By James Aduku Odaudu
In many countries, the end of a long and dedicated public service career is the beginning of a dignified and stable life in retirement. In Nigeria, however, for thousands of civil servants who have given more than three decades of their productive years to the nation, retirement too often marks the beginning of financial hardship, neglect, and even humiliation.
This tragedy is most painfully experienced by those who retire at the directorate cadre—officers who, while in service, managed substantial public resources and held the system together. Ironically, upon retirement, these same individuals are treated as if they are incapable of managing their own modest entitlements.
- From Resource Managers to Helpless Beneficiaries
Under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) introduced in 2004, retirees’ savings are warehoused by Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), who release paltry monthly stipends to them. These amounts are not only meagre but demeaning. Today, many retired Directors receive less than ₦100,000 monthly, an amount far below what is needed to maintain even a modest standard of living in any urban area in Nigeria.
This is the same category of officers who, while in service, were trusted to manage budgets running into hundreds of millions of naira. Yet, upon retirement, the system strips them of control over their own contributions, handing their future to “experts” who determine how much they get and when.
- The Gratuity Question: A Cruel Denial
Before the CPS era, retiring civil servants received gratuity—a lump sum payment that helped them settle into retirement, invest, or build homes. But the abolition of gratuity under the current system has left many retirees stranded and vulnerable. Without that initial cushion, most are forced to rely solely on meagre monthly pension payments.
For a Director who served 35 years to retire without gratuity and live on less than ₦100,000 a month is not only unjust but humiliating. For junior officers, the situation is even more dire, with many receiving pensions below ₦40,000—barely enough to buy basic household provisions, let alone live a decent life.
This policy failure has erased the concept of strategic retirement and replaced it with economic dependency and quiet suffering.
- A Policy That Cripples the Vulnerable
Junior retirees, who make up the bulk of the civil service, bear the heaviest burden. After years of diligent service, they are pushed into poverty the moment they exit the system. Many relocate to rural areas because they can no longer afford city life. Some take on menial jobs to survive. Others fall into ill health without the means for treatment.
A pension policy that condemns its weakest to such hardship is not just flawed—it is inhumane.
- A Jarring National Contrast
While civil servants battle to survive on peanuts, other categories of national service enjoy far better treatment. An athlete who wins a medal for the country can receive up to $100,000 in a single reward, more than many civil servants will receive throughout their service, including retirement. Again, the issue is not the athlete’s reward but the glaring injustice in how the state values different kinds of service.
Even more striking is the disparity between civilian retirees and their military counterparts. In Nigeria, retired senior military and security officers receive their full salaries as pension for life, along with other privileges. Only Permanent Secretaries in the civil service enjoy similar treatment.
This raises a fundamental question: why should a Brigadier General, an Assistant Inspector General of Police and a Director who joined service at the same time, served the same number of years, and retired at equivalent levels, receive such vastly different pension entitlements?
This inequity is at the heart of the anger and disillusionment of many senior civil servants. By denying Directors the same privileges accorded their military contemporaries, the system creates two classes of retirees: one treated with honour and security, the other discarded with token payments.
- A Root of Corruption
There is a direct link between poor retirement benefits and corruption in the civil service. When senior civil servants know that their reward for decades of service will be a life of hardship, some are tempted to engage in unethical practices while in office to secure their future.
By contrast, military officers and their counterparts in other security services retire with certainty, enjoying their full salaries and benefits, which gives them a sense of security. If the same privilege were extended to Directors and other senior civil servants, it would reduce the incentive for corruption and restore dignity to public service.
- The Human Cost of Policy Failure
The current pension regime is not just a technical failure—it has human consequences. Retirees who gave their lives to the service of the nation are reduced to beggars, dependent on children or relatives for survival. Many are unable to afford decent healthcare, while others die in quiet frustration, abandoned by a system they served loyally.
The denial of gratuity and the meagre monthly pension erode trust in government and discourage younger civil servants from honest service. It sends a dangerous message: public service does not pay.
- A Call for a Just and Humane Policy
The Federal Government must urgently reform the pension system to reflect fairness, respect, and strategic foresight. This requires:
- Restoring gratuity to give retirees a soft landing at the point of exit.
- Allowing retirees, especially at directorate level, to access and manage their lump sum benefits.
- Aligning pension entitlements of Directors with those of Brigadier Generals and Permanent Secretaries, so they can also receive full salaries for life.
- Adjusting pension payouts to reflect economic realities, especially in light of inflation and rising cost of living.
- Protecting junior retirees, who represent the bulk of the civil service, from being trapped in permanent poverty.
- Restoring Dignity in Retirement
Retirement should be a celebration of service, not a descent into hardship. Nigeria must treat its civil servants with the same respect and dignity accorded other categories of service.
Extending full pension privileges to Directors and restoring gratuity would not only correct a historic injustice but also strengthen accountability in the civil service. A nation that honours its retirees builds a stronger, more honest, and more patriotic workforce.
James Aduku Odaudu, PhD is a development administrator, communication consultant, and retired Director of Information and Public Affairs.
