For Alzheimer patients, Mrs Anenih brings ray of hope

FOR millions of Alzheimer’s disease victims in Nigeria, it is not a death sentence. There is always hope of a better tomorrow with the help and support of loved ones and family members.

Traumatized by the sad experience of her younger brother who was diagnosed with the dreaded disease, Mrs Josephine Anenih, the former Minister of Women Affairs, said that the determination to highlight the ailment was her motivation for setting up the Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation and the Senior Citizens Recreation Centre in Benin.

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Mrs. Anenih recalled the phone call few years ago which shattered her life. She had gladly answered the call that breezy morning. Her sister in-law based in Germany with the husband was on the other side of the line. The news almost made her heart skip a beat. Her happy- go lucky younger brother was in distress and needed help. The young woman with little kids couldn’t cope; her husband could could hardly recognize her or the children. Medical checks later determined that he was suffering from the dreaded Alzheimer’s disease. Broken, tears rolled down Mrs Anenih’s cheeks as she dropped the phone.

The brother having been flown to Nigeria, the former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) national woman leader said that she could not abandon him beloved brother in his despair. She resolved to stand by him through thick and thin. Now a care giver, she confessed that in the last three years, she has been nursing him ever since and has not regretted any moment even though it’s been very tasking.

In his 50s, the sun has suddenly gone down on his brother. Now living all by himself, but for the help and loving kindness of family members and some faithful friends, coping would certainly have been impossible.

Swaying to some music during the holiday at the recreation centre, one could hardly believe that Mrs. Anenih who recently lost her husband, Chief Anthony Anenih, the former chairman, board of trustees (BoT) of the PDP is a grandmother and 71. In company of other senior citizens, she to dance.

Mrs. lamented wailed that the disease which ordinarily was supposed to afflict only old people after hitting the biblical three stores and ten has lately been attacking people in their 50s, noting that there is a need to create an awareness so that people can learn how to avoid it and manage it, should be they eventually fall victim of the dreaded disease.

It was that realization that made her set up the foundation and the recreation centre. She believes people need to get together and make merriment instead of being lonely and idling away their time at their gated houses when their children are all grown up and married.

She counselled that the very first thing to be done is to enlighten people; let them know that the ailment is a medical condition that can happen to anybody getting old especially as a result of their genetic composition and some other factors.

Mrs. Anenih advised senior citizens on how to keep physically fit: “One of the simple exercises is the “One Leg Stand”; here, you stand close to a wall (to prevent falling) and raise your knee making each of your hip as angles to be at 90 degrees, with your palms on your hips. You do this repeatedly for each leg while recording your progress day by day by timing.’’

A former University of Benin (UNIBEN) Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Bona Obiorah, commended the initiative, advising that Alzheimer’s victims should not be stigmatized but embraced.

Having seen lots of friends suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, Obiorah, 72 does not intend to spend the sunset of his life just staying at home but will take advantage of recreation facilities at the centre and also make new friends.