Substance abuse: Experts urge FG to declare state of emergency on mental health

A call has gone to the Federal and State Governments by medical expert to declare a state of emergency on substance abuse in Nigeria, with a warning that the rising trend posed a serious threat to the nation’s mental health and future.

A mental health expert, Dr Abayomi Olajide, while speaking with newsmen at the 2026 Mental Health Day celebration, said the worsening economic hardship, unemployment, insecurity, poverty and other social challenges had further increased the burden of mental health disorders across the country.

Olajide, a consultant psychiatrist, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, said the country’s mental health situation had reached an epidemic level, particularly against the backdrop of the current economic downturn.

He noted that one in four Nigerians lived with mental health challenge as estimated previously, submitting that the situation had worsened due to social vices.

He said: “We used to talk about one in four persons living with mental health challenges. But with all these economic challenges, kidnapping, poverty, lack of employment and all these social vices, I think the incidence has increased, and more people are now living with mental health challenges.”

Olajide, who is also the chairman, Mental Health Action Committee, Ogun State, lamented the limited access to mental healthcare services in the country, saying less than 10 percent of people living with mental health conditions had access to care.

He noted that most of the available services were paid for out-of-pocket, while health insurance coverage for mental health remained inadequate.

He, therefore, called for greater government attention to mental health services, stressing the need for improved access to care, adequate funding and treatment facilities.