The immediate past governor of Imo State and senator representing Imo West in the National Assembly, Rochas Okorocha, has called on the Federal Government to create a Department of Happiness.
This, he said, would provide counselling and guidance to victims of rape, drug abuse and attempted suicides.
The senator was contributing to a motion on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday on the rising incidence of suicides amongst Nigerians.
Recall that Okorocha had established Ministry of Happiness during his time as governor, a development that attracted widespread criticisms from Nigerians.
But the All Progressives Congress (APC) senator buttressed his argument with what obtains in the United Kingdom where Prime Minister Theresa May established Ministry of Loneliness to address similar issue.
According to him, the Police, Ministries of Health and Information are not properly equipped to tackle such matters.
“We think once we deal with Ministry of Works, Aviation, Health, we have dealt with all the matters of Nigeria. There are some sensitive issues that we must address and we must set up department to address this issue.
“In this nation, people are bottled with anger and we must allow them to express their anger. There is also injustice in politics,” he said.
“May I suggest that whether on the issue of rape, suicide, drug abuse, let us create a Department of Happiness to address this issue? Ministry of Health is not equipped for that. Police is not equipped for that, Ministry of Information is not equipped for that. We must get a department where people can go and express themselves for counselling, guidance and orientation,” he said.
However, he was opposed by Abubakar Shehu who insisted that institutions of government already have departments in charge of guidance, counselling as well as psychology.
