Tajudeen Suleiman, Enugu

He said the purpose was to save the nation from needless embarrassment since, according to him, most of the actions taken by public office-holders on certain issues affecting the well-being of the country and the citizenry left much to be desired.

Ahiauzu, who spoke at the 36th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Session of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria, held in Enugu on Saturday, said the call for a compulsory mental examination of public officers had become imperative because investigations had shown that most of them “are mentally unstable to pilot the affairs of the country”.

“The psychiatrists are remembered only when people go mad. But I tell you, many people in leadership positions in this country need the services of the psychiatrists. Our leaders need to be carefully examined and through this, Nigeria would have been saved from a lot of trouble. Their actions and activities sometimes raise doubt about their mental stability,” he said

He stressed that the situation called for government’s immediate intervention by way of providing the necessary support for the psychiatric institutions to enable them perform their duties effectively.

Ahiauzu, who maintained that such an examination was done in developed countries, urged the Federal Government to review the enabling statute guiding the operations of the psychiatric institutions, as the current statute made in 1979 was no longer effective and could not accommodate the needs of the institutions.

He noted that the theme of the conference, “Mental health care for the disadvantaged and special groups,” was timely, adding that it would help improve psychiatric health care delivery system in the country.

He urged the participants, who were drawn from all over the psychiatric institutions in the country, to come up with blueprints for the sector.

He urged the Federal Government to increase funding for the institutions in the country in order to improve their efficiency.

THE PUNCH, Monday, November 28, 2005