AN OVERVIEW OF THE CHALLENGES IN THE CARE OF ELDERLY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study critically examines the multidimensional challenges confronting Nigeria's rapidly expanding elderly population, projected to reach 33 million by 2050. The study adopted a desk research method whereby related literature were critically reviewed to understand the phenomenon under investigation. This study applied source triangulation by cross-referencing information across different materials, such as verifying institutional reports against government documents and peer-reviewed literature. This study was hinged on Political Economy of Aging theory. This theory provides a critical examination of how entrenched structural conditions in Nigeria, including insufficient pension arrangements, fragile health policy frameworks, and pronounced economic disparities, collectively generate and intensify the vulnerabilities experienced by older persons. By redirecting analytical attention from individual physiological deterioration to the distribution of public resources, this standpoint enables scholars to illustrate how Nigeria’s socio-political structures systematically disadvantage the elderly and shape their access to healthcare as well as economic security. The findings reveal a severe socio-economic crisis: approximately 70–75% of older Nigerians live in poverty, while up to 75% suffer from chronic non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, the traditional extended family support system is eroding due to urbanization, and formal institutional care remains virtually non-existent, a reality that disproportionately marginalizes elderly women. The public healthcare infrastructure is grossly ill-equipped for geriatric care. To avert a worsening crisis, the study recommends implementing a non-contributory universal social pension, integrating specialized geriatric care into Primary Health Care (PHC) centres, fully subsidizing health insurance, funding the National Policy on Ageing, and providing financial incentives for informal family caregivers.