THE Nigerian government has ordered all civil servants over age 60 to retire in a first move aimed at cutting back on the vast public service sector, officials said on Wednesday. In a directive sent out to all ministries, secretary to the government Gidado Idriss ordered officials to require all over 60s to retire “voluntarily” by the end of May, or be sacked. Officially, civil servants have long been supposed to retire at 60, but many have stayed on in order to maintain their income. The government is under pressure from international financial institutions to cut back on the bloated civil service, which employs hundreds of thousands of people, although many have wages that leave them well below the poverty line.