Hmmmm.....When news broke penultimate Friday that a First City Monument Bank Plc manager, Olisa Nwakoby, had pulled a gun on his own head and committed suicide in front of a church in Lekki, Lagos State, many discussions about his death pointed to the obvious and easy reason – the fact that he was involved in a N350m bad debt, which he was under pressure to pay back.But a relation of the deceased would later explain in a report that such amount of money could not have been the main reason for his suicide as Nwakoby could have raised the money easily being from an affluent background.In a society where people are inclined to ascribe the supernatural factor to ‘abominations’ such as suicide, people rarely talk about the mental state of the victims.According to experts, people become
suicidal when they are teetering on the edge of their psychological state, needing just a little shove to push them over the edge.Every 40 seconds, one person commits suicide somewhere in the world, which tallies to 800,000 suicides annually, worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.Perhaps, Nwakoby’s social status made him an unlikely candidate for suicide in the eyes of many, but the WHO says being suicidal knows no status.In Nigeria over the last few months, cases of suicide that came to public knowledge spotlight a problem that has yet to attract any policy attention.Just this last Wednesday, a landlord, Popoola Adepoju, hanged himself in Idi-Ose community in Ona Ara Local Government Area of Ibadan, Oyo StateThe 48-year-old, who left behind a three-page suicide note, was found dangling from a rope tied to a ceiling fan in his room.His family and friends said he was going through a very difficult time forcing him to put his car up for sale. But he was said to have been offered far less than the price of the car.In May 2016, 46-year-old Celestina Mamah had just undergone a routine test in Udemu Local Government Area of Enugu, which revealed that she was HIV positive.Racked by fear of the unknown and unable to cope with the fearful news despite doctors’ advice that it was not a death sentence, Mamah walked into a forest and stabbed herself to death.That same month, a civil servant in Abia State’s Ministry of Lands and Survey, 52-year-old Dee Nwankwo, who had not received his salary for some months, decided to end his life.With four children in school and a wife he could no longer support, Nwankwo, who hailed from Ndume in Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state, hung himself.In his suicide note, he explained he could no longer cater for his family.Also, in Gombe State in April, a young man, identified simply as Habu, committed suicide by jumping into a well after his parents refused to approve of a woman he had wanted to marry.And even in Anambra State, just few weeks ago, residents of a community in the state woke up to the gory sight of the body of a man in his 80s, dangling from a tree. No one could determine the motive behind the act.Why suicides may increaseExperts say financial and economic troubles push many to the edge in Nigeria, which is rated 103 out of 157 countries in the United Nation’s 2016 World Happiness Report.Psychologist and lecturer at the University of Lagos, Prof. Oni Fagbohungbe, said that it is very likely that suicide may increase in Nigeria. He explained that the current economic hardship in the country is the perfect situation that provokes suicide because all the stressors are available. “With failure, frustration here and there and inability to do things one’s heart desire, self-reproach comes in. Then, aggression also comes in. The individual reacts to the society which is perceived as the cause of your failure. These are the kinds of situation that aggravate suicidal tendencies,” he said.According to the WHO, 75 per cent of global suicide occurred in low-and middle-income countries while suicide accounts for 1.4 per cent of all deaths worldwide, making it the 15th leading cause of death in 2012.“While the link between suicide and mental disorders (in particular, depression and alcohol use disorders) is well established in high-income countries, many suicides happen impulsively in moments of crisis with a breakdown in the ability to deal with life stresses, such as financial problems, relationship break-up or chronic pain and illness,” the WHO said in its 2016 factsheet on suicide.Prof. Fagbohungbe said the communality of the African society was a major factor in the prevention of suicide in times past, but as this gradually became eroded in the individualism of modern day, suicidal tendencies gained root.Consultant psychologist, Prof. Olanrewaju Adebayo, who shared the same thought, said that was why suicide was seen as un-African in times past and not as common as it is today.Prof. Adebayo also explained that in a time like this when the society is full of stressors, increase in suicide is a strong possibility. “Everywhere you go, you find stress and these days, economic stress is being added to it. If the coping mechanism of an individual cannot handle it, suicide comes into their thought,” he said.The don explained one of the major contributors to depression and suicide in the country is the fact that mental health in the country still remains in the back water of ignorance.According to him, Nigerians would rather go to consult a physician about a nagging headache than visit a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist about their depression.Prof. Adebayo said, “You need a sound mind in a sound body. When you see the way mad men roam the streets in the country, you will understand that we are not taking mental health seriously enough. It is not just about government. But the mindset of Nigerians is where the solutions start.“If you advise people who are depressed to go and see a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, they will think that what you are saying is that they are mad.“Currently, workers are not able to take care of their families, due to non-payment of salaries. The pressure gives them a lot of stress. This is a depressing condition that may trigger suicidal thoughts.”Psychologist and University of Lagos lecturer, Prof. Makanju Ayobami, who also provided context to the incidence of suicide in Nigeria, said he believed it was likely to increase in the country.He said African society has always had the social support which serves as a buffer against the harsh conditions, which was why suicide was not so common in the past.“For instance, living in a place like New York or London, you probably don’t know who your next door neighbour is. But here, we walk into each others’ houses even as bad as it is,” the don said.He said but now, a lot still has yet to be put in place in terms of public awareness and policies that would stem the tide of suicide.
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