Representative of the Vice-Chancellor, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Dev.), Prof. Segun Lagoke speaking at the occasion while the Acting Registrar, Mr. Adeleke Adeboye(2nd right), Leader of AWARD team, Ms. Dorothy Mukhebi (2nd right), UNAAB Director of CENIP, Dr. Olukayode Akinyemi (1st left) and Chairman UNAAB CODAD and AWARD Mentor, Prof. (Mrs) Daisy Eruvbetine (2nd left)
The African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), headquartered in Kenya, has paid a courtesy visit on the University Community.
The AWARD team led by Ms. Dorothy Mukhebi alongside Ms. Karen Homer and Ms. Marion Kihori engaged the University community in an interactive session at the Senate Chambers, during the visit.
Welcoming the team, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Professor Segun Lagoke, lauded the initiative of AWARD, with a commendation of the immeasurable impact its activities had bestowed on the University.
Professor Balogun observed that AWARD had impacted on the University in the areas of human capital development, agricultural research and training, with a major achievement in the development of agricultural experts for the continent, of which UNAAB commands an appreciable number of beneficiaries.
The Vice-Chancellor also commended the efforts of the Rockefeller Foundation, the sponsor of the organisation, with a call for continuous enlistment of the University staff on its subsequent initiatives, promising that the University will always be willing to offer it support and cooperation, as may be required.
In her remarks, the leader of the AWARD delegation, Ms. Dorothy Mukhebi, commended the University for its commitment in the pursuit of its mandate objectives and that the organisation was proud to have members of the community as both mentors and mentees, on its programmes.
Ms. Mukhebi stated that the organisation, established in 2008, had made great impact in the development of women, with the aim of strategically positioning them for impactful efforts in agricultural research and training.
The widely travelled Mentor, under the AWARD’s mentoring initiative, reiterated the importance of improving the ratio of women participation at senior management levels as compared to the high number of males involved in the industry.
From a slide presentation, Ms Dorothy stressed that the majority of those engaged in production, processing and marketing Africa’s food are women, but regrettably, only one in four agricultural researchers, is female.
In his words, a Mentor under the AWARD initiative and President of UNAAB Alumni Association, Prof. Lateef Sanni, appreciated the visit of the AWARD team and assured of a further cooperation in the Mentoring scheme.
Mrs. Petra Abdulsalam-Saghir, a Mentee and Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development of the University, thanked AWARD for the “baskets of opportunities” availed her through the mentoring programme.
According to Mrs. Abdulsalam-Saghir, the mentoring programme had boosted her confidence level, compared to her former timid disposition, prior to enlisting in the mentoring programme, stressing that she had just returned from a Conference in Ghana, sponsored by AWARD, where she represented the University and Nigeria, with an opportunity of meeting several Ministers of African States.
