The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, Professor Umaru Pate, has called on the Nigerian media to do more in reporting agriculture in order to generate interest that will lead to increased food production and income in the country.
Pate, a renewed professor of Mass Media and Society, who spoke on the role of the media in agricultural development at the 6th OFAB Media Award, said there was the need for agencies and institutions in the agricultural space to consider setting up community radio stations and using the film industry to further expand the information that would be beneficial to farmers.
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The don emphasized that growing population, widening poverty gap, increased frustrations across the country required those in the sector with huge potentials to do more by putting information that would highlight opportunities for the people.
He challenged journalists to wake up in the area of “investigation” regarding the billions of naira sunk into agricultural projects across the country without commensurate productivity.
The director-general/chief executive officer of the National Biotechnology Development Agency, Professor Abdullahi Mustapha, in his remarks, said the contributions of journalists to national development through the promotion of innovative best practice in agricultural biotechnology and other agricultural technologies was critical.
He said that such was key to solving the challenges of food insecurity, climate change and sustainable development.
“The role of the media is clear: to ensure that Nigeria promptly adopts biotechnology solutions for sustainable development. Being a veritable channel of public education, I urge you, gentlemen of the press, to continuously prioritise the dissemination of fact-based information about biotechnology and counter popular myths that do not fuel national progress.
“Objective dissemination of scientific facts will significantly make the business environment more friendly and accommodating, spur investments in biotechnology and aid rapid commercialisation of research findings.
“This largely results from misinformation. Many well-meaning Nigerians are unaware of the benefits of biotechnology. Others are misinformed about it, while some have embraced conspiracy theories alleging that biotechnology is aimed at reducing human population,” he said.
The country coordinator of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), Nigeria chapter, Dr Rose Suniso Maxwell Gidado, said the award was instituted to ensure that journalists reporting on the subject matters were exposed to best practices in the profession.
“The sixth edition of the award recognizes exemplary journalism that stimulates best practices in the adoption of agricultural technologies, particularly biotechnology,” she said.
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