The Youth Development and Empowerment Initiative (YEDI), in collaboration with Grassroot Soccer have called for the integration of mental health education into Nigeria’s school curriculum to equip young people with the knowledge to recognise mental health challenges, overcome stigma and seek appropriate support.

The organisations made the call at the 2026 Skills Holiday Camp organised by YEDI in partnership with the FIFA Foundation and Grassroot Soccer, with support from Lagos State Ministries of Youth and Social Development, Education and Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

The eight-day camp brought together young people from different schools and communities in Lagos for practical and interactive learning on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); mental health, financial literacy, technology and soft skills, among others.

The programme also featured HIV testing services, referrals, health support, crafts and football activities, with trained coaches and volunteers facilitating the sessions.

Executive Director of YEDI, Oluwatomisin Adeoye, said the curriculum was deliberately designed based on an assessment of the needs of young people and the gaps identified in their communities.

Adeoye said mental health was prioritised because many young people lacked adequate knowledge about mental health and available support services.

She said: “We see young people committing suicide, while some go into depression. But if there is adequate information on what they are going through, and they know that they can talk to a therapist or counsellor who can help them through the situation, perhaps those who committed suicide may not have done so.”

According to her, the Skills Girls and Skills Guys curriculum developed by Grassroot Soccer had been adapted to the Nigerian context through the involvement of relevant stakeholders, including parents, religious leaders and education authorities.

She explained that participants were divided into age groups to ensure that the information provided was appropriate to their developmental stages.

Adeoye said the use of football was also intentional, as it provided an engaging way of delivering health and life-skills education to young people outside the conventional classroom setting.

She added that the group’s intervention extended beyond the holiday camp to include school and community-based programmes, as well as interventions targeting out-of-school children and those living with disabilities.

Adeoye stressed the need for the government to make mental health education a sustainable part of the school curriculum.

She also called for teachers to be adequately trained to understand mental health issues and guide students towards appropriate support.

Also speaking, the Nigerian representative of Grassroot Soccer, Babatunde Odusolu, said the programme provided an opportunity to equip young people with life skills.

Odusolu said the mental health component was particularly important because young people are exposed to pressures arising from economic hardship, peer pressure, social media and other societal challenges.

“The essence of this is to empower them to identify the common ones and also seek help. It is not to train them to be specialists at diagnosis,” he said.

Odusolu noted that the programme also aimed to address the stigma surrounding mental health by providing young people with accurate information and helping them understand when and where to seek professional assistance.

He identified anxiety and depression as mental health challenges affecting young people, while substance abuse is also becoming a growing concern.