Editorial
Nigeria is facing a silent pandemic, and it is not one we can continue to sweep under the carpet. Increasing reports of young people between the ages of 15 and 27 taking their own lives reveal a deep and troubling crisis. These are not just numbers; these are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, future leaders—bright young minds lost to despair.
The recent tragedies of students at Obafemi Awolowo University and Babcock University are stark reminders that behind every academic struggle or disciplinary sanction lies a human being with emotions, fears, and fragile hopes. A medical student who gave up after failing his exams twice; a young man who died in his parents’ home for reasons still unknown; and another final-year student who could not bear the weight of a two-year suspension. These stories are heartbreaking, but more importantly, they are avoidable.
As a society, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: we are failing our young people. Parents, schools, and leaders often pile on expectations without providing the emotional support and safe spaces children desperately need. Our education system, in particular, appears more inclined towards punishment than rehabilitation—quick to suspend, expel, or shame, yet slow to counsel, guide, or understand.
This cannot continue. Government must step up and prioritize youth mental health as a national concern, ensuring policies that promote fairness, protect students, and create avenues for professional support. Leaders cannot preach empathy while systems enforce double standards—harsh punishments for ordinary students, leniency for the privileged. Fairness and justice must be at the core of our institutions.
Parents, too, must take responsibility. The race to outshine neighbours, the relentless push for children to achieve at any cost, is crushing spirits. Children need parents who listen, who notice when something is wrong, who provide reassurance that failure in exams is not failure in life. The best inheritance any parent can give is not pressure, but presence.
Schools must rethink discipline. A university should be a home away from home, a place of growth and encouragement. Discipline should be corrective, not destructive. Counselling must replace humiliation, and empathy must accompany rules. When schools combine firmness with compassion, they raise not just graduates, but resilient leaders who will carry society forward.
Every suicide is a scar on our collective conscience. It signals that somewhere, someone felt unheard, unloved, and unseen. As a people, we must insist that no grade, no suspension, no failure is ever worth a young life. The time for compassionate action is now. If we lose our children to despair, we lose our future.