IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 57 THE NIGERIAN YOUTH AND SUICIDE: A REFLECTION Kingsley Nonso Ogbu, SMMM Sons of Mary Mother of Mercy Generalate Afaraukwu, Umuahia Abia State kingsleynonsoogbu@yahoo.com DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.16636.28806 Abstract In recent times, one could understand that so many issues have posed a lot of problems to our country, ranging from bad government, technological advancement, economic recession, poverty and even depression which has invariably influenced the youths and have even disoriented or misinformed them on the approach to life and living. The youth who are at the prime of their lives tend to take up actions which may seem favourable but is detrimental to them. As a result, the youth take up different approaches towards the “normalization” of this already shattered existence and as such some have resorted to taking away their existence. The dignity of human life is no longer taken seriously, since it is now being sacrificed on the altar of Suicide. This happens as a result of depression, break-ups e.t.c. This work is therefore poised to look into the issues of the Nigerian youth and suicide, its remote causes, its implications and ways out. Introduction In a country of disorder and unemployment whereby almost five thousand youths graduate every year without knowing their fate or what will become of them in the society as regards their means of livelihood, people begin to look anywhere and anyhow for a means of survival. And when they do not meet up with their end, depression sets in as a result of not actualising their dreams. Depression might lead to the thought of ending one's life, which is not the best option. Depression itself can set in due to lack of employment, identity crisis, low self esteem, and hopelessness. Even though our country Nigeria is blessed with many mineral resources, she is still far from solving the challenges of her people due to unequal division of these resources among the people, some of whom are without formal education and yet are trying to make ends meet. mailto:kingsleynonsoogbu@yahoo.com IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 58 Explication of Terms Suicide Suicide is gotten from a Latin word suicidium (sui-self, ocidere-to kill) this means self-destruction or taking of one's life. So this is direct killing of oneself intentionally. This act is performed voluntarily but with many catalytic factors around it. Suicide was used by Sir Thomas Browne in his book "Religio and Medici" in 1643 and was included in English dictionary in the mid18th century. The term is from modern Latin suicidium " suicide " sui - "of oneself" and cidium - "a killing. Combining the words, it means killing oneself". It is a deliberate act of intentionally killing oneself due to disorder, depression, mental illness, physical abuse, losses of one's love, sexual abuse, isolation, lack of societal and spiritual support, exposure to harmful objects such as knife and gun, poison, poverty, unemployment, depression etc. 1 Youth Youth is the part of life time following childhood. It is the period of existence preceding maturity or age; the whole early part of life, from childhood, or, sometimes, from infancy, to adulthood. Youth in Nigeria includes citizens who are at the age of 18-29 or 18-35 as case may be. It is not tied to a specific age range, yet it is between childhood and adulthood. This is the age of vibrancy and exuberance. Some people at this age have graduated from schooling and are ready to work while others are in school or trying to make ends meet elsewhere outside the formal educational circle. RA Animasahun and VO Animasahun in the work Psychosocial Predicators of Suicide Mission among Nigerian Youths (African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues 2016) said that suicide is a serious health problem as it is currently the third leading cause of death for teenagers between the ages of 15 and 24 years2. Studies in the World Health Organization (WHO) have shown that 1 cf. Bioethics: History and Contemporary Issues ; Cosmas Maduakolam Ekwutosi p. 91 2 Animasahun , S.A. and Animasahun V.O. (2016). “Psychological Predictors of Suicide Mission among Nigerian Youths”. In Balogun, S.K, et al (Ed.). Ajol Vol. 19 No. 1 www.ajol.info/index.php/ajpssi/artic, Accessed 6 th December 2019, 5:20am http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajpssi/artic IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 59 in every 20 seconds, someone loses his/her life to suicide. If in Nigeria it is estimated that about 20 to 30 per cent of the citizens suffer from mental problem, it implies that Nigeria has about 60 million persons with mental illnesses. Suicide therefore is a serious challenge to the Nigerian society currently. Even among priests and religious, suicide is not left out. A few days ago (as at February 14th 2020) the news of Sr. Sandra filled the air. The recent suicide news in Mangalore and Kerala are also fresh in our minds. This reality leaves one to wonder aloud. But then it points to the fact the other suicide victims are not from the deepest part of hell. They have not committed a separate crime so unforgiveable that the heavens would punish them with suicide as their special punishment. It only points to the commonness of humanity, a fact that given the same circumstance, most humans will act and react in the same way safe for the interference of divine grace. The empathetic import of the above situation is a clarion call to all and sundry, to address the issue of suicide properly and seek a way forward for a lasting solution to it. Life is one hard and unfair game a times and it demands a lot of patience to hang on. This capacity for inner strength and endurance is generated by a collective awareness of the need for its possession. Yet it is sad to note that many individuals who know, including the religious men and women do not talk openly about suicide perhaps due to one reason or the other. Suicide yes is taken to be a taboo especially in Igbo land and up till the recent past, victims of suicide were not accorded the the due respect of funeral ceremonies given to the honour of the diseased members of Igbo society. It was abinitio taken for granted that the penalties attached to suicide even after death should be enough to deter from considering such act, let alone committing it. Nevertheless, it is a fact that suicide cases are increasing by day. There is thus an urgent need to review it and find out the various loopholes to cover. Major Risk Factors of Suicide As stated by one of the principles of philosophy, cause precedes effect. The issues of suicide among the youth is a serious problem which has been triggered by so many abnormalities cum risk factors ranging from depression, mental disorders, emotional disorder, personality disorder, anxiety disorder, poverty, bad peer comparisons, wrong ideologies, poor orientation, social media etc. In Nigeria, high risk of suicide is more at the age of 18-35. This is generally the age of graduation and a time when people search for greener pastures, looking IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 60 for survival of life. It is also the age of reasoning when people evaluate themselves and find some of their strengths as well as weak points in personal development. This age bracket being the peak and prime of life, has high expectation generally and high activity series in the life of the individual too. However, when these high expectations are not met and the prospects of meeting them are far below average, stress sets into the individual‟s life. Though the efficient causes of suicide may directly be the abuse of substances like poison, other precipitators include poor management of life stresses such as financial problems, relationship problems like break up and bullying, chronic pain, chronic illness, disaster, hopelessness, low self-esteem, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, unemployment, mental disorder etc. These really affect the Nigerian youth drastically and call for urgent attention. Firstly, depression which is a psycho-pathology causes one to become downcast. It makes one to focus not on one's strengths but on weakness and not to be optimistic but pessimistic. This causes the individual to focus on his/her failures and to be hopeless. It is a sickness which always causes one the feeling of inadequacy. According to studies over 90% of suicidal persons underwent some form of depression before their death. This pathology is so high on the youth of today, since the trend of time proclaims the gospel of prosperity against endurance of challenges that we experience in our everyday life. As a result many youth who find themselves in an unfavourable condition tend to count themselves as failures. They loose hope of any positive change in their lives which most times spurs some to commit suicide.3 Secondly, we could talk about Peer pressure and undue comparison. This particular cause arises either from the parents or the youth themselves. Every human being is a person uniquely endowed with different time lines, talents and with different temperaments. Many a time due to some minor setbacks in one‟s life, the youth might be left behind in some aspects of his/her existence. Consequently at this condition, some parents begin to scold their children and even tag them useless. If such persons are weak willed, they would take such attributes to be true and such could make them fill guilty. This could cause one to commit suicide just to save them from such humiliation. On the other hand, 3 cf. Bioethics: History and Contemporary Issues; Cosmas Maduakolam Ekwutosi p. 94 IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 61 the youth tend to compare themselves with others. When it seems they are not coping well like others, they begin to fill frustrated and dejected. When such happens, there is the tendency of one committing suicide as a remedy for such unsuccessful life. In all these, the youth has to be encouraged even more and be corrected with love. Thirdly, we could talk about emotional disorder. This is a very sensitive cause especially at the prime of a youth‟s life. Many a time youths are so emotional even at the slightest provocation. This is because at this time the youth is at the peak of his/her sensual and sexual life. He/she most times confuses fantasy for reality, infatuation for love, and is more attracted to the opposite sex. Thus self- control is a watchword that should be emphasized in this regard. Furthermore, the problem of wrong ideology/Orientations is another factor that gives great concern in the life of the Nigerian youth. So many people today are dying because they are ignorant. Some of the youth are been fed with wrong ideologies and information which carry them all through life. Cultures differ but many a time we want to emulate them in all ramifications. This makes youths especially the girls develop the wrong empathetic processes toward life. As such they find it difficult to cope with the difficult part of life and become heart broken when any relationship is cut off. Some take it as the end of the world because they were wrongly oriented on the issues about living, friendship or relationship. Be that as it may, the Social Media has a great portion of blame concerning the impartation of the wrong ideology/orientation on the youth. This current generation is less traditional and then is prone to use of digital devices or means (such as phones and television). Because of this technology, face-to-face or real- life communication is less and the youth live more in the virtual world where social media has gained a lot of prominence. Social media is defined by Investopedia4 as a computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and information through the building of virtual networks and communities. By design, social media is internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content. The social media influence describes an individual‟s ability to affect other people‟s thinking in a 4 Maya E. Dollarhide. (2019). “What is Social Media”. In www.investopedia.com, accessed 17 th Feb. 2020, 12:54 am http://www.investopedia.com/ IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 62 social online community. People being addicted to social media have greatly led to many mental health problems. Mental health basically includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps to determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Social media has been discovered to have adverse effects on the youth, ranging from depression to general addiction. The Negative influences of social media thus include 1. Depression: a common mental disorder characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest in activities one normally enjoy. The use of technology can worsen depression by seeing people portray things that may not even be real like posting pictures of leisure time e.t.c 2. Cyber bullying: bullying was something only done face-to-face. However now someone can be bullied online anonymously by people they know or don‟t even know. While social media made making friends easier, it also made it easier for them to be victimized. And the online attackers often leave deep mental scars and even drive people to suicide in some cases especially when there is no intervention. 3. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): this is one of the most common negative influences of social media. It is basically a form of anxiety that one gets when scared of missing out on a positive experience or emotions that someone else is getting. 4. Unrealistic expectations: social media helps to form unrealistic expectations of life and friendships. It presents an unreal life and makes the youth use such as a yardstick for measuring his/her life achievements. 5. Time Management: most of the youths have social media accounts. Unfortunately, many youths have developed the habit of checking their accounts multiple times during the day, even when class is on or perhaps when work is in progress. Time spent on personal social media accounts, turns out most often to be time that is not well spent on meaningful engagements. However, it usually takes that individual another quality time to refocus on the task at hand, after the distraction has ensued. 6. General addiction: social media is often described as being more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol, with worst in addiction being Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat e.t.c Social media presents a kind of fantastic world that has a different life style than the one obtainable in the real world. At the long run, the difficulty in IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 63 marrying the two worlds drive the youth into depression, excessive use of alcohol, inability to deal with life situation/crisis such as financial problem, relationship break-up, chronic pain and illness among others. These most often constitute the major causes of suicide and breed conflict, violence, physical/sexual abuse, family disruptions (divorce / separation), fraud/ scam, idleness, lack of employment, unrealistic expectations by the youth, and unhealthy competition among youth, loneliness and discrimination as their fruits. Arguments Against Suicide Having seen the menace of suicide especially among the Nigerian youth of today, it behooves on our society to campaign frantically against it especially as it concerns the youth. In the year 2019 alone, there were many cases suicide among youths especially of tertiary school age. Many of these happened on the campuses of different tertiary institutions. This ugly trend raises the eyebrow of curiosity in any well-meaning individual. One may be tempted to ask if suicide has suddenly become an act of heroism. But the opposite is surely the case. Suicide is an act of cowardice. Life is a free gift of God to humanity and the most valuable one. It becomes unimaginable that the human being who possesses this life decides by his/her own authority to take it away. Great men like Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant have contributed against this evil act.5 According to Thomas Aquinas, Suicide is sinful for several reasons like, it leaves no time for repentance, hurts the community, and because life is a free gift from God, which only God Himself has the right to terminate or take. For Michael Cholbi (2011, p. 31-34) a further complication is that current psychological evidence suggests that suicide is often an ambivalent act in which individuals who wish to die must nevertheless overcome the ordinary human fear of death. 6 He further argues that given this ambivalence, it may be difficult to determine precisely whether an act that poses an apparently lethal threat to the agent who performs it was in fact an act in 5 Bioethics: History and Contemporary Issues; Cosmas Maduakolam Ekwutosi p. 95 6 cf. Michael Cholbi “Suicide”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1-10 of 2571 documents found. In Robert Gooding-Williams (2017) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Columbia University http://plato.edu>entries, 14 th Feb. 2020, 9:20 pm IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 64 which death was intended. When a person dies in such circumstances, it may prove difficult whether to classify the death as resulting from suicide (i.e intentional self-killing) or as accidental death.7 Kant Immanuel in his own view states that suicide is evil because it violates his definition of what is good; which means that which is based on maxim or rule that can be universalized. He tags Suicide immoral because choosing to commit suicide entails considering oneself as a means to an end whereas people should be treated as end itself and not a means to an end.8 For Kant, “suicide is in no circumstance permissible”. The man who commits suicide “sinks lower than the beasts”. We “shrink from him in horror”. Nothing more terrible can be imagined”. “We look upon the suicide as carrion.”9 Therefore, life should be respected and so it is unethical to commit suicide to satisfy oneself. Little wonder Albert Camus (1913-1960) in his philosophy posited that suicide is not the best option. The only courageous and morally valid response to suicide is to continue living. Moreover, life is sacred, only given by God and He alone has the right to take it. The way forward In a sincere attempt to answer the clarion call for a way forward regarding suicide, the society ought to take certain things more seriously even among priests and religious. These include the need for deep interpersonal dialogue. Superiors need to be more supportive to their subordinates. Family has to be paid more attention to. Formation of individuals has to be consolidated. People need a more dynamic and comforting circle of friends. Life needs to be punctuated by regular gatherings, outings, picnics, celebrations, seminars and community meetings to address ignorance and manage boredom. The level of table conversation in this generation ought to be raised. Vulnerable individuals, religious or priests need to be identified and assigned appropriate ministries. 7 Michael Cholbi (2007). “Characterizing Suicide”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1-10 of 2571 documents found. In Robert Gooding-Williams (2017) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Columbia University http://plato.edu>entries, 14 th Feb. 2020, 9:20 pm 8 cf. Kant Immanuel. “Philosophy of Suicide”. Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki, 14 th Feb 2020, 9:25pm 9 Paul Edwards (1797). “Metaphysics of Morals”. Philosophy Now: A Magazine of Ideas. Philosophynow.org/issues/61/kant_on_suicide accessed on 17 th Feb 2020, 2:21am IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 65 Inasmuch as occasional solitude is advised, dialogue should be fostered between individuals in a community, especially the lonely and the young. Many a time many individuals of this generation replace interpersonal dialogue with “cellular devotion” whereby the individual pays so much attention to his/her cell phone and takes no cognizance of the person next to him. While chatting on social media, such person becomes near to those who are far from him and far from those who are near to him. This is a misnomer. Also, the superiors in communities should not only be swift to discover and “control” members who are not in order. Rather they should be able to detect struggling ones and their sincere effort to fall in line. Thus they ought to follow closely but gently, those who seem to stray and establish a communion with them. If such communion proves abortive, they should alert the higher authorities not as complaint but in an effort to find a way to assist such person(s). Again, family is an important back up for every individual. For Luke Ijezie (Ed.) et al, “Family is an abiding reality in the life of every human person. It is the basic unit of society and it is within it that human life begins and is properly nurtured.10. Every individual has a family where he/she is born and bred. This family is not to be discarded in the name of belonging to any new family be it religious or otherwise. Inasmuch as the water of baptism is thicker than blood, God has a purpose for making the blood line of any individual, religious or priest pass through his/her biological family. The biological family knows the individual “by factory setting” (from natural origin), except for those who did not have the opportunity of growing in their family. Such person(s) nevertheless grew up in a home. Health and adequate relationship with the respective families should be maintained. When the going gets tough, family is a place of solace. Even Jesus Christ our Lord himself knew this very well when from time to time in his ministry, he went home back to Nazareth where he was raised [cf. Lk 4:14-30] and even though he said that his family were those who heard the word of God and obeyed it [cf Lk 8: 21], he did not fail to make proper arrangement for the care and welfare of his mother when he was about to die on the cross [cf. Jn 19:26]. Good and healthy relationship with family adds a lot to personal stamina and integrity of an individual, priest or religious. More so, the orientation people have in the training and formation they receive, matters a lot in the individual‟s capability to manage the crises that lead to 10 cf. Luke Ijezie (2015) “Introduction”. In Luke Ijezie, et al (Ed.) 30 th Proceedings of the Conference of Catholic Theological Association of Nigeria (CATHAN Journal). Lagos: Clear Impact Services, 2015 p. ix] IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 66 suicide. According to Daniel Goleman, “training strategies also need to take into account the ways one set of capabilities supports another. People rarely need to improve one competence; emotional capabilities are interwoven, not independent”11. For Goleman, there are some elements of emotional intelligence that are basic as to constitute “meta-capabilities”, which are essential for most other competencies (especially resilience). The basics include self-awareness, self- regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. The primary capabilities are essential for supporting the emotional competencies that flow from them. Thus human training or formation of individuals ought to offer a greater utilization of holistic practical intelligence. This entails so much of emotional and social intelligence. People of our generation should be reminded of the benefits in the use of altruistic instinct in paying attention to the other.12 Above all as the saying goes, a tree does not make a forest and no one is an island. Human being by nature is a social being and so it is a fundamental human right to associate freely with a trusted circle of friends. This equally enhances a stable base of social and emotional back up for an individual. Evaluation And Conclusion Having treated so far the issue of the youth and Suicide in Africa and with particular reference to Nigeria, the remedy still remain the fact that proper training and orientation should be made available to our youth since they are leaders of tomorrow. This approach should begin from home, the Church and the Society at large. The scripture says "my people die because of lack of knowledge" (cf. Hosea 4:6) Let the youth be well-guided and well informed. Also, every person in Nigeria ought to be a source of encouragement to the other. Today, many people are in many difficulties. In the past few days in Nigeria (as at 19th May 2019), there have been many suicide news. Young people take their own lives as if suicide is an act of Heroism. One cannot but wonder if there is a new Cult of Suiciders who brainwash people into thinking so. But the bottom line is that people need encouragement to live in this country. The government can encourage us by loosening up a bit. We can encourage one another too. It is the need of encouragement that Paul and Barnabas served in the 11 cf. Working with Emotional Intelligence, U.S.A: Bantam Books Publishers New York, 1998 p. 309 12 cf. Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationship, U.S.A: Bantam Dell New York, 2006 p. 51 IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 67 scriptural periscope of Acts 14:21-27, when things were too hard for the early Christian Communities. Many people are sources of DISCOURAGEMENT rather than encouragement by their being jealous of the other's progress, always finding fault, Scheming troubles to stop other people's progress like the Jews did to Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:44-52. People induce people to clamp down on others just because of unhealthy competition. But we can be sources of ENCOURAGEMENT to others by not being indifferent (Avoiding "I don't care" attitude). This is because problem somewhere is a problem everywhere. Thus everyone ought to join hands in finding the solution or being part of the solution. Helping others grow, breeds synergy (IGWEBUIKE) which is stronger than one man's energy. In forming synergy, individuals cohere with others and by complementarity achieve what would have been too difficult to attain in their individuality. By this one has more propensity of not being jealous of other people's progress so that they will get theirs. Thus it is only encouraging others that humanity will be able to enter into the NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH that St John prophesied about in Rev. 21:1-5 where the dwelling of God shall be with men. None of the above can be achieved without Love, the new commandment Christ gave us in the gospel pericope of Jn 13:31- 33;34 The bottom line therefore is to LET LOVE LEAD❤. In this people shall always make effort to encourage someone at every particular point in time. This attitude will surely help a lot in the discovery of many cursory sings that warn against suicide and as such help curtail its incidents. Some of the signs that warn against suicide are either outward or inward. They include actions or behaviours a person may display which shows signs or warning that the person maybe contemplating suicide. Such a person may unconsciously display the suicidal attempts such as writing about death, threats/comments of killing selves, withdrawal from friends, isolation, talking, thinking about death, reckless and aggressive behaviour, taking too much alcohol, excess drug use, seeking revenge, being moody etc. Granted, the ways of committing suicide varies between countries depending on the availability of effective means. Ours for instance includes hanging, pesticides, poisoning, drowning, drug overdose, starvation, suicide attack, accidents and so on. Yet all these could be prevented through IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 68  Meditation on word of God  Be outgoing  Creating enabling environment  Counseling  contentment  Take life as it is.  Be less expectant  Do not live for appreciation, otherwise depreciation will set in.  Awareness creation  Realization through insight  Change of view  Redefinition of life and meaning  Practicality over ideality As Gabriel Okonkwo, CSSp rightly reflected, sometimes certain events in one‟s life generate a lot of questions. Often answers to some of these questions are more dangerous than the questions themselves. But these questions are actually ones that someone may not avoid asking. It may be necessary to give response to these questions even when those responses appear not to be convincing. Life itself is a big question that nobody may be able to provide appropriate answer to. At one point or the other, certain events prompt certain questions to be asked about life. Some of these questions have a common root namely: is it necessary to continue living? This is a dangerous question that comes up when one faces exasperating life challenges. Little wonder Martin Heidegger (1953)13 in his reflection on the Nothingness of being said that this most Fundamental Question of Being is asked in times of excitement, sadness and boredom. There is a danger that the ability of one to value life itself depends on the answer one provides to or for this question. Providing a wrong negative answer may likely be the reason some people commit suicide and quit life completely. Providing the correct (positive) answer may likely be the reason some people decide to continue with life, living to face challenges of life irrespective of how bitter such experiences are. They refuse to limit their challenges and accept to challenge their limits all the days of their lives. 13 Ralph Manheim (Trans. ) (1984). “Martin Hedegger: Introduction to Metaphysics”. First Published in Germany, 1953. Later Published in England: Yale University Press 1984 [cf. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/introduction_to_metaphysics_(Heidegger_book)] IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 69 The ability of one to decide to live depends on the ability of one to develop positive attitudes towards life and the challenges that go with it. The inability of one to decide to be convinced of the need to continue living is as a result of one not understanding the meaning of life itself. Life is a process of problem-solving. The group of people that fail to understand life this way, think about life as something that should be free of  Challenges  Pains  Disappointments  Sorrows  Difficulties  Agonies  Sickness  Quarrels (fiction or finesse)  Misunderstanding (agree to disagree: Hegelian Dialectics)  Deaths etc Therefore whenever any of the above comes up, such people want to escape. But wherever they turn to, these challenges stare them in the face. They want to completely be free but it is not possible and therefore they look for a possible means of escaping completely from life itself. This is why most people commit suicide. Meanwhile, those who go for suicide fail to understand that suicide does not solve the problem. Every problem one faces is a problem that needs solution for life to be more meaningful. Taking one‟s life only means postponing the time within which the problem is to be solved. Problems are meant to be solved and not to be run away from. Suicide is an escapist technique and never a heroic virtue. Escapist ideology is a cowardly ideology because the victim has simply run away from solving a problem that will make life meaningful for him/her or for others. Life is too precious to be thrown away in the name of running away from problem(s). Being fair enough to suicide victims (not to the extent of justifying suicide), one may say that those with suicide tendencies need care and love for them to see reasons why they should continue living. They need our  Smiles  Encouragement IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 70  Concern  Appreciation  Admiration  Presence  Hearing out etc and the approval that they belong and are needed. so everyone should love life and see problems as ingredients of life. One should believe that he/ she needs to live and that every problem one solves, adds meaning to one‟s life and that of others. Finally from the ongoing so far, the caveat emptor to the issue of the Nigerian youth and suicide still is PERSEVERANCE. The youth ought to learn insights on perseverance through the Athenian ordeal of St. Paul who met with "failure" and setback in his course of evangelization but yet was not deterred from moving on to Corinth (cf. Acts 17: 16- 18:1) Perseverance is the art and virtue of being faithful in life even when we are not successful. It is the act of waiting patiently yet committedly for the insights of the Holy Spirit, that abounds by the daily unfolding of realities around us. So even when the harvest is scanty Keep sowing for the plenty For it is yours to sow the seeds And God's to confirm and increase your deeds. Even as we are in the dark as to the fate of our dear country, despite the supposed New Dispensation in government, let us preserver in hope for the best while arming ourselves with an open mind. Every failure/setback is a breeding ground for success/breakthrough if only one can persevere References Animasahun , S.A. and Animasahun V.O. (2016). “Psychological Predictors of Suicide Mission among Nigerian Youths”. In Balogun, S.K, et al (Ed.). Ajol Vol. 19 No. 1 www.ajol.info/index.php/ajpssi/artic, Accessed 6th December 2019, 5:20am Cosmas M. Ekwutosi, Bioethics: History and Contemporary Issues Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationship, U.S.A: Bantam Dell New York, 2006 p. 51. http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajpssi/artic IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 6. No. 1. ISSN: 2488- 9210 (Print) 2504-9038 (Online) 2020. Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Tansian University 71 Daniel Goleman, Working with Emotional Intelligence, U.S.A: Bantam Books Publishers New York, 1998. Edward J. Gratsch, Aquinas Summa: An Introduction and Interpretation. India: Theological Publications Bangalore 2008 Kant Immanuel. “Philosophy of Suicide”. Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki, 14th Feb 2020, 9:25pm Luke Ijezie et al, (Ed.) (2015) 30th Proceedings of the Conference of Catholic Theological Association of Nigeria (CATHAN Journal), 2015 Maya E. Dollarhide. (2019). “What is Social Media”. In www.investopedia.com, accessed 17th Feb. 2020, 12:54 am Michael Cholbi (2007). “Characterizing Suicide”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1-10 of 2571 documents found. In Robert Gooding-Williams (2017) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Columbia University http://plato.edu>entries, 14th Feb. 2020, 9:20 pm Michael Cholbi “Suicide”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1-10 of 2571 documents found. In Robert Gooding-Williams (2017) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Columbia University http://plato.edu>entries, 14th Feb. 2020, 9:20 pm Paul Edwards (1797). “Metaphysics of Morals”. In Philosophy Now: A Magazine of Ideas. Philosophynow.org/issues/61/kant_on_suicide accessed on 17th Feb 2020, 2:21am Ralph Manheim (Trans. ) (1984). “Martin Hedegger: Introduction to Metaphysics”. First Published in Germany, 1953. Later Published in England: Yale University Press 1984 [cf. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/introduction_to_metaphysics_(Heidegger_book )] http://www.investopedia.com/