The issue of suicide in our tertiary institutions is becoming a recurring decimal as there has been a fast rise of suicidal cases among the youths in our schools.
The fact is that suicide do not only have a devastating effect on the bereaved, it also has detrimental effects on the society at large.
Its so disheartening to hear cases of suicide here and there among students such that one begins to wonder what could have actually been the cause.
I’m writing this article with a deep sense of pain in my heart to hear that recently, a student of Lagos state university LASU,committed suicide all in the name of poor academic performance.
Prior to that was a final year student of that same school identified as Adeola who also committed suicide by taking insecticide known as sniper due to the fact that she couldn’t pay her school fees which prevented her from taking her final examinations.
There have been cases of such in our tertiary institutions and it’s actually getting worse day by day.
Reasons behind the fast rise of suicide among undergraduates.
The prevalent causes of suicide among the youths in our schools is not far fetched and it could be attributed to the followings:
Pressure to excel in their academic performance
Quite a number of students are under pressure to excel and come out in flying colours in their academic pursuit to the extent that once they are unable to meet up with their academic expectations, they become depressed and have low self-esteem in the process which eventually leads to suicidal thoughts. Of course not everyone can actually cope with failure and the way people respond to challenges is quite different.
Another reason students commit suicide is low and improper mental health stability. An average Nigerian student who is struggling to make ends meet at the same time coping with pressure to succeed is most likely going to have low mental health as they are faced with one form of hardship, difficulty or the other while striving to survive. These sets of students are already drained, frustrated and depressed by what they passed through daily and those challenges sometimes may precipitate suicidal thoughts.
Another major reason students commit suicide is high level of stress encountered by students in tertiary institutions. The stress of attending lectures in an unconducive learning environment, stress of coping with bulky assignments, transportation issues, financial constraint and most importantly, academic pressure and the deprivation they faced. Nigerian students are currently challenged beyond their capabilities. Parents are not even helping matters. Some parents have the definition of who they want their children to be at the detriment of their children’s happiness, failing to realise that we all cannot be the same; we all cannot be book worms; we all may not become rich at early age. So, all of these societal expectations mount too much pressure on people, and failure to meet up with these expectations result in some people killing themselves.
I have seen cases where some parents start comparing their children with others of their age. You hear statement like "Can’t you see Shade is doing excellently well." Comparison such as that. All this can make one fall into depression.
However, when you are from a good home and you have parents who would not judge you or write you off when you fail,there’s a very high tendency that you’d cope well in any situation you find yourself.
Poverty, a significant precipitate of suicide among students. A large percentage of students are the ones sponsoring themselves to school. You see them engage in menial jobs after school hours just to make ends meet and survive. Some will even go as far as skipping classes just to pay their school fees and cater for their siblings and family. The lack of basic amenities and financial capacity could motivate some of them to be depressed, lose hope and ultimately opt for suicide.
Suicidal behaviour often occurs in response to a situation that a person views difficult to overcome like fear of failure, fear of making mistakes and the humiliation that comes with it: isolation,rejection, poverty and unemployment.
Tell me why won’t suicide be on the increase when there are sufferings, oppression, victimization, poverty and difficulties in the land? Why won’t suicide be fast rising when the government is failing in its duties and responsibilities to protect lives and property? Government that ought to make life easier for people are the ones complicating it. There are no jobs and employment for average Nigerian graduates. No hope for a better tomorrow as the economy is in shambles.
Imagine a student who suffered,and went through hell and pain for 5 years in school just to acquire knowledge and there’s no hope for a brighter and better tomorrow, but then you expect them not to lose hope and get depressed?
Another factor is the low strong-will to confront challenges and situation by some students. It has been discovered that the way we respond to situations as humans varies. There are some people who see challenges as an avenue to intensify their strength and get better. While some see challenges as a permanent stigma that has come to stay forever and as such, they tend to lose hope and give up completely.
Yasmin Mogahed said, "Know that transformation begins with a fall, so never cross the fall because it is where humility lives. Difficulty and failure should be seen as a normal situation by people and that it is actually part of the process meant to shape and mould one into something good.
Possible ways of reducing the menace of suicide among students in the society.
Urgent and drastic solutions need to be put in place to ensure the rate of suicidal cases among student reduced drastically and such solutions are:
First,the school management should take the welfare of the students as their number one priority. There should be a committee or panel set up to address students’ needs and challenges. Student welfarism should not be taken with levity because when students realized the school management don’t care about their wellbeing, they decide to take appropriate actions themselves which might end up being disastrous.
It’s so painful in this part of the world to know that people’s welfarism is not given the needed attention and consideration. Things that actually matter to people are often not properly handled and this has often left victims with no other options than to sort themselves out.
Also,there should be a form of counselling and orientation given to students on suicide. It should be passed to them that suicide is never an option to resort to killing oneself.
The government needs to help provide a good and comfortable learning environment for students, help students who are struggling or sponsoring themselves to school financially by placing them on scholarship to relieve their hardships.
Also, provision of employment opportunity for graduate who have completed their education. By so doing, it will help reduce the rate of poverty in the land.
Public enlightenment and sanitization for students that academic failure isn’t the end of life. Failure is never a means to terminate one’s life. Failure should be seen as a normal way of life that should not in any way deter one from striving further in life.
Most importantly, parents need to be easy on their children and not mount too much pressure on them instead they should love them,support their dreams and not compare or criticize them for any mistake they make in life because making mistakes is part of the process and a phase one must pass through to become successful in life.
