The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has stated that the replication of the Social Security Scheme of his administration by four other states in the country is a proof that the Ekiti State-pioneered programme has bettered the lot of aged citizens beyond the boundaries of the state.
Speaking at the national workshop of the Senior Citizens Care Foundation in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, on Wednesday, Fayemi, whose administration established Nigeria’s first welfare safety net for the elderly citizens, said the adoption of the scheme by other states is not only an affirmation that his administration has “done something right in our state but also bolsters our pride in knowing that we have contributed in our own little way to the betterment of Nigerian lives even beyond the boundaries of Ekiti State”.
Fayemi said the scheme, which pays N5,000 monthly stipend to Ekiti State elderly citizens above 65 years, is an idea borne out of the belief and devotion to the dictates of the culture of social justice.
He said the culture of social justice prescribes that “the strong in the society must cater for the weak and elderly in the great cycle of life”.
He stressed that his encounter with the “appreciative beneficiaries” of the scheme is perhaps the most rewarding experience in his public life.
Fayemi said: “I doubt that there is any experience as rewarding in my journey through public life as encountering the appreciative beneficiaries of this programme.
“There is that sense that is both joyous and humbling that one has been able to make a positive and practical difference in real human lives.
“There is no greater reward for a policy maker.”
While canvassing support for the All Progressives Congress in the in the forthcoming 2015 general elections, the governor said if the party is given the opportunity to govern at the centre, it would implement a nationwide social security programme for the elderly citizens.
Fayemi explained that the party has already included the scheme as one of its cardinal programmes of the prospective Federal Government, adding that it is would be most rewarding to see a comprehensive scale up on a “national level of an initiative that was birthed in the Land of Honour, Ekiti State”.
He added that the Ekiti State model of the scheme already has an institutional backing that prevents successive administrations from discontinuing the scheme, noting that there is no stomach infrastructure that is more than the N5,000 being paid to the elderly citizens.
In his remarks, the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, said his administration will continue to prioritise the welfare of citizens, especially the aged ones.
Amosun, who commended the Senior Citizens Care Foundation for initiating the programme, assured the people of the state that his administration will support initiatives that give succour to the elderly citizens.
He assured pensioners in the state of the readiness of his government to clear the backlog of pension owed them.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Foundation and elder statesman, Prince Bola Ajibola, said it is incumbent upon the younger generation and the government to adequately take care of senior citizens.
Ajibola said the embezzlement of pension fund is one of the calamities that have befallen Nigeria, adding tat government at all levels must make pension payments available without pains.
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