Former Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has called for increased attention to mental health and elderly care across the nation.
He made the call at the weekend after visiting the Seraphic Psychiatric and Elderly Home in Aguleri, Anambra State built by Evangelist Ebuka Obi.
The former Anambra State Governor had earlier met Evangelist Obi at Lagos Airport before visiting the facility, which he described as a noble initiative that demonstrates compassion and a commitment to serving humanity.
Highlighting the significance of the facility, Obi referenced a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report indicating that over 20 million Nigerians currently live with mental health challenges arising from economic hardship and stress. He stressed that mental health should be taken seriously, noting his administration’s investment in the Nawfia Psychiatric Hospital through the provision of modern buildings and equipment.
The former governor dismissed misconceptions that psychiatric facilities portray a community negatively, explaining that such investments are vital in societies that genuinely care for their people. He further expressed concern about the growing menace of drug abuse among youths, recommending that secondary school students undertake excursions to psychiatric facilities to better understand the dangers of substance abuse.
On the elderly home component, Obi described it as a restoration of dignity and respect to senior citizens who are often neglected. He emphasised that caring for the aged is not merely charity but a moral duty and a true measure of society’s humanity.
Meanwhile, Barly five months after commissioning a massive Orphanage and Old Peoples Home in Mgbirichi, Imo State, the Seraphic Homes Foundation, a non-profit charity organization set up by the Spiritual Director of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach, Evangelist Chukwuebuka Anozie Obi, on Friday opened the first free Psychiatric Hospital and Home for the Elderly in Anambra State.
The new N600 million facility was inaugurated by Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, in Aguleri community, Anambra East Local Government Area of the state. It is designed to provide completely free psychiatric care to individuals battling mental illnesses.
Evangelist Ebuka said that comprehensive care including diagnosis, treatment, medication, rehabilitation, accommodation, and welfare would be provided to patients all at no cost to them or their families at the Anambra facility.
He explained that the initiative was his childhood vision and that the plan was to touch lives across the country. “This hospital will start functioning fully from next month. We are going to have four vehicles going everywhere in Anambra to pick up mad persons and bring them here to help them.
“This is my childhood vision. I have travelled to so many parts of the world. You will not see mentally challenged persons roaming the streets in the western world. It is only in this part of the world that this happens”, he stated.
Evang. Ebuka said that having completed the project as well as the Orphanage and Elderly People’s Home in Mgbirichi, near Owerri, Imo State, his next move would be to Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia, Rivers and other parts of the country.
In his speech, Soludo commended the evangelist for the project, saying that the government would support it fully. Based on the foundation’s request, the governor promised to construct the road leading to the hospital and also connect it to the national grid.
Soludo told the evangelist that the state government would also support the hospital financially considering that the medical services would be rendered to the patients free of charge.
Seraphic Homes Foundation revealed that the clinic is Nigeria’s first ever free psychiatric hospital. It said that this grand opening marked the beginning of a new chapter in the country’s healthcare and social support system where love, faith, and compassion complement medical science to transform lives.
“The vision behind the project is to create a society where the mentally challenged are no longer abandoned on the streets, but embraced, treated, rehabilitated and empowered to live meaningful lives”, Evangelist Ebuka added.