FG unveils portal to engage senior citizens

The Federal Government has unveiled a web portal to engage older citizens across the country.

The Director-General, National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) Dr Emem Omokaro, who made this known in Abuja said the portal is known as the Continuing Engagement Bureau (CEB).

Omokaro said the platform was created to collect data on retired civil servants and professionals, among others, to link them with agencies of government or organizations that may need their wealth of experience.

“It is specially to sensitise and motivate both the senior citizens, private sector and the public to embrace the opportunities this initiative offers for job creation partnerships and labour market access,’’ Omokaro said.

She said the programme essentially targets senior citizens, who are retired professionals.

”This will also include experts and practitioners in diverse fields who still carry the torch and passion for their skills, competencies and net worth to serve their communities.

“It also has provisions for older farmers and artisans both rural and urban, who would be encouraged to register on the portal’s cooperatives and be connected with opportunities for productive activities and markets,’’ she said.

According to the director-general, the NSCC is particularly excited because the CEB programme is designed to enable senior citizens with diverse intrinsic capacities to continue to participate in what they have reason to value.

She said the programme would not only strengthen senior citizens’ access to the labour market but would also provide a platform for interactions, and life-long learning opportunities, especially in ICT while supplementing income and reducing poverty, redundancy and loneliness among senior citizens.

A consultant with NSCC, Dr Emeka Okengwu, who described the event as one of the flagship programmes of the centre, said it was primed towards creating a platform that would be used in capturing, aggregating, engaging and utilising the skills, talents and resources of retirees.

Okengwu said the platform would also be used to connect them to opportunities to utilise their experience and skills for their continued valuable and meaningful contributions to society through volunteering or paid employment.