The place of birth, parentage and date of birth, is exclusively God’s prerogative. In essence,  the date of birth in particular, is the gate way and bedrock for life expressions. It is an act of God. All  are not predetermined, not function of choice. So, it is not people’s  fault that they are  born on their birth days.
If these variables are relative, then the refusal by some people to declare their real age shows the lack of gratitude to God, who graciously and benevolently preserved their lives from the unforeseen prenatal and post natal challenges. Not everyone conceived by a woman enjoyed the privilege of live birth.
Some conceptions were characterised by still birth, some whose birth were normal, seamless and hitch-free,  died some time later. It behoves the living therefore, to cultivate the sense of gratitude to God, who alone has the power to give life.
He also has the power to allow death. Hannah aptly captured it when in her thanksgiving prayer,  she declared: God kills and makes alive.  Simply put, God has the power of life and death so he could not have been an “absent landlord” to assume such critical decision which is germane only to one that is sovereign, transcendental, omnipotent and omni benevolent.
However, the attitude of several persons who want to take advantage of opportunities over others, concerning their age, leaves much to be desired so much that today it is like finding the traditional needle in a haystack, trying to know a person’s age. Real Age declaration is one phenomenon that is abjectly difficult for most people to do. The unexpected and unnecessary difficulty has translated to the euphemistic phrase “official age”. Why would a grateful heart contemplate an official age which in the office or public service parlance, is  age rather than the real age or date of birth.
It is evident that with the intent to falsify or forge their age when an opportunity that requires age limitation arises, some book writers cleverly avoid reflecting their date of birth on their profile. It is pertinent to state that date of birth is the gateway to other achievements. Every body’s life follows this sequence: Date of birth, family, home town, schools attended, Job experience or appointment. Why do some people take delight in veiling their date of birth which in the sequence of life expression is basic?
The reasons are not far-fetched. There is a deliberate intent to cheat, lie and forge if availed  the slightest opportunity.
Those who forge or falsify age covertly agree that they are not fulfilled yet. They needed to be some place which they are not and age is not on their side. That is why some civil or public servant falsify age so they will continue to remain in office or lead others. As a result, there is incessant  mutilation of service records and declaration of age.
A person who feels fulfilled or whose achievements are commensurate with his or her real age, needs not falsify age.
Secondly, there is an increasing level of doubt and baseless apprehension about the omni benevolent God’s capacity and capability to provide for them after the civil or public service life, so they prefer to die in service than to retire and face the “orgy” of the unknown future. For those who hold on to such sentiment, be reassured that God still provides. He remains the “Jireh”, the Ebenezer and  El-shaddai of all time. He cannot change in your time.
Remember, you cannot eat your cake and have it. Life is a function of sowing and reaping, cause and effect.
Any money  got from an office after attaining mandatory retirement age without official extension of service, is  fraudulent.
It is instructive to state that the act of false age declaration is tantamount to forgery and equivalent to certificate forgery, fraud and other heinous crimes that are capital in nature and capable of attracting punitive measure as dismissal and imprisonment on trial and conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Falsification of age is sin and a crime. In fact it is one sin that will accompany age defaulters to their grave if they fail to remedy the gory situation while they still live.
How do I get out of this entanglement? somebody may ask.  The answer is simply ‘Restitution’. How do I mean, in a digital dispensation when your false age is computed, banked and remains the determinant of your retirement date, I suggest that you leave the service proportionately to the years given as your “official age”. For instance, If you reduce your age in your records by five years, you are required to ‘voluntarily’ retire five years earlier. By so doing you shall have overcome the attendant guilt of age falsification and save yourself the inevitable retribution.

By: Igbiki Benibo