Beneath the grand domes of the National Assembly, where laws are forged to secure the welfare of over 200 million citizens, a sobering debate recently unfolded on national television, laying bare a profound moral test for the nation’s leaders.
As captured on Arise TV, the Senate considered a life-and-death piece of legislation: a bill seeking to decriminalize attempted suicide and establish a national framework for compassionate care, healing, and institutional mental health support. Yet, the proceedings exposed a chilling dissonance- a stark clash between archaic legal vengeance and the urgent, humane cry for modern psychiatric mercy.
At the center of the legislative storm was Senate President Godswill Akpabio, whose posture during the debate drew sharp, immediate moral condemnation. Insisting on maintaining prison terms for individuals caught in the deepest throes of despair, his stance echoed an alarming lack of understanding regarding the psychopathology of human suffering.
To look at a citizen drowning in clinical depression, paralyzed by economic hardship, or fractured by unbearable trauma, and declare that desperation is a criminal offense is more than bad policy it is a profound moral failure. When a society tells a broken soul that they “better succeed” or face the indignity of a jail cell, it ceases to be a sanctuary of law and order and risks becoming an executioner of hope. Punishment has never cured a broken heart. Threatening victims of mental anguish with imprisonment only drives them further into the shadows, forcing grieving families to hide their pain out of terror, rather than seeking the professional help that could save a life.
Amidst the legislative friction stood a beacon of progressive humanity: Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (Cross River South), the visionary sponsor of the bill. With profound clarity, Senator Ekpenyong asked the question that every Nigerian of conscience must answer:
“When a Nigerian survives a suicide attempt, should the first response of the state be prosecution or protection?”
By championing a framework that swaps prison shackles for crisis helplines, trauma-informed care, and medical rehabilitation, Senator Ekpenyong has demonstrated a rare brand of moral leadership. He chose to align the nation’s laws with scientific reality and basic human decency, reminding the red chamber that legislation must protect the vulnerable, not penalize their agony.
The bill has scaled its second reading and moved into committee corridors, but the battle for the nation’s soul is far from won. The trajectory of this law now depends on those who understand human pain best. This is a defining moment for our generation. Psychiatrists, psychologists, civil society groups, and everyday citizens must rise. We must flood the committee hearings, engage our lawmakers, and shatter the cultural stigma that wraps mental health in shame.
Let us rally behind this bill with an unyielding voice. Suicide is not a crime; it is an emergency. Let us demand a Nigeria where healing replaces handcuffs, where compassion triumphs over cruelty, and where every troubled soul knows that their life is worth fighting for.
“A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable in their darkest hour. Let history record that we chose to heal, not to lock them away.”
* Ahmed, MD, LLM, Forensic Psychiatrist, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. https://agahmed.ca/blogs/