Group Indulges Schools in Suicide Prevention Awareness

To curb suicide rate among the youth, the Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SURPIN) has engaged secondary school students in the campaign.

The group lamented that the increase in the rate of youth suicide in Nigeria is saddening and emphasise on the need for more awareness creation.

At the 2021 E-conference on “The Youth Connecting and Strengthening Future Mental Wellbeing,” National coordinator and consultant psychiatrist, SURPIN, Dr. Raphael Ogbolu said the purpose for this conference is to create awareness on suicide prevention. The event will feature a powerful keynote lecture from a versatile mental health specialist and psychiatrist in line with the new normal imposed by COVID-19.

SURPIN, a not-for-profit organisation with presence in over 34 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was set up in 2017 for suicide prevention through research, crisis intervention, health education and early treatment of depression and drug abuse.

In Nigeria, the SURPIN has found that about one-fifth of suicide cases seen at its affiliated institution are those aged 13-19 years, and that over 50 per cent of the crisis calls received through its hotlines are majorly productive age group.

The psychiatrist informed that SURPIN is the flag-bearer when it comes to suicide prevention in Nigeria. “This year, SURPIN is focused on the young people, and the highlight of the conference, will be the finale of a national secondary schools’ debate where six finalist schools will debate the topic: “Can the mental health bill reduce suicide among young Nigerians?”.

He added that there was a first round of debates where secondary schools across the country sent in videos of students debating on the topic, “COVID-19 has increased suicide among young Nigerians.

Ogbolu said that the entries were invited from the six geopolitical zones of the country and Lagos as a zone, which is how SURPIN is zonally structured. “Experts screened the first round entries and one school emerged from each of the zones, except the North-East, which did not send any entries.

“The six 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 with prize monies (250,000, 150,000 and 100,000 respectively).

The event will be held virtually and physically on Saturday, September 11, at the Old Great Hall, College of Medicine University of Lagos, Surulere, while registration details to join virtually are available on the website www.surpinng.com.

Ogbolu assured that the event will be enlightening and that through their hotlines and ingenious programmes, SURPIN hope to save more lives.