There was sad news regarding the death of popular Nigerian writer and creative strategist, Anda Damisa, known online as LazyWrita. According to close associates and friends, the writer reportedly took his life. It is believed that the emotional note shared on his social media platforms at 12 pm on December 29, 2025, was a scheduled post prepared before his passing, intended for his loved ones and the general public. This is one too many. On the surface, Africa is a continent of resilience, youthful energy, and unbounded possibility. But beneath this hopeful narrative lies a quiet crisis that has been simmering for decades: suicide. Far from being just a personal tragedy, suicide in Africa reflects systemic failures in mental health care, social support, legal frameworks, and cultural understanding. To effectively confront this crisis, we must move past taboo and denial to adopt evidence-based, culturally grounded, and strategic interventions that save lives and restore dignity. Across the African region, suicide claims more lives per capita than the global average, with rates estimated at around 11 per 100,000 people, compared to a worldwide average of about 9 per 100,000. This makes the African region one of the highest suicide-rate regions in the world. This also comes as WHO data show that suicide is a serious cause of death in young people and adults across the continent, especially where data are available despite chronic underreporting.
Nigeria’s Hidden Epidemic
Nigeria illustrates both the scale and the silence of the problem. According to WHO data, Nigeria’s age-standardized suicide rate was reported at 6.9 per 100,000 population in 2019, but research studies using broader estimates suggest rates as high as 17.3 per 100,000, which places Nigeria among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. This disparity reflects widespread underreporting due to stigma, misclassification, and weak vital statistics. Even more shocking is the human scale of these statistics. Premium Times reported in September 2025 that an estimated 15,000 Nigerians die by suicide annually, with possibly 300,000 more attempting to end their lives each year when accounting for the well-documented ratio of attempts to deaths. In Lagos alone, The Guardian Nigeria reported 83 suicide cases in 2023, with common methods including hanging, poisoning, and self-inflicted injury. These deaths disproportionately affect young adults, students, and working-age individuals who are navigating economic pressures, academic stress, unemployment, and relational breakdowns.
Why the Crisis Persists
At the heart of Africa’s suicide crisis is silence and stigma. In many African countries, including Nigeria, attempted suicide is still treated as a criminal offense, punishable under outdated sections of criminal law. This legal framing not only discourages people from seeking help but also entrenches family and community secrecy that suppresses accurate data and public discourse. Compounding this are widespread gaps in mental health care. Fewer than 1 in 10 people with mental illness in Nigeria receive any form of professional support. There are too few psychiatrists, psychologists, and trained counselors, and mental health services are concentrated in urban centers, leaving rural populations with almost no access to care. Ghana faces similar shortages, with relatively limited mental health infrastructure beyond major hospitals. Cultural attitudes that frame emotional distress as spiritual weakness or moral failure further deepen the problem. Instead of addressing depression, trauma, or hopelessness as health issues, many communities label them as lack of faith or family shame, thereby driving sufferers into isolation rather than support. This cultural burden affects adolescents and young adults who are already navigating identity formation, academic pressure, and early economic stress.
Evidence-Based Solutions for Africa
Ending suicide in Africa is not a theoretical ideal; it is a policy and public health imperative that requires structured, deliberate action.
1. Decriminalize Suicide Attempts and Reform Policy
The first step is legal reform. Countries like Nigeria are beginning to confront this legacy. In 2023–2025, civil society advocates and government stakeholders drafted and advanced a National Suicide Prevention and Decriminalization bill to remove criminal penalties for suicide attempts and reframe suicide as a health concern instead of a crime. This shift matters immensely. Evidence from global public health shows that decriminalization increases help-seeking, reduces stigma, and enables people in crisis to reach out for support without fear of arrest or prosecution.
2. Build Mental Health Services into Primary Care
Africa cannot wait to train thousands of psychiatrists before acting. Mental health support must be integrated into primary health care, with community health workers, nurses, and teachers trained to recognize warning signs and provide psychological first aid. Suicide hotlines, school counseling, and mobile mental health outreach programs offer scalable ways to reach underserved youth and adults. Also, Nigeria’s Suicide Research & Prevention Initiative (SURPIN) at Lagos University Teaching Hospital and community organizations led by activists like Hauwa Ojeifo highlight how grassroots leadership can complement institutional care by encouraging vulnerable populations to speak out and seek help.
3. Media Responsibility and Digital Culture Change
Media reporting matters. Sensational or graphic coverage can inadvertently normalise suicide or trigger copycat behavior. African media outlets must adopt responsible reporting guidelines, providing context, avoiding glorification, and including helpline information. Social media influencers and platforms should also be engaged to normalise mental health support rather than romanticise despair.
4. Improve Data Collection and Accountability
You cannot fix what you cannot measure. African countries must invest in reliable suicide surveillance systems, including national registries and standardized death reporting. Accurate data will better inform policy, resource allocation, and targeted interventions, especially for high-risk groups.
5. Community and Family Engagement
Finally, suicide prevention must be relational. Families, faith leaders, and communities can break the silence by fostering environments where emotional pain is heard, not shamed. Schools and workplaces can build support networks that identify distress early and refer individuals to care.
Generally speaking, suicide in Africa is not a cultural inevitability, it is a preventable tragedy rooted in silence, stigma, and systemic neglect. With legal reform, integrated mental health services, responsible media, better data, and strong community support, African countries can reverse this trend and save lives. As with the case of Anda Damisa (LazyWrita), silence has cost too many; it is time for strategy!
About The Author
