Nigerians are renowned for their remarkable fortitude. Whether at home or abroad, they are known to show grit and grind their teeth as they glide through situations that would ordinarily prove the undoing of others.
But life in Nigeria can be difficult and even impossibly dreary at times. The simplest tasks can swiftly become gruelling and ponderous. Alarming statistics recently emerged that in 2022, at least 79 Nigerians comprising 70 males and nine females committed suicide in and outside the country. These figures only captured the stories of suicide in the media which invariably means that the casualties of suicide were much higher.
In November 2022, Nigeria’s population hit the 217 million mark with a large portion of this number claimed by children and young people. Yet, it remains unbearable that all over, Nigeria continues to post statistics in some aspects of national life which particularly paint a grim picture of life in Nigeria.
But why do people kill themselves? Or put more specifically, why do Nigerians kill themselves? Many Nigerians are deeply religious. So, no matter how tough things get for them at any point in time, they always find something to hold on to no matter how fragile. When nothing is found to hold on to and a person goes to the extreme of taking their lives, it suggests an impossible situation.
The conditions in Nigeria are not ideal at all. They have never been in a long time. With the 2023 general election just by the corner, it is telling that fuel queues have grown ever longer; the cost of living has soared while there is a new kid on the block: queues at ATM machines as desperate Nigerians seek to withdraw cash, their money.
But the answer to life’s many problems is not to take life itself. It never is, it never has been and it never will. In a country where life expectancy remains scandalously low while many people hit rock bottom with depression and other mental illnesses, there is an inescapable conclusion that many Nigerians are not getting the support that they need.
Many young people who for far too long have drank the dregs of depression and desperation remain perilously close to taking their lives as the reality of living in a dysfunctional country bites harder. For many of them, the only way out is to sign the eternal checkout.
However, hope springs anew and in being their brothers’ keepers Nigerians must especially look out for those who sated with life’s woes are about to jump off the cliff.
Kene Obiezu, @kenobiezu
