When age is not sage

By Ike Willie-Nwobu
If categorisation remains consistent, then Nigeria is by all accounts a senior citizen. Serendipitously, the country’s 66th independence anniversary coincided with the International Day of Older Persons, opening a pivotal window into profound yet poignant and pointed questions about what it means to grow old in Nigeria.
It is surely one of Nigeria’s most open and sorest secrets that Africa’s largest economy and democracy has all but abandoned its older citizens, a negligence that has grown the nettles pricking the country.
Nigeria’s hands may be full with her young, many of whom she doesn’t know what to do with, but turning away from her old people is yielding ...