Nigeria is grappling with a severe mental health crisis, with just one psychiatrist serving about 880,000 citizens, according to Professor Emmanuel Alhassan, who warned that the country’s fragile mental wellbeing poses a serious threat to its overall development.
Delivering the 55th Inaugural Lecture of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, titled “From Mental Health to National Wealth: Psychology as a National Development Imperative,” Professor Alhassan emphasized that Nigeria’s prosperity cannot thrive on a population burdened by psychological distress.
He said, “Beyond the visible symbols of development—roads, bridges, GDP growth rates—the invisible psychological wellbeing of citizens is at the foundation of national prosperity,” he said. “A nation cannot thrive economically when its people are mentally distressed and emotionally depleted.”
Citing data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other studies, Alhassan revealed that about 20 percent of Nigerians suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder, yet 80 percent receive no form of treatment.
“This is a staggering gap that calls for urgent action from both government and society. It is not just a health challenge; it is a development emergency.”
He further highlighted that Nigeria’s suicide rate stands at 17.3 per 100,000 people, significantly higher than the global average of 10.3 per 100,000. According to him, this translates to one Nigerian dying by suicide every 33 minutes—or about 16,000 deaths annually.
“Suicide has become a tragic by-product of our social despair. Half of all reported suicides in Nigeria occur among people under the age of 34. We are losing the most productive segment of our population to hopelessness.”
The psychology professor lamented Nigeria’s severe shortage of trained professionals, noting that only 250 psychiatrists and 1,251 qualified psychologists currently serve a population of over 220 million.
“Nigeria has just one psychologist for every 180,000 citizens. The World Health Organization recommends one psychologist per 10,000 people. We are operating at less than six percent of the recommended capacity.”
He added that most mental health professionals are concentrated in cities like Lagos and Abuja, leaving rural communities “effectively abandoned.”
“The majority of Nigerians, especially those in rural and peri-urban areas, have no access to trained mental health professionals. They turn to traditional healers or religious solutions, not out of preference but out of necessity,” Alhassan observed.
The professor attributed this crisis to underfunding, stigma, and weak policy integration. He disclosed that only 3.3 to 4 percent of Nigeria’s total health expenditure is allocated to mental health.
“Mental health remains severely underfunded,” he said. “We cannot build a productive and peaceful society when millions struggle in silence with depression, anxiety, and trauma without access to proper care.”
