Dr. Emmanuel Ahmadu is deeply involved in mental health advocacy, working to raise awareness and support teenagers and youths worldwide in addressing issues such as depression, hopelessness, and suicide.
Join us as we explore Dr. Emmanuel Ahmadu’s story and his journey as a mental health advocate.
I would like you to introduce yourself to our audience and readers.
My name is Emmanuel Ahmadu. I’m currently in the U.S. as a student, and I’m into mental health awareness programs as a mental health advocate, contributing to and impacting teenagers across the world in a bid to tackle suicide, depression, and hopelessness. I’m originally from Kogi State, Nigeria.
What led you to become an advocate for mental health?
My interest in going into mental health started while I was at the University of Benin during my undergraduate program.
At that time, I was always kind of observant, following what was going on in society, and I saw that there was an increase in suicide among students, and that got my attention while I was at the university.
With my background in mass communication, I started thinking about how I could help and what role I could play in helping with these issues. That was when I started reaching out and working. I had the mindset to open up about my experience.
When I won the Student Brand of the Year, West Africa, that was when I saw a great opportunity to share my experience. Representing my university and the country, and winning an award, was a great opportunity to start advocating for mental health. That was when I opened up about my academic experiences, how the process went, and how God really helped me.
Going through all those moments, I had times when I was depressed and thought about suicide because I thought my situation was going to remain like that, that nobody cares, the same thought that others have in mind.
Pulling all those experiences together inspired me, and I believed I could make a significant contribution. So that was what inspired me. I felt like I could use this platform and my story to team up with other people out there who are passionate about touching other people’s lives.
Is there a specific experience that shaped your commitment to mental health advocacy?
I think the first thing I will say is to be self-motivated. I know it’s kind of hard because, as individuals, we tend to depend on people, and depending on people is also good, but as an individual, I realized that I have to believe in myself. I have to believe that, just like how other people pursue their success and goals, I have to be great in life.
I had those personal drives, like looking into the mirror and telling myself I would be so great in life. Even though the situation was upside down, I kept holding on to those positive thoughts and affirmations.
When I see other people’s success, it doesn’t put pressure on me, even though other people are comparing me with others. When I hear all those things, especially when they’re coming from family members, I feel sad, but in my mind, I tell myself that the same way others are achieving great things, I will also achieve great things.
Another thing is associating with great people, people you trust. They might be few, and they might not be family members, but it was a key way I was able to keep going. It’s something teenagers need to look out for, people they care about, and people who believe in their vision, when they have those kinds of people around them, it fuels them to keep going.
And also the place of God. When I was going through all of those things, pressure from society and all that, the God factor was really key. I went down in prayer asking for help, and I told him that if it’s true that he created me for a purpose, I want to see those purposes and good plans materializing. I just kept in mind that my own case would not be different.
Another thing is changing the environment, not necessarily relocating, but leaving your present environment for a while, just going to a cool place. With all these things, your mind begins to shift from who you were before to who you are supposed to be.
I would like you to share with us what your upcoming program, Cleveland Walk, is all about. Is it a program our Nigerian audience and readers can tune in to?
At the moment, the whole process is still ongoing. I recently joined last month, I don’t have all the information yet, but I’m going to be part of the work.
We are looking forward to going with young people who are passionate because we have always had older people involved.
There’s still this gap in reaching young people because their mindset is different. So involving young people and people who are passionate about reaching out to other young people is one of the few things we are looking forward to.
I have also informed other mental health programs and fellowships that I have been through, bringing our voices together to tackle this trend.
This is like a platform to extend the fact that we care about people, that young people can live a meaningful life, and that in the situation they are currently in, experiencing not being loved, there are people that care.
I believe there are other projects coming up also, depending on what the leadership comes up with. As a committee, we will just deliberate on that and bring in ideas.
And the fact that I’m also new is also a moment to build networks, see how these projects will benefit those in Nigeria, and also plan programs involving Nigerians. I’m also deliberating on that, but right now I’m trying to give my best to this new environment before I can extend the help to other places.
You once worked as a mentor with Global Cleveland, can you give us an example of mentorships that you have done that have positively impacted the young people you have worked with?
I am into a lot of initiatives, and for Global Cleveland, I work with them part-time. So sometimes they connect young professionals, professionals passionate about professional fields, like a connection in business.
Going into that, it doesn’t come often, so I’m not very active there, I just go when I’m needed. It was based on the impact of what I have done that they reached out to me to contribute in any way that I could.
I am also connected to other organisations as a mentor, inspiring them and their mindset. I have one coming up this December. I’m one of the international mentors from the U.S., and when it is close, I will definitely relate the whole thing to my social media.
Inspiring other people to strive towards their goals and make a difference in their generation, no matter the background they are coming from, is what I try to share when mentoring.
In your experience, what are the primary obstacles preventing young Nigerians from accessing mental health care?
I think stigma is one of them. People always think about what others will say if they decide to seek mental health care. No one is perfect, everyone needs help, but some people are so conscious of what people will say, how people will see them, and what people will tag them.
So that stigma prevents a lot of people, especially young people, from seeking help, and sometimes people might think they might be considered weak because they are suicidal. They will feel like everyone will look down on them, but actually, there’s nothing bad about seeking help.
One thing that can help is maybe just talking to someone that you trust and reaching out to someone who has always been there. You can search for resources in your environment, such as counsellors and initiatives that offer mental health services. There are also nonprofits that offer mental health services that are not costly, and you don’t need to meet them in person, they don’t have to see you in person. You can just put a call through.
It’s not about weakness, it’s actually about strength. You are strong enough to want the best for yourself. Everybody is busy with their own lives, it is how you take care of yourself that makes the difference. It’s always good to reach out and seek help because there are people who have had similar experiences and can help you out.
Will you say that the reason most Nigerians have refused to seek mental health care is because of their culture, environment, and upbringing?
First of all, the person have their own limitations, there might be different factors responsible for their mentality and for their thinking.
Aside from the role society plays, some people have their limitations. Some people just overthink, going through all the ‘what ifs’, and the ‘what ifs’ just create more fear in their minds. Individuals and people are the same, but culture and belief systems influence people.
But irrespective of the environment, the bottom line here is just reaching out, seeking help, talking to people who care about you, people that you trust, checking online for mental health organisations and sending them emails.
But make sure the people you are reaching out to are people you trust so that you don’t open up to someone and become the headline news the next day.
Can you help discuss the positive and negative impact of social media on youth mental health? And what part of the argument are you standing on? Are you for the notion that social media has a huge influence on the mental health of youth, or are you against it?
Social media is a great tool, but people allow social media to influence them. A lot of people forget their true selves when they get into social media.
Social media is a tool that individuals should use, not the tool using them. People cannot allow the tool to use them, when social media influences them, it changes them from who they are to someone else, and they just become something different.
People allow social media to get to them, and when they can’t consume it any longer, they keep thinking about everything they see on there. And it’s not cool, it’s not really the best.
Some of the competitions that I represented my school Uniben in, both national and international, appear on the news, but I don’t always talk about them, and people will be like,
“Hey, Emmanuel, I saw you on the news.”
And I will be like, “Wow, really,”
To me, social media is a different society from what I live in, so I just want to be the kind of person I am. Because I believe there’s more to life than social media. It’s actually a thing of the mind, it’s how we position our minds and not allow pressure from peers to overwhelm us.
People need to sit and close social media and focus on what’s around them, not what they see on social media. For me, I always just inspire myself with people’s successes I see on social media. I remind myself that I need to be diligent and focused and not be distracted by what’s happening because there’s time for everything, and having the right people around you to motivate you also helps.
Social media makes you have unrealistic dreams, so people need to strike a balance. Social media is cool, it helps connect you to resources and to other people. But don’t just focus on other people’s successes, focus on the process and learn from them.
So yeah, social media plays a huge role in influencing people’s mindsets. Since 2018, when my story went viral, I have seen different comments. When I read them, I will just laugh and go my way. I don’t indulge because I know I have plans for what I want to do next.
People need to have passion for what they want to do and look away from other things, like social media.
I want you to explain to us some key strategies that you use to ensure your programs are culturally sensitive and effective.
Okay, so I think I would say that at the point of moving down to the U.S., I was very sensitive about my environment. So when I connected with people, I studied them first, observed them to know who was who, and knew that I needed this person in my life. Maybe when I see an area of deficiency that I have, I will know that this person will be key in this role.
In my mind, I always picture what I need from people, especially in advocating and reaching out to other people, because it’s not something I can do alone, I need to collaborate with other people and bring voices together to reach out to other people out there.
Sometimes I also try to connect with people so they can see my passion. This is something I learnt from a friend back then, he would always be like,
“Hey, Emmanuel, don’t be afraid to open up to people, to connect with them, and to tell them what you do. It doesn’t affect anything, if they care or not, it doesn’t matter.”
That has really affected me by making me talk about the mental health projects I’ve worked on. Through some of those organisations I have been part of, I have made meaningful connections with survivors, people who have survived different issues in life and experienced trauma.
That is one thing that has played a huge role in an ongoing project I’m working on to launch a social media app and website that can connect champions together across different environments, connect them to resources that empower them, and also get them trained to extend that light of hope to others in their environment and communities.
Most people in different situations of life always feel they are the only ones in that situation when it gets to the toughest part. This is why we make people understand that people care about them.
Can you share with us an instance when you faced opposition in your advocacy work, how you addressed the opposition, and what was the outcome?
I will share one experience from when I was in Nigeria, when I was in Kwara State, raising mental health awareness across fifty high schools.
Then my story had just gone viral, and I was interviewed on BBC News. Some people were like,
“You haven’t even gone through anything.”
People were challenging me, and I was like, nobody is competing for who’s suffering the most. I told them that wasn’t my goal, I was just using this platform to connect with people with similar experiences as mine and also to use their own voice to make a difference.
I was so glad that reaching out to high schools made a huge difference. A lot of young students were impacted, some of them were on the verge of suicide, and some of them opened up, asked questions, and talked about their pains.
Most people in pain easily relate to other people going through the same thing, the experiences might not exactly be the same, but they see that the person will be compassionate.
