Attempted Suicide: Nigeria Moves To Reform Existing Criminal Law

The Federal Government has approved a proposed amendment to the National Mental Health Act to remove criminal penalties for attempted suicide and promote a care-based approach to affected persons.

The amendment will be sent to the National Assembly for legislative consideration. The proposed changes are designed to replace punitive measures with treatment, protection and appropriate support.

Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents on the resolutions reached at the Federal Executive Council meeting.

Pate said the review was needed because attempted suicide was still an offense under the colonial-era provisions of the Criminal Code Act and Penal Code, despite the National Mental Health Act providing for the care and protection of persons at risk of self-harm.

Under the existing legal structure, he said, people with mental health issues who try to kill themselves could still be arrested and prosecuted.

“The idea is that attempting suicide is not a crime,” Pate said. He insisted that people who attempt suicide because of mental illness should be treated as people needing care and support and not as offenders.

The amendment was the result of extensive deliberations by mental health advocates, the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney-General’s Office, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, a task force and the National Assembly, he said.

Pate said the aim is to move away from criminalization toward treatment and support, and the reform is expected to help reduce both completed suicides and suicide attempts.

We want to reduce it by 15% by 2030,” the minister said.

Pate said the reform would also help Nigeria tackle the larger burden of mental ill-health in the country.

The Federal Executive Council also approved the National Center for Oral Health Establishment Bill 2026 for the National Assembly.

“The proposed center will be a national referral and research institution for oral health services and also establish a comprehensive legal and institutional framework for the management of oral diseases and other oral health-related conditions in Nigeria,” Pate said.

The initiative was based on the 1982 International Congress of Oral Health Research held in Lagos which recommended the setting up of an inter-country demonstration, training and research center for the African region, he said.

He said that the Ministry of Health had established a center but there was no legal framework to support it.

The proposed legislation is expected to provide legal framework and strengthen the institutional capacity in oral health in Nigeria.

Pate said the development would fill a major gap in the country’s health infrastructure, saying Nigeria already had specialized institutions in fields like teaching hospitals, federal medical centers, orthopedic care, eye care, ear, nose and throat services and snake-bite treatment.

The Council also approved contracts for several major infrastructure upgrades at the National Hospital, Abuja.

The hospital was set up some 25 to 26 years ago with a vision of being a quaternary healthcare center but had not been getting the necessary infrastructure and equipment upgrades over the years, Pate said.

The approvals were consistent with the directive of President Bola Tinubu to transform the country through infrastructure upgrades and better equipment in the health sector,” he said.

The approved contracts include the refitting of the administrative and management block of the National Hospital, awarded to Visible Construction Limited at the cost of N18,740,038.

Strabbing Construction Limited was awarded N64,917,827,000 for construction of modular clinics and a theater complex.

The project will offer modular clinics for various specialties and theaters, Pate said.

Another contract has been awarded to CBC Global Civil Construction Limited for a high-end wing at the National Hospital for N103 billion. The project is to be completed within 24 months.

The Council also approved the construction of a Neuroscience Institute at the National Hospital for CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Limited for N69 billion.

The neuroscience facility will provide dedicated infrastructure for neurosurgery, radiology, intervention, and rehabilitation services, Pate said.

He said such specialized infrastructure was especially important for patients with conditions such as stroke, brain tumors and other diseases of the brain and nervous system.

The size of the approvals showed the need for Nigeria to invest heavily in healthcare infrastructure, the minister said.

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Good quality healthcare is not cheap. “Nigeria has to invest in its healthcare system to have the healthcare system we need,” he said.

Pate noted that the cumulative investment approved for the National Hospital by the present administration was more than what was invested in the institution in the past 27 years.

The Federal Executive Council also okayed a major project for the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT).

The project consists of designing, building, furnishing, equipping, supervising and commissioning a National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Center.

The contract was awarded to CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Nigeria Limited for N302,304,243,000 and is to be completed in 36 months.

The project was part of a larger Federal Government effort to strengthen the country’s cancer research and treatment infrastructure, Pate said.

President Tinubu had earlier approved the upgrade of cancer centers and equipment and the ones in Katsina, Benin and Enugu had been completed and inaugurated, he said.

The minister said that the new center at NICRAT would be a flagship institution in cancer research, treatment, innovation and capacity building.

Pate said NICRAT had already been provided for in the 2025 and 2026 budgets.

He added that the contracts for the National Hospital and the NICRAT were funded from resources appropriated by the legislature to the relevant agencies and entities and not in the Federal Ministry of Health.

He said the agencies followed due process and obtained clearances through competitive procurement processes involving the Bureau of Public Procurement.

He said the contractors identified were evaluated on their ability to deliver specialized hospital and health infrastructure projects within the specified timeframes.

He said the procurement processes and relevant matrices were open to scrutiny and had been reviewed by the Federal Executive Council without objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement.

The minister said the scale of approvals for health infrastructure was unprecedented adding that Nigeria has not invested enough in health infrastructure in the past.

“The poor state of many health facilities in the country showed the need for more investment in the sector, he said.

Pate said that while Nigeria routinely makes major investments in road infrastructure because of its importance to economic growth, it had not traditionally made similar investments in healthcare.

“We are starting to turn that around and thanks to Mr President, His Excellency,” he said.

“As the Nigerian economy and government revenue grow, more resources would inevitably have to be committed to healthcare,” he added.

The poor revenue has led to neglect of health infrastructure at federal and state levels, which has resulted in poor infrastructure and inadequate equipment in many primary healthcare centers and general hospitals, Pate said.

He said the government was now taking steps to address those deficiencies.

“Our mission is to ensure that they are implemented and that Nigerians can see a change of the National Hospital and a befitting cancer center here at NICRAT,” he said.

The minister also indicated that the investments are anticipated to lessen the need for Nigerians to travel long distances for specialized healthcare and to help cut down on medical tourism.