NGO: Organization gets recognition, Commendation by FG for Honoring older Citizens

Folalumi Alaran

The Coalition of Society for the Rights of Older Persons in Nigeria (COSROPIN), has received recognition and praise from the Federal Government for it’s tireless work to end older people structural exclusion in the society.

The President of the Coalition, Senator Eze Ajoku, made this known at a dinner gathering hosted by the Coalition’s committee to celebrate his birthday.

He said being named a “Officer of the Order of Federal Republic, OFR” and receiving the National Honours Award 2022, he remarked, was a great honor.

He claimed that the Coalition’s goal has always been to defend the rights and welfare of senior citizens in Nigeria in accordance with the country’s laws and constitution, and that the acknowledgment just shows that all of their efforts have not gone unnoticed.

He said, ” My overview of National Honours Award 2022 is that the government has done a good job in the selection of people who received awards, this year was thorough, which included the man who saved 200 Christians in his mosque, he was honored today, the woman who picked $10,000 and returned it was honored today.

” The government looked at people who have achieved something for this nation, the government has done very well this year and rewarded those who merited it.

However, he pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Older Persons Rights and Privileges Bill into law as a show of support for older citizens who are discriminated against and mistreated.

He added that the Bill had cleared both chambers of the National Assembly and had been forwarded to the President for his signature.

In his remarks, he pointed out that if the Bill becomes law, it will establish the nation’s first legislative framework to protect the elderly, changing the perception of how senior citizens in Nigeria are treated and the conventions that govern their care, safety, and dignity.