Mental Health Is Key to Effective Living and service delivery...Rangers Intl FC Foundation Chairman
The effects and negative consequences of negative emotions on the mindset and society especially on students was what featured prominently during a security awareness summit held at NASS Hall of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education Owerri on 16th July,2024 with the theme: Empowering student for safer tomorrow, organised by the Student Union Government of the university.
Speaking during the event, the chairman Rangers international Football Club Foundation, Coach Ebere Amaraizu applauded the organisers on carefully choosing mental health as a topic for discussion and maintained that no one irrespective of whom he is in the society and job he does, can perform optimally if he or she is not mentally healthy. Mental healthiness is key because healthiness of the mind is important to coordinate the body. It is important here to state that we should all prioritise issues concerning our mental health because negative emotions take us to negative options and negative coping methods such as journey to crime, substance and drug addictions, violent behaviours, suicide and amongst others. “At Rangers Intl FC Foundation, we are collaborating with Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation to bring mental health awareness and education to our various communities just as we are here today”, he continued. Amaraizu who also is an expert in multi sports activities stressed the need for more student’s involvement in learning positive coping skills and multi sports activities to cushion the effects of negative emotions on them thereby stabilising their cognitive, affective and psychomotor abilities. He revealed that Rangers Intl Football Club Foundation is on strong Coalitions with Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation towards the provision of free mental health Awareness/ Education with free mental health counselling to students of tertiary institutions within South Eastern states and the entire country at large as one of the cardinal areas of Rangers international Football Club Foundation, the first football club foundation in Nigeria with huge emphasis towards reconnecting nature to mankind.
Also speaking during the event, the executive director Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation, Reverend Chukwudiebube Nwachukwu maintained that mental health awareness is supposed to be embraced by all and sundry and pointed out that anyone who is not mentally healthy is a danger to himself, friends, family or any organisation and school that he or she belongs to. He explained that a lot of factors can cause mental health issue such as anger, fear, hardship, relationship, business, academic failures, overthinking, anxiety amongst others. These could trigger negative emotions and mood swings which in turn affect mental health. He further maintained that no doubt, average Nigerian student are either physically, socially, economically and academically stressed hence the need for stress management for a greater society. He used the occasion to call for integration of mental health in the school curriculum which will cover Mental health awareness as well as its signs, symptoms, response and management. He added that in order to escalate mental health awareness / education in schools and colleges, Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation and partners have come up an initiative called S2S initiative which is aimed at empowering students on how to live and manage stress, exposing them to multi sports activities and the need for a National security framework that will help for identification of mental health issues in our tertiary institutions as a National security priority and which can be addressed through policies and guidelines that prioritise sports development in our schools.
Reacting, the student union government president of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri Emmanuel Osuji thanked various speakers and maintained that mental health is key while describing the engagement as worthwhile and with great impact on students.
Also present during the event was the focal person Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation at Imo State, comrade Kennedy Onwunali, students, various students’ leaders and other invited guests and special guests amongst others.
- Cope and Live Mental Health Awareness Foundation Editorial Team