Alabi addresses mental health problems with documentary, comic book

Founder of Emotions City, an emotional intelligence centre, Oyinkansola Alabi, is set to release a documentary and a comic book that addresses mental health issues.

The documentary is titled, ‘The Story of a Girl Who Stood Up for Emotional Intelligence in Nigeria’.

According to her, the comic book will be released alongside the documentary this month.

She explained that the documentary tells the impact of emotional intelligence and mental health on some people she has encountered.

“We interviewed about 10 people who shared their stories that made up the documentary. We are also exploring technology; more so we are becoming a tech platform that creates emotional stability solutions,” she said.

On the comic book, she said: “We are trying to simplify mental health and make it go viral. People prefer to read the content title, wisdom and wilts, which is education and some level of simplicity and fun. So we decided to hop on a comic. We have done some comics before, which were shared amongst friends. But now we want to amplify the voices and make it go as viral as possible.”

She further stated that the comic book would be translated into 10 different languages like Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, French, English, German, Spanish, Tiv, Efik and Russian with the help of volunteers, adding that it would be distributed free of charge while the translators would receive credit for their intellectual contribution.

Speaking on how the centre has impacted mental health in Africa, she said: “We created therapy gift cards where you can gift your friends, colleagues or anyone who needs therapy, that can reach out to us and come for sessions. We also had a therapy hotline for a year where people could call in and receive free therapy. We had to pause it because I was the one sponsoring and championing it with my funds and I just felt a year was good enough to do that but we offer free therapy from time to time when we can.

“This means I need to deepen my impact and look beyond offering therapy to individuals, organisations and schools so that we can include mental health in the curriculum. I will be more available to work with school, to create a mental health department, mental health cafes and include mental health in their curriculums.”

Alabi recently bagged a doctorate degree on Behavioural Psychology from S.K University in Benin Republic. She is also a productivity enhancement and life validation strategist. The first female founder of an Emotional Intelligence Academy in Africa, she is also the convener of Africa’s first Emotional Intelligence Week. A Goldman Sachs Scholar, Alabi is one of the 100 most influential and impactful women in Nigeria, 2019 and 2022.