Executive Director Alasana Drammeh and General Secretary Mamudou Jallow of the ISSUP Gambia Chapter recently paid a courtesy call to the ISSUP Kaduna Coordinator Professor Ronke Grace Awopetu who is currently in the Gambia as part of a team of 15 Nigerian professors and doctors sent to support the University of the Gambia (UTG).
Professor Awopetu is among a group of senior academics from various fields deployed by the Nigerian Government as part of its Technical Aid Corp (TAC) program to assist African and Caribbean countries meet their manpower needs.
A Professor of Clinical/Health &Forensic Psychology at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna, Nigeria, Professor Awopetu also taught at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) and before that was the Acting Head of Department, Department of Psychology, at the Benue State University. Also, the Coordinator for ISSUP activities in Kaduna state, Awopetu has vast expertise in psychological assessment, effective communication, building client relationships, and maintaining confidentiality.
Speaking at the meeting, Executive Director Drammeh welcomed Professor Awopetu and her colleagues to the Gambia and expressed his hope for collaborative efforts that will yield results, especially in the area of Drug Demand Reduction in the country. Mr. Drammeh further briefed the visiting Professor on his organization’s plans to implement life skills programs to stem the use of illicit substances and reduce unemployment among the country’s youth.
In her remarks, Professor Awopetu expressed gratitude for the visit from the ISSUP Gambia executives and expressed her support for local efforts to curb substance use in the country. She also highlighted the need to leverage the family unit in all substance prevention efforts for children as the family institution is well placed to help intervention initiatives for this demographic.
Also present at the meeting was Dr. Benjamin Adegboyega, Olabimitan, a member of the Technical Aid Corp (TAC) sent to the Gambia. Before his deployment, Olabimitan was a full-term lecturer with Lagos State University, Ojo Lagos-Nigeria, and has previously served as an adjunct lecturer at Caleb University, Imota-Lagos, and Anchor University, Ipaja-Lagos-Nigeria. A lecturer with fourteen years of experience in teaching, researching, and providing community services in public and private universities, Dr. Olabimitan has also pledged to support the ISSUP Gambia chapter during his stay in the West African country.