Man up

yinka ogunlami

March 21, 2017 5:01 PM

Studies have shown that the Major leading cause of suicide throughout the world is "Depression", this is one word Nigerians joke with.

Depression

I woke up this morning to the news of a doctor that committed suicide at the third mainland bridge and Adesoji Adeniran, the 500 level Lautech student that killed himself in his room, i just couldn't close up my mouth for few seconds and I began to wonder when Nigerians started seeing suicide as an option.

The conventional belief is that only white people are likely to do such things and blackmen/ Nigerians are more likely to survive any situation with the "E go beta" attitude" but then we've seen these things happen in our very eyes not twice not thrice at the same third mainland bridge, do we now still say it's a white man thing to commit suicide?

In 2012, According to the WHO, Nigeria ranked 102 out of 107 countries in the" list of countries by suicide rate". The WHO statistics are based on the official reports from each respective country. Should we accept the reality of this statistics or still go on with our "E go beta" attitude or perhaps watch our young men jump to their deaths on a daily basis because of our ignorance.

Amongst all age groups in most part of the world, females tend to show lower rates of suicidal behaviour while the males have a much higher rate and then you ask why Gender is so significant.

Studies have shown that the Major leading cause of suicide throughout the world is "Depression", this is one word Nigerians joke with, they see you as a weakling when you say you are depressed especially as a boy, they want you to go tough, now this is what we do to our boys

We say to them "Man up", Don’t Cry" “Hide your fears”, “Be strong, "Be tough" "Stop Acting like a girl" "Big Boys don’t cry" and they end up hiding and supressing their emotions in order not to be shamed forgetting the fact both male and female have emotions.

It's uncalled for , don’t tell boys to stop crying all in the name of raising them to be men, it sends a wrong message, it goes a very long way. Let them express their feelings, let them talk, accept their emotions, teach them to be free and see them come out out their fears.

I think it begins with our parents, lets educate them on these things, create seminars, organise conferences, sensitize them in every way, we have a lot of work to do in raising boys, we can only help ourselves, lets not watch our young men die like chickens biko. Let the Boy Cry. God bless Nigeria

yinka ogunlami