Several reasons informed my voluntary retirement from the Nigeria Police Force in 2005 after seventeen years of meritorious service. Foremost of these was that, while serving in the Police Force, I observed that after retirement, police officers often end up living miserably; this invariably results in them not living for too long before their eventual demise. The few fortunate enough to collect their exit (or retirement) benefits sometimes become incapacitated due to some chronic or terminal illness occasioned by organ failure. In contrast, some others carry on with lives of self-pity, helplessness, and hopelessness. As a naive young man in my early twenties, the thought of this alone scared me stiff enough that I was determined not to remain in the Police Force till retirement. For me, it was a decision I made to retire voluntarily while still strong and healthy. Therefore, I began to plan so I would not exit unprepared. It is interesting to mention that my uncle, who facilitated my recruitment into the Force, died within two years of his retirement. It might also interest you that my father served in the Nigerian Army and later converted his service to the Nigeria Police Force, retiring after serving for 35 years. He did not live long before he developed cardiac failure and passed on in 2013. All these further compounded my fears, even though I had already voluntarily exited. As an inexperienced young man, I thought these service personnel were corrupt, according to the general belief or opinion, and hence, were reaping the fruit of their labor. Indeed, as a serving officer, I struggled to be different rather than tread the path of corruption, and this made me quite uncomfortable, at least with the officers around me. I refused to be mentored in that manner. Most of them appeared to have lost their sense of integrity to corrupt tendencies. This vice could be another reason I decided to disengage from service midway. Timothy Nwan, in his book titled "The Integrity of a Name," asserts that "A man of integrity must live a blameless life, a life of faithfulness, moral purity, discipline, self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation." I struggled to live a life of integrity to avoid being infected or, better yet, developing what I call the "Human Integrity Deficiency Syndrome" (HIDS).
Now I know reasons why people retire and pass through various degrees of sufferings. In this book, you will discover the reasons and what to do to live longer, stronger and healthier after retirement.