{"id":125476,"date":"2026-02-07T21:29:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T20:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=125476"},"modified":"2026-02-07T21:29:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T20:29:57","slug":"non-implementation-of-mental-health-act-scaring-away-foreign-donors-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/non-implementation-of-mental-health-act-scaring-away-foreign-donors-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Non-Implementation of Mental Health Act Scaring Away Foreign Donors \u2014 Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0By Tracy Moses<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Provost and Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Professor Afis Agboola, has warned that Nigeria\u2019s failure to implement the Mental Health Act is scaring away foreign donors from partnering with the country\u2019s health sector.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Professor Agboola made the disclosure on Saturday in Abuja during the 2025 budget performance review and 2026 budget defence session organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Specialty Healthcare, chaired by Hon. Alex Egbona.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He revealed that the hospital has spent close to N1 billion from its internally generated revenue to care for abandoned mental health patients, describing the development as unsustainable.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to him, although the Mental Health Act was passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari, it has remained largely unimplemented more than two years after its enactment.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe issue of patient abandonment is a major challenge. Unfortunately, despite having a Mental Health Act that clearly spells out the responsibilities of the federal, state and local governments, there has been no execution of the law to date,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Professor Agboola explained that repeated engagements with the Federal Ministry of Health on the matter have yielded little progress, with funding constraints often cited as the main reason for the delay.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He stressed that the absence of a properly established Department of Mental Health within the Ministry has limited Nigeria\u2019s ability to access international funding, as most foreign donor agencies insist on engaging with clearly defined statutory institutions.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThere are international partners, including agencies in the United States, that are ready to support Nigeria\u2019s mental health sector. However, they keep asking whether we have a functional mental health agency or department. Without such a structure, they cannot relate with us or release funds,\u201d he noted.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He added that several other donor organisations are also willing to assist in alleviating the suffering of mental health patients in Nigeria, but the lack of a designated agency or department continues to frustrate such partnerships.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The medical director therefore appealed to the House Committee to prevail on the Federal Ministry of Health to fully implement the Mental Health Act, particularly the provision for the creation of a Department of Mental Health.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThis is not optional; it is the law. Failure to implement it is to the detriment of mental health patients across the country,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Speaking on the 2025 budget performance, Professor Agboola disclosed that the hospital recorded zero capital budget implementation due to the non-release of appropriated funds.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He explained that although the institution received Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) of about 25 to 30 per cent, it has been unable to meet several financial obligations, forcing some psychiatric hospitals to disengage non-regular staff, including consultants, due to unpaid salaries.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He further noted that while overhead costs for about ten months were eventually released, rising energy costs and irregular funding continue to place significant pressure on hospital operations.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In his response, Chairman of the House Committee on Specialty Healthcare, Hon. Alex Egbona, assured stakeholders that at least 30 per cent of the capital component of the 2025 budget allocation would be released before the end of February 2026, next year.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0By Tracy Moses The Provost and Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Professor Afis Agboola, has warned that Nigeria\u2019s failure to implement the Mental Health Act is&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":125477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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