By Aisha Shuaibu
There is a strong association between childhood experiences and how we turn out as adults. Other than genetics, the way that families function and the experiences they face shape the behavioural and psychological patterns of the children. The sensitive development period of a child begins when they are born up to the age of six, where their capacity for movement, language, order, and sensorial perception is developed.
A positive sensitive period allows for a child to explore the full extent of these capacities, while a negative period hinders it usually based on their environment failing to correspond to the needs of the sensitivity. A child is forced to go through an internal struggle that manifests into interpersonal issues when their developmental environment is compromised.
Families develop through patterns and life cycle events where parents with unresolved issues from their own childhood pass on traumas and traits to their children, who are primarily shaped by what happens to them and contributing external conditions. A person’s upbringing is responsible for whom they become, how they think and how they approach life.
Creating a safe and stable environment for children early is of utmost priority for the kind of society we want to create because it is easier to raise strong-willed children than to fix broken men.
According to the World Health Organisation, one in four Nigerians suffer from some sort of mental illness. Nigeria has the highest caseload of depression in Africa and ranks 15th in the world in the frequency of suicides. With less than 10 federal neuropsychiatric hospitals in the entire country, Nigeria is far from well-equipped to manage the growing mental health crisis.
Although the birth rate in the country has seen a -1.130% decrease between 2021 – 2022, Nigeria is still the third highest in Africa with a recorded 36,440 births, excluding the data of births from many grassroot communities. Part of the factors affecting the curbing of mental health challenges in Nigeria is low awareness, access to affordable mental health services, mental health financing, drug abuse and the hastiness to blame psychological episodes on the possession of evil spirits.
With a ratio of 1 mental health professional to 700,000 Nigerians, the very few we have are mostly urban-based and also lack the expertise to cover the wide range of unique mental health challenges Nigerians face caused by our genetics, environmental conditions, lifestyle and trauma. The care for the mentally ill is left in the hands of their family members who may have been the cause of the mental derail in the first place.
Terrorist groups grew in strength between 2011 – 2019 as they continued to employ poor, uneducated and illiterate youth to join them. Weak family structures are a major contributing factor to the recruitment and radicalization of these youth.
Armed groups are able to psychologically brainwash and train them to be bandits, kidnappers and suicide bombers. A means to weaken these terrorist groups is to reduce the rate at which they recruit by beginning at the very bottom to cut off their supply chain.
Addressing the conditions that make it possible to access vulnerable youth begins within the family units; improving the conditions they live in, granting access to education and healthcare, and monitoring their traditional and religious structures. The most dangerous person in the world is one with nothing to do, nothing to look forward to and nothing to live for.
Children that are raised in an environment that aids learning, development, social collaboration, capacity building and gives access to basic needs have a higher chance of a stable mental and physical condition than those without.
Traditionally, Nigerians are collectivists who are accustomed to residing with or around multiple family members, friends and community members. By extension, all elders in these settings are responsible for the younger ones but when it comes to the basic provisions for a child, the main duty falls on the parents.
The physical, mental and emotional well-being of a person’s child is the responsibility of those who birthed them and/or raised them. Parents who insist on birthing children that end up vulnerable and in the wrong hands of society must be brought to account for their irresponsibility and recklessness.
The contribution, both positive and negative that youth make to the progression of a nation is too great to neglect how that child is brought up and conditioned. Until we begin to prioritize the family unit and channel all aid and development efforts in that direction, we will not fully utilize the potential of Nigerian youth and save the ones that have already lost their way.
Shuaibu is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board.
