Social Exclusion of Nigerian Elderly Population and the Strategies & Innovative Tools to Include All

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue VII, July 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Social Exclusion of Nigerian Elderly Population and the Strategies & Innovative Tools to Include All

Atumah, OSCAR N¹ & Ekele, PETER E.²

^1,2Department of Sociology, University of Abuja, Abuja Nigeria

Abstract:- The population of the older adults in Nigeria and indeed globally, has continued to rise with increasing life expectancy. In Nigeria, the elderly population are disproportionately affected by poverty and diseases, and are at higher risk for social exclusion. With the absent of a defined social security benefit, the need for social inclusion for the elderly has become greater because family support for the elderly is gradually fading and may become a thing of the past in the near future. The 2030 agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is emphatic on the mantra “No one left behind,” with particular focus on the vulnerable including the elderly. In this paper, pieces of literature on social exclusion experienced by the Nigeria elderly were reviewed to identify the key areas where social exclusion are concentrated and to suggest innovative tools to ensure that people of all ages are socially integrated. Findings revealed that Nigerian elderly are excluded from health care access, education and information technology, financial services, economic resources, as well as civic and societal participation. The author suggested that the stakeholders involvement in formulation and implementation of viable social security policy for the Nigerian elderly; age – oriented education for all Nigerians; the need for government to provide support to family members who have elderly persons to care for, and need for a policy that promotes adult education and economic empowerment for the elderly, are all needed for members of all ages to be socially integrated.

Keywords: Elderly, Aging, Social inclusion, Social isolation

I. INTRODUCTION

Defining older persons have been problematic across nations, compelling the United Nations to propose a working definition of the elderly as the chronological age of 60+ (United Nations, 2013). According to the United Nations world population prospect (2010), It is estimated that 8 percent of the world population, about 524 million people were aged 65 and above. This number is projected to triple to about 16 percent of the world population, 1.5 billion people by 2050. Developed countries have the oldest population profile, while the developing countries have the most significant majority of older people and the most rapidly growing aging population (WHO Global Health & Aging Report, 2011). Some studies (Adebowale et al., 2012; Mudiare, 2013; Weiss & Lonnquist, 2015) have attributed this global demographic trend to declining fertility and improved life expectancy, which are offshoots of advancement in medicine.

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