The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in collaboration with the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) began entrepreneurship development training for seven elderly persons in Bauchi.
The Director General of NDE, Malam Abubakar Fikpo, stated this in Bauchi on Friday during the one-day training exercise for the senior citizens.
Represented by the state Coordinator of NDE, Mr Lawan Yaya, Fikpo said that the NDE realised that some of these elderly people have various skills, hence, the need for them to be brought under one umbrella and given the training.
He added that the move was to carry the elderly along and make them come to the reality that the world has changed and there are new ways of doing business in order to effectively compete in the marketplace.
“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.
Also speaking, Mr Jinjiri Garba, Bauchi State’s coach of Senior Citizens Consultative Forum, expressed happiness that Nigeria was among the countries with more concern for elderly persons who had been neglected for some time.
According to him, a centre had been established at the national level.
“In all the states, we have representatives which are called consultative forums, with each representing government and civil society organisations,” he stated.
He explained that the selected beneficiaries are entrepreneurs some of whom are into sales of locally-made mats while others are involved in the production of locally-made guns.
