Nigeria needs laws to protect older persons from abuse, exploitation, Senator Ajoku
Senator Ajoku believes that the nation has not done much to protect the population of aged persons from exploitation, abuse and neglect.
Senator (Dr.) Eze Dàrlington Ajoku (OFR)
INTERVIEW
By Cyril Mbah
Senator (Dr.) Eze Dàrlington Ajoku (OFR) does not hide his persistent, unshakeable support and advocacy for the enthronement of better conditions for the old and weak in the society.
As the President of the Coalition of Societies for the Rights of Older Persons (COSROPIN), the umbrella body of nongovernmental agencies focused on defending and championing the human rights of elderly persons in Nigeria, Senator Ajoku believes that the nation has not done much to protect the population of aged persons from exploitation, abuse and neglect. COSROPIN has more than 154 active member organisations and it recently won the prestigious Commonwealth Association of Ageing C.A.R.E. Award for NGOs with the most innovative programmes in community service category and contributions to the cause of the elderly.
The passion and determination that COSROPIN invested in tackling the problems and challenges of elderly persons in Nigeria positively paid off earlier with the creation by the last administration of the National Senior Citizens Center, an agency under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
In this interview with Cyril Mbah, Senator Ajoku, stated vehemently that Nigeria has not appreciated the values of elderly persons and he listed some of the actions that should be taken to guarantee the fundamental human rights and dignity of senior citizens. Excerpts.
Q: Congratulations sir on the recent award from the Commonwealth group. During the celebration of the 2023 International Day for the Elderly, you announced that your group will enroll 20 elders from Mabushi community in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) into the National Health Insurance Scheme for free medical services. Will you extend this gesture to other area councils and also other states of the nation?
No. We have limited resources and we are not being funded by the government. We adopted the Mabushi community for our programmes and it was meant to show examples and motivate others like rich people in the society and other civil society groups to also do what we have done to help our elderly persons.
We are just starting and we would levy ourselves to carry out the project. Like I said earlier, we do not enjoy government funding. So, we would levy ourselves to raise the N300, 000 required to register the twenty elderly persons with the NHIS. We do not have any support from anywhere. This is why we will restrict ourselves to just the twenty persons who will be chosen by their community to enjoy the health coverage.
Q: COSROPIN contributed to the creation of the Senior Citizens Center which has become an agency at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. Are you aware that the center has been active only in Abuja and Lagos leaving out a large number of elders in the villages who need help?
I disagree with that suggestion. The center is a Federal Government agency based in Abuja with the mandate to liaise with states, local governments and groups in the 36 states of the federation. So, it is wrong to say that the agency operates only in Abuja and Lagos.
Q: Do you think that the Senior Citizens’ Center has the capacity to really tackle the problems and challenges of our elderly persons. Is it not better to have a ministry with greater funding arrangement to enable it respond more comprehensively to the problems of the elder population?
What we asked for initially was a commission but we got a centre instead. I think that anything that will enhance the care of elderly persons is welcome.
Q: We understand that the center is under-funded and has been unable to carry out programnes. What appeal are you making to the government about this problem?
I honestly do not know about its funding problems because we do not know what the center gets from the ministry's allocation or what it has been doing. We are not too close to the agency to know such things even though we are members of the board. It is unfortunate that we do not know what is going on there. We are an NGO and the agency is owned by the government. Even though we are part of the board, the board has been ineffective since inception because of the way the board was being run that made it redundant. We would call for the immediate restructuring of the board to enhance its work and effectiveness.
Q: Does your group monitor the activities of the Senior Citizens Center to ensure it complies with the laws that established the agency?
The agency is a government outfit. We do not control its operations and they do not interfere with our activities or control us in any manner.
Q: Speakers at your recent forum for older persons urged you to resubmit the Older Persons Rights Bill, which was ignored by ex-President Mohammadu Buhari to the National Assembly. How soon do you hope to do so?
As an organization, we have our own programmes and timelines. So, we will continue to carry out advocacy programmes which will include pushing for the enactment of the bill into law. We however appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, being an elder himself, to ensure expeditious signing of the bill into law when it is presented to him. The president should give kindly and proper consideration to issues concerning older persons. These issues include that there are no laws that define the rights, privileges and dignity of elder persons in Nigeria. COSROPIN will not give up until elder persons have a legal instrument that defines and backs-up their rights and privileges. Today, the rights and privileges of people who worked for government have been eroded by retirement and the result has been untimely death. There are no health insurance cover or social safety nets and security despite the knowledge base and experience of older persons. At the moment, there are no legal framework stating what the rights, privileges and dignity of oder persons are for people to know. Older persons should be included in government development initiatives and policies. COSPORIN's effort at authoring a bill called the Older Person's Rights and Privileges Bill passed into law by both chambers of the National Assembly and forwarded to the former president (Muhammadu Buhari) was not assented to until he left office. Older person have no social packages. The collapse of family, community structures, urban migration etc leaves older persons abandoned, isolated and neglected. COSPORIN in the 36 states will continue to work with older persons to ensure the nation provides laws that define the rights, privileges and dignity of oder persons.
Q: The abuse of older persons has become so common, especially in the rural areas where many of them are called witches and wizards, exploited and neglected apart from being discriminated against. What is your group doing to solve this problem?
We are engaging in aggressive advocacy to raise public awareness on these issues and soon cases of neglect, discrimination, abuse of the elderly will be a thing of the past. We believe that older persons deserve better and we want older persons to be respected.
Older person's knowledge are not utilized to help build the nation which would have provided income, yet, older persons are still being taxed. There are no conducive infrastructural amenities for them and even the design of our buildings and roads, cars, air and rail systems are not user friendly for the elderly. Ends.
Metro