Esere gets APROCON Fellowship Award
A Professor of Guidance and Counselling at the University of Ilorin, Mary Ogechi Esere, has received the prestigious Fellowship Award of the Association of Professional Counsellors in Nigeria (APROCON) in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the development and advancement of the counselling profession in Nigeria.
The Award was presented to Prof. Esere on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at the Convocation Arena, Bayero University, Kano, during the Association’s 10th Annual International Conference.
According to the citation, the Award was conferred on Prof. Esere in recognition of her efforts at raising the standard of professional counselling scholarship, particularly through her service as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Professional Counselling (JPC), the official journal of APROCON.
Under her editorial leadership, the journal is being retooled and repositioned to meet international standards, with efforts towards improving its visibility and accessibility through abstracting and indexing in recognised scholarly platforms, including Boldscholar, International Scientific Indexing (ISI), and Google Scholar.
The recognition, therefore, represents an appreciation not only of Prof. Esere’s academic accomplishments but also of her commitment to strengthening professional counselling practice, research, scholarship and knowledge dissemination.
The award was presented on behalf of the APROCON Board of Fellows by distinguished professors, including Prof. Osorochi Obi (APROCON President), Prof. Ngozi Osarenren, Prof. Alfred A. Adegoke and Prof. Oyaziwo Aluede, who represented the Board at the ceremony.
In her reaction while speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the Award presentation, Prof. Esere, who is also a member of the Editorial Board of UNILORIN Bulletin, said, “This Fellowship Award stands as a significant milestone in a distinguished career devoted to teaching, research, professional counselling and the advancement of the counselling profession.”
She added that her recognition also underscores the important role of professional scholarship and quality academic publishing in promoting the visibility and credibility of counselling as a profession.
Prof. Esere described the award as “both a personal honour and recognition of the broader contribution of dedicated counselling professionals who continue to advance the discipline through scholarship, professional service, mentorship and innovation.”
The colourful conference and award ceremony attracted prominent personalities from government, academia and the counselling profession. Among the guests were the Governor of Kano State, Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf, who served as the Special Guest of Honour; Dr. Olufunso Amosun, APROCON Grand Patron; Prof. Airat Folashade Sulaiman of the Department of Counselling Psychology, Islamic University, Kampala, Uganda.
The 10th Annual International Conference of APROCON featured stimulating keynote addresses, lead paper presentations and skills-training sessions centred on the conference theme, “Innovative Interventions on Substance Use Reduction.”
