Award-winning filmmaker, media entrepreneur, and mental health advocate Chude Jideonwo has sounded a powerful alarm on the state of emotional wellbeing in Nigeria, emphasising that emerging public emotional breakdowns reflect a deeper, widespread mental health crisis affecting citizens across social strata. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Jideonwo stressed that the way society responds to these incidents, whether with empathy or dismissal, sends a strong signal to millions who are silently struggling and unable to access adequate emotional support.
According to Jideonwo, recent public emotional breakdowns involving well-known creatives and online personalities are not isolated spectacles, but indicators of intense emotional pressure borne out of complex social and structural challenges in Nigeria. “When we see it bleed into the public space, it should remind us of how serious the mental health crisis is,” he said, pointing to high-profile cases such as the passing of Nigerian poet and creative influencer LazyWrita as examples of how private suffering often spills into public view. Jideonwo warned that treating such moments as mere news fodder undermines the very real pain that countless others endure in silence.
Jideonwo further explained that the crisis cuts across both public figures and private citizens, with many unable to find the help they need or feel safe to speak about their struggles. “We have a country where people, public or private, are suffering in their hearts and minds,” he said, urging a shift in societal response toward compassion, care, and meaningful support for emotional wellbeing. His comments describes a broader call to action for improved mental health awareness, destigmatisation, and accessible care in Nigeria, reminding the public that emotional pain should be acknowledged with seriousness, not sidelined as something ‘lesser’ in the face of other national concerns.
