Akilu is an
NHS-trained forensic psychologist who specializes in the treatment of offenders with developmental and psychiatric disorders. She has 20 years of experience of mental health and psychology. As a youth worker in London, Akilu counselled homeless young people, and while working at a psychiatric hospital in Washington, she counselled
John Hinckley Jr, the man who attempted to assassinate
Ronald Reagan. Working as an adjunct professor of general psychology at
SUNY Broome Community College for over 12 years, she has taught and authored several research papers relating to homelessness, ethnicity and their relationship with mental health. Previously head of communication for the senior special assistant to the president of Millennium Development Goals, Akilu was chairman of the editorial board of a leading Nigerian newspaper. She was former director of Behavioral Analysis and Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Advisor in Nigeria, where she developed and worked on the country's Countering Violent Extremism Programme between 2012 and 2015. The CVE programme is part of the government's long-term strategy to tackle
Boko Haram, the terror group responsible for the abduction of thousands and the deaths of over 20,000 people across Nigeria. Described as a sophisticated and research-based attempt to understand and address the causes and effects of the insurgency, Nigeria's CVE Programme is a multi-disciplinary intervention targeting ex-Boko Haram members, youth, and other vulnerable groups through social programmes that provide them with positive alternatives to violent extremism. The deradicalisation programme focuses on the nexus between development and security at the community level and aims to rehabilitate former extremists through workforce training, psychological counselling, faith-based interventions and food and health care. Akilu has worked with liberated wives of Boko Haram commanders, who pose a unique challenge since they often experienced respected and privileged positions within the insurgency society and often long to return. In 2020, Akilu was appointed as the Visiting
Senior Research Fellow at the
African Leadership Centre,
King's College London. discussion in November 2023.
Sarhang Hamasaeed, Akilu speaking,
Binalakshmi Nepram,
Cholpon Orozobekova,
Margaretha Hanita In 2021, Akilu was a guest speaker on
Doha Debates' #DearWorldLive program and shared her solution to bridging polarisation in schools: always adapting education, continually evolving curricula, access and funding for more spaces for girls and more equality within the education system. Akilu is currently the executive director and head of the psychosocial services component of the Neem Foundation, a
non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded as a direct response to the problem of insecurity in Nigeria. ==Writing==