Protecting Patients’ Rights Under the National Mental Health Act 2021: Challenges in Implementation and Enforcement

Mental health is fundamental to individual well-being and societal stability, yet in
Nigeria, it has long occupied a marginal position within national health policy. The
National Mental Health Act 2021 sought to rectify this neglect by enshrining patients’
rights, modernising service delivery, and aligning domestic law with international
human-rights standards. Notwithstanding its promise, however, the translation of
statutory norms into practical safeguards has proven uneven. Accordingly, this study
evaluates the implementation and enforcement challenges that impede the core goal of
the Act in protecting patients’ rights. The objectives are to i. map the Act’s principal
rights-based provisions, including safeguards against involuntary detention,
requirements for informed consent, and mandates for community-based care, ii.
examine the institutional framework—most notably federal and state mental-health
authorities and regulatory bodies—tasked with operationalising those provisions; iii
identifies practical barriers, ranging from inadequate budgetary allocations and
workforce shortages to constituted oversight bodies and deficient data-collection
systems. Employing a doctrinal methodology, the study conducts a systematic analysis
of the National Mental Health Act 2021 and relevant judicial decisions. This textual
inquiry is complemented by a review of policy documents, reports, and secondary
literature to assess the interplay between legal mandates and administrative practice.
The findings reveal a persistent gap between the Act’s ambitious standards and Nigeria’s
current institutional capacity. Although the law guarantees procedural safeguards, most
state authorities remain unestablished, and budgetary allocations are markedly
insufficient. Moreover, the absence of clear sanctioning powers for enforcement
agencies and the weakness of monitoring mechanisms fundamentally undermine
accountability. In conclusion, although the National Mental Health Act 2021 represents
a landmark advance in Nigeria’s legal framework, its impact is constrained by structural
and administrative deficiencies. Unless the requisite institutional and financial
underpinnings are strengthened, the Act’s patient-centered mandates risk remaining
aspirational rather than operational. To address shortcomings, this study recommends
that Nigeria increase dedicated funding for mental-health services, expedite the formal
establishment of federal and state mental-health authorities with explicit regulatory and
enforcement powers, develop standardised procedures for monitoring compliance with
patient-rights provisions, and launch a nationwide public-awareness campaign to
educate stakeholders about their legal entitlements. Implementing these measures will
be essential to ensure that the Act’s protections move from statutory to sustained
practice