A lecturer at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Nuhu Aliyu has said that more Nigerians are on the verge of suicide.
The sociologist described the rate of suicide in the country as “alarming” and identified factors including frustration and depression caused by poor governmental structure as major causes of the ugly trend.
The don noted that the nation’s economic situation, which appears to favour the rich above the poor, is making more and more Nigerians suicidal.
In an interview with The SUN, Aliyu said: “In the past, it was a taboo for Africans to commit suicide, but it is worrisome to note that the rate of suicide today in Nigeria, the most populous in the African race is alarming”.
“A society can actually induce, perpetuate and aggravate suicide because it is not something that happens on its own even though it happens to an individual.
“Suicide can happen as a result of tension in the family, it can also happen as a result of tension in the society. When the structure of a society does not give opportunity for people to achieve what they want, this can actually assist in inducing suicide”.
“This kind of structure will induce suicide because the same society that expects so much from such an individual to get married, buy a car, own a house and do some other things like taking care of their nuclear and extended families can’t provide job for such an individual to do so.
“It becomes a burden for that individual and if he is not be able to reconcile the demands of the society viz-a-viz his own desire to fulfil the desire of the society, he may become depressed, from where it graduates to suicide.
“Ordinarily, it will look like no sane person would want to embark on suicide mission, but sociologists and psychologists have established that both people who are sane and insane engage in suicide.
“Those that are sane may have some mental problems which lead to the possibility for them to want to take their lives because of their mental state.
“Some how, the normal people that we consider normal people may also be affected by issues in the society that may lead them to also desire to take their life as a way of escape from the pressures in the society or the situation and circumstances that they might not be cope with.
“So they take their lives as a way of escape. That’s why both sane and insane people engage in suicide anywhere in the world.”
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