Prof. Babatunde Oguntona, often referred to as the “Grandfather of Nutrition in Nigeria” will on Friday, August 4 lead other experts to the one-day 2017 nutrition symposium being organised by the Media Centre Against Child Malnutrition (MeCAM) in Lagos.
Top speakers to join Prof. Oguntona in discussing the theme: “Malnutrition, child development and the media” at Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos would include the Project Director at the Civil Society on Scaling-Up Nutrition Nigeria (CS-SUNN) Mrs. Beatrice Eluaka and chairman, Community Health and Research Initiative (CHRI) board, Dr Aminu Magashi Garba.
Prof. Oguntona is a graduate of the University of Ibadan with a degree in agricultural biochemistry and nutrition in 1970 and holds in addition, M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in nutrition from the Universities of London and Nottingham respectively.
He has trained hundreds of students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels over the past 36 years.
A Nutrition consultant to the Federal Ministry of Health for 22 years, Prof. Oguntona has consulted for several countries including Ghana, Liberia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Zambia as well as for some international agencies.
A recipient of many distinguished International awards on Nutrition including BP Protein, Leverhulme Trust, ACU/Carnegie Corporation, to name a few, having been a Professor of Nutrition since 1990, he is a member of many professional and social organisations.
He is the past president of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria and a fellow of that society.
He is presently the Chair of Nigeria Beverage Panel and is married to Professor Clara Raquel Oguntona.
MeCAM, he said, is peopled exclusively by journalists and media owners to push the narratives to save the Nigerian child from the danger of malnutrition through scaling up reporting and advocacy, among others.
