Playing politics with senior citizens’ lives

I was enjoying on-line, the Time Magazine /CNN five part retirement plans a few days back.

The plans covered one for those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. It had nothing for those in the 70s because by then you are supposed to have seen it all, planned it all and live off the tidy sum you must have tucked away; apart from this, there is a decent retirement benefit you can draw on in your old age. In the United States, while the normal retirement age for Social Security, or Old Age Survivors Insurance (OASI), historically has been age 65, the retirement age varies from country to country but it is generally between 55 and 70.

Nowadays most developed countries have systems to provide pensions on retirement in old age, which may be sponsored by employers and/or the state. In many poorer countries, support for the old is still mainly provided through the family, especially by children who are well placed in the society. Unfortunately in Nigeria, this fact has lately exposed our senior citizens (octogenarians in particular) to dangers from criminally minded people.

Take kidnapping for instance, parents of public officials have been ready targets lately that I wonder how these people manage to cope – because when you are 70 and above, your survival is dependent on people around you, especially in a country where the non-availability of essential amenities makes life a real drag unless you are really up there, say a public figure like a former head of state, industrialist and the like. So for the ordinary citizen who is dependent on a prominent child for support, retirement is just like waiting for the final call home. This is why I wonder why the peace of these people are now being disturbed by politicians as they are disturbing that of Chief Simeon Soludo, 78.

Just in case you didn’t know, Pa Soludo is the father of former Central Bank of Nigeria governor Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, who also happens to be the ruling party People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s anointed flag bearer for the 2010 gubernatorial race in Anambra state. Of course, the controversy trailing his endorsement arguably has turned the state into a national political crisis. But is that the reason why the old man should be deprived of the pleasure of enjoying his snuff in peace while stretched out on his local lounge chair in the comfort of his village compound, among his kin? I wonder: did the kidnappers allow papa to take his medications along seeing that most people in that age-bracket need medications on a daily basis for such ailments as diabetes and hypertension and also some pulmonary diseases that come with the wear and tear of age?

I don’t care what views Chief Chris Uba, self-acclaimed godfather of the state’s politics holds about the involvement of the younger Soludo in Anambra politics; I don’t care also whether he or Prof. Soludo is the criminal between the two, is it not a fact that armed men attacked Soludo’s father while he the son was still the governor of the CBN that resulted in the loss of one eye by the older Soludo? What is all this? While not joining those accusing him of the kidnap, why is he trivialising something as serious as a matter between life and death for a man who should be allowed to die, with his hand propping his head in the comfort of his home?

Just listen to Uba, “I am a straight-forward person. Soludo has a lot of skeleton in his cupboard. He knows this. He just claims and accuses people that his father was kidnapped. Has Soludo forgotten that last month he was telling Nigerians that some people were after his wife, himself and his children? And that based on that, he took his wife and children abroad and left his father here? He had said that they removed his father’s one eye.

“Now, he is telling Nigerians that his father was kidnapped. I see that he wants to use his father to play politics. Soludo knows where he hid his father and if he is ready, let him go and bring him out. How can anybody kidnap Soludo’s father with all the security around him and in the entire family compound. Was all the security men attached to him killed or hypnotised at the time? I don’t believe the false alarm...” What kind of talk is this?

He talks about his 90 year old mother. How would he talk had she been the one kidnapped? I know that politics in Nigeria is a rough and tumble game, but is that why we should play with the lives of our senior citizens? I’m not in support of Soludo (what is he doing there, with his fine suits and big grammar by the way?) I am also not in support of any of the other contenders for the keys to the Anambra State government house, but until we get to the stage of neighbouring countries like Ghana who former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) as the leader of ECOWAS delegation to the 2009 general elections in that country described as a people who refused to be used or intimidated by politicians but jealously guarded their votes, we shall continue to endure these self-inflicted irritants.

-----------------------------------------------FROM MY MAILBOX------------------------------------------------------

RE: PROTECTION FOR CORPS MEMBERS
It’s high time something was done about the way Corps members are treated. The goal of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is to promote national unity, through religious, cultural and social integration. However, it seems that this goal is not being achieved. With the gruesome killing of Grace Ushang Adie, it has become imperative for the Federal Government and the (NYSC) to take the security and safety of corps members seriously. Something must be done at once; even if it takes policing corps members everywhere they go. Anybody caught ‘toying’ with a corps member should be prosecuted at once.
Olusegun Jegede of the Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-Ife wrote in through jegedeolusegun@yahoo.com

RE: BUREAU OF PUBLIC SERVICE REFORMS
So are they all. We should not expect anything new from the two dames until they doff their garb of Nigerianess like their counterparts in Obasanjo’s tenure did. One of the causes of corruption is government’s insensitivity to the plight of public servants. The propensity to amass wealth via corruption tends to be minimal if a secured service life is guaranteed.
Dayo Oladeji, Saki, Oke Ogun. 08027278748