By Paul Effiong, Abuja
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas has assured the National Senior Citizens Centre, NSCC, of the support of the Green Chamber to achieve its mandate.
Speaking when he received the leadership of the agency on a courtesy visit in his office at the National Assembly yesterday, the speaker he was “deeply depressed” that such an important agency would be operating with a paltry sum as its annual budget.
He promised the readiness of the House under his leadership to increase the agency’s annual budget, which currently stands at N250million.
“I am indeed touched by the remarks from the director-general concerning the mandate of her agency, which many members did not know it exists. I am deeply depressed that you have been operating with the sum of N250 million to cover a national mandate,” Abbas said.
He also said the House would work with the Committee on Disability Matters chaired by Bashiru Dawodu, to ensure that the agency has at least one operational office in each of the six geopolitical zones.
The speaker equally tasked the chairman of the committee to work with the agency to come up with a bill that will provide concessions to senior citizens in the areas of healthcare, transportation.
Regarding the country’s pension scheme, the speaker assured NSCC of his readiness to work with it to improve the system.
“I can’t imagine a civil servant working for 35 years or after attaining 60 years, only to come back home and be receiving N10,000, N15,000, N20,000 or N30,000 as pension. It is so depressing and I believe both of us can do so much in this area.
“The pension system in Nigeria is simply not working to support the retirees. I believe we can collaborate to see how we can improve the scheme. It is one way of ensuring that your agency’s mandate is achieved.
“We are on the same page on the issue of health care. The elders (senior citizens) need special attention. The chair and the director-general, please put heads together and come up with a bill that will give concessions on health, transportation and other areas to the elderly,” he added.
Earlier, the Director-General of NSCC, Dr Emem Omokaro said the visit was to intimate the speaker of the centre’s operations and the challenges it has been facing despite the overwhelming mandate that it has.
She sought the speaker’s understanding for improved budgetary provision from the current N250 million annually, which she said is not enough for the agency to work.
The director-general also requested the speaker to look into the issue of offices for the agency across the country to meet the mandate of catering for more senior citizens.
