England Based Occupational Therapist Donates Books to Nigerian School

By Tope Musowo

An occupational therapist based in England, Adedolapo Adewole yesterday donated 1400 books to the Federal School of Occupational Therapy, Oshodi Lagos, as a show of her support for the profession in Nigeria.

 Adelapo who came from England  down to Nigeria in 2015/2016 for her  compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and  internship, at the school, said during the official book presentation yesterday that," I was here for over a year,during which I lectured them foundations for professional practice,ethics in occupational therapy,during that time I saw this need for reading materials, so I made up my mind to do something about it, when I went back I got in contact with this charity organization in England called Books2Africa International,I did a project research and told them how we need their help to get some books for the students here to make them be at par with their counterparts in other parts of the world".

"They approved the project, funded the project, they donated 1400 books,which got chipped down to Nigeria and here we are today for the official presentation of the books,these you are seeing would cost thousands of pounds if we are to put a figure to it,we are really grateful to Books2Africa International,i am also grateful to my brother Mr Ademola Adewole,who also contributed to the cost of chipping the books to Nigeria".

"My motivation for doing this is as result   of my passion for education,I'm passionate about the students because I see the amount of efforts and dedication they put in into their studies with limited or no resources, if they have access to more resources I know they will excel and become professional in this field,so that is my motivation for doing this,I started with the set one who gave me the inspiration to apply for this project encourage them anything is possible".

"My advice to the students is to make the best use of the books,and be more focus and I know the sky is just the beginning for them,they shouldn't follow this common mentality that nothing can be done around here and sit down on the same spot,the world is so big for them to explore and make name for their selves and they can always go beyond the limitation of Nigerian environment".

"Beyond this book donation I'm also looking at getting the World Federation of Occupational Therapy to give accreditation status to this school and contribute to what is happening here,that  is my next project ".Dolapo said.

The Acting Principal of the school,Mr Akinwole Adeoso in response to the donation said,"Its a move I really applaud,Dolapo had her internship here was so supportive, she saw the need and felt she should do something about it,she  has the passion of taking the practice of occupational therapy in Nigeria to the next level.

"As you may be aware,this is the first school of occupational therapy in Nigeria, as much as government is doing her best, the growth of the practice outside there is faster than our pace in Nigeria, so Dolapo felt so concerned about this,that's is why she is trying her best to ensure she contribute to the growth of the practice here.

"This is a big challenge to me and everyone of us,she was just here for a couple of months and she felt the need to do this ,with this she is already addressing one of the teething issues in this school. So the message for all of us is that wherever we find ourselves whatever situation we meet on ground we can do something about it.

On why the activities of the school seems to have been underreported, the man blamed it on the media that has not given much publicity to the their activities, according to him,they usually have two major events every year,matriculation and convocation,and another annual event on every October 27, which ordinarily should be an avenue to publicise the school the school always invite the media,and also the fact that not many people dont know about the practice, like he said ,the school is the first in Nigeria and the whole of Africa,apart from Obafemi Awolowo University which also run a BSc in Occupational Therapy and a similar program in Benin,he added that if many universities in the country are running the program the awareness would have been more than this",the Principal added.

Mr Olukoju Emmanuel ,an occupational therapist, a lecturer in the school in his own response rather put it this way,"word cannot describe how I feel,I was the one that received the books when it was chipped to the country about four months ago,she gave me a call from the UK that the book will be arriving, I never knew it was going to be this number of books.

"1400 books is outstanding,these students have to see this a rare and golden opportunity,I was once a student of this school before I went to India for further studies,so I understand what it is when you have to study with limited resources,but one thing I know Nigerians for is that we are always excelling whenever we find ourselves despite all odds. 

"We quite appreciate this good gesture because if we have all we need in this country, there won't be any need for many of us traveling abroad for education. This is actually a step in the right direction so I urge the students to make the best use of it",Olukoju said.