This will make it the third time that I will be writing on what has perhaps, and sadly too, become a trending issue in our society.
Suicide!
I decided to write again because some sections of our society are sadistically finding it funny. They are wondering why other people are now copycatting that unfortunate act.
Like I wrote in one of my previous posts, I believe those who committed suicides were courageous. I am not disputing the fact that they reacted negatively.
The Yoruba will say, if the cow had a say in its killing, it would have refused being slaughtered. I don’t believe any normal being, no matter the weight of the problems, does really want to die.
However, it was the circumstances they were facing and which they thought were insurmountable that compelled them to commit the act. Personally, I am too cowardly to commit harakiri.
I believe the act arises from a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. A person does not just wake up in a day and decide to commit suicide.
There would have been a chain of events. This is where we come in. At least, for the sake of sanity in our society, we just have to care.
The reactions, I have been reading in the social media recently generally do not portray us as people who want to empathise with suicidees to be.
The Yoruba will say, people – normal people – do not feign death. I believe those people need our understanding. They need our love. They need our support. They need our affection.
I really do understand that we are all busy looking for our daily bread. Our children’s school fees must be paid. Those things are especially difficult now.
But then, if we choose to be aloof, then we will be less human.
Our religious bodies too have a big role to play. Since it is only those who are alive that can worship God, it will not be too much for religious bodies to set up counselling units in the various religious places. Of course, there should be visitation sections in our churches and mosques.
Most importantly, religious groups should look into ways of making members economically productive.
The government too should play their own part by consciously improving on the economy. They should make food affordable for the ordinary man.
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