Fourteen thousand (14,000) elderly citizens in Ekiti State have been
paid N20,000 each under the re-launched Fayemi-led administration’s
Social Security Scheme, popularly referred to as ‘Owo Arugbo’(stipends
for the elderly).
Speaking on Tuesday at Ode-Ekiti in Gboyin Local Government Area of
the State, during the official presentation of the Automated Teller
Machine (ATM) credit cards to the beneficiaries, the Director-General
of Bureau for Employment, Labour and Productivity, Mr. Lanre Ogunjobi
explained that the disbursement was for the 4th quarter (October to
December) of year 2019.
Mr. Ogunjobi, who recalled that Governor Fayemi, during his first
tenure introduced the payment of stipends to vulnerable elderly
people in the state from the age of 65years and above, expressed
regret that the laudable programme was abandoned for four years by the
immediate past administration.
Stressing that the programme is devoid of political colouration,
Ogunjobi said that beneficiaries were identified from the Single
Register of Poor and Vulnerable Households that was created from a
survey of communities across the 16 Local Government Areas of the
state, using internationally accepted standards of poverty indices.
He added that the programme which is being executed under Social
Investments in the 5-pillars of the Fayemi-led administration is a
reflection of the commitment of the administration to the welfare of
all levels of people in the state, particularly the elderly, women and
children, who constitute the most vulnerable in society.
Ogunjobi advised the beneficiaries to spend the money judiciously,
emphasizing the importance of taking proper care of their ATM cards
and disallowing people they do not trust from handling the cards to
prevent being defrauded.
In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the Bureau of Labour and
Productivity, Mr. Ayodele Ajimati, described the Scheme as a “systemic
cure for poverty” and advised other states to emulate the laudable
programme.
Ajimati stressed that the success of the program in the state was an
an indication that the Scheme is capable of assisting in improving the
lives of vulnerable people across the country if properly emulated.
Last modified: February 20, 2020