‘We’ll Rid Osun Of Mentally-ill People’ – Aregbesola
Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has stated that his administration is committed to try its best in ridding the state of mentally-challenged people through several of its programmes.
He added that apart from the treatment and rehabilitation of mentally-challenged persons, the government is not relenting in its efforts aimed at reducing or eradicating the rate of unemployment, which tension, according to him, is one of the causes of mental illness.
The governor spoke in Osogbo, the state capital last Tuesday while receiving the Care and Rehabilitation of Mentally-ill People (CAREMI) Foundation team, led by former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Professor Rogers Makanjuola, in his office.
According to him, as expensive as their treatment is, the current administration in the state is concerned about the mentally-ill people, considering the fact that they are part of the society and the danger they pose to the society at large.
He said: “It is not that we have surplus in our resources that we are doing what we are doing to treat and rehabilitate them, but we feel that they are part of the society and we are concerned about the danger they pose to the society when they finally escape.
“One of the factors that facilitate this illness is the tension and stress that unemployment could cause and we are addressing that in a broad way through series of our programmes.
“It is to me a simple routine of basic responsibility as a government that we are doing what we are doing, but is not without a huge cost.
“I have to mention that we are stressing ourselves and our meagre resources to do all that we are doing for the betterment of the people of this state”, he said.
The governor then asked the CAREMI foundation to assume consultancy role for the management of the rehabilitation centre in Ilobu, which, he said, has reached 95 per cent completion.
Earlier, Professor Makanjuola noted that his foundation decided to partner with the state government, having observed its seriousness in the initiation of the programme for the care and rehabilitation of mentally-challenged persons.
He noted that apart from the treatment, the foundation was also impressed with the rehabilitation centre being put in place, confirming that the centre is nearly completed.
The CAREMI boss then suggested that the programme should be taken up at a regional level, as mentally-ill people were being imported to the state due to the efforts of the Osun government on their care.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Youths, Sports and Special Needs, Comrade Biyi Odunlade, observed that the government has treated and rehabilitated not less than 40 mentally-ill people since the exercise started.
By kazeem mohammed
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