Christmas and care of the aged

 Many villages are bound to receive their fair share of influx of city

dwellers.

Many an aged one would receive their fair share of visits, gifts and goodwill messages.

For some it is an annual ritual. For others it may not be.

At the centre of these festivities is Jesus Christ.

The celebrations are supposed to be religious but more than religion is involved.

For many it is an opportunity to showcase success and pay homage to ones parents and aged dependents.

Abandoning the aged in the villages to continue a life of drudgery is the lot of many an aged citizen.

Time there was when young men farmed in the villages and took care of the elderly ones but now no more.

The young men are either riding bikes in the villages or in the cities. The old men are left to fend for themselves.

During Christmas, it is different. The old receive attention. It was Fela Anikulapo Kuti who said that africans have been able to solve a problem which the west and the East have been unable to solve. And it is the care of the old.

Old people feel more comfortable in the motley mix of their age mates, the young and not so young, especially in the midst of their loved ones.

Old people's homes are only to fill a  gap where there is no care.

If our old people must live their lives appreciative of governance and succeeding generations, then the working age deserves more empowerment, lest they are unable to adequately care for our senior citizens.

With pension reforms, there is an improvement in that respect but it is not yet uhuru.

For now let the old enjoy their day in the sun hoping to see another Christmas of revelries and attention.