At the ATM machine waiting in the queue to collect some cash, I noticed one of the bank’s customer care service personnel standing in front of me trying to help an elderly man change the PIN of his ATM card. Baba Muri(Not real name) needed his bank-registered phone line to receive an OTP message to conclude the pin change or so. Baba Muri could not remember his phone number. He stood there embarrassed by the situation and began to mutter aloud. As I stepped up to carry out my transaction, I could hear Baba’s unhappy mutterings, “Ai kawe yi nkan ma ni o. To ba je wipe mo ka iwe nisinyin, ko ni ri bayi. Mo si fe lo, mi o ri eni ran mi ni o” (Haa, not being educated is a terrible thing. I wanted to go to school but my parents could not afford it), he said while trying to find a paper he must have written down his phone number, but he still couldn’t find it.
It was an emotional eavesdropping for me, and I felt sorry for Baba Muri. Random thoughts flashed in my heart, “If Baba had at least gotten a quality primary and secondary school education, he would not even need the bank’s customer service personnel to carry out his transactions independently”. Baba’s inability to read and write makes him easy prey for financial abuse and fraud. Dishonest people can take advantage of him and dupe him for the little money he has.
The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 is a call to provide quality education.
According to the United Nations Development Program(UNDP) –enrollment into primary education in developing countries has reached 91 percent. Still, 57 million school-aged children remain out of school with half of them in sub-Saharan Africa
Is there a possibility of providing basic education to older persons who missed out on primary and secondary education to harness their ability to be able to carry out simple routine financial transactions and bookkeeping of their accounts? Exploring this possibility will empower older persons like Baba Muri at the ATM machine. It will also be a platform for socialization and meaningful engaging activity for older adults.
Older adults who are retired can also be given the privilege to volunteer their time teaching where possible.
October 5 is a day set aside in Nigeria to mark the National Day of Senior Citizens in Nigeria, incidentally, it is also International Teacher’s Day! Several senior citizens served as teachers contributing a great deal to educating the younger generation. The experience and wise counsel of older adults should be tapped into as they are valuable assets to society.
Older persons deserve to live independent and happy lives having worked several years serving their communities and families. Today we celebrate these champion educators for their years of service and hard work.
Care of the Elderly Nigeria 