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and Kano States: Issues and Challenges

Dalhatu Sani Yola Department of Political Science

Federal University, Dutse Jigawa State, Nigeria

[email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract: This paper proposes that subsisting concerns surrounding post retirement life from the public services in Jigawa and Kano States could be ameliorated if various actors, forces, and institutions are allowed to interact in the policy process. It aims to use evaluative information of issues and challenges militating against blissful retirement to encourage governments and critical stakeholders to adopt proactive steps to reshape issues, improve consultation and participation in the policy circle in order to ensure that right approaches are adopted in the retirement policies of Jigawa and Kano State public services. Lasswell‟s linear sequence of the different policy stages was used as framework with qualitative techniques and stratified sampling as additional tools for observation and respondent‟s selection as well as comparative research design to understand and explain patterns and trends. Findings suggest that government‟s commitment towards alleviating the sufferings and hardships encountered by retirees should be demonstrated with the issuance of distinctive policy pronouncements to complement existing legal frameworks on retirement.

Media and civil society organizations should also join pension union representatives and government officials in the whole gamut of the policy process. A summit to discuss and debate retirement life obstacles particularly irregular remittances by organization as well as payment problems of pensions and gratuities is needed.

Keywords: Retirement, Policies, Issues, Challenges

Introduction

Reactions to effects and consequences of retirement from salaried employment produce mixed feelings indicating that the experience is not homogenous for everyone. While some individuals view retirement positively and plan for it with anticipation, others dread its eventuality with great anxiety.

At the University of Pennsylvania, retirement policy allows employees to initiate it voluntarily. A retirement eligible staff could make his transition through reduced or phased work schedule voluntarily initiated by the staff member. The scheme enables the staff member‘s department to retain the knowledge and skills of the staff member during the period of transition while also aiding the staff member in meeting their personal goals /obligations (Jobs@Penn 2017). Staff retirement at Stanford University also assumes the form of voluntary termination of employment. This facility is available to current and former employees who have not been terminated for misconduct and have met age and service requirements. Official university retirees are eligible to medical benefits, dental plans and perquisites that include use of university libraries, recreation/athletic facilities, staff discounts

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and tuition grant programs. An employee is encouraged to attend a retirement meeting at 2-3 months prior to his/her potential exit date. They are entitled to retirement gifts, re-employment and recall to a benefits eligible position (Stanford Administrative Guide Memo 2.2.2, 2020).

In Nigeria however, people in paid employment are often thrown into apprehension by retirement prospects over loss of income, family responsibilities, lower living standards, absence of health care coverage and reduction of personal net worth in respect of savings, investments and annuities. The National Pension Commission (2013) recognizes irregular payment and, even non-payment of pension and gratuities as exacerbating retirement challenges. ―Pension fund administrators‘ subject pensioners to untold suffering due to inefficient and cumbersome pension payment‖. Complaints about pension allowances being too low with their value constantly eroded by inflation are also commonplace (VanguardNews, August 8^th, 2017). Even though governments pride themselves to being committed to staff welfare with outright provisions in terms of service and post service welfare, nothing seems to be working. ―Those who are supposed to be called senior citizens and should be respected for their meritorious services to the nation are considered inferior citizens, sometimes parade the streets with placards, agitating their rights or even begging‖

(Omba 2013). A Court of Appeal judgment recently condemned as ‗wicked and morally wrong‘ claims of entitlements to pensions and severance allowances by political office holders and political appointees because career civil servants who have contributory pension funds deducted from their monthly salaries and yet who, after serving the nation all their working lives, are not paid their gratuities as and at when due (Daily Trust, October 29^th, 2019). Premium Times reports that ―Tired of peaceful rallies and unfruitful negotiations, some of the retirees have approached the Industrial Court in Akure to seek redress (Thursday, January 9, 2020).

Statement of Problem

Subsisting concerns surrounding post retirement life from the public services in Jigawa and Kano States could be ameliorated if various actors, forces, and institutions are allowed to interact in the policy process.

Rather than being a period of deserved rest and relaxation after years of labour and work responsibilities, retirement is contemplated with great deal of suspicion and trepidation.

Prospective retirees envisage a transition into destitution and despondency because of concerns about loss of income/ridiculously low monthly income, family responsibilities, lower living standards, absence of healthcare coverage and inadequate personal net worth in terms of savings, investments and annuities. Retirees also worry about irregular payment and even nonpayment of pension and gratuities as well as pension allowances being too low with their value constantly eroded by inflation.

The objective of the paper is to use evaluative information of challenges militating against blissful retirement to encourage governments and critical stakeholders to adopt proactive steps to reshape issues, improve consultation and participation in the policy circle in order to ensure that right approaches are adopted in the retirement policies of Jigawa and Kano State public services.

Observations were based on survey of documents on official websites and library sources as well as key informants (KII) and in-depth interview (IDI) techniques for gathering empirical data. KII and IDI respondents were selected through stratified sampling of being retirees from

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public services as well as their current involvement with the management of retirement policies. Comparative research design helped to understand and explain patterns and trends in the retirement policies of Jigawa and Kano States.

Conceptual Clarifications

No definition clearly embodies retirement in all possible situations. Atchley (cited in Olatunde and Onyinye, 2015) considers retirement as simply the act of retiring or the state of being retired. Shaw and Hill (2002) similarly describe retirement as "an age-related withdrawal from active working life". Denton and Spencer (2009) divides retirement as voluntary or involuntary; gradual or sudden; temporary or permanent. In other words,

―retirement means termination of a pattern of life and a transition to a new one. It is the withdrawal from customary activities in one‘s occupational life in business, industry or public service or the end of working life of an individual‖. Rosenkoetter and Garris (2001) however argue that many workers see retirement as an opportunity of long-awaited freedom from the responsibilities and stress of employment. It brings changes and marks a transition into the later life stages.

Policy is also variously recognized by different of scholars. Sabatier et al (1980) sets forth three definitions of policy as ‗principles that govern action directed towards given ends‘; ‗a consciously chosen course of action (or inaction) directed towards some end and also

‗authoritative decision making‘. Building on these works, Blakemore and Griggs (2007) sees policies as aims or goals or statements of what ought to happen. Policies as goals, intentions and ideas are found in the form of official government policy (legislations or the guidelines that govern how laws should be put into operation). They are choices that a society, segment of society or organization makes regarding its goals and priorities and ways it will allocate its resources to attain those goals.

A challenge is an obstacle to overcome. The challenge may be daunting, and its outcome uncertain, but it must nevertheless be faced and dealt with. An issue, on the other hand, may not qualify as a challenge (though it might), but it needs to be addressed if there is to be a chance for a good outcome (English.stackexchange.com).

In the context of this paper, issues in retirement policies refers to growing concerns over pension payment, health, housing debilitations and variety of physical and psychological encumbrances. A Gall Up poll lists the main worries of Americans in retirement as inability to adequately save money together with the fact that federal programs like Social Security and Medicare are coming under great stress on account of demographic changes of increasing number of people aged 65 or older (Peter Peterson Foundation, August 24, 2018). Challenge is ordinarily perceived as something new and difficult which requires great effort and determination to overcome. Merriam Webster (www.lifehack.org) recommends addressing six life challenges that include loss, failure, setbacks, establishing moral compass, mastering the mind and changing one‘s story by way of making plans, asking for help, accepting support, thinking big and having positive mind set. In the sense of this paper therefore, challenges of retirement life that might be occasioned by a prospective retiree‘s anxiety about relying upon children and relatives to meet post retirement expenses, managing the abundant new found free time, or developing talents to redress the frequently overlooked matter of self-employment through home-based business of sorts could perhaps be tackled through effective retirement planning, savings and investments portfolios as well as by appreciating the strategic value of repairing all strained interpersonal relationships.

149 Review of Literature

This paper reviews relevant literature addressing issues and challenges that contrive to make post retirement life difficult and hard.

Edwards (1980), a policy studies expert, identifies policy implementation as the problem and attribute any discordance arising from policy output and impact to communication, resources, dispositions or attitudes, and bureaucratic structure. Ferdous (2001) locate the variation between policy output and impact to complex interactive processes influenced by diverse social – political and environmental forces while Makinde (2005) point to corruption and lack of continuity in government policies as responsible for widening the distance between stated policy goals and the realization of such planned goals. For her part, Abdulazeez (2014) contends that with economic security being an existential concern of mankind, developed countries evolved systems of providing pensions on retirement to counter uncertainties brought on by unemployment, illness, disability, death and old age. In much earlier times, maintenance of economic security was an individual responsibility until humans evolved into states. She also insisted that the state plays a pivotal role in structuring the existential realities of its citizenry because of its monopolistic control over valued social resources in the society.

‗Most countries provide pensions on retirement in old age sponsored mainly by employers and/or the state‘.

Mambwe and Mwape (2016) recognize work as an activity integral to human life and the development of societies from time immemorial and also added that modern retirement pension payments resonate well with African concept of social security. ―African traditions in pre-colonial times were characterized by a mutual aid system where each one was his/her brother‘s/sister‘s keeper. Families provided kinsmen with social security/social protection‖.

Consequently, retirement pensions in the Zambia came with formal employment within nation-state institutions during colonialism. The paternalistic and prescriptive social policy of British colonizers however catered only to laborers of the mining industry and not the rural population. Colonialism facilitated social security in the country in the form of work injury benefits. In 1954, Local Authorities Superannuation Fund (LASF) provided pensions for employees in the local authorities. Post colonialism after independence subsequently brought Civil Service Pensions Fund (CSPF) later reformed and renamed Public Service Pensions Fund Board (PSPFB) for the national bureaucracy. ‗Nowadays no longer were livelihoods within this formal employment sector sustained by the informal traditional social support system of mutual aid alone, but a formal income centered social security system‘.

An unauthored official document, Notes and Brief Reports (1964) by the New York State School of Industrial and Labour Relations, discovered a growing popularity of company initiated early retirements when American companies turned to involuntary early retirement as a result of technological changes, closeout of operations, mergers and production cutbacks.

It found that apart from not only getting rid of inefficient older workers, the scheme was also used to improve the company‘s image in the community since the older worker will depart with a pension that would not be available to the younger laid-off employee. Where unions were involved, management sought and received support for implementing early retirement programs. Union leaders encouraged early retirement by reviewing with the individual employee the income he would receive in retirement as compared with the net income he was receiving at work. Attention was also focused on other public income maintenance programs which the early retiree could draw upon, either immediately or subsequently, in addition to his pension to lend support to planning for early retirement that include unemployment insurance and old age, survivors and disability insurance.

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In Japan, Hirano (2005) discovers from two international surveys that Japanese people have negative and pessimistic perceptions of retirement. The survey which contacted 6915 respondents on their spontaneous thoughts about retirement used telephone interviews as methodology and relied upon working people age 25 to 54 and retired people from the age of 55 to 75 as target audience. Even though the images that retirees associate with retirement are positive compared to these held by working people, results show that Japanese associate negative images with the word retirement. They consider it a major turning point and want to postpone retirement as long as possible.

Premium Times (Thursday, January 9, 2020) narrates the post retirement life of some retirees.

Omoniyi Ilesanmi who served the Osun government for over 30 years spent three months on the sickbed and incurred N393, 000 to treat arthritis. He lamented that ―if my family were not around me, I would have died,‖ because he could not afford the medical bills. Another retiree and friend of Mr Ilesanmi claimed to have been disposing of his properties to fend for his family. ―I had to sell my building in Owode Ede at a cheap price in order to keep my family,‖

Both men complained of not being paid their gratuity – the statutory lump sum paid to an employee to sustain life after retirement – saying it worsened their predicament. Alabi Atanda retired as a head-teacher in Demonstration Elementary School in Osogbo also pointed out that primary school teachers are the most suffered by the Osun State government. He mentioned some primary school teachers across different local government areas who had died because they could not afford medical treatment. According to him, his survival at the moment depends on his siblings who send financial aid. Also, Sobaloju Imago, who retired as a school principal in Ile-Ife complained that he is yet to get the five-month and four-month salary arrears the Osun government owed before he left service‖ not to mention any of the retirement packages.‖ Tired of peaceful rallies and unfruitful negotiations, some of the retirees have approached the Industrial Court in Akure to seek redress.

Theoretical Framework

The policy cycle perspective first put forward by Lasswell in 1956 is the scientific paradigm selected to explain this work. His idea of modeling the policy process in terms of seven stages: intelligence, promotion, prescription, invocation, application, termination and appraisal has since been expanded by different variations of the stage‘s typology offering further differentiations by Brewer and deLeon (1983), May and Wildavsky (1978), Anderson (1975) and Jenkins (1979).

Lasswell‘s linear sequence of the different policy stages had been designed like a problem-solving model and accords with other prescriptive rational models of planning and decision-making developed in organization theory and public administration. According to such a rational model, any decision- making should be based on a comprehensive analysis of problems and goals, followed by an inclusive collection and analysis of information and a search for the best alternative to achieve these goals. This includes the analysis of costs and benefits of the different options and the final selection of the course of action. Measures have to be carried out (implemented) and results appraised against the objectives and adjusted if needed (Fisher 2007).

As could be seen, when successfully applied, the stages of policy-making were originally conceived as evolving in a (chrono) logical order—first, problems are defined and put on the agenda. Next, policies are developed, adopted and implemented; and, finally these policies will be assessed against their effectiveness and efficiency and either terminated or restarted.

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The stages perspective also would significantly help to overcome any bias as the policy cycle approach would allow various actors, forces, and institutions to interact in the policy process and therefore shape its outcome(s).

Data and Data Analysis

Patterns and trends in the retirement policies of Jigawa and Kano States demonstrate remarkable commonalities, differences and exceptionalities. Neither Jigawa nor Kano State has any concrete retirement policy document. Extensive and diligent search in Dutse, the state capital, only yielded pronouncements on retirement in the Jigawa State Government Public Service Rules (Revised 2013). For instance, ―The grant of pensions and gratuities to holders of pensionable posts in Civil Service is governed by Pensions Act and State and Local Government Contributory Pension Law No.1 of 2004 as amended (02807)‖.

―Immediately an officer is leaving the service, Finance Department of his Ministry must be promptly notified for endorsement on his salary record (02808)‖ and ―compulsory retirement age for all grades in the service shall be 60 years or 35 years of pensionable whichever is earlier (02809). The pattern is similar in Kano. Retirement matters only receive perfunctory mention in the Kano State Human Resources Management Policy (May 2014), a general framework for guiding decision making in the state and for supporting effective people management, planning and administration. They are expressed in statements like ―officers are required to give three months‘ notice in cases of statutory retirement (4.2.11)‖; ―officer may be liable to a deduction from his/her retirement entitlement to refund the cost of any damage caused (8.2)‖; ―officer who resigns/retire will be liable to refund the KNSG any sum of money which they may be owing to Government (8.3)‖, ―compulsory retirement age for all grades in the Service is 60 years old or 35 years of pensionable service whichever is earlier (―8.4.4) and ―officers will participate in the Contributory Pension Scheme as provided for in the Kano State (2006) Pension Law (8.4.5)‖.

There are robust provisions on retirements in the Jigawa State and Local Government Pension Scheme Law No. 01 (February 2015) and the Kano State Pension and Gratuity Law (October 2006). A contributory pension scheme Board of Trustees for the state and the local government council is effectively in place in Jigawa made up of top echelon government officials and three members of immense social standing, State Chairmen of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT). All permanent and pensionable employees in the civil service of the State and Local Government Councils, employees in the judicial service below the rank of High Court Judge, employees of the State House of Assembly qualify to participate in the scheme. Employers and employees make monthly contributions equal to 25 percent of the employee‘s total monthly emoluments in the following proportions: a minimum of 17 percent of the employee‘s basic monthly salary and a minimum of 8 percent of the employee‘s basic monthly salary. Unique arrangements were also made for private individuals. Self –employed persons could pay a minimum monthly contribution of one thousand naira made up in the following proportions:

state government contribution N200, local government contribution (where the person resides) N200 and the person contributing N600.

Under the Kano State Pension and Gratuity Law, contributing employees only come from mainstream civil service, Teachers Service Board, Local Government Service Commission and the State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB). Employers and employees contribute monthly an amount equal to a minimum of 25% of the employee‘s total emolument, in the following proportion: 17% by the employer and 8% by the employee. Employer organizations shall remit to the Scheme the amounts deducted within seven days from the

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date of salary payment. Circumstances in which pension and gratuity may be granted are specified as resignation, withdrawal, retirement from service, death in service, death in the cause of duty amongst others. Where a pensioner dies within five years of retirement, his heirs or designated survivors shall be paid enbloc the balance of the same pension which the deceased officer was receiving. Subject to guidelines to be issued by Board of Trustees of the Contributory Pension Scheme, surplus funds from the contributions shall be invested with the objectives of safety and maintenance of fair returns on amounts invested.

Trends of investing pension fund assets in Jigawa and Kano State are however different.

Jigawa law provides for managers to the Fund, known as Pension Fund administrators (PFAs), to be appointed by the Board of Trustees. The PFA must be licensed by National Pension Commission and strictly show diligence, professional competence and comply with laid down procedures governing investments. In Kano, in-house investment unit at the Board manages surplus funds in company share holdings and purchase of residential houses in Kano and Abuja. Alhaji Sani Dawaki, Chairman, Kano State Pension Fund Trustees disclosed that

―the fund has secured 21 houses in Abuja and a 7-storey building in Kano as part of its assets.

Returns from rents are used to pay pensions and gratuities (PMnewsnigeria.com 36886)‖.

The pension schemes in Jigawa and Kano commonly experience problems of remittances.

Whereas, employees 7% share of remittances are not problematic, the remittance of employers 18% share of contributions is not regular. Reasons for the lapse are wide ranging.

Some public organizations, like Teachers Board and Office of the Head of Service, claim not be revenue generating, others say payment of staff salaries was too difficult. Few of them attribute the problem to the lack of prompt information about dead pensioners. In time, pension debts accumulated. Apart from problems of non-compliance of payment of remittances within the statutory period of seven days by MDAs, other difficulties confronting the two Pension Trustees Boards are remittances without an accompanying schedule containing list of beneficiaries and irregular information about deceased officers entitled to death benefits. For instance, in Kano State, the SUBEB owes a huge backlog. It has never completely paid its 17% share for primary school teachers in the state since inception. ‗This mounting accumulation of debts has compelled the Trustees to severally lodge complaints with the State Governor. The other option being contemplated is initiating legal proceedings against the defaulting organization (Interview, Director of Finance and Administration, Kano State Pension Trustees Board, Dec 2019)‖.

Retirement policies in Jigawa and Kano States are both not restricted only to pension payments. The Manpower Directorate at Office of the Head of Service in both states exercise the mandate of building capacity of civil servants by organizing pre-retirement training for officers proceeding on retirement. Participants drawn from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are shortlisted from personnel budget and made to undergo the training three months ahead of their exit where selected small-scale manufacturers, used as training facilitators, share their experiences about the prospects and challenges of various business ventures. Prospective retirees are placed on industrial attachments to gain exposure and proficiency in their preferred choices either ground nut milling, poultry, fish farming, block or chalk making.

Policy making processes in Jigawa and Kano States basically follows similar processes. The conceptualization of a policy idea is commenced by an officer or committee of officers at a unit domiciled either the Office of the Head Service or a responsible ministry, department or agency. The brief prepared by the officer (s) is sent to the Political head and once the idea is