IMPACT OF GUIDIANCE AND COUNSELLING ON POST RETIREMENT LIFE STYLE OF SOME CIVIL SERVANT IN NASARAWA STATE

IMPACT OF GUIDIANCE AND COUNSELLING ON POST RETIREMENT LIFE STYLE OF SOME CIVIL SERVANT IN NASARAWA STATE

  • The Complete Research Material is averagely 83 pages long and it is in Ms Word Format, it has 1-5 Chapters.
  • Major Attributes are Abstract, All Chapters, Figures, Appendix, References.
  • Study Level: BTech, BSc, BEng, BA, HND, ND or NCE.
  • Full Access Fee: ₦6,000

Get the complete project » Instant Download Active

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of Study

In Nigeria, the statutory retirement age for civil servants is 60 years or 35 years of unbroken active service, whichever comes first. Judges of high courts and professors in tertiary institutions in the country are not exactly on the same policy. The retirement age for professors and judges is 70 years. Age is said to connote expertise and wealth of experience in these sectors, hence, the extended working yearsfor these employees (Garba & Mamman, 2014). This is closely related to what is obtainable in some other African countries like Ghana, Botswana, and Cameroon (“A Brief History”, 2013). The compulsory retirement age in Ghana is 60 years with at least 15 years of service to be pensionable. However, people working under stringent conditions -like miners and steel employees, could retire at age 55 and still collect their full entitlements (IOPS Country Profile, 2011). The most recent Public Service Act in Botswana is that of 2008, which became fully operational on the 1st of May, 2010. It stipulates that the mandatory retirement age is 60 years while teachers are allowed to retire at age 65 (Directorate of Public Service Management, 2010). The retirement age in Cameroon is also 60 years (Shuh, 2016). When workers get tothis age, it is generally believed that productivity drops for all individuals (Fapohunda, 2013; Komolafe, 2005). Whichever form retirement takes within these nations’ statutory requirement, the retiree is entitled to benefits, such as gratuity and pension, as rewards for the years put into serving the nation and for the purpose of meeting their financial needs at old age (Garba & Mamman, 2014).

Having served their nations for decades, the stage seems set for retirees to take the weight off their shoulders and relax for the remaining part of their lives. However, retirement is a phase of life that is characterised by several changes in age, health, strength, income, social status, living condition, and at times, living environment. These and other critical issues that need to be decided upon are of concern to people nearing old age in most parts of the world (Ali, 2014; Quadagno, 2005). This new phase, therefore, requires individual retirees to have sufficient sources of sustenance, since work that generates stable income has ended. Typically, this phase calls for adjustments that are crucial to living a happy and fulfilling post-retirement life on the part of the individual retiree.

 However, unlike workers inwestern nationswho eagerly anticipate their retirement from paid employment, the average Nigerian civil servant looks forward to retirement with fear and a sense of uncertainty (Ali, 2014). While workers in western nations such as the United States have access to three sources of income after quitting active service (Moody & Sasser, 2012), retired civil servants in Nigeria have to struggle and suffer significantly before they could collect their meagre benefits. Corruption and the depth of embezzlement of pensioners’ gratuities and monthly pension benefits in the past three decades are outrageous. This corrupt practice is heightened by the improper management of pension funds by the Pension Boards, poor record keeping, lack of proper supervision of the pension managers, and the misappropriation of pension funds by successive governments (Fapohunda, 2013). As a consequence, most of the States inNigeria find it difficult to pay the severance benefits to retired civil servants years after retirement. Pensions are not paid as and when due, at times for several months. The scenario leaves many retired civil servants in abject poverty, frustration, depression, and ill-health that sometimes lead to the death of some of these people as they await their entitlements (Olatunde & Onyinye, 2013).

The major concern of this study therefore, is to explain the impact of guidiance and counselling on post retirement lifestyle of some civil servant in Nasarawa state. Also to find out the economic challenges experienced by retirees as it also seeks to identify the various sources of financial and social support they were receiving both from government and their communities to maintaining their standards of living.

Guidance and counseling are helping profession which is concerned with molding, reconstructing and rehabilitating a trouble person. It is a self-revealing relationship and both preventive and curative of maladaptive behavior. It is globally accepted that, guidance and counseling activities are for human beings, those with or without problems, normal and abnormal. Okon (1984) defined guidance as total programme of a number highly specialized activities implemented by specialist to help individual make wise and intelligent choice and decisions, counseling on the other hand, has been defined by Makinde (1987) as a service designed to help an individual analyze himself by capabilities, achievements, interest mode of adjustment towards what new decision he has made or has make.

Therefore, since guidance and counseling is a profession, for effective counseling to take place it must involves the application of basic principles for effective helping. These however, include the principle of understanding, sequential process; appreciate self-disclosure and observance of ethics. Their applications not only make counseling effective but also add to the specialist of the counseling relationship. (Okon,1984)

Statement of Problem

Retirement from work has been associated with many challenges. These challenges range from strained finances, feeling of loss and the need to readjust in life, dependency, lack of proper medical covers, debilitating illnesses and even early death. Besides, most people are plunged into the reality of entering their old age without a proper source of income (Mbithi, 2007). For most employees approaching retirement age, the dilemma has always been how to survive the tough economy and what to engage in daily, once their working life is over and their main source of livelihood is no longer there. People above retirement age makeup about 6.8% of our population (NSB, 2013). This year alone, more than 20,000 civil servants and 32,000 teachers are set to retire; starting April 1, 2014, the senior workers will exit the public service, following the expiry of a five-year 4 retirees face. As a matter of fact, they have not been exhaustive in bringing out the socialcultural and economic realities of life after retirement from public service in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, retirement has been associated with poverty. Many workers do not save for retirement and with a labor force of 15.1 million, only 850,000 workers are actively contributing to the mandatory National Social Security Fund and 350,000 contribute to occupational pension schemes and the civil service has 158,700 pensioners on its roll (NSSF, 2013). World Bank (2007) indicated that this was a society where the majorities were without a secure and reliable source of retirement income, where contributions to pensions were not aligned to old-age income and where pension incomes were not indexed to inflation. Most pension schemes are unable to guarantee a retiree even one-tenth of the income they earned while they were in employment.

Mbithi (2007) states that, pensions paid to the majority are woefully inadequate for providing for their declining years. Perhaps the worst affected by the misery of low pensions are public service retirees. Scores of public servants in Nigeria join the retirees bracket every year. Although so much of the government’s collected revenue is set aside for the payment of their pensions and so much of the wealth created in the economy goes into supporting them, Socioeconomic and cultural factors challenging the retirees have not been fully assessed. Besides, the quality of life of the retirees is also a hugely ignored matter and the impact of the increase of retirement age by 5 years has not been assessed. The study therefore, aims at assessing socio-cultural and economic challenges the retirees face 5 and investigating the experiences and coping strategies used by retirees in their communities.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The broad objectives of this study is to investigate into the impact of guidance and counseling, career choice and its effects on post retirement life style of some civil servant in Nasarawa State.

 The specific objectives include:

1. To justify the effectiveness of counseling services on post retirement life style of some civil servant in Nasarawa.

 2. To find out the roles of guidance and counseling on retired civil servant in Nasarawa state

3.  To determine the patterns and forms of preparations made for retirement by government employees in Nasarawa?

 4.  To find out the experiences and challenges faced by retired public servants in Nasarawa?

 5.    To find the activities that retired civil servant engage in and what are their sources of livelihood?

Research Question

1.What is the effectiveness of counselling services on post retirement life of some civil servant in Nasarawa state

2. What are the roles of guidance and counselling on retired civil servant in Nasarawa state.

3. What are the patterns and forms of preparation made for retirement by government employees in Nasarawa state?

4. What are the experiences and challenges faced by retired public servants in Nasarawa state

5.  What are the activities that retired civil servant engaged in and what are their sources of livelihood  

Significance of Study

The study is significant in that it brings to the fore the more personal and consequently, less discussed aspect of retirement experiences in Nigeria: the transition experience of retirees. It investigates what retirees actually do in order to overcome the fears, stress and frustrations that studies have shown to be inherent in the Nigerian retirement experience. It focuses on the definitesteps taken by retirees in their attempt at blending themselves into their retired status. In the same vein, the study could impact retirement counsellors and the Guidance and Counselling departments of higher institutions in the country. It could also enrich their efforts at equipping and training retirement and old age counsellors.

The study could be of benefit to civil servants in Nigeria; it could inform them on the avoidable pitfalls of their predeccessors. Besides, the knowledge from the study could trigger a more innovative, careful, and prudent lifestyle in civil servants while in service, in preparation for their post-retirement years. Furthermore, newly employed individuals both in the public and private sectors could garner information from the findings of the study on the actual mechanisms of the current Nigerian pension scheme.

 This could help them begin planning for retirement and old age early in their working years. The study could be an eye opener to government at all levels and those saddled with the task of employment, retirement and old age policy making in the country. A considerable number of Nigerians are government employees. This calls for better and informed policy making, well implemented to safeguard people in their old age. Since it is impossible not to have retirees and 8 old folks in society, planning correctly and adequately for their needs cannot be over-emphasised as part of plans towards sustainable development in the country. Thus, the findings from the study are capable of assisting lawmakers make policies that could address the plights of and positively impact the aged and retired individuals in Nigeria. Knowledge-based policy implementation especially in reforming the contributory pension scheme to be more proactive, is another crucial end the study could help achieve.

Scope of Study

The study aims at finding the role of guidance and counselling on retired civil servant lifestyle with particular reference to civil servants in Nasarawa state. The study sought to understand the changes experienced by retirees as they seek to have a life of quality after retirement. The focus of the study was on the social, cultural and economic adjustments retirees made upon retirement, the challenges they faced, activities retirees engaged in and on existing support systems for the retired. The study was carried out on retirees from different government parastatal in Nasarawa State.

Definition of Terms

The following are the definitions of terms as used in the study:

 • Socio-economic adjustment: this refers to the changes that retired civil servants make in their regular lifestyles owing to the social and economic circumstances that present themselves to them in their post-retirement years.

 • Retired civil servants: they are former employees of state or federal government of Nigeria, who have quitted work by way of voluntary, compulsory, or mandatory retirement and are 9 entitled to and receiving monthly pension. Retired civil servants in this regard could be former school teachers, security personnel, ministry workers, local government staff or former state and federal parastatals employees. They could also be junior, senior or management staff.

 • Pension: this refersto the monthly income paid to retired civil servants either by the state or federal government or pension managers registered with the government. It stands as the package put in place by the government to cater for retired employees at old age (Fapohunda, 2013).

• Grounded theory: it is a methodology propounded by Glaser and Strauss whereby theory emerges directly from data gathered and analysed systematically. The emergent conceptual framework and theory are, therefore, grounded in the data collected and analysed for the study. In other words, the propounded theory is grounded in analysed data.

• Constant Comparative Analysis: it is an analytical method used in grounded theory that entails the use of iterative procedure between data gathering and data analysis. It demands that data gathering and analysis take place simultaneously to identify emerging concepts and categories. The emerging concepts and categories inform the next data gathering. In this way, data are regularly compared with data to saturate the categories that emerge, identify more categories, and look out for similarities and differences between the concepts and categories.

 • Saturation of Data: this refers to a point in analysis when further sampling for data gathering produces little or no new information that is relevant to the research questions. At that point, additional data gathering amounts to a waste of time and other resources because such effort produces little or no new information. Therefore, at such point, saturation has been achieved.

• Institutional Arrangement: these are the structures, approaches, or rules put in place by the government, either at the state or federal level for the purpose of addressing retirees’ issues in the state or country


You either get what you want or your money back. T&C Apply







You can find more project topics easily, just search

Quick Project Topic Search