Tuesday Column By VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO
vikeano@yahoo.co.uk | 08033077519
Apparently, there is increasing cases of suicides in our society, given that it is widely reported these days. In past years, suicide cases used to be more prevalent among youths, including students. The chief reasons were inability to pass school and JAMB examinations as well as being jilted in a relationship. And the most common method of committing suicide is taking of insecticide cum rat poison called snipper. Just a little dose of this is enough to send one to the beyond. This led to NAFDAC (National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control) banning sale of small-sized packets of this insecticide medicine at retail outlets. It was thought that this would curb access to it and so reduce incidents of suicides.
Of course, there were also cases of adults, working class people taking their own lives by jumping into the famous Lagos lagoon. This at the time led to the police patrolling the area. And some who attempted to end their earth life inside the lagoon were rescued by the authorities or prevented from doing so by vigilant motorists. Among them was a famous female Lagos socialite and a well a male medical doctor. A female trader whose suicide attempt via the lagoon failed reportedly said she wanted to end her earth life because of mounting debts which she could not repay. Consequent upon these cases of rescued persons attempting suicide, the Police dusted up the law that makes suicide a crime and sought to prosecute those saved from committing the crime. This apparently reduced suicide attempts via the lagoon as reported cases almost vanished.
However, in recent times, reported suicide cases among Nigerians have increased. They are now more diverse, cutting across social classes and regions. Here are a few samples: 55 year-old father of six commits suicide in Ibadan over economic hardship
‘’A 55 year-old father of six simply identified as Abib a.k.a Bibson has committed suicide at Ashaka area of Ibadan in Ibadan South West Local Government Area of Oyo State…..
‘’Some of those who forced the door open narrated how the deceased’s was found hanging on a rope tied to a ceiling fan in the living room…
‘’On what led to Abib’s resolve to take his life, one of the co-tenants who spoke on condition of anonymity narrated how the deceased had a struggle with family and life’s anxieties
“Abib was a well known dry cleaner in this area. His wife had long separated from him after six children. Life has not been easy with him as he struggled to make ends meet. Later he had a sore on his finger which affected his dry cleaning business’’
400 Level University student commits suicide inside hotel in Ogun
‘’Adaze Doris Jaja, a 31-year-old final year student of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, Ogun state, has reportedly committed suicide inside a hotel in the Ijebu area of the state.
‘’Adaze was found dead with an empty bottle of sniper beside her and foaming in the mouth… Confirming the incident, the state Police spokesman Omolola Odutola said the student was immediately rushed to the hospital where she was confirmed dead’’ .
University graduate reportedly takes own life following 500 unsuccessful job applications
‘’Vera Okoth, 27, was found in the bathroom of her family home in Umiru village with her certificates placed on her bed.
‘’Her mother said she woke up and realised her daughter was missing from the room. Upon checking the adjacent bathroom, she found her daughter’s body hanging.
‘’According to the Police the deceased before going to sleep had asked her mother if she would ever secure a job, having faced repeated rejections from over 500 job applications’’.
“The deceased earned a bachelor’s degree in Science from Masinde Muliro University in 2019”.
Female banker kills self
‘’A 32-year-old female marketing employee at a bank in Ikorodu, Lagos state, committed suicide by drinking insecticide within the bank premises. She took her life in the restroom unnoticed by colleagues.
‘’The discovery was made when her phone kept ringing and she was not present to answer. She was found dead with a suicide note blaming the challenging economy for her decision. The note expressed her apologies to family members…’’
Female student in Adamawa commits suicide over failed relationship
‘’A young female student at the Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa state, Jamima Shetima Balami has reportedly taken her own life.
‘’The 24-year-old was a National Diploma II student of Mass Communication and was about to complete her Industrial Training (IT) at Adamawa Television (ATV) in Yola at the time of her death.
‘’Balami who hailed from Garkida Gombi was reportedly found dead at her residence in Vinkilang, also known as Hayin Gada in the Girei Local Government Area of the state. It is believed that she ingested a substance suspected to be rat poison.
‘’According to reports, Balami’s boyfriend, said to be a university lecturer, asked her to end their relationship which may have been a contributing factor to her decision to take her own life’’.
All of the reasons adduced for committing suicide can be classed under the broad headline of social problems. And all the aforementioned social problems experienced by those that committed suicide led to depression. Depression is an inexplicable feeling of sadness. I believe each of us has felt some form of depression, whether mild or acute, brought about by some unfulfilled wishes, regret, anxiety, etc. Though depression is more of an emotional problem, it is classed by experts as mental illness. (We Africans do not want to hear that phrase because we equate it with ‘madness’). Mental illness is treated chiefly with drugs and therapy. Dr. Dainius Puras, erstwhile United Nations special rapporteur on health identifies austerity, inequality, discrimination and job insecurity as factors exacerbating mental illness. And, he recommends social justice rather than medications as key to solving the problem.
But, how come that our grandparents lived a more serene life, devoid largely of modern day sicknesses? Why these later-day aberrations of suicides, abuse of psychotropic drugs and so on? Life today is more challenging, more stressful than ever before in view of population explosion, climate change, etc., and so more frustrating generally. The difference as I see it is that people of olden days were more contented with what they had, what life offered than are we, their so-called sophisticated heirs.
This practice of people committing suicide at the slightest disappointment is to say the least depressing. They do more damage to their souls thereby. For, having wilfully cut short their life here on earth before the time appointed by the Creator, their souls would, upon passing on to the beyond, have to repeatedly experience sufferings of the pains associated with releasing the soul from the discarded physical body at death. This is an ethereal, real happening. It can be likened to a fruit falling off from a tree before it ripened. This suffering will continue until such a time when the person would have been called away from the earth by the Creator through natural death. He/She can only begin his/her journey onwards in the beyond after that time. Life here is relatively short. No matter the challenges, stress and frustrations of daily living, we should trust in God’s wisdom, reverentially looking up to him in humility and with a pure heart, for a breather and relief.
