Caleb Onwe 
The role played by the media has been described as an indispensable machinery to the development of biotechnology and other issues that aid food security in Nigeria. The Director General, National Agricultural Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, who disclosed this in Abuja recently, said media practitioners, who are directly involved in the propagation of agricultural biotechnology, were invaluable. Mustapha spoke during the 5th Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Africa, Nigeria chapter’s Media Award, where five journalists were honoured with various prizes at different categories as a reward for their roles in propagation of agricultural biotechnology in the country.
He noted that Nigerian media practitioners have done considerably well in helping the country achieve food security and modern technology succeed better, when the media diseminate proper information about it. He said: “No technology development has ever succeeded anywhere in the world without the media playing a vital role of leading its propagation and ensuring its acceptance.”
Also speaking, Dr. Rose Gidado, the Country Coordinator of Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB), said the Media Award was “an annual event instituted by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) for OFAB in Seven African countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania). “The award, which is in its fifth year, has the aim of recognising and rewarding exemplary journalism that stimulates best practices in the adoption of agricultural technologies – particularly agricultural biotechnology for sustainable development, poverty eradication and food security,” she added.
