Life after retirement and struggle for pension in Osun state, Nigeria

Commenting on the significance of pension as a social security measure for cushioning the economic demands that comes with retirement, there are pockets of evidence advancing the commentaries that pension aid in striking an economic balance between the periods of retirement and active service. This statement captures the importance of pension as an essential social security measure. This paper assesses life after retirement and the struggle for pension in Osun State, Nigeria. Previous studies have largely focus on pension policies and reforms, with a scare attention on life after retirement experiences and struggle for pension in Nigeria. The exploratory research design was applied to advance the limit of knowledge on pension and retirement discourse with a total of 28 pensioners selected for interviews through the snowball and convenient recruitment strategies. The Social Contract Theory was utilized to understand major assumptions raised in the study. Findings reveal a number of life after retirement challenges for pensioners including inability to access medical treatment, difficulty in providing for families due to non-payment of pension and strenuous pension verification exercise among others. It was equally shown that the social security responsibilities of the Osun State government towards the welfare of pensioners in the state have been hijacked with political propaganda, while pensioners are left to go through untold hardship. The study recommends for the constitution of a separate pension budget for pension management effectiveness in the state. Lastly, it is recommended that the Osun State government be committed to the well-being of pensioners by avoiding all forms of politicking with the welfare of those who have served the state in various capacities during their active years.