The federal and state governments have not said anything. For the politicians, pretentious technocrats and eggheads in the corridor of power, it is a season of jamboree. For Nigerian youths in various tertiary institutions, it is a season of anomie, writes Head, Education Desk, IYABO LAWAL on the rising cases of suicide among Nigerian students.“Everything about today is just bad… God help me. This month is not smiling,” he had posted on the internet.
Before he gulped the poisonous liquid, he made one last statement: “I regret ever coming to this world and I regret ever choosing to be educated. I swear. Ekiti State University you are cursed.” He ranted further: “It’s not about sniper now. Why do you have to go and take sniper? Life itself is not a straightforward thing. Who said you are not going to fail again? Do you know how many people have failed in this world? Do you know how many times Abraham Lincoln contested and lost?Until his tenure expired as Nigeria’s minister of education, Adamu Adamu did not deem it necessary to address the incessant cases of suicide happening on campuses.
Sadly too, President Muhammadu Buhari and vice president Yemi Osinbajo could only muster a whimper when news headlines kept screaming, ‘Suicide!’ The Federal Government ordered a partial ban on the deadly insecticide, Sniper. Two scholars, R. Animasahun and V. Animasahun noted that suicide is a serious health problem as it is currently the third leading cause of death for teenagers between the ages of 15 and 24 years.
“First,” they explained further, “it is necessary to understand the unique characteristics of adolescents‘ physical, mental, and socio-psychological features. By understanding adolescents‘ unique features that may be related to suicidal risks, counsellors, social workers, and parents could work proactively to prevent suicide and make more effective interventions.”
Their nine-year relationship was allegedly tainted with physical and verbal abuse. When his girlfriend got tired of the abuse-ridden affair, Mayowa chose to end it all – by taking his own life. At 300 level, Ebiweni, a medical student at the Niger Delta University , was among some 50 students out of 169 who sat for the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery examination but failed. It was a general practice every student must pass the MBBS examination before progressing to the next level of academic pursuit.
A psychiatrist at the University College Hospital , Ibadan, Prof. Olayinka Omigbodun, explained that there is a universal intervention in preventing depression and suicide in children and adolescent to promote mental health and well-being and child adolescent mental health.
There’s a way this can be reduced it stoped