A STUDY INTO THE REHABILITATION OPPORTUNITY FOR RETIRE TEACHERS AND CIVIL SERVANT IN EKITI STATE
ABSTRACT
The
rehabilitation of the retired teachers and other civil servants in the state
and most especially in Ifelodun/Irepodun local government Area is giving a
concern to our society today.
The
mass retirement/retrenched by our government today seem to be creating more
problems than it could solve.
Most
of the retire/retrenched workers are confused while some others who never had
any prio plans see themselves as been dejected by the society.
This
study was carried out in Ekiti state with particular refrences to
Ifelodun/Irepodun local government area.
This
purposes of this study are:
To
identify the casues of the mass retirement retrenchment by the government.
To
identify measures by the government to stop or reduce the mass retirement/retrenchment
of workers in our state.
To
identify measures of rehabilitating these retired/retrenched workers.
Guideline
for the study was made available through a review of literature. The population was made up of the
retired/retrenched teachers and other civil servants in the locality.
A
total of one hundred and twenty (120) retired/retrenched workers selected from
the locality constituted the sample of the study.
Questionnaires
were used to collect the required data fro the study. The questionnaires were administered to the
retired workers.
The
data were tabulated and worked out in percentages.
From
the responses to the questions, it was discovered that most of the retired
workers had not made a proper planning before their retirements.
Also,
most of their retirement benefits and gratuities are not paid as and when due.
Based
on the findings therefore, the researcher recommend that:
Before any retirement/retrench is
made, due notice should be given to those concerned to allow room for proper
planning.
Workers should know that the working
places or positions are not for them alone and should prepare in advance for
retirement or any eventuality.
The government should pay the workers
the gratuities and other benefit as and when due.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Background of the study
Statement of the problem
Purpose of the study
Significance of the study
Scope of the study
Limitation or problem of the study
Definition of the terms
CHAPTER TWO
Review of literature
The meaning and preparation for
retirement
Adequate income substantially
Adequate accommodation
Absorbing interest
Opportunities for rehabilitation
Setting for a job of your linking
Opportunities for professionals
Opening a business of your own
Problems associated with
retirement/retrenchment
CHAPTER THREE
Methodology and design
Area of study
Sample population
Sampling techniques
Instrument of used
Data collection
Method of presentation and interpretation
of data
Validation of instrument
CHAPTER FOUR
Analysis of data
Introduction
Research question
Table i
Table ii
Table iii
Table iv
Table v
Table vi
Table vii
Table viii
This major findings
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
Discussion of findings
Summary
Conclusion
Recommendation
REFERENCES
APPENDIX 1
APPENDIX 2
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Even up to the middle of last
century, most people believed that plants, animals and men were all created at
the beginning of the world as described in Holy Book of Genesis; and the date
was traced back to 4004 B.C. By the 19th century. Facts were discovered which suggested a
different time scale.
Meanwhile, it is not the intention of
the researcher to argue with any of the various school of thought on the origin
of man on earth.
It is only fair to assume that
perhaps it is impossible to say precisely when man first lived on the plant
called earth.
One outstanding characteristic in
geologists/Archeologists search for the date of man’s first existence on earth
is that of evidence on man’s activity way back at about 600,000 B.C. In order
for man to maintain himself, he had to make tools with which to hunt animals;
one may recall to the story of the early man.
In this study, we will therefore
prime into the concept of work and the worker’s retirement.
When one looks at work as a concept,
he may blame the creator for condemning Adam and Eve and thus humanity to go to
work. This gives the erroneous
impression that work was bad. But
referring to the early chapter of genesis, God established work as a blessed
part of human life. A look at the third
chapter after the fall into sin and rebellion by man that work now becomes
toil; out of the sweat of thy brows thou shall eat bread. Work was not really the creator’s punishment
rather toil.
Also, the frustration that comes from
meaningless work was not plan rather, we may add that because of
industrialization the idea of work’s inherent virtue may have seemed
temporality implausible to generations who blaboured in the mines and mills.
For the purpose of this research
project, we shall centre our discussions on one aspect of the working class and
to limit it the more, we shall restrict ourselves to the government employee
both the civil and public servant.
A seemingly trival question one might
be compelled to ask is what is retirement and when does a civils servant
actually retires? A commonly presumed meaning of retirement is the act of
giving up one’s work, position or business as a result of age, disability,
infirmity, gross official misconduct etc. There are two major forms of
retirement – the voluntary and the compulsory retirements.
In voluntary retirements, the civil
servant decides early enough (before attaining the age of 60) to give up his
job may be due to his desire to go into private sector, politics, or even to be
conferred a traditional title form his community.
This was more pronounced during the
last civilian Regime even in the recently concluded councillorship and chairmanship
elections which was Barrister onyenacheya of Mbaitoli local government area as
chairman and his colleagues to their respective seats.
Compulsory retirement is one what
“sees off” a civil or public servant on an attainment of the age of 60 (note
that the Obasanjo regime purported a rise in the nation’s life expectancy and
pushed up the official compulsory retirement age), it may also come as a result
of gross official misconduct as was witnessed during the 1975 civil servant
purge. The Murtala and Obasanjo
administrations were determined to give the nation a new lease of life.
It was evidently known that the
public service under Gowon was Rncedeep in malpractices as the administration
it advised and served. This was why
general murtala undertook the purge of public servant and about 10,000 lost
their jobs either by retirement or total dismissal on various reasons sometimes
without benefits.
Also during one of the last civilian
regimes in the country (1975 – 1983), Nigeria witnessed a tremendous rise
in the number of her employees. The
number of civil servant both in the federal civil service, states and local
governments rose tremendously. The
numerical strength of teachers both in primary and secondary schools also rose
to a double. There was the proliferation
of schools due to the universal primary Education scheme which came into being
in 1976.
The government offered automatic
employment in the teaching field to the graduands of these schools whether they
all passed their examinations or not.
The tremendous rise in the number of
employees brought additional burden to the government, the number of staff on
their pay roll rose astronomically without a corresponding increase on the
economic resources. The effect was that
the government was spending more money on the personal emoluments and wages;
coupled with the fact that the national minimum monthly wage rose from N60.00 to N125.00 which invariably became an extra burden on the
government. Today, the Uman Musa Yar
Adua administration has continued to make series of increases on the minimum
wage though this varies from one state to another and from one ministry to
another. This has brought no standard
uniform in the salary structure of the various organs of the government and
ministries.
It was not long before the then
government realized that is could no longer cope with the burden that salaries
were owed in arrears. It became the
order of the day for government to owe teachers and civil servant salaries in arrears
for upwards of four to six months and mine months here in Ekiti State
and other states of the federation before the military took over power on the
31st of December, 1983.
Today, Nigeria like many other countries
of the world and African continent in particular, is struggling to surpass the
world wide economic recession.
Different regimes have used different
measures at different times to solve this perennial problem. General Obasanjo in his own regime introduced
austerity measures’ or economic measures such as reduction in basic traveling
allowance (B.T.A.) banon importation of luxiry goods. Cut down on government spending increase in
prices of fuel, which has become the order of the day. These economic measures were introduced to
help conserve foreign reserve which was diminishing at a very fast rate.
Through the instrument known as the
economic “stabilization Act” enacted by the federal parliament in 1987, the
Shagari administration introduced stringent economic measures when it became
evident that foreign reserve was almost exhausted.
Since the inception of the second
republic and the advance of the military, there have been series of economic
measures taken by the administration and all are aimed at improving the already
battered economy of the nation. For
example, they have reduced the number of ministers, commissioners, closed down
or emerged some schools, colleges, ministries etc.
Here in Ekiti State,
the present governor Segun Oni nearly served for almost one year without
commissioners. This is in order to
conserve the little resources of the state.
There is also ban on the importation of foreign goods freely by the
public.
To crown it all is the wave of mass
retirement/retrenchment since the military took over power. This does not mean that the present
government introduced the retirement of workers in the public service. Perhaps, what is different in the new
dispensation is that it has been pursued meticulously and vigorously resulting
in an increase in the number of retired personnels.
In the recent past, the government has
decided to use certificate and nature of work as criteria for the
retirement/retrenchment of workers. The
teachers who were referred commonly as C.T.R’s (Certified Trained Referred
Teachers) were retrenched on the ground that they did not possess the complete
certificate. Non tutorial staff which
included labourers, cooks and stewards, laboratory attendants, security men,
carpenters and measons were laid off on the group that their works were non
essential and in order to keep with the government’s new policy on trimming the
civil/public service so as to be in line with the economic realities of the
nation and state in particular.
The private sector is not left out in
this exercise. The work force in
factories and industries was initially reduced due to the decline in their
output and in recent times, most factories have been closed down due to
recurrent problems of raw materials procurement. The result is that all the workers in these
companies have been laid off while those still in production have streamed
their work force to almost half because of their rate of production which is
lesser than their capacities.
In this study however, the writer is
concerned with the problems of retired civil and public servants and is
investigating into how they will be rehabilitated, what they would like to do;
what they are now doing and the problems they are confronting, with particular
reference to Ifelodun/Irepodun local government Area of Ekiti State of Nigeria.
Statement of Problems
The national purge of 1975 under
taken by General Murtala Mohammed spread across the nation like wild. This saw the removal from office of civil
servants numbering about 8,000 or more.
These people were compulsorily retired from service as a result of gross
official misconduct, age limitation, years of service, and/or declining
productivity; since then up to data, the exercise has been a continuous one as
it manifests in the succeeding regimes.
Presently, the military Administration in the country is taking its own
turn in retiring civil servants and teachers compulsorily. All the states of the federation and the
federal government is not left out in this exercise. Teachers and public servants numbering in
thousands have do far been removed from office.
Here is Ekiti
State and more in
Ifelodun/Irepodun local Government Area, the exercise have become a continuous
one. Some time in the past almost all
the non tutorial staff of the states schools system were retrenched.
This compulsory retirement exercise
is causing a lot of hues and cries among the affected staff in particular and
the entire public in general.
Many people have formed divergent
opinions about the way and manner the exercises have been undertaken and is
still going on. Those of them who were
affected by the exercise, their families, friends, relations and the entire
public are now using the exercise as the day’s topic for public discussions.
There have been series of debate in
our television and radio houses on the issue.
Many scholars and personalities have talked and aired their views on the
issue.
The researcher’s aim here is to
investigate into or find out the area of rehabilitation available to these
retired workers and the problems associated with this compulsory retirement
exercise in Ekiti
State with particular
reference to Ifelodun/Irepodun local Government Area.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to find
out the following:
1)
The
number of people so far affected by the exercise and their feelings on the
whole issue.
2)
The
category of staff affected by the retirement exercise in Ifelodun/Irepodun
local Government Area.
3)
The
plan if any, the government has made or is making for their rehabilitation.
4)
What
vocations/trade they now do or would want to do for their livelihood and the
maintenance of their families.
Scope of the study
The researcher is out to investigate into the availability of
opportunities necessary for effective rehabilitation of retired workers.
The study is limited to retired workers who were formely in
the employment of government establishments and parastatals in
Ifelodun/Irepodun local government area.
It would have been desirable to extend the study to other
towns and states but due to financial handicaps and time factors, the study is
limited to the geographical scope of the work.
Significance of the study
The result of findings of the study will be of dual
purpose. It will be of benefit to the
affected retired teacher and civil servant on one hand and the government and
workers still in their employment on the other side.
When the researcher is successfully concluded, the findings
and recommendations will help to suggest ways of making retired workers to able
to resettle themselves on other vocations/trades.
It will also help to make civil servant to accept retirement
from service in good faith and not to regard it as a punitive measure against
them, the result will help to suggest to the government serving teacher and
other workers on the need for proper planning and preparation for a happy
resettlement on retirement.
In all, it will serve as a base for further researches on the
issue and other related topics.
Limitations or Problems of the Study
The following problems were encountered by the researcher.
1)
The
time available for the study was too short and as a result, the researcher
could not give the study the indept investigation it deserves.
2)
Lack
finance was the main problem
3)
There
was the problem of tracing the retired workers as they were not located at a
particular place.
4)
Some
of the respondents were not willing to respond to the questionnaires.
5)
The
instrument for data collection were not pretested before administering them to
the respondents.
Definition of Terms
1)
U.P.E: Universal Primary Education. An educational programme launched in 1976.
2)
C.T.R: Certificate Trained Referred
Teachers. These are teachers who have
finished their training but failed to pass all their subjects in the final
examination.
3)
B.T.A Basic Traveling Allowance. This is the allowance in foreign exchange
usually allowed travelers visiting overseas e.g. pilgrims.
4)
Rehabilitation
To resettle
5)
Retirement
Relinquishing one’s post or office.
