FG moves to create labour market platform for older persons

Amidst an effort to tap into the wealth of experience among older citizens, the National Senior Citizen Center (NSCC), has unveiled plans to create a web portal platform to engage older citizens across the country.

The program tagged Continued engagement Bureau project is aimed at creating a platform to collect data on retired civil servants, and professionals among others in other to link them with agencies of government or organizations that may need their wealth of experience.

The Director General of NSCC Dr Emem Omokaro, stated this while speaking at a Service level Collaborations with relevant stakeholders and the review of the dummy portal and other support instruments for the establishment of the Continued Bureau Program

Omokaro stated that we are disrupting retirement as platforms, tools, spaces are created for the continued engagement of older persons saying the older person has the right to contribute in any area they wish to and they have the right to access the labour market after retirement.

She stated that “the older persons have lots of potentials and institutional memory reservoir with expertise and skills as their experiences can incubate their and the centre can have a labour market agreement with agencies and organizations where they are needed.”

She said that like the National Youth Service Corp, they are building experience corps for older person adding that they have built a web portal as the initiative will be purely ICT driven so as to put in all the data needed.

Omokaro said the platform is for retirees from Civil service, and professionals, among others who still have several potentials embedded in them adding that the centre is also identifying agencies that are in need of such services.

She said: “We are giving the older persons the right to participate and still be included in the labour market. What we are saying is that older persons is a huge industry and not just a welfare unit, we are bringing out the potentials of older persons.”

Revealing that the bureau would be launched at the National level in April adding that NSCC is working with several professional bodies to mobilize older persons and to also showcase the wealth of experience older persons have.

The DG mentioned that they are creating a massive campaign around the project wherein as they are asking the older persons to enrol, they are also mobilizing the MDAs to key into the project such that the NSCC will be able to connect the MDAs with the experience needed from the older person platform.

The NSCC Consultant said they will be working with Community Development Association so as to capture all older persons from age 60years, saying the portal will help capture all the older persons

He said the older persons can visit the web portal www.nssc.org.ng and it will capture those working in both formal and informal sectors as long as they are 60 years and above.