NANFeatures/Vol.10/No.231/2016 (Oct.1)
Taking a stand against ageism
By Jacinta Nwachukwu and Treasure Etim, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
The United Nations (UN) observes the assumption that age discrimination and sometimes neglect and abuse of older persons is an acceptable norm is wrong.
In addressing this, governments around the world adopted a resolution that recognised ageism as “the common source of the justification for and the driving force behind age discrimination.’’
Similarly, on every October 1, the world community pauses to commemorate the UN International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP).
Analysts note that discrimination shapes how older persons are treated and perceived by their societies, including in medical settings and workplaces, creating environments that limit older persons’ potential and impact their health and well-being.
In this year’s celebration with the theme: “Take a Stand against Ageism’’, the UNIDOP says it will take a stand against ageism by drawing attention to and challenging negative stereotypes and misconceptions about older persons and ageing.
In addition to this, a non-governmental organisation, Senior Citizens Care Foundation, observes that the ill-treatment the society has continually meted out to the senior citizens is worrisome.
Mr Jide Taiwo, the coordinator of the foundation, recently called on the three tiers of government to consider the perceived insensitive attitude towards the plight of the elderly in the country.
He said senior citizens who, due to age, are now very fragile and vulnerable to such inhuman treatments of constant abuses, exploitations and in some cases, outright killings by those expected to protect them.
“Government at all levels ought to ensure that retirees and the aged, who have dutifully and sincerely committed a greater part of their youth in serving their fatherland are not abandoned in their old age or at their point of need.
“The acceptable standard as enshrined in the charter of the World Assembly on ageing over three decades ago must also be the standard in Nigeria,’’ he said.
Taiwo also cited a case in Edo State in which a young tenant allegedly killed his 83-year-old landlord because the old man wanted to know why the young man had decided not to pay his rent.
Also 13 aged persons were recently picked up from a street in Calabar allegedly thrown out by their respective families that accused them of practising witchcraft.
To address this, Yvonne Nwankwo, a reverend sister-in-charge of the elderly peoples’ home in Calabar, said adequate protection and care for the aged were required from the appropriate authorities.
According to her, a recent UN report placed Nigeria as one of the worst countries in the world that pays less attention to the care of the elderly.
On the challenges the elderly persons face, Mr Richard Uwakwe, President, African Association of Psychiatry and Allied Professions, noted that elderly persons in Nigeria were among those with the highest rates of depression in the world as a result of non-payment of pensions and other related entitlements.
Citing a report of Help Age International, London, he observed that Nigeria was rated 85 in a list of 91 nations.
In the view of Prof. Bem Angwe, the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), more than three million aged people died annually as a result of societal neglect.
“There is a need for government at all levels and relevant stakeholders to come up with a framework and palliative measures to assist the elderly in this country.
“I say this because most aged people, particularly those in the rural areas, are poor, lonely and sick because they don’t have people to take care of them.
“The sustained migration of youths from rural to urban areas in search of better opportunities worsens the situation,’’ he observed.
Similarly, Mr Folasayo Abioye, a psychologist based in Osogbo, said from the age of 60 years, people begin to fear and plan about growing old, perhaps because of loneliness and depression associated with it.
Abioye added that ageing was also scary because the elderly thinks of how to get adequate care even when families and other caregivers were there to help.
Besides taking physical care of the elderly, the psychologist insisted that “when one is taking care of elderly in one’s home, it makes them feel at home.
“When you are taking care of your elderly parents, you want them to feel at home and you bring their home with them.
“The elderly feel uncomfortable when they are not involved in trendy scheme of things in the society; like leadership positions; they want caregivers to always listen to their old stories and experiences.
“If you ignore them or you wave aside their folktales, views and shared their experiences as outdated or useless, you are sending them to their graves gradually.’’
Abioye said that neglecting the elderly would make them feel less important in the society thereby causing them to feel unloved and unwanted.
“But if you take interest in what they have to say, they feel important and lively,’’ he said.
Besides Abioye’s view, an Ikorodu Customary Court judge in Lagos, Mrs Omolara Abiola, noted that ignoring the welfare of the aged had both spiritual and psychological implications.
She called on religious organisations to intervene in the care for aged people, adding that the neglect of the older members of the Nigerian society had become rampant.
“You will be surprised that there are so many old people, who their grown up children have abandoned.
“The intercession of religious organisations in the wellbeing of our senior citizens is necessary now that young people no longer see the neglect of their parents as immoral,’’ she said.
The judge noted that her court usually got complaints from parents that their children or wards had neglected them.
Abiola said religious organisations were in the right place to eradicate such attitude from the society because of the respect they command from the public.
She added that Christian and Muslim leaders should admonish their followers on the need to care for their aged parents as failure to care for them could attract the wrath of God.
All the same, analysts opine that failure to tackle ageism undermines older persons’ rights and hinders their contributions to social, economic, cultural and political life.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)