We are bringing the optimistic perspective on Ageing- Omokaro
Oru Leonard
The Director General, National Senior Citizen Centre, Dr. Emem Omokaro has said that the centre is focussing on the optimistic perception of Ageing which is the reason for the CEB Program.
The DG made this known on Wednesday in Abuja at the Service Level Collaborations and Review of the Dummy Portal and other Support Instruments for the Establishment of NSCC Continuing Engagement Bureau (CEB) Program.
She further explained that Centre is shifting the pessimistic perspective about older persons and bringing the optimistic perspective on Ageing which should be the perspective that older persons are a force for development.
According to Emem, “Older persons have spent many years of learning and work—their experiences, expertise, skills, passions and interests—and an optimistic perspective is one that says that older persons still have a lot to contribute, and because they are a force for development, then the country is obligated to keep them alive.
“The CEB for us, is that we have realized a huge potential and experiences that we could incubate and deploy. We have realized brain trusts, persons who are carrying institutional memories, be they diplomats, soldiers, professional accountants, professionals in engineering and medicine.
“Diplomats that have served this country and have been everywhere in the world—accumulated experiences and are still at their functional capacities—even when the functional capacities are beginning to decline, we are building supportive environments so that they can be supported to continue to contribute.
“So today, we are here to begin to unbundle and to operationalize this. What we are doing is going to revolutionize Nigeria. We are going to build an experience hub where all our older persons will have all the tools and interactive platforms that they need to continue to engage and participate in the things they have value for.”
Speaking, the NSCC Coordinating Consultant, Dr. Emeka Okengwu said the dummy portal which he reviews is to ensure it met the expectations of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on data generation as well as the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) guidelines on data generation and protection.
He added that the portal will capture every senior citizen.
