Uzoma Okoye, a don at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), has called for the establishment of adult daycare.

Mr Okoye, a professor of social work, made the call to Nsukka on Thursday while delivering the university’s 195th inaugural lecture. 

According to her, there is a need to establish a daycare for adults to give older people the care and attention needed to live longer.

“Some people may say adult daycare or old people’s homes are not part of our culture in this part of the world, but we must adapt to the changing world realities,” she said.

Ms Okoye, the first professor in the Social Work Department to present an inaugural lecture at the university, urged Nigerians to support ageing business “since everybody is a shareholder.”

“Unfortunately, this ageing Plc is not a business where you have the option to be shareholders or not, as everybody is a shareholder. Why it’s imperative to support ageing people is because whether you like it or not, you start ageing right from the day you were born.

“Unlike other companies where there are board members giving the authority to run the company, but in ageing Plc, everyone is a board member,” Ms Okoye explained.

The university professor said her PhD research revealed that attitude, stigma, and assumptions about ageing were heavily embedded within social cognition.

She said, “It’s generally believed by Nigerians that age comes with inevitable physical and cognitive decay. With this attitude to the aged, some consider themselves a social burden and have a strong sense of waiting for death.

“We should all put smiles on the faces of old people as a way of giving them a sense of belonging as well as enable them to live longer.”

(NAN)