Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, yesterday, endorsed the campaign against abuse of the society’s elderly, especially in the rural communities, being championed by a non-governmental organization, DewDrop Foundation.
Ugwuanyi gave the endorsement when members of the foundation led by its founder and wife of the former Minister of Power, Mrs. Agatha Nnaji, paid him a visit at the Government House, Enugu, to formally present their policy brief on preventing elders’ abuse in Enugu State.
He declared his support for the noble cause.
Briefing the governor, the Foundation’s initiator, Mrs. Nnaji, who was accompanied by the State Commissioner for Gender Affairs and Social Development, Rt. Hon. Princess Peace Nnaji, wife of the former Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Mrs. Nneka Ada Onyebuchi and the Project Coordinator, Rev. Sis. Judith Nwodo, among others, disclosed they were a group of elders from ten communities in Enugu State, conducting a pilot project aimed at ensuring that the elderly are protected and cared for in the society.
She added that the Foundation has accordingly engaged key stakeholders in the state, including traditional rulers, Presidents-General of town unions and others “to identify the people we call teenagers and senior teenagers”.
Mrs. Nnaji further disclosed they already have twenty (20) community mobilizers in the ten communities who will work closely with the PGs and liaise with traditional rulers to align their ideas with the culture of the people.
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The founder also pointed out that they have equally engaged “community leaders to see if they will give us a safe space for the elderly in each community where they can meet and socialize”.
In her remark, the Gender Affairs Commissioner, Rt. Hon. Princess Nnaji, while appreciating the Foundation’s vision, informed members of the group that “the governor has already keyed into all the affairs that concern the elderly in Enugu State”.
She revealed that “the wife of the governor, Her Excellency, Mrs. Monica Ugwuanyi, has been doing a lot in all the nooks and crannies of Enugu State, to ensure the elderly are supported”.
According to her, “Our governor’s wife has thrown her weight behind the state’s rehabilitation center in Emene, making sure that she builds a leisure center for the elderly and other interventions”.
Meanwhile, earlier at the Enugu State House of Assembly, the Deputy Speaker, who received the team, assured of speedy passage of the bill to protect the elderly.
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