The Federal Government, through the Office of the Federal Civil Service (OHCSF), has begun implementing the Federal Civil Service Entrepreneurship Program (FPSEP) for prospective and retiring civil servants.
The program was launched on Monday in Abuja by Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, CFR, the federation’s chief civil servant. She explained that the program is a sub-initiative of one of her six pillars in her 2021-2025 Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSIP25).
HoCSF notes that several aspects of FPSEP provide people in service with the opportunity to earn additional income. This would automatically improve their lifestyle and well-being. Furthermore, it would help retirees contribute to their development while living standardly.
Dr Yemi-Esan stated further that this, by implication would increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
The HoCSF was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office (SWO) – OHCSF, Dr Ngozi Onwudiwe. She stated the FPSEP is of two components namely;
- Agripreneurship Start-up Scheme, which allows Public Servants to engage in farming while still in Service
- Pre-Retirement Training and Business Start-up Scheme, designed to prepare Public Servants for life post-retirement. It does this by providing opportunities for them to acquire new skills for new career choices.
She also expressed optimism that the knowledge the participants would acquire from the training would be applied to agriculture. Furthermore, she added that a comprehensive curriculum has been developed for the Agripreneurship Start-up Scheme. It has six (6) Farms participating in the first batch.
The Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office (SWO) in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Ngozi Onwudiwe, reiterated that the FPSEP is a programme initiated by the OHCSF to promote Service Welfare. She also stressed that it was introduced to promote and ensure that public servants have multiple streams of income.
An overview of the entire Programme was delivered by the Director, Employee and Industrial Relations, OHCSF, Mrs Omoebie Akpan, who affirmed that the Entrepreneurship Programme, is a life-changing one, which is meant to rejuvenate the Service. She said that the first part of the Programme would last for one (1) week at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), then the business training start-up for two weeks, totalling three weeks.
cc: The Nations Ng
