Gowon, others want special fund for the elderly

A former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) has called for a special intervention fund for the elderly in the country. He made the call yesterday in Abuja at the National Conference on ageing, themed, ‘Stepping into the Future: The Nigerian Perspective on Aging, Care-Giving, Rights and Privileges of Older Persons in Nigeria’. The conference […]

A former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) has called for a special intervention fund for the elderly in the country.

He made the call yesterday in Abuja at the National Conference on ageing, themed, ‘Stepping into the Future: The Nigerian Perspective on Aging, Care-Giving, Rights and Privileges of Older Persons in Nigeria’.

The conference was organised by the Coalition of Societies for the Rights of Older Persons In Nigeria (COSROPIN) and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

Gowon, who chaired the event, where COSROPIN was formally launched, said old age is not a disease.

He said the conference, among others, was to sensitize government on the plight of older persons, solicit the support of privileged Nigerians in the advocacy for the rights and privileges of older persons and to encourage respect, rights and dignity.

The Executive Director, Dave Omokaro Foundation (DOF), Dr. Emem Omokaro, said that five percent of all the elderly in the country were entitled to pension and that over half of the five percent received just meager pension.

President of the coalition, Senator Darlington Eze Ajoku, said that a nation that abandons its elderly citizens, who have contributed in diverse ways to the development of their communities, is sure to be compromised by mounting social and moral decadence.