A 50th Birthday of Care and Support: Thompson Launches Christmas Campaign to Combat Abia’s Mental Health Emergency.
While many celebrate with festivities, John Enyinnaya Thompson is marking his 50th Christmas birthday with a urgent mission: sounding the alarm on Nigeria’s silent mental health epidemic and launching a major awareness campaign from its emerging epicenter in Abia State.
This Christmas season, in partnership with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Thompson Mental Health Foundation- an affiliate of Africa Institute for Charity(AIC)is igniting a care and support advocacy, using the symbolic day of hope to demand immediate government action and public solidarity.
The campaign lands amid grim statistics. Experts describe mental health in Nigeria as a “national emergency,” with an estimated 20 million Nigerians living with mental health conditions. The treatment gap is catastrophic, only about 10% receive any form of care. This crisis is fueled by economic strain, insecurity, and a deeply entrenched stigma that often mislabels conditions as spiritual afflictions.
Abia State, despite its notable economic and educational standing, is not immune. Reports from primary healthcare centers and local NGOs indicate a sharp, visible increase in cases of depression, anxiety, and substance-induced disorders, particularly among youths and the economically vulnerable. The problem is compounded by a critical shortage of professionals; the entire country has fewer than 300 psychiatrists for over 200 million people.
“We are sitting on a keg of gun powder,” said Thompson in a pre-event interview on Monday. “This Christmas, my birthday gift to myself is a plea to my state and my nation. We must stop whispering about mental health and start screaming for solutions. The human cost of inaction is already too high.”
A key pillar of the initiative is the collaboration with the NDLEA, recognizing the inextricable link between substance abuse and mental health disorders. The agency has consistently reported a rising trend in drug abuse, which acts both as a trigger for and a consequence of untreated mental illness.
“This partnership is strategic,” said Commander Odoemelam Chigbu, NDLEA state commander for Abia . “You cannot effectively fight drug abuse without addressing the underlying mental health vulnerabilities that lead people to substances. This campaign allows us to take this vital message directly to the people, especially the youth, in an engaging format.”
The fulcrum of the campaign is a formal appeal to the Abia State Government. Thompson Mental Health Foundation – affiliated to Africa Institute for Charity(AIC), is urging the state to leverage its position – it was recently ranked first in national health preparedness – to become a pioneer in mental health integration into primary health care system.
The Foundation proposes a direct alignment with the state’s Ministry of Health to:
1. Integrate mental health screening and first-line care into the existing primary healthcare network across all 17 LGAs.
2. Fund and implement training programs for community health workers using the World Health Organization’s mhGAP guidelines.
3. Launch a state-wide anti-stigma campaign and establish dedicated helplines and community support groups.
“ I believe the new Abia under Gov. Otti is building the infrastructure and the proven commitment to health leadership in Nigeria,” Thompson acknowledged. “Our task is to make the government to now see the need to make mental health a core pillar of that legacy. Let my 50th birthday year be remembered as the year Abia State chose to lead the mind’s liberation and restoration.”
The Christmas Day event features visitations, testimonies, and counseling booths manned by volunteers from the Foundation and the NDLEA. It aims to be a celebration of life, a moment of awareness, and a powerful call to action, echoing the founder’s belief that “the greatest birthday gift is the health and peace of mind of our communities.”
