‘40% of calls relating to suicide come from youths’
The Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative, a Non-for-Profit Organisation, says over 40 per cent of total calls it had received since its inception in 2017 came from younger people under age 30.
Its coordinator, Dr. Raphael Ogbolu, disclosed this during an online news conference on Wednesday night in Lagos.
The briefing was in commemoration of the World Suicide Prevention day marked annually on September 10.
Ogbolu is also a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos.
He said that young people were quite prone to contemplate suicide based on the data provided, hence, the need to start engaging them at a very young age, before the age of 10.
According to him, the organisation has decided in its 2021 conference, holding September 11, to focus on youths to create awareness among them so that they are mentally aware and become part of the conversation.
“The 2021 national conference with the theme: ‘The Youth: Connecting and Strengthening Future Mental Wellbeing’, keeps the focus on young people.
“Also, the highlight of the conference, will be the finale of a national secondary schools’ debate where five finalist schools will debate the topic: ‘Can the mental health bill reduce suicide among young Nigerians?’.
“The five finalists’ debate entries will be played live on the day of the conference and based on scores from a panel of judges and online votes, 1st, 2nd and 3rd places will be awarded prize monies of N250,000, N150,000 and N100,000, respectively,” he said.
Ogbolu said that identifying key stakeholders was one of the main ways of addressing suicide, the reason being that there was a need for gatekeepers.
He said that gatekeepers were essential people in communities, who would serve as the “eyes” by identifying someone in the locality who might be suicidal.
“The key ways we thought of addressing suicide is to engage religious leaders, religious leaders because they are usually close to their communities.
“We have held two workshops: one in Lagos and the other one was in Ile-Ife for religious leaders; that will spread tentacles to grassroots.
“One other way of reaching people at all levels is also through the media and that is why we talk about collaborating with the media.
“In 2018, we held a workshop for the media and intend to have one in October 2021, because people listen to the news, read newspapers expecting they get the correct information regarding their mental health,” he said.
