A former Chief Medical Officer of the Federal
Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Hospital in Yaba, Lagos, Dr Idowu Malomo, has said
the rising suicide rate among young people in Nigerians may be linked to
pressure from society and their respective families.
He made this known during an event held to celebrate the
20th anniversary of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Centre in
Oshodi, Lagos.
He said there was a need for parents and guardians to stop
putting undue pressure on young people to achieve success by all means.
He said, “The main problem is that there is undue emphasis
on scholastic attainments, whereas there are many other areas where young
people can achieve success. We don’t all have to graduate from the university
with a first class Bachelor degree.
“Young people should be encouraged to discover and develop
their hidden talents. Everything is not about high grades. This unnecessary
emphasis on high grades is causing corruption and examination malpractices. A
child that doesn’t attend university can be a good entrepreneur and contribute
to national development. A university degree is not the only meal ticket that
Nigerians have.”
Malomo said the centre was built to draw the attention of
Nigerians to the challenges facing children in the country and to use modern
management techniques to care for them.
He added that the centre had also focused on skills
acquisition as a means of addressing the problem of drug abuse among
adolescents.
The Chief Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric
Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, Dr Oluyemi Ogun, said the centre had, in the last 20
years, attended to over 21,000 children with special needs.
She said, “In 20 years, we have gone from a clinic with just
one doctor and a nurse to a multidisciplinary centre where we have most of the
experts under one roof. We have reduced the waiting time for our patients and
made the burden of accessing treatment for children easier for parents.
“Many of the children that we have attended to are now
graduates. Some of them are married. If the centre had not been built, many of
the children with special needs would have become useless in the society.”
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