NIGERIA: With Only 20 Homes for Elderly, It's a Crime to be Old

LAGOS (Daily Sun), Saturday, July 29, 2006: Consider a situation your aged parent is left without care and concern or treated with disdain by the members of the society. Imagine a society where the elderly and old person is not given his/her regard as a dignified citizen after he/she must have rendered worthy services to the society. Pa Olujimi Kalejaye, 70-year-old pensioner. Photo: Sun News Experts in animal life know that an aged elephant is a repository of knowledge and the death of one causes loss of track of movement and other details for the community. That also applies to the human society where the elder keeps in the custody of his/her invaluable experience kit the details of the past, present and with which ability he/she can precisely have a clue from hindsight of what the future holds. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Old age is a blessing of God. Grey hair is a glorious crown. It is found in the way of righteousness’ Prov. 16.31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- But in our society where the elder used to be the next God, many things have gone wrong in the regard we hold for them. Meanwhile, all over the world, the elderly is revered and adored because they have done much for the people and deserve a rest in old age. Their shortcomings occasioned by the depreciation of abilities are always condoned with joy as the society regards old age as a blessing. Picking the pieces Today, there seem to be a dwindling of the regard and honour for the aged in our society so much that many children have lost their attachment for their aged parents and loved ones. Requests by aged parents to children to bring grandchildren to them are no longer heeded and many think it a waste of time to devote care for the elders. We are today almost celebrating social aberration where the governments of the day have ganged up like a deliberate connivance to deny retired elders their pension and terminal benefits. These are the problems that nag a group of Nigerians who have decided to defend the aged and make a case for a return to the path of honour, respect and reverence for the elderly. A company that has a brand in the offing targeted at the interest of the elderly is not happy that the elders are left to suffer after they must have laboured to make their eve days a happy one. The champions of this cause say it is worthy and must be accomplished for the good of the elders and the entire society. The organisation with intention to cater for the elderly through its product is also happy with the present government for embarking on serious moves to correct the past maltreatments the elder and retirees have been through. It feels proud to associate with the government various initiatives to elevate the elderly and make them happy at old age. “It used to be and still remains an abomination to disregard the elder or not show the aged proper respect. Our children today seem to have not imbibed the essence of that righteous act because all the holy books and human societies have it as a common factor to respect elders. It would be an anti thesis to disregard this outstanding task because many Nigerian ethnic nations have this true indoctrination that those that disregard the elders don’t live long. This movement or call is like a mandate to return to the paths of goodness and order that lead to coherence”, they said. Across societies The European, Asian and American continents predominantly, and especially in the developed economies have codes of behaviour towards the elders through public Acts by government. The public buses and trains have reserved seats for them. Parks keep pavilions for the aged and pamper them to live longer as the glory of mankind. But these great values seem to be declining in some places and instances. In Japan, the situation has become so bad that “a child-like robot that combines the roles of nurse, companion and security guard is to go on the market to help the growing ranks of elderly Japanese with no one to look after them. This is because the human population have dropped their duty to cater for the elder. “The Wakamaru robot can patrol a house 24 hours a day, alerting family, hospitals and security firms if it perceives a problem. And investigations in Japan also show that 32 per cent of abuse of elders come from children to their aged parents”. A research about Nigeria’s attitude to the elderly showed that: In Lagos, a city of 20 million people, there are about five old people’s homes. They provide just 37 places to strictly-destitute elderly. Nationally, there are 13 homes serving Nigeria’s population of 140 million. It further enlightened that “old people are not a priority for the Government. Out of Nigeria’s 95 million old people only 0.02 per cent survive to become officially elderly: that is, over 65. In fact, life expectancy for Nigerians in 1989 was 54. By 1993, according to the Central Bank’s economic report, it had fallen to 52. As far as the Government is concerned, resuscitating infant immunization programmes which prolonged life expectancies during the 1980s is a more pressing social need”. It is commonplace now to hear of elders collapsing on queues waiting for their pensions that never come. Many have died through such abuses of elders and this group seeks to bring a stop to all these. Legal powers By the time the group tidies up its acts, they would be forwarded to the National Assembly and maybe some state Assemblies bills to enact laws on how best to take care of the elders and protect them from further abuses. They tag: The Nigerian elder. An endangered species that needs efforts to protect. The group calls for coalition with other interested bodies that want the safety of the elderly secured and would want them to “embark on all manner of lawful action to make the governments, individuals, children, grandchildren, NGOs and the civil society feel concerned. ‘A nation where the elderly is left to die in the streets as a beggar, where the elders slump at hospital gates or die in loneliness because nobody cares to give them a helping hand, a place where the aged is wickedly not included in the action plan of governance is a society not headed in the right direction. We want to create awareness and sensitise the people to wipe away such tradition, it is not our culture and we don’t want to imbibe it. I know too well that some societies that value the elders even have products intentionally invented, manufactured and designed for the aged because they are part of the society. We would even be impressed if such development would take root in Nigeria some day”, the group said. By Ikenna Emewu © 2004 THE SUN PUBLISHING LTD.