Galvanising Voices of Older Persons for Action in Nigeria
- September 20, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Sociology
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue IX, September 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
Galvanising Voices of Older Persons for Action in Nigeria
Atumah, Oscar N1, Odesanya, Saheed O.2
1,2Department of Sociology, University of Abuja, Nigeria
Abstract: – In developing societies, older adults face many challenges to which the government paid little attention. Government priorities are misplaced when they are unable to care for older adults who contributed to nation-building. Older adults are known to suffer in silence because no one is interested in listening to their plights. This exploratory paper reviewed some of the challenges experienced by older adults in Nigeria and examined a few strategies to galvanize the voices of older persons. Some issues affecting the well-being of older adults include the lack of adequate healthcare facilities, lack of funding to cover medical cost, poverty, loneliness, neglect, abuse, and insecurity, among others. Older adults are an essential segment of the population whose wisdom and knowledge are indispensable to the socio-economic development of the society. The writer suggested a few ways to ensure that older adults have a voice in Nigeria.
Keywords: Aging, older adults, Insecurity, Neglect, healthcare, poverty
I. INTRODUCTION
If given the opportunity to choose between life and death, many who died would have indicated their desire to stay alive, given the frightening nature of death (Collins, 2014). Despite the zeal to live as long as possible, challenges abound and mitigate against healthy living into old age. The population of older adults today is growing at a fast rate in various societies of the world and is attributed to improved healthcare and living conditions made possible by the improvement in science and technology (Williams, 2016). For instance, the population of people, 65 years and above, is rapidly growing across societies (Powell, 2015). In Nigeria, the National Population Commission reported that the proportion of older adults aged sixty years and above would reach16 million by 2030, and 47 million by 2060. However, despite the increase in the number of older adults, bitter life experience has translated aging into a less desirable situation.
