ByKemi Olatunde

It was on Thursday morning. The early morning rush hour was gradually fading when a young man was sighted walking naked along the Ijapo/Fiwasaye road. He was barefooted and in haste to get to an unknown destination. Of course, it was obvious that his mental disorder just commenced as the roll on he used on his armpit was visible to passers by.

“What a world! The day he was given birth to was a special one for his mother not knowing that he would end up like this one day” says a shop owner while lamenting the state of the guy. However, no one made  effort to stop him.

It  is not an untamilian  scene as many young people are seen on Nigerian streets exhibiting  one form of mental illnesses  or the other.

Many people believe that the increase in incidences of mental  disorder among  Nigerian Youths can be  linked with consequences of drugs  or money ritual popularly known as “Yahoo Plus”

The rise in internet fraud in the country has been attributed to a number of structural, systemic and economic factors. Most of those responsible for the questionable scandals blame the poor political and economic systems that leave the country’s citizens hungry.

The Hope gathered that rapid increases in poverty rate, youth unemployment, lack of economic opportunities, failing education systems, hardship and corruption have forced the youth, the population most affected by these woes, to embrace  internet fraud.

How Covid-19 caused a spike in internet  fraud activities.

The exaggerated and unsavory behaviour of the Yahoo Boys, also known as G Boys  has attracted national and international attention. Their  criminal activities  led former US Secretary Collins Powell to describe Nigeria as a “nation of thieves”. Although yahoo activities predate the man covid-19 era, the pandemic instigated a spike and can sustain a growing posture in subsequent years if not tamed.

This will invariable compound other problems that Nigeria is battling with such as insecurity, corruption etc.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown, online activities  in Nigeria increased by 45 percent. This is due to the fact that COVID-19 increased awareness of the need for technology in various parts of our economy. Thus, education, business and other services moved into the digital space.

Similarly, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) reported that, in the first nine months of 2020, fraudsters attempted 46,126 attacks and were successful in 41,979,  accounting for 91percent of all cases. NIBSS recorded a loss of over N5.2 billion due to  Yahoo boys’ operations during this period, the highest in four years, just in a nine month period. The report further revealed that while Yahoo or internet fraud is not limited to Nigeria, the total cost of fraud in Nigeria was N3.3 billion in the third quarter of 2020 compared to N499 million in the same period of 2019, due to the pandemic.

The foregoing instigated the then Inspector-General of the Nigeria Police, M.A. Adamu to alert Nigerians on the increase in the rate of fraud and cybercrime .

Increased incidences of young guys running mad on Nigerian streets.

There is a new trend of young guys in their late twenties and early thirties running mad on the street  . It is now common to see them in the early hours of the day naked and walking several kilometers to an unknown destination.

Not too long ago, along Ilesa/Ibadan road, a man too was seen manifesting a level of mental illness as he undressed himself on the expressway and began to speak incoherently. Passersby gave way to him as nobody wanted to experience an attack from him. He was rescued by a group of young men suspected to be internet fraudsters popularly called “Yahoo guys” who parked beside him and forced him into the car.

When asked if they knew the guy, one of them answered and said that they know a man who could give him the antidote to the ailments and zoomed off immediately to avoid further questioning from the public.

One out of four Nigerians living with mental disorder

In 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that one in four Nigerians is living with a mental disorder, and a significant portion of this population, 70percent, are under 30 years old. Studies indicate that a substantial percentage of young people in Nigeria experience mental health issues, with some research suggesting that between 10percent and 30percent of the population suffers from mental health problem.

Speaking with The Hope, an okada rider, Leye Adegbayi noted that it is important that government put measures in place to care for the mentally ill in the country, stating that the number would likely increase in few years.

He said: “I used to work for some Yahoo guys in year 2024 and they took good care of me. At a point, they invited me to join them but I refused because I believe in hard work. I took one of them to a herbalist where I saw a lot of things.

“I saw  soap which looked as if it was breathing. When I asked why it was so, the herbalist told me that anyone that uses the soap would become wealthy but with limited number of years. That was the last time I worked for those guys. I changed my SIM card and left the town in order to save my head.

“I am sure that in the next two years, the number of mad people on the street will be unimaginable. Government should be prepared to care for them when the time comes.”

Dr. Akinwumi Akinnuoye of the Ondo State Neuropsychiatric hospital, Akure  in a chat with The Hope explained that people’s perception about mental health determines the help they seek.

Speaking extensively, he said; “In Africa, due to relatively low level of education and exposure which affect understanding, people attribute spiritual causes to things that are unexplainable to them. Some clear issues too are attributed to spiritual problem for instance, physical illness they find the expression strange, hence attributing it to a spiritual attack and when this is acceptable as such, they tend to shun the hospital initially to seek help elsewhere after which they return to the hospital to eventually get treatment. 80% of mentally-ll Nigerians show preference for unorthodox 

80% of mentally ill in Nigeria shows Pretense Unorthodox  treatment -Medical expert

He revealed that over 80 percent of the patients in the hospital have been to different spiritual places before resolving to visit the hospital for medical treatment.

Stating reasons why patients don’t embrace initial hospital visitation, he listed poverty and ignorance among others calling for cooperation between patients and their  families for effective treatment.

“Poverty is a major cause of the action but interestingly, many of them pay more in these spiritual places than in  the hospital. The spiritual places have unregulated activities and as such cajole their patients to pay exorbitant fee for treatment. They lie to the patients in order to extort them.

“Many of the claims of those in charge of these spiritual places are false as they go extra mile to give false testimony which most times were staged in order to deceive unsuspecting people who may need their help. they use the drug we use in the hospital by dissolving it in water which they call ‘holy water.’

“Some patients actually got better through these spiritual places and it is in two categories; for many of these places, when they notice that their patients aren’t getting better, they use the drug we use in the hospital by dissolving it in water which they call ‘holy water.’

 They have no prescribed dose, hence resulting in overdose in patients which has adverse effects on them. When this happens, the patients are rushed to us in the hospital. At this stage, most times, the patients may have come down with complications which may not be reversible.

“The point is, different patients need different quantity of drug to survive. Patient A may need 2mg while others may need 6mg of the same prescribed drug.

“Another category is that some mental illness are transient and receptive. When you don’t  treat some of them, the patient may be healed at a point only to reoccur later. Due to non treatment for some of them, it leads to complications including suicide, loss of important relationship  etc.

“The hospital knows the principle of treatment so that patients can function well in the society but the spiritual centres are ignorant of this fact, hence the reoccurrence of the illnesses in their patients.”

He called on families of those with mental challenge to take them to appropriate hospital for proper care, adding that they should  shun spiritual places for the benefit of the patient.

The president of the Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria(SOFPON),Dr.Blessing C.Chukwukelu represented at the World Family Doctors day on Monday stated that  lack of adequate training in mental healthcare by primary care staff leaves a significant gap in the early identification and management of common mental disorders at the community level, where family physicians are often the only healthcare providers readily accessible.

She identified economic instability, insecurity, limited access to mental health services, pervasive stigma as factors that surrounds mental health issues and the need for routine screening for mental health conditions in primary care settings.

Speaking further,   the president stressed that  the role of the family becomes even more critical, and that  family doctors, are strategically positioned to address these challenges, to bridge the gaps, and to make a tangible difference in the lives of those struggling with mental conditions.

Dr. Chukwukelu, therefore, highlighted that integration of mental health services into primary care, through the efforts of family physicians, is not just a desirable goal but a necessity in line with  the recommendations of the World Health Organization ( WHO) for low and middle-income countries like Nigeria, which recognise the importance of strengthening primary health  care as a foundation for improving mental health outcomes.

She advocated lifestyle medicine, promoting healthy habits such as regular physical activity, balance nutrition, and adequate sleep, noting that they have been shown to have a profound impact on mental health.

She encouraged parents to develop coping skills, to build strong social connections, and cultivate a sense of purpose and meaning to their lives.