It is the wish of everyone to get old and eventually retire from active service.
About 5 per cent of the 200 million persons in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, are aged 60 years and above.
The active workforce is between the age of 17 years and 65 years.
Looking around today it is incredible to find that the aged in Nigeria has remained active and refused to retire despite the obvious inefficiency and incapacity witnessed in their physical and mental productivity.
The aged in Nigeria have been flagrantly mistreated and abandoned by the system. This might be the reasons for the aged politician’s reluctancy to remain in service and continued active labour.
The statutory retirement age in Nigeria is 60 years or 35 years of unbroken active service, whichever comes first. After retirement, civil servants are entitled to benefits from such as gratuity and pension. However, for decades, State Governments in the country have had challenges paying retirees’ gratuities and pensions.
There are many travails for the advanced in age in Nigeria and over the years a number of the unabated problems facing them have been televised on various media platforms, for the world to see and for the appropriate authorities to find a lasting solution, but adversely the situation seem to be getting worse without hope for improvement but continued neglect and abandonment.
For the aged in Nigeria to access help, an updated digital capture of the actual aged persons in Nigeria should be carried out annually so that whatever aid they are entitled to will eventually get delivered to them.
During election year in Nigeria, it is amazing to find in the queues our retired parents forming long lines to exercise their civic duties under the excruciating sunshine. This is the best duty a citizen owes its own country to perform the duty of electing the right leaders into government.
The politicians have not earned their elections if they can neglect these same old persons after they have gotten into office.
Some of the deserving rights of our aged parents is not a favour done to them but it is supposed to be their right. They should get health care as at when due. The government established several primary health care centres in local government areas, it is a good initiative, but the standards of equipments should be more sophisticated by replacing obsolete equipment with modern ones.
It should be noted that the facilities in the primary health care centers is not free in Nigeria. Although, the government tries to make it accessible and reasonable, but the drugs are limited to certain amount. When the drugs exceeds an amount subsidised, the health care doctors will advice the drugs are bought from a drug vendor outside.
Primary health care doctors are general practitioners. When a case is adjudged severe, the primary health care doctors will now make a case for the patient to visit a specialist in another teaching hospital or general hospital.
The Lagos State Government in recent times have continued to maintain the various health care centers but as stated earlier, more modern facilities are needed as the number of the elderly outnumber the available equipment.
Housing and accommodation should no longer be an issue for the aged in a situation where their immediate family cannot afford adequate housing for their retired ones. There should be a government owned old peoples home to carter for the retired ones. Talking about the retired among us, it should be reiterated that at this age, a lot of patience is needed to deal with them in terms of care giving because it is a known fact that some of our aged parents become very frail and dependent as they get older and a level of persuading is needed to bring them to accept our directives to them. In ensuring this is properly achieved, it is apposite to employ or involve an expert, with the help of Geriatric nurse for better supervision.
There are only few care homes in Lagos, but it is a private initiative for the affluent but the ministry in charge of the welfare of the elderly adults should as a matter of urgency find an equal field to comfort the elderly in our teeming society.
Transportation is another right of the elderly. Taking Lagos as a case study, the BRT is an initiative in tandem with the elderly. BRT in Lagos is a safer means of transportation in Lagos State because it is orderly, but the elderly still pay for it. I humbly call on the House of Assembly to quickly fashion a free transport module for the elderly into law in Lagos State and eventually other states will follow suit. If the elderly can have ease of movement at no cost, their mobility problems would have been solved at no cost.
Pension and gratuity is a major problem over the past years. It has remained embarrassing to find our aged parents televised on various channels calling on the government to pay their pension and entitlements. Holding of placards in an agitation and protesting non payment of their entilments is very unbearable a sight to watch. The popular saying that whatever goes around comes around is instructive and based on the above premise, I would unequivocally state that the government must not owe any retiree but must be alive to their responsibilities to respond to the elderly ones as it is widely known that elective positions have an expiration date, after which the once government positions holder would return home to meet fellow retirees.
Recreation and relaxation centre is a place or setting to socialise and relieve stress both physical and mental stress. The easiest way to create joy in the mind of the elderly is to create an outing for them. Unfortunately, these kind of relaxing facilities are rare and also expensive for the affluent. The government need to invest in recreational activities, gym and games to keep them mindfully occupied.
There are privately owned clubs where the elderly can meet for social relationships, but it is not free. If, for example, a retiree used to be a fan of golf, it would be easy for such retiree to get integrated to the golf club or any sports of choice and by so doing they get their physical strength as well as their mental strength in good shape.
There are mixed lounges today, but the music, food, drink are not much of a delight for the aged due to their prescriptions of medication. The noise is another barrier for them. At best, you find the elderly living a sedentary and monotonous live. Abroad, the elderly function optimally because the government prioritise their aged persons by paying them their entitlements and providing a level ground to keep them happy, healthy and optimal.
The reverse is the case in Nigeria, but when there is a will, surely there is a way. It is possible for the elderly to enjoy themselves if we jointly raise our voices to call government at various levels to get involved in making up for their negligence and create better welfare packages for the elderly in Nigeria.
. Lilian Mabeek is a writing enthusiast who enjoys to captivate her readers with everyday happenings or experiences as it best soothes each person, having similar and peculiar reactions and interaction with daily life occurrences. As an inspirational writer focused on indelible prints of positivity of the minds on anyone reading a line or pages as it were, she prefers not to delve into negative stories or publications, but rather intentionally purges the minds of readers to awaken to a beautiful world where endless joy is found and possibilities exist. For Mabeek, her purpose is to bring peaceful memories, coexistence and friendliness to the mind of anyone who reads her daily digest. You can describe her choice of expression as a daily English usage for better comprehension among readers of all educational qualifications. Mabeek’s passion for writing was borne out of ensuring that anyone reading any publication will find pleasure, humour, laughter and an appreciation of whatever is being written about, but ultimately avert stress, anxiety, depression and any form of life challenge. As a social commentator and public relations consultant, for her the pen is a tool to the heart of the society, bringing public enlightenment that it pays to focus on positive narratives and creating a greater image for Nigeria.