The Rivers State Government has disclosed plans to organise special training for civil servants who are in their last five years of service to prepare them for life after retirement.
The state Commissioner for Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment, Dr. Leloonu Nwububasa stated this during a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt.
Nwububasa expressed worry over complaints that some senior citizens (pensioners) find it difficult to fend for their families after service, even when some of them may still be productive.
He said this explains why his ministry was considering a system of engaging those of them who may still be productive ahead of their retirement to prepare them for the challenges ahead.
“One of the things this ministry has found out and wants to do is that there has been a lot of noise about retirees not having what to eat.
“I discovered that some of these retirees are retired but not tired. They can still be productive, and so, we are going to look at sustainable productivity.
“What can we do for people? Life after retirement and that we can still build people into while they are on their way to retire. This ministry is going to look into that, especially those in their last five years of retirement to prepare them ahead,” the commissioner stated.
Nwububasa, who was recently sworn-in as commissioner, said that his ministry would harness community resources that would create wealth, promote peace and stability in the state by initiating policies that would lead to job creation in line with the new vision of the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike.
“In line with this is our mandate to promote jobs and generate employment opportunities for job seekers by formulating appropriate policies and implementing programmes and projects that harness and commercialise available natural and human resources.
“We will also stimulate business investment as well as impact vocational entrepreneurial skills that fit job seekers to opportunities in the labour market, and of course, become the investor by employing self and others.
“As a leading agency in employment, we are also expected to coordinate the activities of employment partners, to regulate them and ensure that they abide by extant laws of employment,” Nwububasa said.
The commissioner further said that activities of the ministry would be open, saying soon, its website would be made public so that members of the public can follow what it was doing.
“A lot is going to be turned out of this office, and of course, information would come out too. We are going to meet with youth leaders and with youths generally. We are going to meet with women and interact with them directly to feel their pulse and know areas of immediate intervention,” he added.

Dennis Naku