Defence chief Reaffirms Commitment To Troops’ Mental Health

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, has reaffirmed the committedness of subject High Command to prioritise the intelligence well-being of troops and different unit of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

He gave the assurance successful Abuja, astatine the 2025 World Mental Health Day Symposium with taxable ”Access to Services: Mental Health successful Catastrophes and Emergencies” organised by the Department of Defence Civil Military Relations successful collaboration with Secure the Future.

Musa represented by the director, Defence Civil–Military Relations AVM Olusola Akinboyewa, stressed that the spot of the subject was not lone measured by its firepower but besides by the affectional stableness of its men.

He said the taxable was timely and relevant, noting that intelligence wellness indispensable beryllium treated arsenic a captious constituent of nationalist effect during crises.

He observed that members of the equipped forces were often astatine the forefront of emergencies, exposed to stress, trauma, and fatigue portion providing relief, security, and stableness successful hard conditions.

”This underscores the captious value of ensuring that intelligence wellness attraction is not an afterthought, but an integral portion of our corporate effect to crises; whether during conflicts, earthy disasters, oregon humanitarian emergencies.

“The unseen wounds of stress, trauma, and fatigue tin beryllium conscionable arsenic debilitating arsenic carnal injuries.

“We recognise that a resilient subject unit requires some carnal and intelligence fitness, hence the Defence Headquarters’ concern with SDF to fortify awareness, aboriginal intervention, and entree to prime intelligence wellness services.

“Through this collaboration, we reaffirm our committedness to promoting awareness, aboriginal intervention, and entree to prime intelligence wellness services, peculiarly successful demanding operational environments,” helium said.

The defence main commended the organisers for providing a level for cognition sharing and organization capableness gathering connected intelligence wellness enactment during emergencies.

He urged participants to widen the connection to their units and communities to assistance normalise conversations astir intelligence wellness and guarantee that nary 1 suffered successful silence.

”Together, we tin normalise conversations astir intelligence wellness and guarantee that nary 1 suffers successful silence,” helium stressed.

The laminitis of SDF, Mrs Saidatu Adamu, called for stronger collaboration and applicable enactment to marque intelligence wellness attraction accessible and a precedence crossed each sectors, particularly wrong the equipped forces.

Adamu said the symposium was not conscionable different event, but a telephone to enactment to guarantee intelligence wellness go a strategical necessity and not an afterthought.

According to her, intelligence wellness is not simply a wellness concern; it is simply a nationalist information imperative. A mentally steadfast unit is an effective, resilient, and mission-ready force.

”There is the request for aboriginal involution mechanisms, dependable argumentation frameworks, and counseling enactment to assistance unit header with trauma and stress.”

In his lecture, Prof. Taiwo Sheik, a Professor of Psychiatry astatine the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, described intelligence wellness arsenic a nationalist situation that demanded urgent attention, peculiarly among ”military personnel” serving successful struggle zones.

Sheik, speaking connected the topic, ”Mental Health arsenic a Pillar of National Security”, said Nigeria, similar the remainder of the world, was faced with a increasing load of intelligence wellness conditions that chopped crossed each communities, including the equipped forces.

”Mental wellness is simply a planetary crisis, and Nigeria is not an exception. The subject is portion of the Nigerian community, and they look adjacent much terrible determinants of intelligence wellness conditions than the wide population,” helium said.

The don noted that the prevalence of intelligence wellness challenges successful struggle areas was importantly higher than successful different settings.

According to him, much than 1 successful 5 radical surviving successful struggle zones endure intelligence wellness conditions, compared to 1 successful 8 successful the wide colonisation worldwide.

He explained that intelligence wellness conditions alteration successful severity, ranging from mild to mean to severe, adding that galore affected individuals continued to relation successful nine portion silently battling stress, depression, oregon anxiety.

”With a colonisation of astir 230 million, this means astir 50 cardinal Nigerians whitethorn beryllium surviving nether the load of intelligence wellness conditions astatine immoderate constituent successful time,” helium said.

Sheik urged authorities and policymakers to prioritise intelligence wellness successful the military, make governance structures that beforehand intelligence well-being, and guarantee accessible, stigma-free attraction for those successful need.

”Our policymakers and lawmakers indispensable allocate resources for intelligence wellness attraction for the...