Aregbesola Launches “Agba Osun” Senior Citizens Welfare Scheme agba osun Osun State elders yesterday received a welfare package from the Rauf Aregbesola administration. It is tagged Welfare Scheme (Agba Osun) for Our Senior Citizens. The programme comprises an award of food and money to over 1,602 highly vulnerable men and women. The governor said 136 elderly persons, who are in need of critical medical attention, were singled out for medical attention during routine tour of the homes for the sick. Aregbesola said the sad condition of senior citizens did not escape his administration’s attention as many of them are hungry, many are ravaged with preventable diseases while many are even homeless. He added that this is outrageous and unacceptable to his government, which rode on the wings of popular mandate to power. He said the programme was established because the aged constitute the third leg of the vulnerable group in the society, the others being children and women. The governor said it took his administration some time to institute this welfare programme because the government conducted a census of the elders across the local governments and wards. It was from this census that the government selected the most vulnerable, totalling 1,602. Aregbesola identified the elders’ two greatest needs to include food and money, saying his administration has begun providing them with food and regular stipends. The governor added that those in need of urgent medical attention would be taken care of as well. He promised that his administration wanted the elderly to spend their old age in peace, comfort and good health. Aregbesola said: “You will recall this is not our first intervention for them. Last year, in association with our partner organisation, Oranmiyan Worldwide, we provided free eye treatment for people in the state. A large number of them were senior citizens who received free eyeglasses and free eye surgery. “What we are doing today (yesterday) is also a demonstration of our belief in people as the basis of development. We are massively engaged in infrastructure development, constructing roads and schools, providing safe water, developing agriculture, enhancing transportation, providing security and so on. “Nevertheless, we are doing all these with human development at the back of our mind. We want our people to live a long and qualitative life. We have no business with national average life expectancy if we take care of our people. “Before we came into office, we were determined that no groups would be left out of the impact of governance. There is still a greater reason for us to consider them. The elderly group was part of the glorious tradition of our party – from the Action Group (AG), to Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Congress (AC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)”
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 09:15:10 +0000
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