The news coming out of Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, is one that is difficult to read without pausing for a moment.
On Sunday, November 8, 2026, a student of the university was reportedly rescued after attempting to take his own life from a three-storey building.
According to reports, the student was sitting on a window ledge when fellow students noticed what was happening and rushed to intervene. They pleaded with him to come down, eventually managing to pull him away from the window. Some of the students reportedly sustained injuries during the struggle.
The Ogun State Police Command confirmed that the student was rescued alive and taken to the university clinic, where he is receiving treatment. His identity has not been made public, and the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.
We do not know what happened before that Sunday. We do not know what the young man had been dealing with, how long he had been hurting, or what brought him to such a painful moment.
And we will not pretend to know.
But one thing this incident reminds us of is that sometimes, people are fighting battles that the rest of the world knows absolutely nothing about.
Someone can sit beside you in a classroom, laugh with you, take pictures with you, share a meal with you, and still be going through something they have no idea how to talk about.
Someone can post a beautiful picture today and spend the night crying.
Someone can be the person who makes everybody laugh and still struggle to find a reason to smile when they are alone.
Sometimes, the person asking everyone else if they are okay is the one who desperately wishes someone would ask them the same question and genuinely wait for an answer.
And perhaps, this is a good time to talk about the people who are silently struggling.
To the person who is tired of trying…
Maybe you are that person.
Maybe you have been trying so hard to make life work, but nothing seems to be falling into place.
You wake up every morning with the intention of doing better. You make plans, set goals, and tell yourself that things will eventually change. But somehow, another disappointment comes along.
You apply for jobs and receive no response. You start something, but it doesn’t work out. You watch people you grew up with getting married, building careers, buying houses and celebrating milestones, while you are still trying to figure out what to do with your own life.
And you wonder, sometimes quietly, sometimes in tears, “When will it be my turn?“
Perhaps you are a graduate who has been at home for months or years, wondering whether all those years of studying will ever amount to something.
Perhaps you are a parent who wants to give your children a better life but cannot afford everything they need.
Perhaps you are trying to escape debt, recover from a failed business, heal from a painful relationship, or find your feet after losing someone you thought would always be around.
Or perhaps you cannot even put your finger on what is wrong. You just know that lately, being yourself has become exhausting.
If any of this sounds familiar, know you are not alone.
You are allowed to be tired. You are allowed to cry.
Some exhaustion sleep cannot fix.
It is the exhaustion of thinking about bills before you fall asleep. Of pretending everything is okay because you don’t want your family to worry. Of being the strong one for everybody else while secretly wishing someone would take care of you for once.
It is the exhaustion of hearing people ask, “What are you doing with your life?” when you are already asking yourself that question every single day.
It is the pain of wanting to explain how you feel but not knowing where to begin.
And sometimes, you don’t even want advice. You just want someone to sit beside you, listen, and let you cry without making you feel like you are being dramatic.
Dear friend, you do not have to apologise for being human.
You do not have to smile when you are hurting. You do not have to pretend to be happy to make other people comfortable. And you do not have to carry every problem by yourself.
If you need to cry, cry. If you need to talk, talk. If you need help, ask for it.
There is no award for suffering silently.
Please stop measuring your life against everybody else’s.
One of the cruelest things we sometimes do to ourselves is compare our private struggles with other people’s public victories.
You open Instagram and see someone announcing a new job. Someone else is getting married. Another person has travelled abroad. Someone you went to school with has just bought a car.
And suddenly, you begin to feel like you have done nothing with your life.
But you are seeing their announcements, not their entire stories.
You don’t know the difficulties they faced, the help they received, the opportunities they had, or the things they are privately dealing with.
And even if their lives are going exactly as they hoped, it doesn’t mean yours cannot.
Please, don’t turn someone else’s good news into a reason to hate your own life.
You are not a failure because your journey is taking longer.
You are not worthless because you are unemployed.
You are not less important because you don’t have money.
You are not a disappointment because you haven’t made your parents proud in the way you hoped.
You are a human being whose worth has never depended on a job title, bank balance, relationship status, academic result, or social media achievement.
You deserve love and kindness even when you have absolutely nothing to show for your efforts.
Depression is not something we should dismiss.
Sometimes, people say things like, “Just be happy,” “Stop thinking too much,” or “Other people have worse problems.“
But depression is not simply a bad mood that someone can switch off by deciding to be positive.
It can affect how a person thinks, feels, sleeps, eats, and experiences everyday life. It can make ordinary tasks feel incredibly difficult. It can leave someone feeling hopeless, disconnected, or convinced that things will never improve.
And because we cannot always see it, we sometimes fail to recognise how much someone is struggling.
This is why we must take mental health seriously.
If you have been feeling persistently low, hopeless or overwhelmed, please consider speaking with a qualified mental health professional. You do not need to wait until things become unbearable before seeking help.
And if you are having thoughts of ending your life, please tell someone you trust, reach out for urgent professional support, and try not to be alone while you are in immediate danger.
You deserve help without shame, judgement, or punishment.
To the person who thinks they have run out of time…
Can we tell you something?
You haven’t missed every opportunity life has to offer.
You haven’t experienced every good thing that is waiting for you.
You haven’t met every person who will become important in your life. You haven’t visited every place that will make you happy. You haven’t heard every song that will become your favourite or laughed at every silly thing that will eventually become a beautiful memory.
There are still ordinary mornings ahead when you will wake up and feel grateful to be alive.
There may be a day when you look back at the version of yourself who was struggling so much and wish you could give that person a hug.
There may be a day when the things keeping you awake tonight are no longer the things you spend your days worrying about.
We cannot promise that life will suddenly become easy. We cannot promise that every dream will happen exactly as you imagined it.
But we want you to give yourself the opportunity to receive help, experience new possibilities, and discover that your story can hold more than the pain you are feeling right now.
You don’t have to figure everything out today.
You don’t have to become successful tomorrow.
You don’t have to prove anything to anybody.
Just allow yourself to be cared for. Take the next step, however small it may be. Let someone know when things are getting difficult.
And to everyone reading this, please check on your people.
Not just when something terrible happens.
Check on the unusually quiet friend. Check on the person who always makes everyone laugh. Check on your siblings, your classmates, your colleagues, and the people who seem to have everything under control.
When you ask someone how they are doing, make it safe for them to tell you the truth.
Sometimes, a person doesn’t need you to have all the answers. They need to know that they can speak without being judged.
And if someone trusts you enough to tell you that they are struggling, please don’t make them regret opening up.
The student rescued at Babcock University deserves compassion, privacy, proper care, and the opportunity to recover. So does every other person who is struggling with their mental health.
And if you are reading this with tears in your eyes, or with a heaviness in your heart that you cannot explain, we hope you know this:
You are not a burden because you need help.
You are not a failure because life has been difficult.
You are not weak because you cannot keep pretending that everything is okay.
You do not have to make everybody proud today. You do not have to have an impressive story to tell. You do not have to be the strongest person in the room.
You are enough as a human being, even on the days when you don’t feel like it.
Please give yourself the same love, patience, and understanding you would give someone you deeply care about.
There is no shame in starting again. There is no shame in asking for help. And there is no shame in taking life one day at a time.
You deserve to be here. You deserve to be loved. You deserve to experience happiness that doesn’t feel like something you have to pretend to have.
Please don’t give up on the possibility of better days. Let someone help you find your way towards them.
It gets better, right?
Wishing you well…
