The Director-General of National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC), Dr Emem Omokaro, has lauded the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari for remarkable achievements made so far in addressing issues concerning older persons in the country.
Omokaro gave the commendation in an interview with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.
“The government of President Buhari is the first administration in the history of Nigeria that has done so well for older persons in terms of policy, legal framework, institutional and architectural procedures mechanism.
“This is the government that is walking the talk. So we can rightly say that older people, through NSCC have been really mainstreamed into development endeavours of the country.
“Currently, the Centre is working with the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), to have a separate Social Register strictly for older people. Also older people would be extracted from the general social register and add to the one for them.
“This is to ensure that a larger percentage of older people benefit for the various policies of the Federal Government, donor agencies and International Non Governmental Organisations and others.
“It is also worthy to note that the revised Social Safety Protection Policy left out older people, but now it has included them. This means that there is a positive hope for older people across the country,” Omokaro said.
The NSCC boss explained that the agency’s mandates cut across all other government Ministries, Department and Agencies, thus, collaboration became a fundamental necessity for the ultimate actualisation of the Centre’s mandates.
She said the centre was serious in addressing issues of healthcare, income, security and financial independence, intergenerational exchange and mentorship, abuse of older people, justice for older people and many more.
“We also have a programme called ‘Grand Mother Arise’. But please note that it is not only for women, because we are also sentimental about grandfathers.
“You know, there are a lot of stereotypes against Grand Mothers, some see them as witches and the father wizards, but if you observe closely, these people are doing a lot for their community but have not been acknowledged.
“The programme is aimed at acknowledging the roles of grandmothers and fathers in the communities and also adds value to their farm produce through partnership and collaboration with private sector and other stakeholders.
“We are getting the buy-in of royal fathers and even religious leaders to ensure that the Grand Mother Arise programme achieved its desired goals for the older persons in the various communities across the country,” Omokaro explained.
According to Omokaro, “all these are made possible by the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq.”