‘Schools Must Be Safe Spaces For Mental Health Support’

The Initiative for Self-Esteem Education and Advocacy (ISEEA) has said schools in Nigeria must become safe spaces where adolescents and young people can access mental health support.

It advised that the rising cases of anxiety, depression, substance abuse and low self-esteem among youths require urgent and coordinated intervention.

The founder and executive director of ISEEA, Rosemary Idanya Ochiwu, made the call  in Abuja during a press conference to unveil the organisation’s 2026–2030 Strategic Direction Plan and the maiden edition of its Mental Health and Self-Esteem E-Journal.

Ochiwu said the challenges confronting young people had become too complex for isolated programmes to address, stressing the need for a system-based approach that integrates mental wellness support into schools, families and communities.

According to her, many adolescents continue to struggle with emotional distress, bullying, abuse, social pressure, substance use and mental health conditions, while many schools lack structured support systems, trained personnel and referral mechanisms to help affected students.

She said the organisation’s four-year strategic plan would focus on implementing its THRIVE model, a framework designed to provide sustainable mental wellness support for over 60,000 adolescents and young people across the country.

The model, she explained, consists of school-based mental health clubs, teacher and school capacity development, referral and response pathways, family and community engagement, as well as virtual learning and digital support systems.

“Schools must become safe spaces and entry points where young people can access mental health education, peer support and personal development opportunities,” she said.

Ochiwu added that the organisation would also intensify policy advocacy aimed at institutionalising mental wellness support for adolescents and youths within educational systems and youth development structures nationwide.

She noted that meaningful change would require strong policies, partnerships, institutions and evidence-based interventions capable of delivering long-term impact.

At the event, the national coordinator of the National Mental Health Programme, Dr Ojo Tunde Massey-Ferguson, represented by the assistant director of Nursing and Head of the Coordinating Unit, Grace Ogunleye Adedunmade, commended ISEEA for providing a strategic roadmap to address youth mental health concerns.

He said Nigeria’s youthful population remains one of the country’s greatest assets and that deliberate investments in mental health and wellbeing were essential for national development.