Federal Government has launched a  federal public Service entrepreneurship programme for civil servants to create a window for those in service to earn supplementary income to improve the quality of their life and enable those retiring to cope with life after service.

The head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan during the launch of the programme in Abuja yesterday, stated that the programme is a sub-initiative of one of the six pillars of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021–2025. Also known as FCSSIP 25, the plan was developed out of the need to pay greater attention to the welfare of public servants who constitute the administrative machinery for implementing government policies and programmes. Yemi-Esan who was represented by the permanent secretary in charge of welfare, Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe, said that the programme also creates a window for those in service to contribute to the development of the other sectors of the economy and by implication increases the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
“The programme consists of two components: Agripreneurship Start-up Scheme; and Pre-Retirement Training and Business Start-up Scheme. The setting up of the Agripreneurship Start-up Scheme is premised on the provisions of Section 2(b) Part 1 of the fifth schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which permits Nigerian public servants to engage in farming while in service. “Hence, both serving and exiting Public Servants can participate in this 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.
Yemi-esan said it is hoped that the knowledge garnered from the training would be plugged into agriculture and other business ventures that will enable them to create multiple sources of income for self-sustenance while in Service and after exiting the service. “I am delighted to inform you that a comprehensive curriculum has been developed for the Agripreneurship Start-up Scheme and we have six Farms participating in this first batch. It is our dream to see our workforce well empowered, skillful, and more productive and contributing meaningfully to the development of Nigeria even to the point of not just being employed but employers of labour within the provisions of extant rules.

 “I do not doubt that these initiatives will boost the morale of serving Officers for better service delivery and imbue required confidence in retiring officers to enable them to surmount the challenges of life after service. I also encourage the trainees to take advantage of these laudable programmes and ensure they get maximum value for money invested by their respective organizations to develop their human capital,” she said.