ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Dr. Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, announced that President Bola Tinubu has instructed her ministry to allocate 10 per cent of social safety net interventions to support elderly individuals.
This directive was revealed in a statement issued on Thursday by her media aide, Mr. Rasheed Zubair, in Abuja.
Dr. Edu made this announcement during a stakeholders’ meeting held to mark Nigeria’s 2023 National Day of Older Persons.
“Mr President has directed that my Ministry should set aside 10% of social safety net intervention programmes for older persons in the country.
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“The rights of senior citizens in the areas of job security, health, livelihood, agriculture and other development planning must be considered.
“Presently, older persons are said to be about 14.8 million out of the entire population, that is why the President directed that in all our social welfare interfaces older persons must be involved,” she said.
She promised the senior citizens of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s resolve to provide them with necessary support towards improving the quality of their lives.
“The President also directed that those who are under the poverty line must be assisted and captured in the social interventions programmes.
“We would inaugurate two of such social intervention programmes with emphasis on senior citizens because we will be providing for senior citizens who are affected by humanitarian crises,” she said.