My long history of research as a student from my undergraduate years (1983-1986) project titled “Effects of Education, sex differences and propinquity on attitude toward the mentally ill” and Masters (1998-1990) thesis titled “Psychosocial correlates of relapse amongst depressed patients” has helped me in my clinical and applied research focus which has been to engage in preventive and action research including psychological intervention programmes as demonstrated in my PhD (1991-1995) thesis titled “Psychosocial factors determining psychological disorders among prison inmates in Nigeria: Implications for treatment intervention”.

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My research is applied and anchored on funded studies, local and international collaborations can be placed in three focus areas-dealing with vulnerable populations:

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(1) The application of clinical issues (psychopathology and therapeutic interventions) in prisons and vulnerable groups. As a result, I have published severally in prison studies including deviance and criminalization of children/adolescents into adulthood and developing psychological instruments for prisoners and have helped the Nigerian Prison System in that regard. My prison studies have attracted prestigious international Fellowships in Africa (CODESRIA Laureate (1992-1995) and Fellow (2002- 2005), the UK (Leventis Fellowship 1996-1997) and Germany (Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (AvH)- 2003-2005). One of the best publications in this regard amongst others is titled “Personality and criminal outcomes of homeless youth in a Nigerian jail population: results of PDS & MAACL-H assessments” in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. I regard it as a good publication because the paper is strictly an empirical quantitative study but without tables and figures. It is one paper that was critically reviewed in detail. My AvH study is about African migrants in prisons and difficult situations. It is titled “I ‘m an Alien in Deutschland: A quantitative mental health case study of Africa Immigrants in Germany”. The book published by PeterLangs (Germany) is co-authored by Prof Boehnke (Germany). The book utilized up-to-date, sophisticated statistics such as Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The book dealt with African migrants in prisons with a comparative group, values, stress etc.

(2)  The second focus area is developing African-oriented intervention methods with the understanding of illness attributions based on cultural knowledge in Africa. In fact this has earned me an award in a conference in Hungary (best poster presented-2003) and I have chaired several conference sections (invited speaker, plenary, keynotes) and I have also been elected to serve as the Secretary-General of the World Council for Psychotherapy (African Chapter) as a result of my call and popularity on African Psychology which strengthens psychological healing methods based on African ideologies and concepts. International conference papers have been presented and published. Examples include “Cultural Dynamics of Trauma Expression and Psychotherapy: The African Perspectives”. This aspect of my research tries to understand how trauma, stress, PTSD, resiliency, values (stereotypes) and health-related issues (e.g., HIV/AIDS) can be understood from an African perspective and in vulnerable groups.

(3) Finally, my zeal for cultural understanding is well known internationally which led to one of my international collaborations on a global scale hence our study on schizophrenia across cultures in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. I have published with my colleagues (Stompe, T. Bauer, S., Ortwein- Swoboda, G., Schanda, H., Karakula, H., Rudaleviciene, P., Chaudhry, H. R., and Gschaider S.) from about 10 countries all over the world. Examples include: (a) “Delusions of guilt: The attitude of Christian and Muslim Schizophrenic patients towards good and Evil and the responsibility of men. TheJournall of Muslim MentalHealth, Vol. 1: 43-56, 2006), (b) “Paranoid-hallucinatory syndromes in Schizophrenia: Results of the International Study on Psychotic Symptoms. World Cultural Psychiatry Research Review, 63-68., 2007”, (c) Suicide Motives and Culture: Degree of modernization, response behaviour and acceptance. World Cultural Psychiatry Research Review, 69-76. ISSN: 1932-6270) and (d) “Culture and the prevalence of hallucinations in Schizophrenia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, (in Press: Science Direct) 2010”.

As earlier indicated, my areas of research are applied and a blend of clinical, health and applied psychology. My studies and research have attracted prestigious academic awards and fellowships including (CODESRIA, IFRA, SALBURG, AvH, LEVENTIS/SMUTS, ALBERT ELLIS, etc. In addition, I have over the years reviewed grant applications for the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), serve as external examiner to prominent universities in South Africa and overseas. I serve in international scientific committees such as the 2008 19th IACCP congress, Germany, 19th International Scientific Member of the just concluded 19th IACCP congress in Germany, 2012 IACCP congress, South Africa, 2014, WCP congress, South Africa, the Georg-Foster Award for lifetime achievement in research and teaching by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation etc.

Undergraduate teaching since post MSc (1990) and post-graduate teaching since 1993. Courses include clinical and applied. Taught at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia, University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus), South Africa and North-West University, South Africa. Teaching and research interests include psychopathology and cross-cultural issues in psychology, Psychology of distressed and vulnerable groups, sexuality including HIV/AIDS and trauma studies.

My past research efforts in the last eight years have also assisted me in engaging more PhD and MA students whose studies are being funded by MRC, NRF etc. I have graduated several MA/MSc students at the University of Limpopo and North-West University (over 100 students and 15 PhD students). In addition, I am being engaged at the international levels: USA (UCLA), CANADA (University of Windsor-(Culture & Trustworthiness study), Europe (AUSTRIA, GERMANY, NORWAY, NETHERLANDS-ICASA: IASP-2 Study), and the rest of Africa (NIGERIA, GHANA, NAMIBIA, KENYA etc.).