Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The smiles on their faces betrayed the ecstasy in their minds. Yet for some, curtailing the emotions that had welled up within them was a herculean venture. Involuntarily, a couple of tears escaped from many eyes in trickles, dripping down wrinkled cheeks in gentle drops. But those were no tears of agony.
Wednesday, October 16 was a delightful day for many senior citizens in Ekiti State. And that was understandable. It was the day the state government re-launched its ‘Owo Arugbo,’ the Social Security Scheme for Elderly Citizens.
On that day, the government presented cheques to benefitting elderly folks from the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State.
And the old men and women came in their numbers to the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion, the 12, 000-seater facility built during the first coming of the present governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi.
Owo Arugbo was introduced during Fayemi’s first term. It was a scheme that pays a monthly stipend of N5, 000 to very vulnerable elderly men and women with no verifiable means of survival. Until it was scrapped by the succeeding government of Mr. Ayodele Fayose in October 2014, about 25, 000 citizens benefitted monthly from the scheme.
While campaigning for re-election as governor last year, Fayemi had promised to reintroduce the scheme if the electorate brought him back to office. As soon as he was sworn-in in October last year, many were those senior citizens across the state that were eagerly awaiting the commencement of Owo Arugbo. And when the programme was not forthcoming, not a few were those that nursed their frustrations silently, disappointed that it wasn’t part of the governor’s immediate priorities.
In July, Fayemi told the anxious folks that Owo Arugbo was making a return. Again, the people waited with bated breath. Then channels were created to enable qualifying senior citizens to apply. Following verifications, it was gathered that 13,813 persons had been selected for the programme.
On Wednesday, each of the selected elderly folks got a cheque of N20, 000 covering July, August, September and October.
At the event, Fayemi expressed gratitude to the aged folks and people of the state for keeping faith with his administration. Speaking in Yoruba, the governor also expressed gratitude to the World Bank and others for their assistance and cooperation with his government. He announced that the World Bank had promised to support the social security scheme in a bid to expand the scheme and make it better for beneficiaries. He assured the people that by the end of his four years in office, Ekiti would have been turned into an enviable model and a reference point in Nigeria.
Said he: “As we mark our first anniversary today, I am glad to announce the fulfilment of that promise. You will all recall that when we started the programme, it was the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. It attracted criticisms and commendations alike.
”I am glad that many, including the Federal Government, have taken a cue from us in the realisation that social security for the vulnerable segment of our population is the way to go. It is on that premise to cater for our people that made Social Investments to be one of our five-point agenda.
”In order to expand and make the scheme better than it was during the first term, we are now in partnership with the World Bank in carrying out this laudable programme, though, our partnership with the World Bank on the social investment project dated back to our first term in office when we commenced the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). Through YESSO, a single register of poor and vulnerable households was created from a survey of communities across the 16 local government areas using internationally accepted standards of poverty indices.”
Fayemi said part of his mission in the state was to make Ekiti a place where the cycle of generational poverty could be broken, resulting in prosperous, healthier and more decent lives for elderly citizens and other vulnerable groups. He explained that the scheme in his first term brought tremendous succour and relief to the elderly, even as the monthly injection of N100 million through the scheme had positive impacts on the economy of the state. He regretted that the immediate past administration abandoned the scheme and returned the beneficiaries to what he called the “unfortunate life of poverty, suffering and neglect.
The governor said a major goal of his government was to reduce Ekiti poverty indices of 56 per cent to less than 20 per cent by next year.
He assured the people that other major projects like the agro-cargo airport, Ekiti Knowledge Zone, Ado Ekiti Ring Road, Ado-Akure dualization, Agric processing zone and other World Bank supported projects would be actualised.
He said his government had already resuscitated the Ikun Dairy Farm through a partnership with Promasidor, adding that the facility would be producing 9000 litres of milk daily over the next two years.
He also pledged that his government would transform the power sector, water sector and road infrastructure, insisting that a developing economy could only thrive if these three critical sectors were properly developed.
Besides re-launching the social security scheme for the elderly, the governor, accompanied by the Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, also turned the sod at the site of the state agro-cargo airport.
The event, which took place on Friday, October 18, attracted top government functionaries, traditional and religious leaders, prominent Ekiti indigenes as well as other guests from within and outside the state.
Dr Fayemi said the airport, when completed, would help in transporting large numbers of cash crops from the proposed Special Agriculture Processing Zone (SAPZ) to different destinations “and secure early-to-market advantage for the state’s comprehensive agricultural and industrial development plans.”
He said funding for the project, which covers about 4,000 acres of land, had been secured with the support of the Federal Government, African Development Bank (AfDB) and Africa Export Import Bank. He said the project would be completed in 24 months.
The governor, who praised the renowned legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola for his passion for the project, said the airport would help the state in its quest to become a destination for medical tourism considering the facilities available at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.
The Aviation Minister stated: “The Federal Government will partner and support this project, especially the cargo side of it because we believe that with the silos that we have there, with the green land, with the vegetation, with the nature, with the natural geography of Ekiti, it is a very good candidate to produce agricultural products for export,” he noted, even as he lauded the government’s vision to establish a knowledge economy.
Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) said he was fulfilled that Governor Fayemi had taken a decisive step towards realising the dreams of the state’s founding fathers by turning the sod for the airport project, reviving education and creating a knowledge zone.
Aare Babalola said his university was embarking on the construction of an industrial park where as many as 124 industries would be sited, thus creating more jobs for residents of the state.