Seven senior citizens in Bauchi have started receiving entrepreneurship development training from the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in partnership with the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC).
This was said by Malam Abubakar Fikpo, Director General of NDE, on Friday in Bauchi at a one-day training session for senior citizens.
Fikpo stated that the NDE realized that some of these elderly people have a variety of skills, so it was necessary to bring them under one umbrella and provide training. He was speaking on behalf of the state coordinator of NDE, Mr. Lawan Yaya.
He continued by saying that the goal of the move was to help the elderly adjust to the fact that the world had changed and that new business practices were necessary in order to successfully compete in the market.
“We are going to teach them basic bookkeeping, how to source personnel and how to maintain their records including marketing plans which would enable them to compete in the market with their competitors.
“I urge them to listen carefully to the resource persons and utilise the knowledge that would be gathered judiciously,” said the DG.
Mr. Jinjiri Garba, the Senior Citizens Consultative Forum’s coach for Bauchi State, also spoke and expressed his happiness that Nigeria was one of the nations showing more concern for elderly people who had been neglected for a while.
He claimed that a national center had already been established.
“In all the states, we have representatives which are called consultative forums, with each representing government and civil society organizations,” he stated.
He described the chosen beneficiaries as entrepreneurs, some of whom are engaged in the sale of mats made locally, while others are engaged in the manufacture of guns made locally.
