Guys, consider status in picking ladies!

By Yetunde Arebi

Hi,


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After last week’s publication, I received a call from Tolu, a dear friend. She said she had a similar gist for me. It was unfolding right inside her compound and involved her landlady’s 14 year old daughter and one of the male tenants. The guy in his early 30’s had impregnated the little primary school girl and absconded.

What was most baffling was that the guy is a medical doctor and had a girl friend that could have passed for a fiancée considering how often she visited the apartment. Love gone sour My friend said Ada should consider herself lucky that Sunny was nabbed in the act on time, before he could cause much damage to her family. Had Sunny impregnated Ndidi, Ada would not have been able to end the matter by simply sending the poor girl back to the village. They would have become sisters-in-law, married into the same family, she added jokingly. So, Tolu informed me that when Adedayo, the young girl in her compound turned up pregnant about two years ago, almost everyone in the compound refused to believe that Doc was responsible.

Everyone called the little girl a wayward liar, insisting that the guy was a good, upright young man and promising doctor. Many in fact, hinged their argument on the fact that as a doctor, he could not have indulged in such an act knowing the full implications of what could happen. And others easily vouched for his sophisticated preference of female company and could therefore not stoop as low as to sleep with a 14 year old primary school girl. At the end, they were all proved wrong, she said. Akproko will not kee me o. I quickly asked if she could arrange for me to talk to the girl and she said yes.

The girl comes to her flat often to relax with her daughter. She advised me to bring along something the girl could snack on and perhaps a little token as gift when leaving. I jumped at it. The girl I saw was a tiny, naive girl, now struggling with her identity .One minute a teenager and the next a caring mother. Adedayo couldn’t speak much English, so we spoke mainly in Yoruba. At the end of the day, I discovered that her case could have been handled better but for ignorance and lack of good counselling. I walked away with only one desire, if only I could set my eyes on doc, whose real name incidentally is also Dayo. All I wanted to know was why. Perhaps his answer could help me in figuring out why such men prey on young, hapless, naive girls, ruining their lives and destiny at the altar of a few moments of ecstasy. And while still pondering on this, I remembered those who cross all limits of decency and humanity, picking on infants, toddlers and young children. The devil must be really busy. When compared with Adedayo’s story, Ndidi must be very lucky to have been courted with biscuits, ice-cream, lipstick and nail polish. This poor girl got nothing but the emotional hype of sharing a name with her predator.

I was filled with pity as I watched her little girl crawling around happily inmy friend’s living room, oblivious of her circumstance and what the future holds for her and her mother. This is Adedayo’s story: “I didn’t have a boyfriend. He was a tenant in our house. I live with my grandmother. (Her father is dead and her mother, remarried. She lives with her paternal grandmother). I can’t really tell how old he is, but I think he is quite old. Maybe between 32 or more. I’m not sure. Everyone calls him doctor but I called him brother Dayo because he said we have the same name and God had already planned that we should be friends. He was very nice to me. I visited him sometimes when he is at home to watch some video films or TV and sometimes when he sends me on errands. He had a girlfriend, Aunty Shade who used to visit him. They both worked at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Brother Dayo is a doctor, while aunty Shade is a Nurse. I don’t know where aunty Shade is now. He was not my boyfriend. We only “did it” once, I didn’t know just doing it once could lead to pregnancy. It was my first time and I was a virgin. He was really surprised when he knew too. I guessed he must have thought that I’d done it before. It was painful but he told me not to worry that the pains will go. I don’t know how long we spent in his flat, but it wasn’t a long time. He gave me some medicine to use. I don’t know what they were meant for and didn’t ask because he is a doctor. We never did it again after that. I don’t know why. He was not usually around. He would come home late in the night when it would be impossible for me to go out. In the morning, I can’t see him because I will be preparing to go to school. Nobody guessed in our house that anything like that happened between us, so they were really shocked when I told them he was responsible. Brother Dayo packed out of our house a few months after the incident for an unknown destination. He found a new flat closer to his place of work, he told me. But he did not tell me the place. In fact, there was more or less nothing left between us. Over the months, I didn’t feel anything. I knew my period had stopped coming, but I didn’t link it with pregnancy. I thought there must be some other reasons responsible for it. I was however having stomach pains and movements in my body. I did not change much. I am a small person by physique and I am told that the first pregnancy is not always so conspicuous in the early stages. It was about seven months before my grandmother knew. It was my older sister who told her that she suspected something was wrong with me. Then, that night, I think they called a meeting. My aunty and her daughter were summoned by my grandmother, along with my older sister, and I was interrogated. After some time, I told them the truth. They were surprised. They traced him to somewhere in Idi- Araba area. That was when my problems began. Initially, brother Dayo told them that he was not responsible. He denied having anything to do with me. He kept on shouting at us and practically walked us out. My sister suggested we call the police but my aunt and her daughter refused. They said it would only cause more trouble because his older sister was a family friend of theirs. He later confessed to his older sister that he did it to me once but said he was sure that he was not the owner of the pregnancy as he was not the only one. My family was very annoyed. After that, they started maltreating me. My aunty, whenever she came around would rain abuses on me about how I have disgraced them and worse still, how my baby will not have a father. I had to stop school immediately and was taken to live with a doctor friend of my aunty for the rest of the duration of the pregnancy. Their fear was that I was too tiny to carry a pregnancy and would probably not be able to have the baby on my own. At the end, they had to perform a Caesarean Section on me because they said I was not strong enough to have the baby on my own and that my birth canal was too small. After the child was born, things eased up a bit because there were no more doubts about the paternity of the child. It was a girl, but it looked so much like brother Dayo. When his mother and older sister came to see us at the hospital, they all confirmed that the baby was his. They wanted to take the baby from me after we left the hospital, but my family refused. They insisted that he should marry me which he also refused. Hospital expenses were borne by both families, although the bulk came from our side. Even up till today, my family bears most of the finances. Sometimes, I feel so sad that I can’t do anything for my baby by myself. If she is ill, I have to wait for my sister, or cousins who live nearby to buy something for her. Aunty (my friend) also buy things for her. Brother Dayo has now travelled to the USA. I was not informed when he was going. The family used to come once in a while to see us, but the tension is too much. So, they hardly ever come around any more these days. I would have preferred that they take the baby away, but my grandmother doesn’t want to hear anything like that”. I often wonder how some people manage to close their eyes and sleep at night. Brother Dayo is somewhere now, enjoying himself in other relationships. Perhaps married and telling some awful lies to some woman out there about himself. He must be thinking of going further with his studies. Hoping to fall in love, marry and raise good children he would feel proud to call his own. Yet, he has taken advantage of a poor, young girl and changed the course of her destiny for his selfish uncontrollable libido. It is most unlikely he will ever come back for either mother or child. But I am resolved to help her track him down. And soon too. Guys, please pick on ladies your own status.

When first wife decides she’s had enough!

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By Bunmi Sofola When Anuolu decided she’d had enough of a marriage that lasted all of 26 years, her decision wasn’t triggered by rows or infidelity—though the couple had a share of that. Instead, it was the corrosive resentment that ate away at her feelings for her husband as she re-invented herself. When she got married, she was a secondary school teacher and her husband, a senior lecturer at the university. But as her self-confidence grew, she took on fresh challenges. As she grew out of her old subservient role, her husband’s resentment festered.



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When I went back to the university for a masters’ degree in human resources, my husband felt it was a waste of time and money,” said Anuolu now in her early 50s. “He also seemed threatened when I got a good job in human resources and met new people. He tried to undermine my confidence, my opinion seemed irrelevant to him. He didn’t listen to whatever I had to say. We began leading parallel lives as he spent more and more time with one of his old students who had two kids by him. “In the meantime, my three children were doing well in school and the company I worked with promoted me to head of human resources. I had the option of taking the furnished apartment that went with the job, or settle for a generous rent allowance. When out of curiosity, I went to look at the apartment, I fell in love with it. It was a very compact three bedroom flat in a block of flats owned by the company. It was now or never. Though I liked my husband, I was no longer in love with him,. I remembered all the meals I had to pack away because he’d eaten at his second home. Whenever I told him I was unhappy, he said I was being ridiculous, what else did I want? The kids went to good schools and in spite of his other ‘wife’ he seldom slept away from home and I had a good home most women would give their right arm to have. “I knew my husband would never have initiated a separation as our lives together suited him to the ground. But, like do many professional women today, I wanted more out of a relationship than boring routine. It was as if all the fun had seeped out of my marriage. As I took up the offer of free accommodation, I thought of a way of breaking the news to him. But I told the kids first. My last daughter was in the university and her two brothers had already left the house to do their own thing. When I eventually told my husband, he thought I was out of my mind. What sane seemingly happily married woman leaves a stable home to live the life of a single woman? “He put his foot down. This nonsense should stop or I forget I was ever married. But I was determined to spread my wings.

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It took me a while to get the flat to the standard I wanted before I moved in. When my husband sort the support of the children, they told him they knew what was going on. I told him he didn’t have to shuttle between two homes, now he could move his ‘wife’ in to take over where I left off…. “ According to relationship expert, Francine Kaye, a lot of men these days reach retirement age and find themselves propelled unwillingly into separation because they have failed to heed the warning signals as their once deferential, stay-at-home wives seek new autonomy and fulfilment. “These men have bought one kind of wife off the shelf—the school teacher and home-maker—and the deal was that she wasn’t supposed to change,” she says. “But people do change and couples are not recognising the signs and implications until it’s too late. “The husband has often been working really hard to provide for his family and he feels unappreciated when he reaches the end of his career to discover his wife has found a fresh sense of fulfilment and an identity separate from her old one as a wife and mum. There is a phrase for it: ‘Women who walk and men who don’t see it coming.” Even wives who don’t have challenging jobs to boast of, stick with their married children and happily look after their grandchildren. Anuolu said it took all her will-power to tell her husband she was moving out. “He is basically a good man,” she said. “There was nothing inherently wrong with him. We had just reached the point where we were merely co-existing. I probably wouldn’t have left if I didn’t have a better alternative. Now, I have a fulfilling job, a busy social life and the freedom to meet friends and go out at will—in short I’m not lonely and I’m not looking for a relationship. For now, I’m happy being me … “

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SEED TREATMENT: LEARN 5 SEED TREATMENT METHODS

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Seed treatment is one of the pre-planting operations in crop production. This practice is obscure to most farmers, especially those procuring seeds from agro-allied companies; they feel treating the seed is irrelevant. What most farmers are familiar with is crop protection, through the use of herbicides and pesticides.

Seed treatment is a pre-planting operation; hence, it must be carried out before planting the seeds. The question that comes to your lips is how can seed be treated before planting? It is very simple and easy but depends on your purpose and types of seed treatment you are willing to implement. You need to determine what you want to achieve with the seed treatment operation.

Seed treatment is carried out for several reasons. It could be to hasten germination, to protect seeds from destructive pests under the soil, to enhance uniform growth in crops etc.; you need to know what you want to achieve with this operation for you to know how to treat seed. In this article, the type of seed treatment we shall discuss is known as seed scarification.

Seed scarification is one of the seed treatment methods aimed at facilitating quick germination in sown seeds. This type of seed treatment softens the seed coat of the seeds such that it allows imbibition of growth enhancing parameters (water and gases) in seeds, thus, facilitating rapid growth in seeds. Seed germination takes series of processes before the shoot emerges; however, seed scarification has been proven to be very effective in increasing the chance of seed germination.

There are various methods of scarification and these are;

1. Chemical or acid scarification:  

      The purpose of this method is to soften hard or impermeable seed coats through the action of an acid. This is done by soaking the seeds in concentrated sulphuric acid for a period of 2-4 hours according species. After treatment, seeds are thoroughly washed with clean water to make them free of acid and then sown immediately.


   2. Mechanical scarification: 
      In this method, seeds with impermeable or impervious seed coat are rendered permeable to water and gases through rubbing or abrading the seed coat on a hard surface. This can be achieved by:

Placing the seeds between two sand papers, one stationed and the other revolving and rubbing aggressively on the seed coat of the seed.
Rubbing seeds with sharp-sand.
Passing seeds through a machine that scratches the surface.
Filing and notching the seeds to make the seed coats permeable to water.

   3. Boiled water scarification: 
      This is another method of seed treatment. It involves boiling of water to boiling point (100oc); the seeds are then poured in a cloth that is less porous. Then the cloth will be suspended or inserted into the water. The seeds will be there until the water cools. The seeds are then removed from the cloths are sun-dried. When the seeds are properly dried, they can be planted. The method is good for small-sized seeds like: jute (ewedu) seeds, celosia seeds, pepper seeds etc.



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   4. Soaking in water:  
      This is the simplest method of seed scarification. The purpose of soaking seeds in water is to soften hard seed coats, to remove growth inhibitors and to reduce time of germination. The time of soaking seeds in water depends on the hardness of the seed coats. Examples are peas, beans etc.

    5. Stratification or moist chilling: 
      This is another effective method of seed scarification. It involves exposing seeds to low temperature; this brings about prompt and uniform germination. The seeds are arranged in layers of sand in shallow boxes for pits and trenches. This condition helps in rapid germination. It is commonly used for crops like: peach, cherry, oat, grapes.
 


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     Seed treatment is important to prevent seed borne, soil borne and air borne diseases. Scarification, being one of the types of seed treatment, softens the seed coats of a seed to aid imbibition of water into the protoplasm of the seed. Seed treatment is very important as it hastens germination of the seed and enhances the overall productivity of the cultivation. Identify the seed scarification method that can be used on the rice seeds above.
      

CROP NUTRITION: METHODS OF FERTILIZER APPLICATION

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Several factors are responsible for high yield of crops; crop nutrition is prominent in this regard. There are various methods of fertilizer application; these methods depend on the system of cropping, time of cultivation and type of crop to be grown. Fertilizer application is very important; as side from the nutrients present in the soil, application of fertilizer is necessary to supplement the existing nutrients, thus, making nutrients available for the growing plants always. Methods of fertilizer application depend on several factors; one of which is the nature of the fertilizer. Fertilizers can be organic or inorganic. The method of applying an organic fertilizer is quite different from that of an inorganic fertilizer; this is as a result of the physical and chemical composition of the fertilizer.



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On this note, fertilizer application are classified according to the mode or place of application, type of fertilizer, time of application and rate of fertilizer to be used. Below are the methods of fertilizer application and their various peculiarities.

•  Broadcasting: 

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This is the easiest method of fertilizer application. In this method, the fertilizers are evenly distributed on the surface of the soil. It is a common method used in vegetable farms. Broadcasting as a method of fertilizer application can be carried out in two ways: Basal placement and Top dressing.
 Basal placement is the application of the fertilizer to the base or around the root zone of the plant; in other words, the fertilizers are placed at the root zone of the plant. This method can be used in maize farm and other cereal crops. Top dressing is another method of applying fertilizers to plants; in this method, the fertilizers are evenly broadcasted on the soil surface. It is a common method used in paddy field and wheat.

When inorganic fertilizers are applied using top dressing method, it is advisable that water should be applied immediately so as wash down any trapped particle of fertilizer on the plant leaves. This is because inorganic fertilizers are hygroscopic in nature; hence, they tend to absorb moisture from the crop leading to scorching of the leaves.  

• Placement: 

Placement is a tactical method of applying fertilizers. It is the application of fertilizer to a fixed portion of the soil where the plant can easily take it up for usage. This method of fertilizer application can be used when: the fertilizers are in small quantities, hence, it must be meticulously utilized; when the soil has a low level of fertility, hence, it must be used efficiently by the crops; lastly, when development of root system is poor, hence, used to stimulate rooting. Therefore, you may say that placement is an economical method of fertilizer application. Placement can be done in several ways. They are: plough sole placement, deep placement, localized placement, side dressing and band placement.

In plough sole placement, fertilizers are applied during ploughing. The fertilizers are buried in the furrow (space) made by the plough during operation. This method allows the application of fertilizer prior to planting.

Deep placement is another method of placement commonly used in paddy field. It involves placing the fertilizers near the root zone of the plant. It is used in the application of nitrogenous fertilizers for optimum distribution and usage of the fertilizer in the root zone of the plant. It has several advantages as it prevents loss of nutrient through run off.

Localized placement is another method of fertilizer application that involves the application of fertilizer into the soil close to the seed or plant with the aim of making the nutrient readily available for the plant. This can be done using a seed-cum fertilizer drill planter, where the fertilizer and seed are placed in the same row but at different depth. It is best used in the application of phosphatic fertilizers.

Side dressing is another placement method of applying fertilizers in plants. It involves spreading of fertilizers between rows and around the plants. This is one of the methods used in applying organic fertilizers or manure.

Lastly, row placement; it is a common and simple method of fertilizer application. It involves application of fertilizers in one or both sides of a row. It is commonly used when crops like sugar cane and potato are planted.

•  Foliar application 

As the name implies, it is a method of adjusting or meeting the nutritional requirement of a plant through the leaves. It is a method used in the application of starter solution. Starter solution is the solution of NPK fertilizers at a ratio of 1:1:2 or 1:2:1 applied to young plants at the time of transplanting. Foliar application is effective in the application of nutrients like calcium and other minor nutrients like iron, copper, boron, zinc and manganese.

• Fertigation:

This method is a new and effective way of applying fertilizers, especially liquid fertilizers. Fertigation is the application of fertilizers through irrigation water. In other words, the fertilizers are mixed or poured into the irrigation water; as the irrigation operation starts, water, together with the fertilizer, is applied to the plants, hence, serving two purposes: application of fertilizer and irrigating to the plant. This method is economical and less labor intensive.



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These are different methods of fertilizer application. Fertilizer application is a crucial aspect of crop production. Irrespective of the nutrient content of the land to be cultivated, it is advisable to supplement with fertilizer as the plant grows. This approach increases the fertility of the land during cultivation and conserves the fertility of the soil after cultivation.

Nigerians are receiving EXPIRED EDUCATION.

Vice Chancellor of the University of America, California, Prof. Gamalier O. Prince, has said that the change mantra of the Federal Government must fix the educational system if there must be positive improvement in the country. Prince, who stated that the nation’s academic system expired long ago, said that the leadership of Nigeria had continued to fail because the educational system failed to impact the right qualities and had not shown signs of recovery.

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Prince said: “People in Nigeria are getting expired education. That is why you see people who studied engineering and are not able to do engineering feat. You see people who studied computer science and are not able to understand anything or diagnose computer language and what have you. This is because Nigeria’s educational system is a dilapidated one. “The problem of Nigeria began from the citadel of learning and if you want to fix Nigeria, you must fix the educational system. This is because every Nigerian in leadership went through our academic institutions – politicians, scientists and leaders. They were not able to acquire trainings that could be used to advance the course of the country. If our leaders have failed, it is because our educational system has also failed. So, if you want to change Nigeria, change the educational system. So, the mantra of change must begin with the academic institutions and students.”

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Prince spoke in Enugu during the first joint matriculation of the University of America, an affiliate of Peaceland College of Education, Enugu, where the Provost, Dr. Leonard Ilechukwu, was conferred with the professor of Education Administration. The college is a campus of the University of America in Enugu. Meanwhile, the vice chancellor stated that the university had decided to introduce the “updated American education” into the country for the students in affiliation with the Peaceland College, Enugu. “It is not about bringing Americans to Nigeria but the curriculum. The curriculum we are going to use, currency and relevance of the textbooks to modern day challenges, technology and what have you. It does not matter who is going to operate them. Nigerians can be taught how to operate them. Americans can come but we don’t hope to bring Americans to stay here. Our job is to train Nigerians in what they can do. We will bring in the Americans who will avail same textbooks, technology that we use over there. “I believe that somebody studying engineering should be able to manufacture, and if you are doing computer, you should be able to produce your own computer. The students of Peaceland should be able to come to see what their American counterparts are doing, think what they are thinking and be able to compare it with what they know and that is what we call comparative education and when you put that together, you have what is called a wholistic education. Schooling is different from education. The environment is the difference between the black man and white man and this is what our education will try to address,” he stressed. He told the matriculating students that the university was poised to moulding them realise their dreams in life and become productive citizens, saying there was no room for laxity and malpractices that were the hallmarks of education in Nigeria. Earlier, Ilechukwu said that the programme of the school was very exciting, adding that the institution remains one of the dynamic institutions in America. “Make it a goal to grow in multiple dimensions. Make it a goal to take advantage of the University of America. Push yourself to reach as high as possible in your studies. Make it a goal to do your best – to excel to the highest level possible,” he told the students.