A Professor of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof. Emmanuel Fakoya, has instituted a ₦1 million annual prize to reward the university’s best-performing student in the Farm Practical Year Programme.
Fakoya announced the initiative while delivering the institution’s 110th inaugural lecture titled “Measurement and Scaling: Bedrock of Robust Agricultural Extension Research Analysis.” The lecture was held at the Prof. Oluwafemi Balogun Ceremonial Building of the university.
According to a statement released on Thursday, the professor said the award was established in honour of his late father, Pa Samuel Fakoya, as a way of immortalising his legacy.
“I am instituting this ₦1 million annual prize for the university’s best student in farm practical in honour of my late dad, Pa Samuel Fakoya,” he said.
Fakoya explained that the prize would run for the next 10 years and will commence during the university’s 34th convocation ceremony. He noted that the initiative is designed to promote excellence in practical agricultural training and inspire outstanding academic and field performance among students participating in FUNAAB’s Farm Practical Year Programme.
Beyond the announcement of the prize, the professor used the lecture to call for a significant shift in the way agricultural policies are formulated in Nigeria. He stressed that policies and development interventions must be grounded in rigorous empirical evidence rather than anecdotal accounts if they are to produce sustainable outcomes.
According to him, several critical sectors within Nigeria’s agricultural system — including land management, livestock production, conflict resolution, and women’s empowerment — continue to face structural challenges due to the absence of standardised measurement frameworks.
Fakoya warned that without accurate and reliable tools for assessment, it would be difficult to objectively determine the real impact of agricultural extension programmes on rural communities and livelihoods.
He further emphasised that key concepts such as participation, access to resources, and empowerment must be evaluated through valid and reliable indices to ensure inclusiveness and gender responsiveness in agricultural interventions.
The scholar also highlighted the need for stronger multidisciplinary collaboration in agricultural research. He encouraged closer partnerships among agricultural economists, sociologists, statisticians, and extension specialists to strengthen analytical frameworks in the sector.
Fakoya proposed that universities and research institutes should establish specialised centres focused on measurement and scaling studies to enhance innovation and standardisation in research methodologies across the agricultural system.
He also advocated the institutionalisation of advanced quantitative tools such as Likert scaling, factor analysis, and regression modelling to improve predictive accuracy and analytical rigour in extension research.
According to him, sustained capacity building in areas such as data analytics and psychometrics for both professionals and students will be crucial in developing robust research outputs that can effectively guide policy decisions.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB, Prof. Babatunde Kehinde, commended Fakoya for his academic contributions and described the inaugural lecture as both timely and impactful.
Kehinde noted that strengthening research methodologies and ensuring the credibility of data remain critical components in driving Nigeria’s agricultural transformation agenda.
