THE PROBLEM OF RETIREMENT IN THE ENUGU STATE CIVIL SERVICE

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
According to Okpo (2005) the civil service is the machinery of government. It is classified into ministries and extra ministerial department, which are in charge of groups of related matters. The civil service occupies a strategic and crucial position in governance of any given nation. It also constitutes powerful instrument of change in the society. This means that the civil service is an indispensable machinery of government and condition for national development. It is in recognition of this crucial and strategic role that the Nigeria government since interdependence in 1960 has relied on the civil service for advice policy on formulation an execution.
The civil service is an institution of government that execute s the policies and decisions of government for the benefit of the people. It is regarded as life blood of the nation. The 1999 constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria defined civil service as the body of men and women employed in the service of the federation or state in a civil capacity as staff of the office of the president, vice-president (or deputy governor a ministry or department of the government of the federation (or state) assigned with the responsibility for the business of the government implicit in this system in the public service.
The growth, structure and role of the civil service were moving with the stages of development of the Nigerian federal and state structure as well as the changes in Nigerian governance. The Nigeria civil service might be said to have evolved or takes its root in 1914 when Fredrick Laggard amalgamated Northern and Southern protectorate into an entity called Nigeria.
Threw was then civil administration dominated by the Britons whose duty was to execute the policies and programme of the government. Its roles was to maintain law and order to