{"id":21441,"date":"2025-10-20T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=21441"},"modified":"2025-10-20T12:07:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T11:07:29","slug":"mental-health-is-not-a-luxury-nollywoods-aki-challenges-nigerias-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/mental-health-is-not-a-luxury-nollywoods-aki-challenges-nigerias-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMental Health Is Not a Luxury\u201d: Nollywood\u2019s Aki Challenges Nigeria\u2019s Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Prominent Nollywood actor Chinedu Ikedieze, widely known by his screen name \u201cAki,\u201d has called on Nigerians to give greater attention to mental health, stressing that emotional well-being is as vital as physical health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview published Sunday, Ikedieze said many Nigerians silently battle personal and environmental pressures, and urged more advocacy and open dialogue around mental health. \u201cWe can\u2019t take away mental health challenges from men and women,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s family issues or personal battles, your level of discipline and self-control determines how you respond to life\u2019s challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ikedieze recently participated in a mental health and gender-based violence conference in Namibia, organized by Echoes Africa Initiatives, a New York-based nonprofit. He described the experience as eye-opening, noting that it deepened his understanding of emotional discipline and the importance of self-awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe awareness has really made me understand the craziest side of life, especially in the areas we most often neglect,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was my first time witnessing victims and experts share their ordeals and solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The actor encouraged Nigerians to use platforms such as workshops and films to promote mental health awareness. \u201cFeed your mind with positivity,\u201d he advised. \u201cAnd please, do whatever makes you happy. Life has no duplicate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mental health advocacy has gained momentum in Nigeria in recent years, amid rising cases of depression, anxiety, and suicide, particularly among youth and public figures. Experts warn that poor awareness and limited access to care remain major obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other celebrities have also spoken out. Nigerian singer Iyanya Onoyom Mbuk, known as Iyanya, recently urged fans to show empathy toward entertainers, noting that fame does not shield them from emotional struggles. \u201cCelebs are humans with deep feelings and struggles like everyone else,\u201d he wrote on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ikedieze\u2019s remarks add to a growing chorus of voices in the entertainment industry pushing for greater compassion and mental health support across Nigerian society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Prominent Nollywood actor Chinedu Ikedieze, widely known by his screen name \u201cAki,\u201d has called on Nigerians to give greater attention to mental health, stressing that emotional well-being is as vital as physical health. In an interview published Sunday, Ikedieze said many Nigerians silently battle personal and environmental pressures, and urged more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nollywood-actor-Chinedu_Ikedieze.jpg?fit=440%2C659&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21441"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21455,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21441\/revisions\/21455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}