United Nations Association of Nigeria commemorates International Day of Old Persons

As Nigeria marked its 62nd year of obtaining independence from its British colonial masters on October 1st, 2022, the United Nations Association of Nigeria (UNAN) in collaboration with some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) used the period to commemorate the International Day of Older Persons in Lagos.

At the commemoration of this year’s international day of the old persons held at the Ikeja Local government Secretariat with the theme: ‘Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World’, the secretary general of UNAN, Dr Remi Olutimo said while older women, in particular, tend to make a significant contribution to their political, civil, economic, social and cultural lives, their perspectives and efforts remained mostly unnoticed and ignored, constrained by gendered disadvantages accrued over the period of their lives.

According to Olutimo: “Bad perceptions that mix ageism and sexism are exacerbated when discrimination against people based on their gender and age coexists with other forms of inequality.”

The theme for the 2022 international day of older persons, he said served as a marker and a recognition of the crucial role older women play in navigating global difficulties and making valuable contributions to their solutions with courage and resilience.

In her presentation as the guest speaker at the event, the Canada-based Dr Omokara Aderemi commended the organisers for celebrating the priceless virtue of resilience and the invaluable. Contributions of older persons in Nigeria to various spheres of society despite multifarious inequalities.

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Aderemi who noted that the elderly were included among the vulnerable in society given that older adults tend to be more prone to chronic health conditions and increased risk for stress-related diseases as a result of the ageing process, declared that several studies revealed that resilience in older persons was a major protective factor against life stressors and a positive indicator of better health and quality of life.

“There is a widespread belief that old age attracts much suffering from loss of physical ability, dignity, and respect, which is not entirely wrong but the objective of today’s event is to dismiss some of these stereotypes and highlight that resilient in old age not only plays a significant role to strengthen self-efficacy for overcoming life’s stressors but also serves as a notable successful ageing index in that it acts as a buffer for overcoming both physical and mental health conditions.

“Several studies support the idea that older women stand out among the resilient and prevail in the face of both environmental incivility and sociodemographic inequalities and that is not hard to believe seeing that they are well represented today.  Therefore recognizing and promoting this quality in older persons is worthwhile and has far-reaching benefits.”

To promote resilience, the health expert appealed that society should not relent in creating more awareness programs to enlighten the public on various life-enhancing factors and dismiss prevailing negative stereotypes associated with ageing.

She challenged Nigeria as a nation to be intentional in contributing to measures that bring about the general health and well-being of older adults in various fields saying: “For example, by giving them priority and easier access to certain services, granting them subsidies for healthy nutrition where possible to minimize the impact of possible financial limitations. Organizing more targeted medical outreach where medical supplies are distributed to remote regions should be supported. With the advancement in technology, we hope to improve older person’s care via multi-lingual telemedicine shortly. Being a religious nation has its pros when it comes to resilience, I estimate that strengthening religious, faith-based, and spiritual pillars will go a long way in fostering resilience in the elderly. Policies and practices that preserve their human right and wellbeing should also be promoted”.

She used the opportunity to encourage older persons to reinforce their resolve to remain resilient firstly by maintaining strong social ties whether through cultural events, family networks, social gatherings, or community interaction even as she maintained that a strong sense of social connection had the potential to fortify resilience in old age. 

“In addition, a healthy lifestyle in form of a healthy diet, an active lifestyle, getting the needed rest, and adequate sleep should not be negotiated. Essentially, optimizing resilience in older persons should be embraced as a collective effort by all”.