…Say national response to suicide weak
By Sola Ogundipe & Chioma Obinna
As the curtains lifted yesterday at the 3rd Vanguard Mental Health Summit at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, the air was heavy with urgency – a call for Nigeria to confront what experts described as a silent national emergency.
Amid passionate appeals for policy reform, suicide prevention, and public awareness, an array of stakeholders, from psychiatrists and survivors to legal scholars, journalists, and youth advocates, gathered to spotlight the country’s deepening suicide crisis and its growing link with substance abuse.
Held under the theme “Taming the Tide of Suicide in Nigeria” and the sub-theme “Substance and Silence: Unmasking the Dual Crisis of Addiction and Suicide,” the Summit was not just a meeting of minds, but a cry from the heart. Speakers pushed for Nigeria to declare suicide a national crisis, urging a shift from the colonial-era practice of criminalising attempted suicide to a health-centred, compassionate model of prevention.
While experts dissected policies and lawmakers debated reform, the true weight of the crisis was not found in statistics or legislation, it was embodied in the quiet story of a young man sitting in the back row of the hall.
Simply introducing himself as ‘M’, he had come there by chance, or fate. For weeks, he had battled an unseen war within himself. He sat alone in his room most nights, phone switched off, his chest tight with despair. The voices in his head whispered that the world would be better off without him. M wanted to reach out to family, friends, anyone but fear of judgment kept him silent.
When he finally tried, the response was indifference.
So, silence became his companion, a silence so deep it nearly swallowed him whole. It was that same silence that the Vanguard Mental Health Summit sought to shatter.
Inside the Civic Centre’s packed hall, discussions moved beyond rhetoric. Experts warned that more Nigerians are dying from preventable despair than from road crashes or HIV-related illnesses. The Suicide Decriminalisation Bill, now before the National Assembly, became a central talking point as speakers urged lawmakers to pass it swiftly.
Criminalising an attempt at suicide, they argued, punishes pain instead of treating it. The gathering echoed a single message — suicide is preventable, but Nigeria’s national response remains dangerously weak.
But for the young man sitting quietly in the crowd, the day marked something more profound than policy. It marked the first time someone listened.
A fortnight earlier, M sat alone in his room, phone off, the weight pressing heavy across his chest. The voices in his head whispered that the world would be better off without him.
But there was no one he felt safe turning to. Not his parents, not his friends, not even doctors he feared would judge him. When he finally tried to reach out, the response was silence – a silence so deep it nearly swallowed him whole.
M lived on the edge of despair. He had lost interest in life, felt invisible in his pain, and had begun searching online for how to end his life quietly.
Alone in his room, he scrolled through the internet, looking for answers or an escape, but what he found instead was hope — a link to the 3rd Vanguard Mental Health Summit Programme.
“I was browsing the internet on how to take my life when I stumbled on the Vanguard Mental Health Summit, that is what has saved me today,” M said, his voice trembling.
When he walked into the hall where the Vanguard Mental Health summit held, he was a man on the brink, but when he stood up to speak, he became the living embodiment of this year’s theme – “Taming the Tide of Suicide in Nigeria.” That was the moment silence became loud.
Crying behind the smile
M’s story is not an isolated one. It mirrored the silent epidemic spreading across Nigeria — an epidemic of pain without voice, despair without language, and loneliness in the midst of people.
“I had spoken to my siblings and family members, but nobody seemed to be listening to me,” he confessed.
In a country where mental health struggles are often dismissed as weakness, witchcraft, or lack of faith, silence becomes both a symptom and a sentence.
But on Friday, for the first time, someone listened. M left the Summit with renewed hope — his search for death turning into a new journey of life. Lead psychiatrist and mental health advocate, Prof. Taiwo Sheikh, made a firm promise to take up his case.
“With situations like mine, there is a need for access to treatment or emotional centres where people having suicidal thoughts can get support,” M said.
That single conversation turned his silence into sound and his crisis into a testimony.
From darkness to light
Another survivor, Aishat Abdulhakeem, stood before the audience and told her story – one of darkness, despair, and rebirth. “I’m not a professional therapist, but I’m a living testimony of what awareness and support can do,” she said, her tone steady.
She spoke of smiling while breaking, of attending school and work while silently battling depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. “I reached a point where ending my life felt easier than explaining my pain. It wasn’t that I wanted to die — I just wanted the pain to stop,” she said softly.
But everything changed when someone listened — truly listened.
“For the first time, I was told, ‘You are not broken — you are human.’ That intervention gave me hope and the strength to heal.”
Her story reminded the audience that awareness without judgment and access without delay can be the difference between life and death.
Nigeria’s hidden crisis
Nigeria is in the midst of a silent mental health emergency. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over 16,000 Nigerians die by suicide every year — more than from road crashes or HIV-related illnesses. For every life lost, dozens more attempt it.
Yet, mental health remains underfunded, understaffed, and under-discussed. Behind each statistic is a story like M’s — someone crying for help in a world too noisy to hear.
The Summit, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), Chairman/CEO of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), called for a more compassionate national response that integrates community policing with public health.
Represented by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Marwa said: “Arrests without treatment, enforcement without prevention — these only keep us running in circles. We are confronted with profound challenges arising from illicit drugs. Our nation bears a triple burden as producer, consumer, and transit point.
“With 40.3 million compatriots abusing substances, the impact on families, young people, and the health system is enormous. The purely punitive model has revealed its limits. The growing consensus, both in Nigeria and globally, is that drug control cannot be divorced from public health challenges such as suicide and mental illness.”
Declare suicide a national crisis
Renowned psychiatrist and policy reformer, Prof. Taiwo Sheikh of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, urged the Federal Government to declare suicide a national crisis, stressing the urgent need for a comprehensive suicide prevention law in Nigeria. Delivering the keynote address at the Vanguard Mental Health Summit 3.0, Sheikh described the rising suicide rate as a preventable tragedy that must not be trivialised.
“Suicide is preventable, but our response has been weak. We need a coordinated national suicide prevention law and strategy that prioritises mental health and protects vulnerable groups.”
Sheikh explained that while mental illness can contribute to suicidal behaviour, suicide itself is a complex outcome of intertwined psychological, social, and economic factors.
“Mental illness is part of suicide, but suicide is not mental illness. It is linked to multiple, intersecting psychosocial conditions,” he explained.
Citing recent data, Sheikh revealed that a suicide occurs every 33 minutes in Nigeria, warning that the situation could worsen without immediate policy action.
“Nigeria has no national budget for mental health, which is unacceptable. Only Lagos, Ekiti, and Kaduna States currently have mental health directorates. This neglect is costing lives.”
He urged policymakers to leverage digital platforms to reach young people who are often reluctant to speak openly about mental health.
“We need to create safe spaces where young people can express themselves freely. They don’t like to speak out — and that silence is deadly,” he added.
Sheikh concluded by calling for nationwide awareness campaigns, community-based interventions, and the recognition of suicide as a public health issue, not a moral or criminal one.
Community Approach
Chairing the summit, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, Executive Director of the Nigeria Heart Foundation, called for stronger community structures and collective action to combat suicide among young Nigerians.
Speaking on the theme, Taming the Rising Tide of Suicide in Nigeria, with the sub-theme, Substance and Silence: Unmasking the Dual Crisis of
Addiction and Suicide, Akinroye described suicide as a silent epidemic claiming the lives of the nation’s youth.
“Young people make up the largest bracket in the suicide chain. Mental health challenges and substance abuse have become intertwined crises requiring urgent attention.”
According to him, while government policies and institutional reforms are vital, real change must begin at the community level, where people live, interact, and seek belonging.
“Mental health is not just a medical issue; it is a community issue, a national development issue. When our young people are mentally healthy, our nation thrives,” he said.
Akinroye urged that mental health education be integrated into school and community programmes and called for open conversations to break the silence and stigma surrounding suicide and addiction.
Beyond drug abuse
Former Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof. Akin Osibogun, noted that suicide in Nigeria goes beyond drug abuse, pointing to depression, economic hardship, and end-of-life decisions as significant drivers.
Recounting a tragic case at LUTH, Osibogun said: “A patient who was responding to treatment took his own life.
He had made an end-of-life decision, believing it was better to die than for his family to continue spending money on his care.”
The incident prompted the hospital to introduce mental health screening for all patients with severe illnesses, helping to identify those at risk early.
“It has helped us intervene before it’s too late,” Osibogun said, adding that the hospital also launched Project Suffering to study the link between prolonged illness, depression, and suicidal tendencies.
He commended Vanguard for championing mental health advocacy through its annual summit.
“Suicide prevention requires collective effort from policymakers, health workers, families, and society at large. Together, we can create systems that save lives,” he said.
When the economy breaks the mind Mental health experts also linked Nigeria’s growing mental health crisis to economic hardship, insecurity, and climate change.
Chime Asonye, founder of Nigerian Mental Health (NMH), painted a stark picture of a nation where despair deepens quietly.
“When jobs vanish, debts rise, and families can no longer afford essentials, the mind bears the weight first. Poverty and mental illness form a vicious cycle — each one feeding the other.”
Asonye highlighted the National Suicide Prevention Bill 2024, currently before the National Assembly, which seeks to decriminalise attempted suicide and replace punishment with care.
“Right now, a person in crisis can be jailed for trying to end their life,” he said.
“That law punishes pain instead of treating it. This bill is about replacing shame with support.”
Power of listening
For every expert presentation and data point, it was the lived stories that truly defined the summit.
The hall fell silent as Aishat ended her speech: “Healing doesn’t happen overnight. But every day of survival is a victory. Awareness saved me. Access gave me a second chance at life.”
Her words echoed in Mr M’s quiet smile — the smile of a man who, just days ago, wanted to die but now wanted to live.
In that moment, the theme When the Silence Becomes Loud came alive. It was no longer just a topic of discussion — it was a revelation that silence kills, but conversation heals.
Turning awareness into action
The Vanguard Mental Health Summit 3.0, organised in collaboration with the Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN) and other partners, was more than an event — it became a lifeline.
By bringing together survivors, doctors, policymakers, and journalists to confront stigma and share solutions, the summit turned a national crisis into a collective conversation.
As one clinician said, “Many Nigerians are not dying because they want to die — they are dying because no one listens.”
Breaking the silence
For Mr M, help came in the form of a summit flyer on his phone. For others, it may come through a friend, a hotline, or a headline.
As experts concluded, the Vanguard Mental Health Summit has shown that when silence becomes loud, hope begins to speak.
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