Dr Idris Olabode Badiru
Board of Advisors
Dr Idris Olabode Badiru is a development practitioner and communication strategist with over 20 years of experience bridging agriculture, rural development, media, and policy. He is a Reader in the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ibadan, a position he has attained in 2022. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development from the same university, graduating as Best Graduating Student and recipient of multiple merit-based scholarships.
Dr Badiru’s career blends academia, field practice, and media engagement. Before joining the University of Ibadan, he worked briefly as an associate editor of a community news magazine and later, the National Fadama Development Programme Phases II & III, driving community-led development and extension service delivery across southwestern Nigeria. As a lecturer and mentor, he has taught and supervised undergraduate and postgraduate students in agricultural extension, development communication, diffusion of innovations, and agricultural journalism.
His research focuses on agricultural communication, extension systems, technology adoption, and media for development. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and policy briefs published nationally and internationally, with work that explores how communication and institutional frameworks shape development outcomes.
Beyond the classroom, Dr Badiru shapes policy and practice at regional and national levels. He serves as Sociology/Rural Development Expert on the Scientific and Technical Committee of WECARD/CORAF in Dakar. He is also the Publicity Secretary of the Rural Sociological Association of Nigeria (RuSAN). He is a familiar voice as a rural development analyst on television and mentors future agricultural radio broadcasters. He was a Senior Fellow in the Agriculture Cluster of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and has served as Guest Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden.
Currently, he is on leave at the Federal University of Agriculture and Technology, Okeho, where he is tasked with the responsibility of establishing a campus/community radio station.