A former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr Yemi Farounbi, has called on the Government to see the welfare of the aged as an area of need that requires urgent attention.
Farounbi noted that the effort towards better care and health for the elderly should commence with review of policies that would advance their health and well-being into old age.
The former ambassador made the call at the launch of HebronLove Elder’s Home, a care center for the aged, located in Ibadan.
He said a lot of people see the elderly as a problem and find it difficult to understand them, which in turn makes them feel out of place in the environment.
“Today we don’t live together anymore, our children and people are scattered in different locations in quest of jobs, marriages and wealth. So you find out that most times the old people have been abandoned, not because they want to avoid them but because they have to. So then, we need a home like this where people of old age can meet, interact and fellowship together, sharing views,” he explained.
The former ambassador explained that there are some processes in life which one has to pass through when advancing in age, which include loss of strength that makes movement slower, loss of appetite, loss of memory and the fact that what used to be normal when one was young becomes strenuous.
He opined: “As if this is not enough, financial burden with fixed or limited income, which denied them opportunity to meet some demand and lack of transportation, which forces them to rely on people to move from one place to another.”
Farounbi lamented that while suffering from all these hardships in an increasingly hostile, competitive and intolerant society, majority of older people’s income are spent on health rather than any other need or activities.
Hebron Love
“Hebron Love Elder’s Home will see to the assisted living of the elders, their dementia care, home and custodial care among other needs that concern old people,” he said.
While commending the initiative, Farounbi said the home would cater for aged ones and help them to live and enjoy their old age.
The President of the center, Mrs Elizabeth Aina-Scott, said the home was built based on God’s calling and also to see the elderly ones being taken care of, as they are always being abandoned and left to their lonely selves.
Aina-Scout, who is a former Zonal Director, Nigeria Television Authority, lamented that in recent times, people are busy pursuing their careers as they leave in the morning and don’t know when they will come back and hardly have time for their parents.
She noted: “So, we can not keep to the culture that preaches communalism. These parents are suffering at home, with nobody to cater for them. And sometimes, these parents are left alone while their children end up leaving them based on marriage and other good reasons.
“Therefore, the remedy to the loneliness is having a place like this where they can have the opportunity to see their mates, share experiences together and even play games together, reviving their old spirits,” Aina Scott affirmed.
She assured that the home would give the elderly ones a new life, filled with optimal quality which would enable them to live longer.
Confidence Okwuchi
