The National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) has urged state governments to domesticate various social safety nets to improve the well-being of older persons in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by the NSCC Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications, Mr Omini Oden on Sunday in Abuja he disclosed that the Centre’s Director-General, Emem Omokaro urged the state governors to formulate policies on ageing geared towards a sustainable social inclusion of older persons in their respective states.
”The state governments must show commitment to the older population by domesticating the National Senior Citizens Centre Act 2017.
”By establishing an entity to coordinate older persons’ inclusion, especially social care for the vulnerable and aged as well as social safety net for their livelihood development support for more income generation.
”We also appeal to States to make it a priority a timely payment of pensions to retirees.
”They should also initiate a life-grant disbursement for older persons as ”social pensions” for those who do not have the opportunity to serve in either public or organised private sector and have no means of incremental contributions to pensions,” Omokaro said in the statement.
According to her, the Centre has integrated its existing partnership with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) into government assistance in form of capacity enhancement.
”Now NSCC and its partners began aggregating and engaging older persons of productive ages into multi-purpose cooperatives to support their capacity enhancement and financial support.”
NAN/PIAK
