NSCC urges state govts to implement social safety net

In order to increase the wellbeing of senior citizens in Nigeria, the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) has asked state governments to domesticate various social safety nets.

In a statement released on Sunday in Abuja and signed by the NSCC’s Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications, Mr. Omini Oden, it was revealed that the Director-General of the Center, Emem Omokaro, had urged the state governors to develop policies on aging that would ensure the long-term social inclusion of older people in each of their 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 incorporated its current collaboration with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) into government support in the form of capacity improvement.

”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.”