Nigeria is the most populous black country in the world with over 150million people. It is situated in Western African.
It will be of interest to know about the historical growth and development of mental health services in this country today -Nigeria
''One way of improving current ideasis to recall what was thought and said in the earlier time. It is useful to study the past to understand the present. It is essential to know the present since it is necessary the starting point for all future planning"( Bokoffka, 1975:1)
If the above statement is correct, then it will be of interest to study the past and present mental health services of this country as starting-points in further developing of mental health services in this great black country of ours.
Before the advent of the whitemen, the Nigerians were infact taking care of their mentally ill persons by the use of herbs, holy water and black juju(magic). The diagnosis and treatments of mental ill patients were purely and totally done traditionally. The yorubas believe that sacrifice can always be used to appeased the gods wich is the crucial psychological points of all cults, sacrifice serves as a buffer to absorb the shock of human misfortune.
However, the development of modern Mental health services in Nigeria started in 1927. Historically what was done at that time colonial period, was to put the mentally ill person in Asylum or prisons located in several centers in Nigeria-such as in Abeokuta, Yaba, Aba, Bauchi, Jos, Sokoto, Port-Harcourt, Zaria etc, just to mention a few.
The first important step in the development of Science based Modern Psychiatry in Nigeria took place in 1927, when the first Civil asylum of Lagos and Calabar were opened.
In April 1954, Aro mental hospital services for care and training of mental health personnel (nurses and doctors) emerged with a Nigerian Psychiatrist Prof. T. Adeoye Lambo in charge. This development had given birth to several units in nearly all the states in Nigeria today.
The Aro Psychiatry Hospital is still today playing important roles in
Promoting good mental health
Prevention of neuro-psychiatrist illness
Training of health lersonnels of various cadres and,
Research related to psychiatry and other behavioral sciences.
However Nigeria today still practice the Modern health services and the traditional mental health services side by side.
Some urbanized and educated people in developing African countries still consult tradtional healers even when they have modern facilities available.
There are today several psychiatrist and psychiatric nurses who are Nigerians, most are educated and trained in Nigeria and some abroad.
Most of them are products of Aro Psychiatric Hospital in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Finally, with my little experience and findings i observe that Acrican countries have the same experiences such as Nigeria which include the process of pre-colonial, colonial and post colonial periods in the development of Mental Health Care.
Lastly in the time past we only believe in the use of black magic to cure mental illness, but now with modern technology things have turn for better.
