We’re Committed to Creating Decent Living for Workers, Retirees, Says Kwara

The Kwara State Government has said it is committed to improving the well-being of its workforce and creating an atmosphere for them to live a decent life after retirement.

Declaring its support for the realization of the 17th World Sustainable Development Goals Thursday, the state Deputy Governor, Kayode Alabi, said part of these goals centre around ensuring decent work for people and growing the economy.

“The era where Kwara civil servants retire and have nothing to do has passed. What the administration is trying to focus on is to make sure that after you retire you have something to fall back onto,” Alabi told reporters in Ilorin during the maiden Kwara SDGs Convention (1st Kw-SDGs). 

The deputy governor urged participants to see the convention as an opportunity to make necessary inquiries and network towards building a solid foundation for a better tomorrow.

Organized by the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on SDGs, Hon. Mariam Nnafatima Imam, the convention featured lectures and panel discussion. 

It was attended by some government officials, permanent secretaries, and other top civil servants on Grade Level 15 to 17, including Commissioner for Finance, Dr Hauwa Nuru; and Commissioner for Business Innovation and Technology, Hon. Damilola Yusuf-Adelodun.

Among the speakers were the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Innovation, Ishola Kayode; founder, Tamirah Entrepreneurship Center (TEC), Rukayat Yahaya; a serial entrepreneur with focus on Water, Education and Agriculture, Gegele Yahya Olushola; Managing Director, CNN Limited, Nelson Daramola; and an Associate Professor of Enterprise Creation, Incubation and Development (ECID) at the Kwara State University (KWASU), Dr. Rahman Oladimeji Mustapha.

“The state government is in support of the SDGs which is a blueprint for the global future. We are creating an atmosphere where an average retiree can say ‘yes it paid me when I was working with the government and I have something meaningful to be doing afterwards’,” the deputy governor said.

He was represented by the Commissioner for Communication, Bola Olukoju.

The SSA to the Governor on SDGs and convener of 1st Kwara SDGs Convention, Nnafatima, said they organized the programme to equip participants with relevant skills and strategies needed to harness opportunities and thrive in agriculture, entrepreneurship and ICT.

“Our goal is to explore vital topics that will not only help us navigate the present but also ensure a prosperous and secure future for everyone, especially those approaching retirement in the Civil Service,” she said.

“We aim to equip participants with the knowledge and strategies needed to harness opportunities in agriculture, information and communication technology, entrepreneurship and other related fields of endeavour, so you can thrive both professionally and personally which is in line with SDG Goal 8, 9, 11 and 12.”

Nnafatima said they conducted surveys and realized that many civil servants usually develop phobia when going for retirement, adding that they need enlightenment on how to cope after leaving the service.

“We are focusing on civil servants because after conducting surveys, we realized some sorts of retirement syndrome that come up when civil servants are about to retire,” she said. 

“From the survey, we are able to find out that they need an enlightenment programme like this so that they don’t have a phobia and they can move on even after retirement. Let it be an incubation period for them to carry on smoothly.”

The governor’s aide said the training will be a continuous exercise, adding that the plan includes introducing how the trainees can access loans, international grants and other skills for them to grow.

Ishola, in his lecture, spoke on some of the opportunities in digital innovation, including how it enables the government and participants to diversify the economy.

He said the digital world offers a lot of opportunities that the retirees can leverage to network their businesses and meet their economic needs.

“For us to be able to bring life into Sustainable Development Goals in our state and in our country, we have to leverage digital innovation. In the hall, we have retirees, government officials, people from the civil society groups speaking on collaboration, accountability and transparency. These are key things that can only be driven through adoption of digital innovation,” he said. 

Olushola Gegele, whose lecture was titled ‘Agricultures: Sustainable Practices and Opportunities for Retirees’, dwelled on how participants can harness the potentials of organic waste to create wealth and become self-sufficient. 

He said sawdust and rice shafts, after burning and left for a period of time in a container, can generate mushrooms, whose waste he said can be used as manure for farming.

“Let’s go for waste management. If we want to harness the future. Using what we have locally to create economic prosperity. This is where the world is going. Retirees can look at what they see as waste around them and strive to turn it into what can give them income,” he said.