Stakeholders at the 2024 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) celebration in Bauchi have advocated for Africans to bring back their culture of celebrating, appreciating and engaging the elderly in community services.
A consultant family physician with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) Bauchi, Dr. Muhammad Dauda Haruna, said some of the elderly referred to as senior citizens are good in vigilante and group volunteer works, while reiterating the need to halt institutionalised abuse of the elderly.
Haruna spoke to journalists during the WEAAD celebration organised by the Geriatric Unit of the Department of Family Medicine, ATBUTH, Bauchi with the theme:
“Spotlight on Older Persons In Emergencies: Role of the caregivers and general public in the safety of senior citizens.”
According to the consultant, an older person should decide for himself/herself whether or not he/she wants to retire rather than coerce or force him to do so, saying, “Some of them are very active at the age of 60, 70, 80 and so forth”.
The experts said, “One should not just simply retire somebody because he is 60 years of age. Look at our lecturers in the University, they are active even at the age of 90 years”.
Haruna recalled that someone would retire and he will go to Germany, the United Kingdom, the USA or anywhere abroad to deliver a lecture or present a paper at a seminar, symposium or similar events, stressing, “You should not just retire somebody because he is 60 years of age”.
He further revealed that the National Assembly is about to legislate on how to halt or prevent institutionalised abuse, physical abuse, elder abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse, nutritional abuse and a host of other abuses.
“We are coming up with such policies, and the legislators are trying to do something concerning that, and it is us that will enlighten them because we are the experts in such areas”, he added.
The World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is observed on the 15th June of every year.
