The Federal Government in collaboration with the Bank of Agriculture on Monday in Abuja inaugurated the Federal Public Service entrepreneurship program (FPSEP) for serving and pre-retiring public officers.
The FPSEP is a start-up program targeted at preparing prospective retirees that have three years prior to retirement for life after service by providing opportunities for them to acquire new skills.
The initiative will enable retired public servants to have new career choices after their retirement from active service.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan said FPSEP was developed out of the need to pay greater attention to the welfare of the public servants, who constituted the administrative machinery for implementing government policies and programs.
Represent by Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe, the Permanent Secretary in her office, Yemi-Esan said some aspects of the program would create a window for those in service to earn supplementary income to improve their quality of life, enabling those retiring to cope with life after service.
“In addition, the program will contribute to the development of other sectors of the economy and by implication, increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
“The program consists of two components namely: Agri-preneurship start-up scheme; and pre-retirement training and business start-up scheme.
“On the other hand, the pre-retirement training and business start-up scheme is tailored towards preparing public servants for life post-service by providing opportunities for them to acquire new skills for new career choices,” she said.
In her goodwill message, Dr. Emem Omokaro, the Director-General of, the National Senior Citizen Centre (NSCC), expressed delight to be part of the program which would be impactful to senior citizens after their retirement from the service.
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Describing the participants in the program as potential retirees, Omokaro said the center had a lot of packages for senior citizens after retirement hence such an initiative should be applauded.
“I wish to appreciate the HOCSF for this invitation not only to give a goodwill message but to identify and say a few things to the participants.
“This is because the NSCC has the mandates to identify with challenges of older persons that are up to 60 years and above and to carter for their challenges. ”
In his contributions, Mr. Alwan Hassan, the Managing Director, of the Bank of Agriculture, lauded the HOS for the initiative which would address the plights of retirees after their services to the nation.
Hassan assured the successful participants of the program of the agency’s loan to carry out their businesses without stress.
“All you need to do is to get a letter of recommendation from your place of work and bring it to us to fill the form for the needed fund to start up your businesses,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cosmas Ayayi, a participant from the office of HOCSF, expressed appreciation to the Federal Government and the HOS for the initiative, saying it would broaden their knowledge on the next step to take in life after retirement.
The FPSEP is the first batch of the program which attracted 87 participants across three MDAs of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and the office of the HOCSF.
