For 77-year-old widow, Mrs. Margaret Babalola, her native home of Iperu Remo in Ogun State, is where her heart is, but she said her desire was now a mere wishful thinking.She told PUNCH METRO that it was her wish to live and die in the midst of her people but fate pushed her to an old peoples home when her family and community abandoned her.I came here to get myself right, because when you are alone in the midst of co-tenants, you get confused at times, you get upset, and so all these things did not make me happy, Margaret, a resident of the Holy Family Home for the Elderly, located within the premises of Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Mushin, Lagos, said.Margaret recalled that her journey to the home last years was facilitated by her neighbours when she was sick and none of her relatives was around to take care of her.She said, I am from Iperu Remo in Ogun State, and I was staying at No. 9, Daniel Street, very close to this place (the home). I was brought here by a friend, he is like a father in that area and he is very kind.I have two sons who are based abroad, they have been there for a long time, and for some time now we have not communicated because I am not balanced health wise.My first son is Daniel Ajayi and the second is Tokunbo Babalola, they have different fathers. It was after my first husband died, that I married Tokunbos father. In the past, I used to exchange visits with my in-laws and assist them financially, but since I became old, I have lost touch with many of them.Margaret said she left Iperu Remo after her standard four and relocated to Zaria with her mother. She said after she completed her primary school education, she proceeded to Wusasa Girls High School for her post-primary education. After my education, I joined the First Bank, and I worked there till I retired in 1998, and I have been earning pension since then. I also travelled to London, to learn computer and typing skills, and I returned with my first husband in 1963, she said.On the efforts to reconcile the old woman with her family, the Coordinator of the home, Rev. Sister Anthonia Adebowale, confirmed that Margaret was rejected by her people in Iperu because she had not visited the town in a long time and none of her family could be traced.Adebowale said, She (Margaret) said she wanted to return to her home town, so, we went to Iperu twice but her people rejected her. We even went to see the Kabiyesi, he said we should take her to the police station because she did not come to Iperu when she was younger, and her siblings and contemporaries were all dead.Her sons are abroad, she has a telephone number of one of them, but she does not want to reveal it. Although she has a mobile phone with her, her sons do not communicate with her.She said efforts were still being made to unite the old woman with her family and urged Nigerians to cultivate the habit of taking proper care of their aged.Adebowale said the home had two males and 10 females including a Liberian and a woman from the West Indies. The Rev. Sister said the Liberian came to Nigeria during the war in her country but later applied to be an inmate at the home.The Liberian, who declined to give her name when approached by our correspondent, said she did not want to dwell into her past as doing so would bring back bad memories and trauma she passed through during the war.After I lost my husband during the war, my children and I had to flee Liberia in December 2003 to a border town called Danane in Cote dIvoire. At the refugee camp there, we used to pray from 8am to 6pm. I used to lead the praise and worship sessions there, she said.The West Indian, Gwendolyn Hackett, 90, the oldest resident at the home, told our correspondent that she came to Africa to explore the continent in the 50s and her sojourn brought her to Nigeria.I came into the country as a missionary in the 50s but decided to stay back in Nigeria, because I like it here. I eat Nigerian food and I wear Nigerian clothes. The reverend sisters take very good care of me, I have no complaint, she said excitedly.Hackett said she had once been trapped under the earth when an earthquake struck her country but miraculously survived. She said she was brought to the home by Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie.The cardinal visits us here and If I need anything, he will get it for me. Even if I want to go home and come back to Nigeria, he will do that for me. My people come here to visit me; they were here some weeks ago. Some of them are missionaries too in Nigeria, while some live and work here, she said.Another inmate, Cyril Akukwe,78, a native of Ezi Owerri in Idemili North Local Government Area in Anambra State, said he was brought to the home in 2009.He said prior to his arrival at the home, he was a parishioner at St. Dominic Catholic Church, Yaba, Lagos, and lived alone on Moore Road, Yaba because he was never married.I was never married because I was a seminarian, I wanted to be a catholic priest, but I could not due to some circumstances, he said.He said his family was aware that he was living in the home and that they communicate with him, adding that he planned to return to his state as soon as the injury on his leg got healed.PUNCH METRO learnt that the most recent addition to the home is 80-year-old Yinusa Adedeji from Iwo, Osun State. He arrived at the home about three weeks ago.Adedeji, who shed tears when our correspondent spoke to him, said he was grateful and happy that he was admitted into the home because he had been begging for alms to save enough money to take care of his bad leg.I neither smoke nor drink, but I have two wives. One is in Iwo, and the second is in Lagos with me, until I asked her to go back to Iwo when things became very rough for me, Adedeji said.On the criteria used in admitting people into the home, the Rev. Sister said people below 60, those who are mentally-challenged and those with terminal diseases are not eligible.Adebowale said while some of the inmates were brought by their neighbours or relatives, some applied through St. Vincent the Poor Society, a group in the church.She said the home is primarily being funded by the Catholic Church, but corporate bodies, charity organisations, non-governmental organisations, religious groups as well as the federal and state governments also offered financial assistance.Adebowale said the residents did not have regimented lifestyles, as there were different activities to keep them busy.They wake up by 7.30am, while some wake up earlier. Thereafter, we bathe those who are feeble and those who can, do that by themselves. We then give them breakfast, take them out to play games and sometimes crack melon seed, so we can clean the place, the Rev. Sister said.On the challenges confronting the home, Adebowale said the home required more vehicles to transport the housemates, adding that the home had only one vehicle.
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