Celebrated comedian, Owen Gee, joins other stakeholders to share their depression experiences as a new initiative, Live and Not Die, is unveiled to prevent suicide, AKEEM LASISI writes
One of the biggest mistakes one can make is to think that a comedian is the happiest person on earth. The way he makes other people to laugh and forget their sorrows, at least temporarily, will tempt one to think that there is no yoke upon his soul.
But Lagos-based humour merchant, Owen Gee, will not encourage anyone to harbour this thought for long. His personal story is instructive enough in this regard. Here is a comedian who contemplated suicide in 2017 when he was pushed to the wall by thorny circumstances.
“I have had suicidal tendencies,” he said. “Last year, I tried several things, but they did not work out. It was not because the ideas were bad, but the people I was working with just didn’t let them work out. Then anxity and depression set in.
“It was then I realised that no drug could calm depression. There was hardly anyone I didn’t take. There was a time I was sleeping on drugs. There was a particular yellow tablet that, if I took it on Tuesday, on Wednesday I would only be prompted to barely wake up, eat and go back to sleep even before I finished eating. I would not wake up until Thursday.”
Owen Gee narrated the experience on Sunday during the unveiling of Live and not Die, an initiative aimed at stemming the tide of suicide in the country. With Kunle Pelemo as the convener, the programme held in Lagos encouraged several professionals to share their experiences while experts proffered solutions to depression.
According to Pelemo, suicide is so rampant that the World Health Organisation affirmed that it is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. WHO, he added, noted that about a million people committed suicide annually. Pelemo thus believes that it is important to take a conscious and sustained effort to tackle the menace.
He told the stakeholders that gathered at the Empowerment Centre, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, “The idea and passion for suicide prevention dawned on me after my intervention helped to prevent a friend and protégé from carrying out the destructive act. At LAND, we realise that there is always a gap between the period of suicide ideation and the act. If we care enough to render support to people prone to suicide, we will achieve a zero-suicide society.”
Pelemo added that the project would engage people prone to suicide, attempters and survivors. It will offer support ranging from moral, mental, material to the psychological.
Other people who shared their experiences and offered motivational ideas at the programme include Eniola Emmanuel, Victor Adigwe, Teniola Adeyemi, Alayande Stephen and Adelegan Rotimi. They all expressed the need for everyone to see life as a system of ups and downs, with all of them agreeing that challenges, no matter how tough, are often a stepping stone to breakthroughs.
Owen Gee explained how he eventually came to the reality that he had the responsibility to handle his issues with tact and live to take care of his children. He advised the guests to shun fake life – the type of which, he noted, was prevalent in the showbiz arena in Nigeria.
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