Stemming The Tide Of Suicide In Nigeria

Are Nigerians not enthusiastic about living their lives well? Millions of Nigerians love life and live it to the hilt. On weekends, they laugh heartily and crack jokes with one another over sumptuous meals, and assortment of drinks and choice wine. And they look forward to attending weddings, coronations of people, and other festivities. So, not surprisingly, some years ago, an international body adjudged Nigeria as a country with a great number of happy people on earth. Even till now, millions of Nigerians are happy, although they are suffering severe economic hardship.

 So as people enter the twilight of their lives, they recall wistfully and nostalgically their youthful day(s). They wish they were still in the bloom of youth. But, death, which is an inevitable end, awaits us patiently; it’s an inescapable reality. In churches and mosques, millions of people pray fervently and continuously for their continued good health and longevity.

Nigerians are ambitious lot. They want to live to grand old ages in good health and opulence. And they work assiduously to reach the acme or summit of their careers and endeavours. That’s why millions of Nigerians who are scattered in the Diaspora are obsessed with doing their jobs.

So, in the recent past, the tales and news reports of people snuffing lives out of themselves were alien to us. We thought them to be apocryphal tales meant to entertain us. In fact, then, suicide was linked to races other than the Negroid race. Suicide, however, has existed in Africa for centuries. But it’s a rare occurrence. It seldom happens amongst us as it is thought to be an abominable act. In Achebe’s Magnus opus, Things Fall Apart, the protagonist, Okonkwo, killed himself. And he was not accorded funeral ceremonies befitting his status in the society.

Cases of suicide were/are treated with ignominy and disrespect in Nigeria, especially in Igboland. Till now, in the South-east, when a man kills himself, he will be buried in the evil forest (Ajo ohia) without the elaborate funeral rites. And a midget from Nri town in Anambra State will be hired to propitiate the gods and cleanse the desecrated land. Here, to commit suicide is to perpetrate an abominable and despicable deed.

But, some years ago, Moslem extremists introduced suicide bombing in the northeast of Nigeria. Members of the dreaded Boko Haram, who want to establish Islamic theocracy in Nigeria, are executing suicide bombings in Nigeria now. Consequently, radicalised Muslim youths, who are with distorted and patchy knowledge of the Koran, do strap bombs on their bodies and detonate them when they’re in the midst of people. They believe that killing themselves and infidels or other people will guarantee them places in heaven or paradise.

Today, it is not only members of the dreaded Boko Haram group that are killing themselves; other Nigerians are jumping to their deaths from great heights or bridges. Some are ingesting poisonous substances in order to exit the world while others have embraced the ropes. What’s behind this ugly phenomenon that is decimating our population and causing grief in families?

Is there a link between bad political leadership and the occurrence of suicide in Nigeria? President Buhari, no doubt, is a well-intentioned political leader. He means well for us. But, sadly, his economic team is peopled by technocrats and politicians, who do not know their onions. As a result, our economic policies have failed to leapfrog Nigeria’s economy to a great and unprecedented height. Consequently, some Nigerians suffering severe economic hardship are taking their lives.

It’s also on record that some people killed themselves after committing passion crime. Overwhelmed by emotions, bitterness, and indignation, their senses took leave of them, and they did the unthinkable, which is killing themselves.

More so, in today’s Nigeria, millions of people are with mood disorders, which can predispose them to take their lives. Bipolar disorder and depression are types of mood disorders. Sometimes people with these illnesses do not exhibit abnormal behaviour while carrying out their daily activities and living their lives.

Here in Nigeria, only people who are raving mad are taken to psychiatric hospitals and mental asylum for treatment or therapy. It takes our close monitoring of our relatives to discover that they have destructive and debilitating mood disorder. And it is a sad and bad commentary on our political leadership that the number of psychiatrists in Nigeria is not proportionate to the number of people with mental illnesses.

Our government should do the needful in the area of mental illness. Training of health workers and the building of psychiatry homes should be prioritised. These measures can contribute in no small way and indirectly in reducing the high rate of suicide deaths in Nigeria.

Again, the government should revamp our ailing economy to reduce the economic hardship being experienced by a vast majority of Nigerians. A hungry man is an angry man. And anger impairs our capabilities for rational thinking.

Chiedu Uche Okoye, Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State