World Elders’ Day: Oyo Govt. distributes cash, food items to more than 1,000 elderly residents
By Adewale Owoade
The Oyo State Government has distributed cash and food items to more than 1,000 elderly residents of the state, restating its commitment to catering to the welfare of the elderly in the society.
Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Mrs Toyin Balogun, made this known at an event to commemorate the International Day for the Elderly, themed “ageing with dignity”, in Ibadan.
She said that Gov. Makinde’s administration has put in place several interventions aimed at making life more meaningful for all segments of the society.
“This government is putting in place interventions that are in the best interest of the people.
“We consider our elderly ones as a valued source, because these are people who have lived their lives in the service of their families, children and society at large. We think it is very important for us to make sure that we support them in their old age.
“For this intervention, which is a commemorative event, we feel that instead of dancing, we should do something that will add value to the lives of our elderly demographic.
“Also, we are working in collaboration with a number of NGOs and agencies that have competencies in the care of the elderly.”
Balogun also disclosed plans by the state government to set up a social intervention scheme for the elderly.
“We have put in place plans that are going to be sustainable even beyond the lifetime of this government. One of them is social welfare intervention and we are hoping to be able to take action next year such that the elderly will benefit from stipends once every two or three months.
“In addition to that, we are going to be designating one PHC as an elderly-friendly health care centre. And in the last discussion we had, we said it is better for us to scale our intervention so that we can monitor and measure the result.
“So, our plan is to deploy to the first nine local government areas and after six months, we re-assess and expand,” Balogun said.
Also speaking, the guest lecturer and Nutritionist, Dr Tunde Ajobo, charged members of the society to take care of their old ones so that they can enjoy their old age, just as he called on the government to organise sensitisation programmes for the aged across wards and local government levels.
“Most of them think old age is for sickness. Old age is to be enjoyed and not endured.
“Some of the things that happen in old age are that there is pronounced dehydration. If they don’t take enough water, it will affect them.
“If an elderly begins to skip meals, it’s another thing to actually look into. It will surely have a long term effect, because it can lead to nutrient deficiency.
“As one is ageing, his stomach gets compacted and not as wide as when we are at youth. Even if they are going to take a small meal, it must be adequate and nutritious,” Shobo stated.
Two of the beneficiaries, Mr Olugbenga Jegede and Evangelist Modupe Samuel, who spoke to Journalists at the end of the event, commended the state government for organising the event, which they described as timely.(NAN)
