Nigerian Army Opens Resettlement Centre For Retiring Officers

The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) has established a centre to serve as a a resettlement and vocational institution to assist retiring personnel.
The centre has commenced commenced its first Senior Officers entrepreneurship and management training in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital, South South, Nigeria.
The objective, as disclosed by the Commandant of the Centre, Air Marshal Moses Akinsanmi is to provide retiring personnel with skills and trade that would empower them to set up and properly manage their own businesses so as to enjoy a productive life in retirement.
The Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre is collaborating with Empretec Nigeria Foundation, a private sector driven initiative of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to assist Senior Officers develop retirement plans.
According to the Commandant, the centre has recorded successes with previous trainees as feedback from the field indicates that many are doing well from utilizing skills acquired.
He said that the centre until recently lacked the capacity to train officers on its own resources, a situation which necessitated the partnership with UNCTAD.
Country Director of the Foundation and wife to the former Cross River State governor, Mrs. Onari Duke said the retirement training programme is not only for those who are about to retire soon, rather it is to get officers equipped in their individual capacity.
She enjoined the participants, who are officers of the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force, to actively participate so as to acquire the necessary skills needed to make retirement pleasurable, rather than faced with the only option of returning to the labour market after their service years, a situation she attributed to lack of preparedness.