IBBUL don: Mental health is an educational issue

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

Professor Mohammed Ibrahim Baji of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL), Niger State, has called for greater attention to mental health in Nigeria’s education system, stressing that it should be treated as an educational issue rather than solely a medical concern.

Baji made the call while delivering the university’s 31st Inaugural Lecture, titled “Educational Psychology Beyond the Classroom: Promoting Well-Being, Character Formation and National Development,” at the institution’s main campus in Lapai.

The educational psychologist said families, schools and communities share responsibility for promoting the psychological well-being of children, adding that psychological empowerment is a foundation for economic empowerment.

He also described character education as a national security strategy, arguing that corruption, violence and instability could be addressed more effectively through positive character formation, peace education and responsible citizenship.

According to him, educational psychology can contribute to building psychologically healthy individuals, resilient families, inclusive schools and responsible communities, thereby promoting national development.

Baji urged the Federal Government to integrate educational psychology into national development policies, noting that challenges such as insecurity, unemployment, school dropout, examination malpractice and declining moral values require more than economic and military interventions.

He recommended comprehensive school mental health programmes, stronger guidance and counselling services, improved civic and citizenship education, inclusive learning environments and greater psychological support within the education system.

The professor also called on state governments to expand early childhood education, promote parental education programmes, strengthen school counselling units and equip teachers with relevant educational psychology skills.

He urged universities to modernise educational psychology curricula, increase research funding for mental health and school psychology, strengthen postgraduate training and establish psychological support services for students.

Baji maintained that applying educational psychology beyond the classroom would help promote peace, security, confidence, good moral values and positive character formation. He added that psychological well-being is essential for individuals to become productive and contribute meaningfully to society.

In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of IBBUL, Professor Mohammed Hadi Suleiman, commended the inaugural lecturer for his contribution to scholarship and intellectual development.

Suleiman said the lecture would deepen understanding of the relationship between education, well-being, character formation and national development.

He described the topic as timely, noting that national progress depends largely on the quality of human capital and citizens’ ability to innovate, collaborate and respond constructively to emerging challenges.

The vice-chancellor also urged other professors to emulate Baji, whom he identified as one of the first set of professors promoted by the university in 2024.