NSCC Committed to Older Persons Rights Bill, Stronger Action Against Elder Abuse- Akinyemi-Obe
Oru Leonard
The Director-General of the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC), Hon. Medinat Omobolanle Akinyemi-Obe, has declared the Centre’s full support for the Older Persons (Rights and Privileges) Bill, 2025 (HB 2098), describing it as a critical step towards protecting the rights and welfare of older Nigerians.
Speaking in a statement to commemorate the 2026 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Monday, Akinyemi-Obe said elder abuse remains a serious human rights violation in Nigeria and called for urgent action to move beyond awareness campaigns to concrete interventions.
Marking this year’s observance under the theme, “Beyond Awareness: Making Elder Abuse Prevention Work,” she noted that awareness alone would not protect vulnerable elderly citizens from physical abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, abandonment, and discrimination.
According to her, elder abuse in Nigeria has become both a social and systemic challenge, with millions of older persons excluded from health insurance schemes, denied access to credit facilities, and left vulnerable after retirement.
She lamented that many elderly Nigerians continue to suffer accusations of witchcraft, land dispossession by relatives, and abandonment, while institutions often fail to provide age-friendly services and adequate care.
“Nigeria cannot develop if we abandon the generation that built the nation,” she said, adding that the rights of older persons must be treated as legal entitlements rather than acts of charity.
The NSCC boss highlighted ongoing efforts by the Centre to strengthen protection mechanisms for senior citizens, including partnerships with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the National Human Rights Commission, and the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria to establish faster reporting and response systems for elder abuse cases.
She also disclosed that more than 500 young Nigerians have been trained and certified as professional geriatric caregivers under the Centre’s National Occupational Standards programme, creating employment opportunities while improving care for older persons.
Akinyemi-Obe said the NSCC is deploying the National Ageing Database to identify vulnerable senior citizens and improve policy planning and service delivery.
On legislative reforms, she stressed that the Centre fully supports the passage of the Older Persons (Rights and Privileges) Bill, 2025, which seeks to criminalise age discrimination, guarantee health insurance coverage for indigent elderly persons through the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), establish national standards for senior homes and caregivers, and impose penalties on perpetrators of elder abuse.
She revealed that the NSCC has urged the National Assembly to designate the Centre as the apex implementing, coordinating and compliance authority for the proposed law.
“Rights without enforcement are just words. NSCC will ensure this law works in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” she stated.
The Director-General also appealed to development partners, including United Nations agencies, foreign missions, foundations, civil society organisations and the private sector, to support elder abuse prevention initiatives through investments in geriatric healthcare, caregiver training, senior centres, legal aid services and age-friendly infrastructure.
She further called for support for the proposed Older Persons Rights Implementation Fund, which would be managed by the NSCC to finance programmes targeted at improving the wellbeing of older citizens.
Akinyemi-Obe emphasized that Nigeria’s estimated 14 million older persons should be viewed as valuable contributors to national development rather than a burden, urging investments in age-friendly banking services, telemedicine, senior housing and the emerging silver economy.
She called on Nigerians to report cases of elder abuse and neglect, stressing that protecting older persons is a collective responsibility.
“Elder abuse prevention must work because Nigeria’s dignity is measured by how we treat our elders. The Older Persons (Rights and Privileges) Bill gives us the law. NSCC gives us the structure. What we need now is the will and the funding to make it work,” she said.
A development partner, the Director General of Advanced Centre for sustainable development, Dr. Bode Olaonipekun who offered to run a health status test for Senior Citizens accross the country was on ground for practical demonstration of the test for some Journalists.
In addition, Mr Tosin Okeowo of the Renewed Hope for Elders and Senior Citizens pledged to support the NSCC to fulfill its mandate through advocacy and attracting social welfare to the elderly.
The World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is observed annually on June 15 to raise global awareness about the abuse, neglect and exploitation of older persons and to promote policies that protect their rights and dignity.
