A renowned criminologist and communication expert, Dr Oludayo Tade, of the department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, has won the 2020 maiden edition of the West Africa Science Communication Awards (WASCA).
The inaugural awards were virtually presented by The Conversation Africa which is the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis to researchers in West Africa sub-region.
While announcing the winners, Candice Bailey and Pfungwa Nyamukachi of The Conversation Headquarters in South Africa stated that out of the five awards presented at the 2020 edition, Nigerian scholars clinched three while two went to Ghanaian scholars.
The award distribution shows that public university scholars, despite the ongoing strike have been active in their scholarly outputs and engagements by dominating the awards.
Dr Oludayo Tade, a criminologist and media expert from the University of Ibadan won the first prize while second position went to the Executive Secretary, the Nigerian Academy of Science, Dr Doyin Odubanjo.
Dr Tade’s article on The Conversation Africa was based on his research into electronic banking frauds in Nigeria.
Other recipients of the awards are Dr Lanre Ikuteyijo of the department of Sociology and Anthropology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Dr Emmanuel Akindele of the Department of Zoology Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-ife and Professor Sheriff Folarin of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Covenant University.
The top prize for Ghana scholars went to Alexander Diani Kofi Preko, University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana, and Professor Robert Hinson of the University of Ghana Business School, while the second prize was shared between Dr Lewis Abedi Asante Kumasi Technical University, Kumasi, Ghana and Kabila Abbas Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
In his remarks, Regional editor (West Africa), The Conversation Africa, Adejuwon Soyinka stated that the awards were to recognise and celebrate West African authors and signpost them as engagement between the town and gown.
“They have allowed their research to make impact. We are celebrating authors who have written for us and encourage others to expose their research to the world and make impact. We are encouraging more women scholars to share their researches with the world. We hope we would have women awardees in the 2021 edition,” he said.
Earlier, General Manager of The Conversation Africa (TCA), Alexandra Storey stated that TCA is a global network dedicated to democratising knowledge by working with researchers to produce evidence based media content to critical stakeholders and thanked authors who have continued to ensure that their researches get disseminated to enrich the world and provide solutions.
