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FORMER Deputy Dean of Students at the University of Ibadan (UI), Dr Demola Lewis, has told Nigerian youths to practice self-detachment from phones and social media, for the sake of their mental health and to cut down on incidences of suicide among young people.
Dr Lewis, a lecturer at the Linguistic and African Languages department of the university, speaking at the Asido Campus Network oratory contest and stage play held at the university, said misinformation, inappropriate comments and posts on social media can affect an individual’s sanity and predispose vulnerable individuals to suicide.
He stated that young people need to be mindful of what they consume, say and support on social media so that it does not affect their mental health status or that of others.
According to him, rather than being persistently locked on social media, they should soak themselves in the beauty of nature around them, be involved in arts and creativity and talk to human beings physically rather than through social media to maintain their sanity.
“When I was the deputy dean of students, I thought that we had problems with suicide. But in the last week, we have had several cases of suicide at the Oba Dam at the University of Ibadan.
“It is because these people didn’t have anyone to talk to and felt that they were cut off from their friends and family. Nobody has time for anybody; they are too busy at work. When they are not busy, they are on their phones. So we don’t realise what is going on around us and that these people have issues they are battling with,” he said.
President of the Asido Campus Network, UI, Miss Tawakalt Olaoluwa, said the group has been creating awareness on mental health issues at the university because suicide is a leading cause of death among youths.
She added, “The project is an initiative to use art to talk about mental health, help students understand the importance of art and also allow them to start conversations around mental health and suicide.
“The idea of the stage play is to show people the pains of people living with mental illnesses and how devastating they can be.
“It is intended to drive change, so that more people are moved towards collaborating to increase mental health awareness and consequently ensure that we prevent suicide on our campus.”
