Across many secondary schools, young people are carrying invisible burdens. Behind the
uniform and classroom routine are students struggling with anxiety, emotional distress,
family instability, digital overload, bullying, peer pressure, grief, academic stress, and other
pressures that can quietly affect learning, confidence, relationships, and hope for the future.
Global evidence shows that adolescent mental health challenges are widespread, and that
schools remain one of the most important places for prevention, early identification, and
support.
At LeadUp, we believe that no young person should be left to struggle in silence. That
conviction has guided our growing work on mental health awareness and early support for
secondary school students in Nigeria.
Through our collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education, LeadUp has begun
building the kind of school-connected response that young people urgently need. Working
through sensitization and direct school engagement, we have already visited more than five
secondary schools to raise awareness on mental health, encourage open conversation, reduce
stigma, and help school communities better recognize the warning signs of emotional
distress.
These school visits have done more than create awareness. They have helped bring hidden
struggles to light. So far, we have identified at least 12 students showing signs of mental
and psychosocial distress linked to a range of pressures, including prolonged and poorly
supervised digital exposure, family-related stress, academic strain, peer influence, social
isolation, and other challenging life circumstances. Because the evidence base on adolescent
well-being is strongest around broader digital risks such as problematic screen use,
cyberbullying, and harmful online exposure, we frame these cases carefully as part of a wider
pattern of youth vulnerability in a rapidly changing social and digital environment.
Our response does not stop at identification. LeadUp is following up with these students to
support their recovery journey, strengthen protective factors around them, and help prevent
similar challenges among their peers. This means staying engaged, listening early,
encouraging appropriate help-seeking, and supporting schools and families to see mental
health not as a taboo topic, but as an essential part of student well-being and educational
success. This approach aligns with education and public health guidance that calls for
supportive school cultures, counselling, early intervention, and stronger referral pathways for
at-risk learners.
What makes this work important is not only the number of schools reached or students
identified. It is the fact that early intervention can change a young person’s trajectory. A
student who is understood early is more likely to stay engaged in school, build resilience,
seek support, and avoid a deeper crisis. A school that becomes more aware is better able to
protect many others before distress becomes severe.
This is why LeadUp sees youth mental health as both an education issue and a development
issue. When young people are emotionally supported, they are better positioned to learn, lead,

and contribute to society. When mental health is ignored, the cost is paid in silence,
absenteeism, poor performance, broken confidence, and lost potential.
Our work is still growing, but the need is clear and the opportunity is urgent. With stronger
support, LeadUp can expand this initiative to more schools, deepen student follow-up,
strengthen teacher and parent awareness, build referral partnerships, and create safer learning
environments where young people can thrive emotionally as well as academically.
At LeadUp, we are not only raising awareness. We are helping schools notice earlier,
respond better, and protect the future of young people—one student, one school, and
one conversation at a time.