Stop stigmatising the aged with witchcraft, Aliu appeals to youths
By Rasaq Adebayo
The Administrative Officer of the Centre The Administrative Officer of the Centre for Happy Elderly People (CHEP), Mrs. Aminat Aliu has cautioned the young ones to desist from stigmatising the aged people in their communities with witchcraft, saying old age is not synonymous with witchcraft.
She also urged the parents to educate their wards from childhood on how to care for elderly ones.
Mrs. Aliu made the call while explaining the high tendency of discrimination elderly people face as a result of the black’s beliefs in myth and witchcraft.
She explained that the belief is an arbitral enlightenment being passed unto subsequent generations without considering the defects or consequences on the aged.
According to her, many aged people suffer in the society as the young ones are afraid of getting in contact with them even when they need their help, seeing them as witches.
“Having cases of children abandoning their aged parents on the roadside is not a new phenomenon and the act does not just manifest in them in a day. It is as a result of their orientation. Many young ones learn in school to be generous to the aged but they do not implement that due to their orientation that the elderly ones are witches.
She said the situation is so pathetic that educated children are reluctant to associate with their parents who had painfully sacrificed for them just for a good upbringing with flimsy excuses that they are hindering them from progressing in life.”
She cautioned that families should avoid being the cause of the mental state of their aged ones, saying shocking and negative information can easily cause brain damage, heart attack or severe stroke on the aged which may make them misbehave.
“Most aged women are prone to dementia disease because the heart of a woman is fragile but it is something that the family members do not take cognizance of. I really hope that we start educating children on how important it is to put a smile on everyone no matter the age or class of the person as this would drastically change the ill beliefs we have about the aged in our society.” She said.
