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By Doris Obinna
Experts have said Nigeria’s fight against youth drug abuse requires early mental health intervention, affordable treatment and stronger community support, warning that emotional turmoil, peer pressure and identity struggles leave young people vulnerable to substance use.
President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria, Dr Veronica Nyamali, made the call at the fourth Vanguard Mental Health Summit in Lagos, where stakeholders converged to discuss the challenges confronting young Nigerians and ways to improve access to mental healthcare.
The summit had as its theme, “Advancing Youth Mental Health in Nigeria through Access, Action and Advocacy,” with a sub-theme, “Mental Health in a Digital Age: Navigating Social Media, Technology and Wellbeing.”
Nyamali, who works at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, explained that youth was a period of significant emotional and behavioural changes, as young people struggled to establish their identities, sought independence, questioned parental values and became increasingly influenced by their peers.
She said these experiences could expose them to experimentation with drugs and other risky behaviours, making early identification of mental health challenges critical to preventing complications.
According to her, young people should receive appropriate support as soon as warning signs emerge rather than waiting until their conditions deteriorate into crises.
She called for the implementation of the Mental Health Act to strengthen the coordination of mental health services, improve insurance coverage and establish mechanisms for subsidising treatment for people who could not afford care.
Nyamali also advocated more child- and adolescent-friendly facilities and the integration of mental healthcare into primary healthcare and community services to reduce stigma and improve access.
She noted that seeking psychiatric care remained difficult for many Nigerians because of stigma, adding that young people could be particularly reluctant to approach specialist mental health facilities for fear of being judged.
She said integrating mental health services with other healthcare services would allow young people to seek help without feeling singled out.
Nyamali stressed that parents, teachers, community health workers and nurses had important roles to play in recognising early warning signs and directing affected young people to appropriate care.
She called for clear referral pathways linking community-based support to primary, secondary and specialist healthcare, explaining that many cases could be managed at the community or primary healthcare level, while more complex conditions required specialist attention.
Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), said mental illness and substance use often reinforced each other, warning that untreated anxiety, depression and trauma could leave young people vulnerable to drug abuse.
Marwa said the agency’s work extended beyond arrests and drug seizures to prevention, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation.
He disclosed that 53,843 persons had received counselling, treatment and rehabilitation through the NDLEA’s 31 rehabilitation centres, while 17,213 outreaches had been conducted under its War Against Drug Abuse campaign in the past five years.
He also warned that social media exposed young people to cyberbullying, unhealthy comparisons, excessive screen use and the glamorisation of drug use.
Marwa urged stakeholders to develop compelling online campaigns to counter harmful content and promote honest conversations about mental health and substance use in homes and schools.
He said early intervention could prevent young people facing difficulties from developing conditions that might require intensive rehabilitation.
In his welcome address, Vanguard Editor, Eze Anaba, said awareness must translate into practical action, including affordable mental health services, counselling and referral systems in schools, and stronger safeguards against cyberbullying and harmful online content.
He urged participating organisations to establish clear targets, assign responsibility for implementation and set deadlines, stressing that the summit’s success should be measured by tangible improvements in access to mental healthcare and support for young Nigerians.
