NIGERIA AT 58

Punch Newspapers

There is nothing as mentally rewarding as the capacity to freely express and freely determine the course of one’s life which is the fundamental sacred doctrine of democracy with all of its weaknesses. This freedom, however, is not without its own control and responsibility just as absolute freedom could breed anarchy. The independence anniversary of our great nation is an eloquent reminder of the great opportunity we had over five decades ago as a country to self-govern ahead of most other African countries who were under colonial rule. Colonization definitely has its very ugly sides to it but there are certain opportunities we missed as a people since no culture is entirely virgin just as the colonization process gave to us an opportunity to interrogate our culture and to expunge certain unwholesome practices and embrace the good ones.

We had a leadership template that was primitive and hegemonic that the colonial masters juxtaposed from the traditional institutions gradually into the educated growing elite class of their own creation. This ruling class has held Nigeria to ransom till now almost like a creation of a local group of colonial masters. At independence, we had a great team who were divided along tribal lines that injured the project of developing a sane country from the constituent nations. This for me messed up the gain of our hard-earned independence. Mental well being of the citizenry is definitely one of the major indices of good leadership. The social welfare institutions that could have guaranteed this had been poorly managed because leadership had been overtaken by greed over the years.  Mental health advocacy will be useless and ineffective only when we engage the incidence of mental disorders from a purely clinical paradigm and not how they are produced.

There are towering socioeconomic and sociopolitical issues that definitely challenged and overstretched the mental health resources of the people in the direction of mental illness. There is a need for the leadership everywhere to understand and assimilate the basic theory of cause and effect especially with respect to mental health. homelessness, unemployment, poor pension scheme, erratic electricity supply, roads littered with dangerous potholes, unaffordable education have their ways of contributing to the incidence of mental illness. The Boko Haram debacle is a product of bad and insensitive leadership over the years just as the Niger Delta militancy. We definitely have enough resources that could have been adequately and timely committed to developing our social welfare institutions such there would be no need for the amnesty programs.

Nigeria is still groping at 58 despite enormous oil wealth that is dwindling at a very fast rate. As a nation, we come across as prodigal as we try to find our place. The vulnerable citizenry is hopeless and just floundering which can explain the increasing rate of suicide occurrences in our country where suicide reportage is reluctantly ever done which shows that the actual occurrence of suicide can be better imagined. It is an indication of leadership failure. The government must put up a strong emphasis on developing our failing social welfare institutions, make the rich pay for the poor and protect our mental health otherwise the repercussions could be grave for our nation.

However, alternative templates of leadership in the society can fill in the gap to protect the mental health of the people. Parents can explain what independence means to their children and allow them to bask in the experience of being brought up with great values and respect for themselves and others. We can banish all forms of abuse and validate them as we nurture them in love. Good parenting could actually act as a protection against developing certain childhood psychiatric disorders. The school teachers as the supervisor of the secondary socialization for our children can also serve as the facility to enhance their mental health by inculcating sound values and discouraging bad ones thereby reducing the incidence of mental disorders due to substance abuse. The university can definitely serve as a place to engage faulty social paradigms that our students are bringing from home that could damage their mental health and frustrate their academic pursuits. Above all, the religious systems have great potential as strong change agents to challenge leadership and provide succor for the vulnerable masses.

To celebrate independence, families can choose to undertake the treatment of the vagrant mentally ill or raise a foundation for their care. Corporate organizations can assist the society by coming up with initiatives to treat our homeless wandering mentally ill patients and get them gainfully employed. This for me is one of the most fulfilling ways to celebrate our independence anniversary as we compliment the effort of the government.

Dr. Adeoye Oyewole

adeoyewole2000@yahoo.com

+234 803 490 5808 (WhatsApp Only)