Edo to partner with NGO in handling the elderly

The Edo State Government said on Wednesday that it would partner with an NGO, Dagomo Foundation Nigeria Ltd/GTE, in handling issues related to the elderly in the state.
Governor Godwin Obaseki said this in Benin during the unveiling of the ultra-modern elderly care centre built by the management of the Foundation.
Obaseki said: “We must continue to change.
“We will partner with the Dagomo Foundation because there is the need for a well-thought out policy on how to handle the elderly.
“We will also partner with the Foundation on how to deal with the issue of the dead, in respect of the location of cemeteries in the state.”
He said that there was the need to decide how to plan out their resting places after their death.
Obaseki, who commended the initiative of the Foundation, said that the initiative was worth emulating and so he would personally support the project.
He stressed the need for people to redefine themselves as members of a caring society and as such, should invest in their future and old age or become losers in the end.
Earlier, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, the Executive Director, Dagomo Foundation, said its vision was to be a bridge in society connecting the disadvantaged, the unheard and the unrecognised with opportunities for a more-fulfilling life.
Omoigui-Okauru said the mission of the Foundation was to make every day worth living for humanity, adding that its immediate focus was on the elderly and the dead.
The director added that plans were to nurture a better and more caring environment for the elderly and the dead in the Nigerian society.
Omoigui-Okauru also said that the immediate goal of the Foundation was to make aging a more enjoyable and dignified experience for at least one million people, as the average life expectancy in Nigeria increased.
According to her, the Foundation was a family-based, non-profit organisation.