The death of 20-year-old Samwel Uko in May 2020 still lingers with Victor Ejike. He didn’t know him, but he wants to make sure no other African newcomer loses their life due to a mental health crisis.
Ejike thinks about how Uko, a football player from B.C., drowned in Wascana Lake after visiting the Regina General Hospital’s emergency room twice for mental health concerns but wasn’t able to access care.
“That particular incident (has) had a profound influence on me,” said Ejike, who adds the youth’s death brought up how race can impact access to care and the need for advocacy.
Ejike enrolled into a nursing program a few months after Uko’s death, and has worked as a registered nurse in the youth psychiatric unit at the Regina General Hospital since graduating in 2024. He uses his experience as a care professional and as a community leader among African newcomers to point others to mental health resources they might not otherwise know about.
Ejike and his wife Amarachi are from Nigeria and have lived in Regina for nearly a decade. They started the non-profit cultural organization Afro Tribes in 2021 to help other Africans in the city feel at home and address the “pain points” they felt when moving to the unfamiliar city.
This year, Afro Tribes is working to raise awareness about mental health, especially when it comes to youth who have difficulties helping their parents understand that it is a health issue and not a personal or spiritual failing.
“In the African community, in African culture, mental health is viewed differently. We tend to see it as a spiritual problem rather than a medical problem,” said Ejike.
Taban Daudau Uko, father of Samwel Uko, kneels in front of a makeshift memorial at Wascana Lake for Uko on June 5, 2022 in Regina. Uko was found dead in Wascana Lake May 21, 2020 having previously sought care twice at the Regina General Hospital before being escorted out by security.
Love Jazz, a Valentine’s Day gala at the Delta Hotel on Saturday, will feature music, dinner and a keynote speaker talking about how to support youth who are dealing with depression or mood disorders.
To Ejike, there’s no better way to celebrate Black History Month or Valentine’s Day than coming together to highlight an issue, such as mental health and suicide, that is affecting their community.
It’s especially important, says Ejike, because newcomers can experience difficult times simply because they are new to Canada and facing new stresses in their daily lives without the same community they had back home.
Ejike will distribute cards to attendees with mental health resources listed, in hopes that it could be the difference in someone’s life by helping them seek care.
Afro Tribes will also launch a online awareness campaign, Stay Alive, later this month aimed at destigmatizing the issue of mental health among Africans in Regina.
Ejike has started seeing more Black youth in his unit since December 2025. It’s a sign for him that his efforts to bring awareness and advocate for his community to seek care is succeeding.
“It means people are seeking care,” said Ejike. “They are not hiding in their homes, or they are not just praying and hoping it goes away.”
Related
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story, initially published on Feb. 12, contained incorrect information. Ejike has worked as a registered nurse in the youth psychiatric unit at the Regina General Hospital since 2024.
nyking@postmedia.com
The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.
With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark leaderpost.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
