… Millions remain at risk as key reforms stall four years after Mental Health Act
By Chioma Obinna
To confront Nigeria’s deepening mental health crisis, Nigerian Mental Health (NMH) has launched the country’s first-ever public-facing Mental Health Policy Commitment Tracker, an accountability tool aimed at exposing implementation gaps and compelling government action on long-promised reforms.
The data-driven platform, officially unveiled in Abuja, is designed to independently monitor whether mental health policies and legal commitments are translating into real services, institutional reforms, and protections for millions of Nigerians.
The launch comes amid mounting concerns that despite the passage of Nigeria’s National Mental Health Act in 2022, critical aspects of implementation remain stalled, leaving vulnerable citizens without adequate care or legal safeguards.
Among the major gaps highlighted is the failure to fully establish the Department of Mental Health mandated by the law and the government’s missed December 2025 deadline to decriminalise attempted suicide, now shifted to December 2026.
According to the Founder of NMH, Chime Asonye, the tracker was created to bridge what he described as a dangerous accountability vacuum in Nigeria’s mental health ecosystem.
Asonye said: “Visibility must be matched by measurable execution. This tracker exists because moving from action to accountability cannot be optional. It ensures mental health commitments are not simply announced but transparently monitored and translated into tangible legal, institutional, and service delivery outcomes.”
She said the idea emerged during NMH’s involvement in drafting key national mental health policies, where it became obvious that while commitments were being made, there was no independent system to verify whether they were being implemented.
“There was no clarity on who owned specific deliverables, who was reporting progress, what data was needed, or how often it should be tracked. That gap is what this platform is closing,” he said.
The tracker serves as a centralized public dashboard, aggregating government data, legislative updates, budget documents, stakeholder submissions, and grassroots evidence of implementation.
It will monitor progress on major policy commitments, including the National Mental Health Act, state-level reforms, mental health financing, workforce expansion, treatment affordability, and broader rights-based protections.
Each milestone will be rated under implementation markers such as Not Started, In Progress, Delayed, or Completed, allowing citizens, policymakers, and advocacy groups to track federal and state performance in real time.
Delivering the keynote address, Vivianne Ihekweazu, Managing Director of Nigeria Health Watch, described the initiative as a bold step toward strengthening public accountability in health governance.
Also speaking at the event, music star and mental health advocate Hadiza Blell-Olo said advocacy must evolve beyond public conversations into structured systems change.
“True authenticity means artists and cultural figures must move beyond just talking about mental health. We need to begin actively partnering with professional communities and systems-building organisations to drive real, measurable change,” she said.
“This tracker gives us a concrete framework to align our platforms with policy accountability.”
Reacting to the initiative, the National Mental Health Coordinator at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunde Ojo, acknowledged the importance of independent oversight.
“We recognise the important role independent accountability mechanisms play in strengthening implementation and improving service delivery,” he said.
Mental health experts said the tracker could become a critical pressure point for reform in a country where stigma, poor funding, and weak infrastructure continue to limit access to care.
With millions of Nigerians grappling with untreated mental health conditions, the advocates insisted that the new platform could mark the beginning of a new era, one where government promises on mental health are no longer hidden in policy documents, but tested against public scrutiny.
