Why I considered suicide — Ex-Lagos Traffic Radio presenter Oladapo-Kuku

A former presenter on Lagos Traffic Radio Oluwatunmise Oladapo-Kuku has revealed she felt suicidal in 2015.

In an interview with Vanguard published on Saturday to herald her book: Living Mindfully: A Journey to Being, Mrs Oladapo-Kuku said she lived with bipolar disorder for many years and no one knew.

“For those who might know me, I was in the media industry for over 20 years and except I say it, no one knew that I was battling with this (bipolar disorder),” she said.

“All they knew was that I was just a performer. All they knew was that I was a presenter. But, I would go home and I was another person. I was battling with insomnia, and it got to a point where I was not sleeping seven days straight. It was one of those things. Yet, I was termed a perfect person, I understood people’s suffering.

“So, I was just a box of mixed emotions kind of a person. One moment, I am this, another moment I am that. Then it got to 2015, I had a suicidal attempt. I was a completely different person, I was having breakdowns. But when I get to work I am the best. That same year, I got diagnosed and I started visiting the Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Yaba.

“So, I said to myself as a media person that I needed to start educating people.”

The ex-broadcaster, fondly called Tunmise, said she told her two children about her condition when they were really young so they could understand when she was depressed.

“I remember when my daughter was 13, she wrote placards for me, 13 of them that said “You are loved”; “God loves you”, etc, as that was the first time I was attempting suicide. So, I would read them whenever I went into a depressive mode. I would look at those placards, and they are still beside my bed. The support system telling my children paid off,” she said.

Oladapo-Kuku left Lagos Traffic Radio in October 2020.