Our #OnePerson for April 2025 is Victor Ugo
Our #OnePerson for April 2025 is Dr. Victor Ugo – a Nigerian medical doctor and leading mental health advocate who has transformed the mental health awareness and support system in Nigeria. In 2016, following his battle with depression in 2014, he founded the Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI), now a leading youth-led mental health organisation in Nigeria. MANI is dedicated to dismantling the stigma surrounding mental health, providing crisis support, and connecting individuals to essential mental health services.
Victor’s journey into mental health advocacy began with his own experience of depression. Despite his medical background, he struggled to recognise the signs of his condition, which revealed a major gap in mental health awareness—even among healthcare professionals. This realisation became the driving force behind MANI: to create a safe and supportive environment where Nigerians can speak openly about mental health without fear of judgment.
Since its inception, MANI has made remarkable strides across digital outreach, crisis support, education, and innovation. It reaches over 130 million unique social media users annually, making it a cornerstone of online mental health advocacy. Through its crisis response services, the organisation has provided over 123,000 free counselling sessions, supporting more than 40,000 individuals across Nigeria. Between 2019 and 2020, MANI reached over 8,000 students and 3,000 teachers through school programmes, directly impacting more than 15,000 students and over 5,000 individuals in various workplaces. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, MANI launched the Stranger Support System—an innovative initiative that connected volunteers with individuals in need of someone to talk to, benefiting over 2,000 people in under a year.
Victor’s work has earned him numerous accolades, including the Nelson Mandela–Graça Machel Innovation Award (2017) in the Civil Society Organisation category, C. Hub Magazine’s 30 Under 30 Creatives in Africa, and a nomination for The Future Awards Africa Prize for Advocacy. He was also honoured as one of Orange Insider TV’s Active Citizens of the Year.
Beyond these recognitions, Victor has played a role in global conversations about mental health, including a notable dialogue with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, where he spoke about the need for support networks for young people. He holds an MSc in Global Mental Health from King’s College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His global roles include serving as Senior Campaign Officer at United for Global Mental Health, Co-Chair of the Child and Youth Working Group of the Global Mental Health Action Network, and currently, the MHPSS Youth Engagement and Advocacy Advisor at the MHPSS Collaborative hosted by Save the Children in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Victor is also a dedicated advocate for mental health policy reform in Nigeria. He has been instrumental in efforts to revise the outdated Lunacy Act of 1958, which permits the detention of individuals with mental illnesses by medical practitioners and magistrates. He promotes the implementation of WHO’s Mental Health GAP (mhGAP) programme in Nigeria, pushing for non-specialist healthcare workers to be trained in mental health care to address the severe shortage of professionals.
In his personal life, Victor prioritises his mental wellbeing through practices like journaling, keeping a gratitude pot, therapy, meditation, and maintaining good sleep hygiene. He encourages everyone to begin mental health conversations in their homes, workplaces, and communities—believing that change begins at the grassroots level.
Let’s celebrate Dr. Victor Ugo for his unwavering commitment to mental health advocacy, his bold efforts to reform systems, and his dedication to building a more compassionate and mentally aware Nigeria.
