Dr Martin Osayande Agwogie

Dr. Agwogie is a Fulbright Scholar in substance abuse prevention, treatment and policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States where he is also an Asst. Professor in the department of psychology. He is a Fellow of the Distinguished Hubert Humphrey Leadership Program, A Fellow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a Fellow of the National Association of Clinical Psychologists (FNACP) and an Alumnus of the Prestigious Harvard Kennedy School of Executive Education. Dr. Agwogie is the founder and Executive Director, Global Initiative on Substance Abuse (GISA), a Colombo Plan Educational Service Provider and the Focal Organization for the Universal Prevention Curriculum for substance use disorders (UPC) in Nigeria. Between 1996 and 2018, he served in different capacities in the drug demand reduction division of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

He holds a Ph.D in Psychology, M.ED Psychology, MBA in Human Resources Management, a Post Graduate Diploma in Hospital Management and B.Sc.(Ed.) Chemistry. He received certificate courses on Opioid Crises - the American experience from Harvard University and Medication Assisted Treatment - Office Based Treatment for Opioid use Disorders by the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry both in United States. He also received a certificate course on Managing Addiction: A Framework for Successful Treatment from University of Adelaide, Australia. He has attended over fifteen (15) workshops and seminars on opioid use prevention and treatment.

Dr. Agwogie is the president, Nigerian Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals (ISSUP, Nigeria Chapter), the Assistant Coordinator International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction (ICUDDR) in Africa and the National Coordinator/Trainer, Universal Prevention Curriculum (UPC), Nigeria. He is also a national trainer on Universal Treatment Curriculum (UTC), a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) certified Master Trainer and expert contributor to the UNODC-WHO International Standards on Drug Use Prevention (Second Updated Edition). He is also a Global Trainer Drug Demand Reduction. He was the national focal point on Nigerian Epidemiological Network on Drug Use (NENDU) project in NDLEA and a member of the national technical committee on drug use survey in Nigeria.

Dr. Agwogie is an author of three books on drug/substance abuse prevention and management. The books are titled: - Drug Abuse: Prevention and Management in the Workplace, Drug Abuse: Not My Child, and Drug Abuse: Weep Not Mummy. He is also involved in youths and community development initiatives on drug control in Nigeria. As part of this program, he has donated more than four thousand (4,000) copies of his books to Government, Non-Governmental Organizations, drug treatment centers, religious organizations and individuals. He has also facilitated youth sponsorship to global drug demand reduction conferences. His other focus is in the development of national policy on drug demand reduction and promote a balanced approach to drug control in Nigeria; a balanced approach that includes an appropriate mix between drug demand reduction and supply suppression. Promote policies on decriminalization of drug use as against criminalization, as well as availability and accessibility of drug rehabilitation centers in Nigeria.

In recognition of his contributions to the field of drug demand reduction he has received several awards and commendations among which are, award of Excellence in Services to Drug Demand Reduction by the International Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals (ISSUP Global), National Drug and Substance Abuse Prevention Personality 2017 award by the African Youths Initiative on Crime Prevention and a Commendation for Outstanding Performance in drug demand reduction by the Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) among other recognitions.