An anti-suicide advocacy group, Suicide Is No Solution, has raised concern over Nigeria’s growing mental health crisis, warning that suicide remains a major public health issue that requires urgent national attention. In a statement issued in Ibadan on Monday, the group’s Project Coordinator, Toye Arulogun, said the problem should not be trivialised, especially amid what he described as a recent rise in insensitive online content that appears to promote self-harm. Vanguard reported the statement on March 3.
Arulogun said some Nigerian content creators had, in recent weeks, circulated skits and posts that treated suicide recklessly, sometimes mentioning or displaying specific products as tools for self-harm. He said such content was dangerous because it could influence vulnerable viewers and damage public understanding of suicide prevention. He urged creators to produce material that discourages self-harm and promotes hope, help-seeking and mental health support instead.
The group linked its concern to what it described as a wider suicide crisis in Nigeria. Arulogun cited estimates that 15,000 to 16,000 Nigerians die by suicide annually, a figure broadly consistent with public-health reporting in recent years that has placed Nigeria’s annual suicide toll at around 15,000, while also noting likely underreporting due to stigma and criminalisation of attempted suicide.
However, the group’s claim that a suicide death occurs every 33 seconds appears higher than the most widely cited current global estimates. The World Health Organization says more than 720,000 people die by suicide each year worldwide, while recent Global Burden of Disease reporting places the figure at roughly 740,000 annually, or about one death every 43 seconds on average.
Health experts have long warned that suicide in Nigeria is undercounted because many cases go unreported or are misclassified. WHO says suicide remains a major global health challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where most cases occur. The advocacy group said the response must go beyond statistics and include public education, safer media practices and stronger support systems for people in distress. Arulogun said content creators, influencers and digital platforms all have a role to play in ensuring that online material does not glamorise or normalise self-harm.
