By Goodluck Ikiebe.
A Coalition Group of Societies for the Rights of Older Persons in Nigeria has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the older Persons Bill into law after its passage by both chambers of National Assembly.
The group’s President, Senator Eze Darlington Ajoku, who made the appeal in an exclusive interview in Abuja, said the objective is to enhance the quality of life of older Persons, protect and strengthen their rights and privileges in the country.
“When we formed the Coalition in 2006, we found out that there was no legal framework to support our advocacy in the improvement of rights and privileges of life of older Persons and we felt there was need to have a law. Government changes with their policies every four or eight years, so if there is a law, it will always helped to give teeth to every policy and they tend to respect it more”
Senator Eze Ajoku, who is also the international Coordinator, Graceful Ageing, explained that the bill when signed into law will highlight for public attention some of the challenges confronting the older persons in Nigeria particularly issues bordering on retirement, social welfare, economic survival and social isolation in order to address them.
” We are praying that the President gives assent to this bill because he has been Older Persons friendly. Under his administration, we have been able to achieve a lot like the setting up of the National Senior Citizen center and the signing of the national policy on older Persons”, he noted.
Senator Ajoku stated further, “We believe that the signing of the bill into law will be a great achievement for the Buhari administration. It will be good for everyone in this country to pray so as to get old.
The Former Senator in the fourth Republic, who will soon be clocking 75 years, noted with delight that it will be a thing of Joy in his lifetime, that future grneration of older Persons will have something to protect their rights.
“The bill is intended that at old age, your country has not abandoned you, it still has something that they owed you, your dignity, rights and privileges” Senator Eze Ajoku concluded.
