By Mustapha Kamara Jnr.
He was my friend, a true Fourahbite (someone who attended Forah Bay College), a Librite, a socialite and an excellent student of the History and Politics Department of the college. He was also an agile student politician on Campus and speaks eloquently and was always at the forefront challenging issues that had to do with the welfare of students on Campus.
For me and others who knew him and what he was capable of doing, we expected him to become a great politician and a true leader who would make a mark in the annals of this country. But now Saiid’s (not his real name) is at the Kissy Mental Home.
I came to know about Saiid’s situation as part of an ongoing investigation on the situation of mental health in the country, especially among youths.
I couldn’t believe it was Saiid I saw in Ward 3, the man I`d last seen in our last semester on campus. Here he was, lying on the floor, disheveled, half naked, chained on the feet.
Interestingly, as l was been walked through the ward with the nurses in charge, he stood up, greeted me and requested some money from me. Then I asked him if he knew me. And he said: “Maybe, I went to the Leon Preparatory School, the Sierra Leone Grammar School, and of course I m a final year waiting to graduate with B.A in history and Politics”.
Then l told him that l knew him on Campus because he was very active in student politics. And then he smiled and said: “that is me man, a true Librite and I belong to the biggest Political Club on Fourah Bay college campus.”
I inquired from the nurse about my friend`s situation and as she was trying to explain, Saiid interrupted: “Nothing is wrong with me… I am the anti-Christ that has been sent to save the soul of all mankind…I have come to set your souls free from the devil.”
At that moment, I nearly burst out in tears. I cried inside my heart.
As we moved out of the ward, the nurse told me that Saiid`s file indicated he became mentally ill due to huge amount of drug intake. I also noticed that there were a lot of other young guys like Saiid back in there. Some were seated, others laying down, all of them mute and helplessly in their old, tattered beds in the large room. They stared at me as I exited.
The aim of this article is to lay bare the realities of the negative effect of drugs on Sierra Leone`s youth and to bring it to the attention of the Ministry of Youths, the Youth Commission and other government ministries and agencies, as well as civil society organizations working on youth issues, so that they focus more on drug abuse in the country.
What does the future holds for Sierra Leone if so many young boys and girls, whom the country considers as future leaders, become drug addict?
I don’t remember attending any party within the last three years, involving boys and girls, where they didn’t drink hard liquor or even smoke cannabis or involved in other types of drugs.
Globally, according to the World Health Organization, over Two million people loss their lives every year as a result of drinking harmful alcohol and about six million due to tobacco smoking.
In Sierra Leone, Dr. Edward Nahim, Consultant Psychiatrist, who has worked at the Kissy Mental Hospital since 1987, told me that currently about 65,000 people were suffering from mental illness in the country. 60 percent of them, he said, were young people within the age 20 and 35, and their cases are mostly as a result of drug use. Imagine this out of a population of about six million people!
Dr. Nahim also said drug was just one factor responsible for the psychiatric problems of the country. He said a “huge unemployment” problem and stress, especially among youths, was also a causative factor.
“The favorite drugs of youths in Sierra Leone: Cannabis, Ataya and Alcohol, are the major reason why many young people become insane because these drugs contain chemicals that affect the brain directly and it makes it not to function well,” he said.
The psychiatrist said the only way out this problem was for government to provide more jobs for young people especially graduates. He also suggested actions against companies that are producing cheap beverages with high alcoholic contents. Nahim said he had been making such suggestions to the government but that it appears they have not been able to do anything about it.
Idowa Saidu, executive director of Foundation for Democratic Initiative, a local non-governmental organization working on youths and drugs, also blamed government`s inaction for the situation.
He said government wasn’t doing enough to control drug usage in the country. Saidu wonders why even kids can walk into a shop and get alcoholic drinks so easily.
“We have hundreds of ghettos right across the country where young people take different types of drugs. And sometimes sometimes some law enforcers sit with youths to smoke cannabis and drink alcohol,” he said.
Saidu said during their occasional sensitization campaigns on drugs abuse the youths they meet tell them they were into these lives because they were idle with no jobs.
According to reliable information, many foreign companies currently producing alcohol in Sierra Leone were driven out of Liberia because of the impact it had on the youths there. The question many are asking is why the government is encouraging them here. These companies are contributing to the derailment of the country’s future.
“They (government) say they are going to address unemployment problems affecting the youths, they say that we are the future leaders, but little attention is given to us,” said Alhassan Bah, a young man I asked about his views on the government`s attitude to youths. His views represent a growing list of concerns among the youth folks of this country who feel disappointed by a government that has made so much promises to empower the younger generation.
As I conclude this piece, I feel ever strongly that memories of my experience back at Ward 3 of the Kissy Mental Hospital will remain with me for a very long time, especially Saiid`s last words: “I’m getting better man… I will see you soon man at Fourah Bay college campus.”
© Politico 25/02/15
