Across Nigeria and indeed the African continent, a young child may be denied of the opportunity to attend school because the child has a seizure disorder. A young adolescent may drop out of the University because of psychosis. A female with mental illness may be taken to a traditional or religious healer where they are chained and may be sexually abused. Others may suffer food deprivation, physical beatings (purportedly for exorcism), and so on. Many affected families are stigmatized and ostracized.
Some senior citizens with dementia suffer abuse because the family and caregivers are emotionally exhausted and are at their wit's end – and simply cannot comprehend what is going on. In some tragic cases, the elderly - especially women with dementia have been beaten to death following accusations of witchcraft. Increasingly, more young people are struggling with their emotional well-being and grappling with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and suicidal thoughts/behaviour. Recreational drug abuse is on the rise and is causing a devastating impact on our youth, their families, and society at large.
In the sea of all these challenges, compounded by the long history of governmental neglect, widespread ignorance, shame, stigma and discrimination, we can only begin to imagine the magnitude of the challenges which persons with mental health challenges and their families go through in Nigeria.
The role of Asido Foundation
Considering the challenges highlighted above, there must be concerted efforts to promote mental health awareness, combat the shame and stigma associated with it, and encourage people to seek professional help. We must also learn to show empathy and support for affected persons and their families. The Asido Foundation (www.asidofoundation.com) has recorded tremendous progress in mental health advocacy over the past 7 short years.
Project Hope, one of Asido Foundation’s projects, is a pilot intervention for homeless people with mental illness. Largely due to stigma and lack of access to quality care, many people with mental illness are abandoned to roam around the streets. The sight of homeless, naked mentally ill persons on our streets have become accepted as a “normal” part of life. With Project Hope, we aim to select and rehabilitate some of these individuals via the provision of quality mental health care, and psychosocial support. Between 2022 and 2026, we have rehabilitated over 25 homeless people, with several of them now gainfully employed or establishing a business of their own.
In a bid to promote adolescent and youth mental health, projects like the Asido Kids Challenge, Adolescent Boot Camp for Mental Health, Jemila Abubakar Memorial Essay (JAME) Competition for undergraduates, and the Asido Mental Health Guild were established. With the Asido Kids Challenge, young children promote mental health by creating age-appropriate, friendly and exciting contents on several mental health related topics. The Jemila Abubakar Memorial Essay Competition, in honour of our late pioneer program manager, Ms. Jemila Abubakar, is an essay competition that gives undergraduate students the opportunity to contribute to the mental health discourse in the country, and win prizes. The Asido Mental Health Fellowship is a three month long mental health and leadership training for undergraduate students and young adults, while the Adolescent Boot Camp (ABC4MH) brings mental health education to adolescents and children, during the long holidays of August every year.
One of our most successful initiatives is the Asido Campus Network, the youth arm of the Asido Foundation, which functions as a student-led mental health advocacy club in tertiary institutions across Nigeria. With chapters currently in over six institutions including University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Lagos State University, and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, the members have championed mental health awareness and peer-to-peer counselling on their campuses.
All of these projects and initiatives have resulted in multiple awards and grants, including the Nigerian Youth Futures Fund grant by LEAP Africa in 2023; the award for innovation, service, and research in adolescent and youth mental health in Low-and-middle-income-countries by the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), UK in 2024 amongst others.
Beyond all of these, we are proud to contribute to the increase in mental health awareness across the country; and actively supported the elimination of the obsolete Lunacy Act of 1958 and its replacement with the Mental Health Act of 2021 -signed into law in 2023. We have also been at the forefront of advocating for the decriminalization of attempted suicide in Nigeria.
However, the journey is still far, as we continue to advocate for increased governmental priority and attention for mental health. Religious clergy, community leaders, schools, workplaces, all of society needs to be involved. We all have a role to play in ensuring that mental health stigma is reduced and we all live in a Nigeria where optimal mental health is prioritized.
