—Inadequate Data On Senior Citizens Worrisome
Coalition of Societies for the Rights of Older Persons in Nigeria (COSROPIN) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Older Persons (Rights and Privileges) Bill 2020.
COSROPIN’s President, Darlington Ajoku, made the appeal at the unveiling of the National Corporate Senior Citizens Initiative Award in Abuja.
He said both chambers of the National Assembly passed the bill, last year, which aims to address the social and economic challenges triggered by aging.
He, however, said that the lack of data on older persons in the country was making it difficult for government to formulate policies that would incorporate the elderly and cater for their well being.
Ajoku insisted that older persons have the right to social protection, including income security without discrimination on the basis of age, gender or health status.
He added that his organisation in collaboration with the government was working on the provision of health insurance for all the elderly persons in Nigeria.
Stressing the need for senior citizens to be rewarded in the country, he said the award was designed to help Nigeria create and develop institutional memory for senior corporate citizens from 60 years above.
“In Nigeria, many private/family viable businesses do not survive generational transit. Many viable businesses lose steam and die off after the death of their founders. Only a handful proceeds from one generation to the other. Very few pass through two generations and as such need to be encouraged to plan for sustainability to qualify for this privileged class
“The initiative will help create a standard of reference and response for them on how they have impacted on our employment generation, skill transfer, poverty reduction, taxation, corporate social responsibility and even diplomacy”.
