The National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) at Ahmadu Bello University has trained its editorial unit on improved ethical and accurate agriculture information dissemination.
The Head of the Editorial Unit at NAERLS, Dr. Ismail Olawale, made this known in a statement on Saturday in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.
Olawale said NAERLS had successfully concluded a transformative three-month in-house training programme for its editorial staff members.
He said the initiative, which ran from April to July 2025, was designed to enhance the editorial competencies of staff by providing both theoretical knowledge and practical experience in modern editing practices.
“The training featured editors such as Muhammad Saratau Dangusau, Bello Fatima, Aliyu Umar Ahmed, and Dr. Ekundayo Afolabi (who served as a guest editor).
“The training aimed at building basic and intermediate skills necessary for effective editorial duties in today’s dynamic communication landscape.
“A major highlight of the programme entailed a two-day intensive workshop facilitated by experts from the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ahmadu Bello University,” he said.
Olawale reiterated that the specialists delivered sessions on grammar, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, critical studies, editor-author-stakeholder ’relations, and editorial ethics.
The sessions also included engaging critical thinking exercises designed to broaden the participants’ editorial perspectives.
The Deputy Director at NAERLS, Prof. Jaliya Muhammad, on behalf of the Executive Director, expressed concern over the declining quality of communication content output across the institute’s various content platforms.
He stressed the importance of editorial excellence and urged participants to fully engage with the training sessions.
“I believe we have taken editorial functions for granted for too long. We cannot continue to put together content that questions our competence as the foremost public agricultural extension and research body in Nigeria.
“This management is fully committed to adopting innovations and fostering skills that will consistently place the institute in its rightful position in agricultural extension and research communications,” Muhammad said.
In his remarks, the Assistant Director, Extension, Training and Outreach, Prof. Abdullahi Jamilu, encouraged the editors to take full advantage of the training.
He emphasised the vital role of editors in enhancing the quality of NAERLS’ content across all communication channels and urged the team to remain dedicated to excellence.
The Executive Director, Prof. Sani Ahmed of NAERLS, commended the editors for their dedication while reaffirming the management’s commitment to continuous training and capacity development.
“This is just the first phase of our editorial capacity building. I urge the chief editor to continue fostering collaboration and mentorship, which this training has embraced as a core strategy.
“We must remain responsive and proactive in all our engagements going forward,” he said.
He charged the Editorial Unit to expand training efforts to include other individuals interested in improving their writing and content development skills.
He disclosed that plans are underway for the next phase of training, which would focus on electronic editing and the ethical use of artificial intelligence in editorial duties.
The Editorial Unit will continue its weekly refresher sessions to maintain momentum and ensure that editors remain sharp and adaptive to emerging editorial trends.