because of the financial burden in catering and training them from nursery school to high institution. Both gender of workers are exposed to this choice.
Currently times are hard and very challenging in the area of cost of living and the needs of the society such as education, skills acquisition, good accommodation, among others expected to be provided to the children. Therefore, the smaller the size of the family, the less stress to the retiree whereas the larger the size of the family, the more problem to the retiree on retirement. It is, therefore, recommended that when this tip is adopted, it should be geared towards having smaller family nowdays.
(6)    Use your Pension and gratuity wisely: When pension and gratuity are paid to retirees, it should be invested wisely on small scale projects or businesses as stated earlier. It should not be used on faulty investment such as joining loan lending houses that will tell you to invest, for example N20,000 monthly and at the end of the year, you will receive 100 percent of your capital as interest, meaning that at the end of the year the total amount to receive will be N480,000.
This is fraudulent because you are only lured to it for their selfish gains and at the end of the day you are disappointed, which might result to failing health and subsequently death. It is, therefore, recommended that when this strategy is adopted, the retiree will have a sense of belonging to the society after serving meritoriously.
(7)    Owing a family house: there is no argument about the fact that things are hard. So savings are nearly impossible, especially with the meager salaries paid to workers. However, with your legitimate earnings, make additional savings that will enable you start building your own houses in your village or in the city where you live and work while in service. This may look very tasking but it is important to the family.
This is essential because paying rents on retirement is a difficult thing. Retiree should imagine the low pension and gratuity paid at retirement. On the other hand, if any retiree plans to use his or her gratuity to build a house for the family, it should not be a type you may not be able to complete but a moderate one that can be easily completed. This will help prolong the retiree’s life.
In conclusion, Mr. Gayamos Ogo recommended that in order to assuage the emotional and financial impact of retirement, it is important to organise mandatory pre-retirement training or workshop and counseling in the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to sensitise retiring officers on the implications of retirement and the need to prepare for it. He  congratulated the retired journalists of The Tide newspaper for their meritorious service not only to the RSNC but to the state.
In his talk on ‘Contributory Pension Scheme: any benefits?, The Regional Manager of AllCO Pension Manager Limited, Mr. Godwin Igbanoi explained that the new contributory pension scheme is fully funded based on individual accounts.
According to him, against the backdrop of a huge benefit, arbitrary increases in salaries and pensions as well as poor administrative structures, the need for pension reform became necessary.
The paper outlined the objectives of the new pension scheme as follows:
(1)    To ensure that everyone in the civil service receives his or her pension as at when due.
(2)    To assist improvident individuals by ensuring that they save to cater for old age.
(3)    To establish a uniform set of rules and regulations for the administration and payment of retirement benefits in the private/public sector.
(4)    To promote labour mobility and minimise incentives for early refund and
(5)    To stem the growth of outstanding pension liabilities.
Deductions are made from the salaries of the employees as the employee opens an account to be known as retirement saving account. There must be discipline and good management of the fund. Pension as he defines it means something to fall back on after retirement from active service.

Shedie Okpara