UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN
INAUGURAL LECTURES
1998 - 2002
VOLUME II
IBADAN UNIVERSITY PRESS
2009
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Published by
Ibadan University Press
University of Ibadan
Ibadan.
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
CONTENTS
Page
Foreword v
1. In Search of the Original Jesus S. Oyin Abogunrin
2. From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education
'Wole Falayajo 29
3. Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a
Tropical Veterinarian B. E. Olufemi 57
4. Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National
Integration Sylvester Abumere 81
5. Ogi - Past, Present and Future Jo. Akingbala, 107
6. Arabic, the Muslim Prayers and Beyond
Sayed H. A. Malik 115
7. Botany - Beyond Conventional Agriculture 0. Osonubi 139
8. Nutrition, Survival and Life Expectancy Funke Ajayi 153
9. Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma G. O. Obigbesan 169
10. Safe for All: Give The Man Meat David 0. Alonge 193
11. Our Gasping Cities Layi Egunjobi 211
• 12. Investment in Nigerian Education: Relevance, Qualityand Governance at the Eve of the Third Millennium
RemiLonge 231
13. Myth in History: A Classicist View J A. Ilevbare. 253
14. Natural and 'Unnatural' Products: The Fascinating
Spice to Life D. A. Okorie 263
15. From Womb to Tomb: Protecting the Gate from the Crab
IF. Adewole 287
16. Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production
E. 0. Faturoti 303
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
17. Elements, Metals, Cations and Human Diseases:
A Coming of Age
F.A.A. Adeniyi 347
18. From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers
of Knowledge
Babatunde Alabi 36
19. Democracy within and Outside the Ivory Tower
J. D. Ojo 387
20. Learning in Tongues, Expressing Mysteries: Lessons from
Nigerian Language Education Practices
Ayorinde Dada 403
21. Restructuring Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock
for Sustainable Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation
Lanrewaju A. Oladosu 421
22. Compositional Character: Veritable Tool in the Appraisal of
Geomaterials
A. A. Elueze 513
23. Leaving Certainty for Uncertainty: From the Stomach to
the Womb
Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa 553
24. Support through the Raging Storms of Pain
Olaitan. A. Soyanwo 569
25. Giving a Voice to the Rural Population
Janice E. Olawoye 583
26. Nutritional Engineering in Mammalian Reproduction:
Obstetric and Gynaecologic Concerns
A.I.A. Osuagwuh 609
27. Spatial Engineering and Accessibility
C. O. Ikporukpo 623
28. Energy, Exergy, The Environment and the Future
Olayiwola Fagbenle 649
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
FOREWORD
It is an established tradition in universities all over the world to invite lecturers,
on elevation to the professorial position, to deliver inaugural lectures in which
they either summarize their research achievements or proffer to the academia and
the nation critical views and recommendations on matters they consider to be of
strategic importance. The University of Ibadan had in the past ensured that such
lectures were promptly published and widely distributed by the Ibadan University
Press.
Paul Christopherson, a professor of English, was the first in this university to
give an inaugural lecture. The lecture, titled "Bilingualism", was given on
Foundation Day, 17 November 1948 and was promptly published in 1949. Since
then, many professors from various departments have delivered inaugural
lectures, which the University promptly published. However, the practice became
stalled as from 1992 owing to a severe scarcity of funds. As a result, some
inaugural lecturers published their lectures by themselves. However, many
inaugural lectures have been "awaiting publication" without hope of ever seeing
the light of day.
Inaugural lectures have critical roles to play in the universities and the nation
at large. They often contain highlights of research findings that may be of great
value to the academic world, budding entrepreneurs, industrialists and even
governments. Such lectures can also showcase to the outside world the academic
attainments of individual lecturers and the entire university.
It is against this background that I heartily welcome the financial intervention
of the National Universities Commission, through the Direct Teaching and
Laboratory costs allocation, that has enabled the publication of the backlog of
inaugural lectures. For handiness and cost-effectiveness, we have decided to
compile the lectures that emanated from one decade (1992-2002) in two volumes.
We thank the NUC for the grant and warmly commend the volumes to research
libraries and the reading public at large.
University of Ibadan Professor Ayodele Falase
Ibadan Vice-Chancellor
April 2005
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
1
IN SEARCH OF THE ORIGINAL JESUS
S. Oyin Abogunrin
Department of Religious Studies
Introduction
This is the third inaugural lecture from the Department of Religious Studies. The
first lecture titled: "Religious Studies In An African University" was given by
Professor James Welch on the University's Foundation Day, November 17, 1950.
The second lecture, "The Obituary of God", was delivered by Professor Bolaji
Idowu in February 1976, a few weeks before he left the University on retirement.
In the first lecture Professor Welch put across the philosophy of the then new
Department of Religious Studies, its aims, objectives and goals. In the second
lecture, Professor Idowu discussed the reality of God and His active presence in
the universe.
My area of research within the large field of Religious Studies is New
Testament Literature and Theology, focusing attention on the Historical Criticism
of the Gospels and Pauline Studies. What has engaged my attention in the last
twenty-four years or so is the contextualization of Biblical Theology in Africa.
As a biblical scholar, living and practising in Africa, my main concern has been
how to combine Africanness with sound biblical scholarship such that Jesus, the
Eternal Word, can become incarnate in the life and thought of the peoples of
Africa. Thus the Bible is made to speak in local rather than, in foreign idioms.
Today's lecture is in the area of the historical criticism of the Gospels, focusing
on one of the thorny issues in Gospel Studies, namely, the 'Historical Jesus'.
The Nature of the Problem
Men throughout the ages have been divided over the question: "Who is Jesus of
Nazareth?" This raises the other relevant issues such as: Why so much interest
and conflict over an individual? Why is it that His name, more than that of any
other religious leader, either causes irritation or attracts worship and adoration?
For more than two centuries, the life of Jesus 'has remained a matter of supreme
interest in New Testament research. During the last fifty years the number of
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2 S.Oyin Abogunrin
books written on the subject in the English language alone has swollen to
fantastic proportions. Indeed, it will be a very difficult task today for any full-
time reviewer to keep track of books appearing about Jesus. These are books
written not only by Christians of different persuasions, but also by Jews,
Muslims, Communists, etc., each of whom has his own reasons for being
interested in Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth continues to fascinate people from many
cultural and religious backgrounds. For example, many modem Jewish biblical
scholars have a keen interest in Jesus, some of them believing that Jesus was a
highly unconventional teacher from Galilee and was probably a Pharisee.'
And back to the main questions we intend to deal with in this lecture: Was
Jesus a real person, or a mythological figure? Did Jesus ever live? And if He did
live, what are the real events of His life? The most unifying element in the New
Testament writings is the common concern for Jesus Christ. The presentation of
Jesus Christ in the New Testament begins with the Gospels, though they are not
the earliest writings. The arrangement, which puts the Gospels at the beginning
of the New Testament, was certainly not an accident, but a deliberate
confirmation of the fact that the Christian faith has to do, first and foremost, with
the person of Jesus Christ. The starting point in the New Testament, therefore, is
Jesus of Nazareth, His advent, life, teaching, deeds, death, resurrection, ,
exaltation and His significance as an historical figure.
However, some people will be surprised that for more than two hundred
years, the very existence of Jesus has been challenged. Jesus' pre-eminent
position in religious history the world over has led to a great deal of interest in
the historical investigation of His own person and such questions as the following
are asked: In what sense are the four Gospels historical? Are they true stories in
every aspect, or are they mere historical novels? From where did the traditions
which found their way into the Gospels come? What do we know of the origins
of those traditions? Are the Evangelists trained historians? What was Jesus really
like as seen by unbiased observers? What is the significance and correct
interpretation of His life? Can Jesus be really accorded a place in history as a
significantly influential figure?
Since the 18th century scholars have claimed that the Gospels were written
between A.D 100 and 150 or much later, because, according to them, it was only
then that the early Christians invented Jesus as a historical figure. Many scholars
have argued that the alleged controversies between Jesus and His Jewish
opponents actually reflected the debates which arose within the early Christian
community, rather than during the life time of Jesus. Of course, the primitive
Christian community would be expected to try to recall what Jesus had said or
done on certain occasions in order to resolve certain contemporary problems
among members. It is true that to some extent these early concerns would have
determined some of the traditions preserved in the four Gospels. Also, until very
recently, official Soviet Union encyclopaedia and reference works referred to
Jesus as a mere invention of the early Church.
For our knowledge of Jesus we depend, for all practical purposes, on the
writings of the early Christians. The Gospels were written by men who believed
that Jesus was the Messiah and Lord. He was regarded as the Supreme
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In Search of the Original Jesus 3
Representative of God and as the One possessing the key to human destiny. They
were committed men who gave religious veneration to Jesus. What are the
implications of this for the historicity of what they wrote? If they wrote as
committed Christians, does this not call into question the impartiality with which
they wrote their Gospels? If some of the Evangelists were dependent on the work
of other Evangelist(s) for their information, would not the same consideration
apply to these intermediaries? How can we be sure that the whole story has not
been coloured by the pious imagination of the earliest Christians who saw the
story of Jesus in the light of the religious position which they ascribed to Him
after His death?
Until the 18th and 19th centuries, most biblical scholars still regarded the
Gospels as biographic or accurate historical records of the life of Jesus. Several
scholars attempted to stitch together pieces from the four Gospels in order to
write a modem biography of Jesus. Gaps in our knowledge of Jesus' life were
often filled with imaginative reconstruction by adding guess work, especially
about Jesus' early hidden years. Attempts were also made to reconcile
contradictions.
Modem critics argue that if the Evangelists had been scientific historians,
disinterested recorders of what actually happened, then there is .some chance that
they might have avoided such bias. But this is not what they were. What they
wrote was meant to convert outsiders and strengthen believers. Critics, therefore,
conclude that the Evangelists were not writing the history of Jesus' life, but
rather religious propaganda. Other questions often asked are the following: Did
they check their sources to ensure that these were reliable? Did they cross-
examine those who told them about Jesus? Or did they simply believe what they
were told, whatever was interesting and edifying? How can we be sure that they
made efforts to tell the story with any degree of accuracy?
The effects of these considerations have led many to seek the 'historical
Jesus' in the sense of what they call "the un-interpreted Jesus". The common cry
on the lips of critics is: "Let us get away from the Christ of dogma, as painted by
credulous early Christians and their successors. Let us go back to Jesus as He
really was." Implicit in this idea is that the Gospels were not written by the
Apostles or their disciples, but are products of a later period, variously dated
between AD 100 and 200. In the opinion of these radical scholars, the real Jesus
must have been an ordinary human being and was not responsible for the rise of
the Christian faith. Much of the 19th and 20th centuries research was also based
on the assumption that the original event was an ordinary human life and it
should therefore be possible through careful probing of records to uncover the
ordinary life of Jesus as a historical figure. Hence, the term "historical" is used in
a technical sense which may trap the unwary. It does not simply refer to Jesus as
He really was, but to Jesus as an ordinary man that He must have been.'
The liberal scholars are no longer ready to accept things like the virgin birth,
the miracles, death for the sin which Jesus did not commit, the resurrection and
the ascension. For them, the original Jesus is not directly accessible to history.
They, therefore, conclude that it is fruitless to try to place Jesus within a process
of historical development. What we know about Him now is not what He really
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
4 S.Oyin Abogunrin
was, but what was revealed to the disciples through stories invented by some of
them. They further argue that no chronological sketch of Jesus' life is available,
except for the unconnected stories put together in the Gospels. What exactly gave
rise to this negative development?
The Rise of Modern Biblical Scholarship
The critical approach to the study of the Scriptures arose in Europe as the old
order crumbled with the Reformation and as a result of the rise of the
Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries. The terrible consequences of
religious division in Europe had so succeeded in discrediting religious authorities
that the intellectual avant-garde felt free to investigate the church's title deeds,
among other issues. The old religious order had centred around an unquestioned
acceptance of Judaeo-Christian understanding of God, which was losing its self-
evident character under the pressure of rationalists criticism. The enlightened
authority of religious tradition began to raise questions about church dogma.
People were no longer ready to assume uncritically that the Bible spoke reliably
about God and the universe. Natural science began to chalJenge the biblical
picture of the world. The Bible was now regarded as a fallible human record
which spoke unevenly about man, religion and history. ,
Historical criticism created the most serious crisis for faith, and this has not
yet been completely overcome. The 19th century began with historical criticism
of traditions and legends about the church and state. The unmasking of the
Donation of Constantine as the legend of the foundation of the church-state
relationship was only the beginning. Historical biblical scholarship developed
within Protestantism. It launched a vicious attack on the doctrine of verbal
inspiration which had declared the Scripture as infallible, self-sufficient, free of
all contradictions and, thus, the absolute authority in all questions of faith and
life. In the Roman Catholic circle, the assertion of the infallibility of the church's
magisterium, as well as its incorruptibility and impartiality, was shown to be
historically conditioned and was, therefore, questioned by critics.' Critics in
Europe regarded the historical critical approach to the Bible and Church
traditions as the foundation of freedom. Historical criticism not only undermined
religious authorities, but also all other values and ethos of the society. The
feeling then was that historical criticism had liberated men from the tutelage of
the traditions and finally broken the last chains which philosophy and natural
science had been unable to break.
History was no longer endured passively as a destiny or providence. Life was
no longer oriented on what is derived from tradition. Personal and social life was
no longer ordered in harmony with the eternal laws of the cosmos, but on the
basis of natural law. The meaning of history was no longer sought in the past
made present by traditions or in eternity made present by religion, but in the open
invitation to the future. Also, since the beginning of the Renaissance the sciences
have liberated themselves from the limitations and the laws of theological
metaphysics. Theology ceased to be the 'queen' of all sciences and the church
was no longer regarded as the 'crown' of the society. It was argued that it was
not possible for someone to accept the natural laws of nature in the context of
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In Search of the Original Jesus 5
technology during the week and turn round on Sunday to believe in supernatural
miracles.
The main focus of historical criticism is not the relationship between the
Bible and church tradition, but between the Bible and Christ. The historical
critical investigation of the Bible since the 18th century has been guided by an
interest in getting to know Jesus Himself and to understand Him as He really
was. This, it is believed, would liberate Jesus of Nazareth from the dogma of the
Christ of faith and the liberation of faith from dogma. Furthermore, critics argue
that the christological dogma of Chalcedon had to be overturned so that people
could seek the historical Jesus, and that only through the search for the real
historical Jesus could christological dogma be overturned. It is only by doing this
that one can encounter the real Jesus.
Many believing Christians are yet to make their peace with the current
development. They have been unable to see how the critical approach can be
compatible with revelation and faith in the Word of God, which the biblical text
demands. Here the conservative Christians have a serious point. Christianity is a
historical faith whose fundamental affirmations are expressed in the past tense.
Also since we are dependent upon the New Testament writings for access to
those past events which are the objectives of faith, we must accept that a
distinction between what the Bible tells us and what "really" happened definitely
poses a big threat to faith.
However, if the historian of Christian origins is to be faithful to his task, he
must steer a course between the uncritical acceptance of biblical narrative
demanded by fundamentalism and theologically motivated scepticism whose
hypercritical approach ignores the rules of historical probability and is uncritical
of its own approach as the opposite extreme. A critical reading of the sources is
the only one possible way for the historian, if Ill' is to use the New Testament
writings, to reconstruct the past.
New Testament writings are a proclamation in history, the history of Jesus as
the saving act of God. They are proclamations of Jesus in concrete historical
situations of the past. If we are to understand the authors, therefore, we must first
understand the historical situation in which the books were first written." Biblical
criticism in its grammatical sense means no more than the exercise of judgement.
Used in this neutral sense, biblical criticism is not only permissible but
commendable, if pursued in a scholarly and reverent manner. The critical study
of the Bible has indeed been undertaken by scholars, the majority of whom are
fully persuaded of the divine authority of the Scriptures. It is neither destructive
nor faultfinding with the Bible, but objectively researches to find out the truth
and nothing but the truth. It is not we criticizing the Bible, but the Bible
criticizing us in our daily lives. Genuine biblical criticism does not affect the
uniqueness of the Bible. Nevertheless, we must admit that some of the old ways
of stating facts are no longer adequate for today and for the people of Africa. A
new reformation is taking place, both within and outside Africa, so much new
thinking and reasoning is going on in the continent. 5
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6 S.Oyin Abogunrin
The Life of Jesus
The research into the life of Jesus focused on the historicity of the Gospels
through the investigation of the order of the gospels, their sources and the use
they made of those sources. Lessing in his work composed in 1778 and published
in 1784, proposed the existence of the "Gospel of the Nazarenes" or the "Gospel
of the Hebrews", written in Aramaic soon after the death of Jesus, as the source
of the Synoptic Gospels." J.J. Griesbach in 1783 said that Mark wrote after
Mathew and Luke," J.G. proposed a plurality of sources and that the four Gospels
were based on four revised editions of an original Aramaic Gospel, with each
Evangelist making use of a different edition of it." But Marsh thought that there
must have been an Ur-Marcus which formed the major source." 'Schleiermacher
claimed that Matthew drew upon the Papias' Logia and Luke drew upon
Matthew and that Mark was a later Gospel, with close affinity to Apocryphal
Gospels." In 1818 J.K.L. Gieseler claimed that the Apostolic preaching must
have taken some concrete forms, structured into Aramaic Gospel of the
Nazarenes between AD 35-40, and later translated into Greek in order to meet the
needs of the Gentile churches. He concluded that it is this Greek version that the
Evangelists variously modified. I I C. Lachmann claimed that Mark was basic and
was followed by Matthew and Luke.I2 B.H. Streeter proposed a four-document
source, claiming that both Matthew and Luke drew upon Mark. He further
proposed a common source used by Matthew and Luke to explain the material
common to both Gospels. This common source, he labelled Quelle. Furthermore,
for materials peculiar to each of Matthew and Luke, Streeter opines that they
both derived these from two different sources. Therefore, he labelled as M the
material special to Matthew and L for material peculiar to Luke. This means that
Mark + Q +M = Matthew and Mark + Q + L = Luke. 13
For nearly a century the majority of scholars have accepted this hypothesis
that Mark is the first Gospel, and that Matthew and Luke, and also John, to some
extent, copied from Mark. Thus the rationalists abandoned the traditions dating
back to the second century that Matthew, followed by Luke were the first
Gospels to be written, and thereafter Mark and John. Accepting the ancient
traditions about the origins of the Gospels and the Gospel order would render
many of the rationalists' hypothetical sources of the Gospels unnecessary.
However, during the last forty years many scholars have been calling for a return
to tradition about the Gospel order. Also, the multiplication of hypothetical
sources such as the Ur-Gospel, Greek and Aramaic Versions of the Gospel of the
Nazarenes, the Oral Gospel, Ur-Marcus, Ur-Matthew, the Proto-Luke, the Logia,
Q, Qa, Qb, Qc, Qd, the M source, the L source, the priority of Mark, the
recensions of the various Gospels, mutilated Gospels etc, all these have failed to
provide a satisfactory solution to the Synoptic problem." The supreme task of
New Testament scholarship in Africa, therefore, is not to .further complicate an
already confused and confusing situation by making its own addition to the
number of hypothetical sources of the Gospels, but to make Christ crucified, a
living reality in the thought of our time and to renew in it, once again, the awe
and wonder of the Christian faith. This is not to say that African Christianity is
not interested in the present critical probing and debate. If African Christianity
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In Search of the Original Jesus 7
should neglect this aspect, how can it be well equipped to face the challenges of
today and of the new millennium? Moreover, if the Christian faith is to be
rational, it cannot avoid philosophical probing, and the evidence it uses in
support of its biblical interpretation must be convincing. The appeal for faith and
commitment cannot ultimately be separated from historical literary
investigation. 15
The critical scholars having concluded that Mark was the first Gospel, the
next step was to investigate the historicity of Mark. If Mark is not historical, then
most of what we have in the other Gospels, which was allegedly copied from
Mark, must ipso facto be false.
The first major work, The Life of Jesus by D.F. Strauss, a junior lecturer at
the Protestant Seminary of Tubingen University, was published in 1835. He
argued that the Gospels must be judged to be unhistorical, both on the account of
internal contradictions and because the modem scientific world no longer
believes in angels, demons, voices from heaven, walking on water and other
interferences with the laws of nature. Strauss argued further that the traditional
belief in the historicity of the Gospels has become untenable to many and that
biblical accounts have come into direct collision with modem scientific
apprehension of truth and reality. He concluded that there were no such things as
miracles because the closed system of nature brooked no such divine
intervention. Strauss and his disciples conceded that Jesus performed some
psychosomatic healings, but these could not be called miracles, which involved
the suspension of the laws of nature. Strauss rejected outright the historicity of
the Gospels, arguing that the real Jesus must have been an ordinary person whose
life could be explained in human terms, and that if the Gospels were critically
examined such picture of Jesus would emerge. 16
At that time, however, Christianity still commanded sufficient respect for
such an attack on its title deeds to be considered an outrage. As a result, Strauss
lost his post at Tubingen. When, indeed, in 1839, a liberal government in Zurich
offered him a professorship, the people rebelled and that government fell. The
young lecturer was pensioned before he arrived at the new post. 17
1. Weis in his work, Jesus' Proclamation of the Kingdom of God published in
1892, stated that Jesus meant to set up a rule in the immediate future. He was
more like a fanatical preacher, warning people that the world might come to a
sudden end at any time. 18
Also in 1892 W. Wrede in his work, The Messianic Secret, argued that Mark,
on which the other Evangelists supposedly depended, was riddled with
contradictions and wild improbabilities. He submitted that Jesus never claimed to
be the Messiah and that the Gospels were not historical reports, but theological
fantasies from which history could be extracted with great difficulty. Mark was
only painting a theological picture of Jesus under the guise of history. Mark
imposed his own theological theory on the available material which he rewrote
and interpreted, not in accordance with what happened, but in accordance with
his own ideas. Wrede concluded that the supernatural features in Jesus' ministry
were created by Mark, the creative theologian. 19
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8 S.Oyin Abogunrin
Albert Schweitzer in his work, A History of Research Upon the Life of Jesus,
with the sub-title, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906), tried to relate the
research of scholars during the 19th century on the life of Jesus. He argued that
rather than rejecting the miracles of Jesus, they can be explained. The following
are some of his explanations:
The walking on the water was an illusion of the disciples. Jesus walked along
the shore in a mist and they took him for a ghost. When Jesus disclosed His
identity Peter jumped into the water and was drawn to the shore by Jesus when
he was sinking. Jesus entered the boat and they doubled headland and drew clear
of the storm centre. They, therefore, thought that He had calmed the sea.
Similarly, when He was asleep and the boat was about to sink, his disciples
waked Him and He taught them about the wind and weather. At that moment
they gained the centre of a hill which protected them and they marvelled among
themselves, that even the winds obeyed Him.
The feeding of the 5000 is explained thus: "When Jesus saw the multitude an
hungered. He said to the disciples, we will set the rich people among them a good
example". And Jesus began to distribute His own supplies and those of the
disciples. The example had its effects, and soon there was plenty for everyone
because the rich among the crowd similarly distributed their own supplies.
According to Schweitzer, the various raisings from the dead should actually
be called deliverance from premature burials. They were all cases of coma. In
Judea interment took place three hours after death and how many would have
returned to consciousness in their graves and thereafter perished miserably.
On the transfiguration, Schweitzer posited that at night when Jesus was in the
mountainous district, He had an interview with two dignified looking men whom
His three companions took for Moses and Elijah.
Form Criticism
The arguments so far against the historicity of the Gospels are based on source
criticism which deals with written documents alone; but this did not resolve the
phenomenon of the Gospels. Scholars, therefore, feel that they must get behind
the Gospels to know what was happening at the oral stage before the writing of
the Gospels began. How did the stories about Jesus circulate during the first 20 to
40 years before any Gospel was written? How did these stories take concrete
forms? This, therefore, led to the rise of form criticism.
Form criticism, which arose in Germany, was devised by Hermann Gunkel to
study the individual stories in the Pentateuch." Martin Dibelius21 and Rudolf
Bultmann" were the leading scholars who applied the method to the study of the
Gospels. Form criticism is not an alternative to source criticism, but a supplement
to it. For example, source criticism, among several other theories, proposed a
four-document hypothesis as the sources of the Synoptic Gospels. But it could
not push the study beyond the written documents. Form criticism is an attempt to
fill this gap. Secondly, form criticism arose from the challenge to historicity by
W. Wrede who argued that the framework of Mark was the author's own creation
based on what were originally independently circulating units. The third reason
for the rise of form criticism is the attempt to modernize the Gospels in the light
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In Search of the Original Jesus 9
of scientific revelations. The fourth reason is the quest of the historical Jesus
aimed at rediscovering the original Jesus as He really was and to free Him, once
and for all, from the chains of Church dogma."
The form critics argued that the gospel stories first circulated in form of
sermons and that some narratives were aimed at showing Jesus as a wonder
worker. Such stories were created by story tellers in the early Church. According
to Dibelius, there were also legends of the infancy story, as well as myths. For
Bultmann, Jesus does not need any historical demonstration. What is important is
the Jesus of faith, since little is known of the historical Jesus. The general feeling
among the form critics is that it is not possible to know the historical Jesus
because it is impossible to find reliable historical evidence about Him. The form
critics claim further that 'form' is neither something accidental nor the result of
the literary genius of an individual. Rather, it is a record of the spontaneous
reactions of a community which grew out of a typical recurring situation to
various issues and controversies which arose within the members and with
outsiders. Each form had a function in the life of the community and reveals the
concern which brought it into being. We, therefore, see that the thrust of form
criticism is largely sociological."
• Both Dibelius and Bultmann classify their material according to a variety of
'forms', although they differ in their terminology for them. The form critics
believe that by observing certain laws which govern the transmission of material
as illustrated by different Synoptic accounts of the same story, it is possible to
arrive at the earliest recoverable form of the community's earliest renditions ever
before the first Gospel was written. These forms constitute a function of life for
the early Christian community and reveal the concerns which led to the creation
of those traditions, as well as the nature of life in the early Church. Although
Bultrnann agrees that the traditions in the Synoptic Gospels pre-supposed the
preaching of Jesus, it is impossible to determine how much of this is traceable to
Him.
Rudolf Bultrnann reacted vigorously against the scholars of the 19th century
who made a reconstructed biographical account of the life and personality of
Jesus the sole aim of their research. This is because Bultrnann felt that it was a
waste of time trying to investigate the accounts of Jesus' life since very little or
nothing at all can be known about the historical Jesus. For Bultmann, what is
central to the Christian message is not Jesus meek and mild, nor indeed the
historical Jesus at all, but the Risen Christ. For a long time nearly all the form
critics stated confidently that the Gospels were not biographies and that these
books were concerned almost entirely with the significance, rather than the life
history of Jesus. They further argued that the Evangelists were not concerned
with any precise chronology; nor with the description of Jesus' personal
appearance, and further, that no attempt was made to unravel the development of
His personality, nor set Jesus in the historical context of His own day."
Bultmann adopted, for his study of the Synoptic Gospels, the method of
analyzing the small units of tradition which Gunkel had used in the analysis of
the materials in Genesis and the Psalms. In his view, the literary analysis of
typical forms in which traditions were preserved would show how they had been
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10 S.Oyin Abogunrin
used in early communities. Attention was turned from reported events to
anonymous teachers, preachers, worshippers, collectors, editors, redactors etc.
who were allegedly responsible for the stories in the Gospels and this led to
historical scepticism about the Gospels. Form criticism had by now taken firm
root in Germany because its presuppositions were already present in the German
History of Religions and of its research traditions. This is why Bultmann thought
that comparative study of folk literature would explain the laws governing the
transmission of the Synoptic traditions." Bultmann vigorously opposed scholars
who made the reconstruction of biographical accounts of the life and personality
of Jesus the very centre of the Christian message. For him, it is the Risen Christ
that was central to the Christian faith. He insisted that the early Church in its
missionary preaching was only concerned with the fact that Jesus of Nazareth
had once lived on the earth. 27
Of course, these may be the expectations of many modem readers of a
biography. But a careful, open-minded reading will reveal that some of the issues
raised by the form-critics are assumed in the Gospels. Their problem is that they
have come to the Gospels with a preconceived notion that most of the accounts in
the Gospels are unhistorical, hence their failure to see those facts which they
claim to be looking for, but which are conspicuously present in the Gospels.
Moreover, the Gospels must be set against the backdrop of their own times.
When this is faithfully done, the Gospels will emerge both as the full-fledged
biographies of Jesus and as the true story about His actual life and deeds and the
significance of His life.
A careful study of the Graeco-Roman biographies reveals that they rarely
trace the character development of personalities. They allow the actions and
words of persons to speak for themselves. This method was commonly used in
sophisticated ancient biographical writings with long literary tradition. Therefore,
if we find that the Gospels appear to portray the character of Jesus by reporting
His actions and teachings, we are certainly not misunderstanding their intention,
as the form critics would want us to think. Of course, ancient biographies are
themselves diverse in forms and this does not make direct comparison with the
Gospels easy.
Several scholars have insisted that the early Church did incorporate Jewish
teaching, as well as its own teaching, into the Gospels. They have therefore
proceeded to argue that only materials which have no parallels in either the first-
century Judaism or in early Christianity can be considered authentic or as coming
from Jesus Himself.28 Such a view not only leads to a distorted picture of the life
and times of Jesus, but amounts to separating Jesus from the religious tradition
and culture to which He belonged. Jesus was born a Jew, raised up as one, lived
as a Jew and, naturally, observed some of the Jewish customs. To agree with the
form critics is like saying, concerning the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria,
for example, that only things which could not be traced to the lgbo religion and
culture, and to the political ideas of 1940s and 50s can be said to be authentic
about Dr. Azikiwe. Or that anything that could be traced to the Yoruba religion
and culture, and to the politics of the 1940s and 50s could not be true about the
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In Search of the Original Jesus II
late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and that only the ideas belonging to the year 2000
and thereafter could be true of Awolowo and of Azikiwe.
In response to the form critics, Christ as a teacher was greater than the
Christian community which He founded and it must be expected that He had His
stamp on the form and content of the oral tradition which circulated about Him.
Also, variation in tradition may not mean that a particular record of events is
unhistorical since Jesus Himself might have on different occasions and in various
places repeated some of His teachings in different forms, depending on the
situation. Again, some of the variations among the Gospels might be additional
information, rather than contradiction. Also, no form critical hypothesis which
ignores the presence of the eyewitnesses is justified. The uniqueness of Jesus in
whom the Christian faith is centred and for whom the early Christians were
prepared even to suffer death must be noted. Would the early Christians have
been prepared to die in defence of falsehood and what they know to be products
of their own imagination?"
Also, the historian's acceptance of the pre-suppositions of the form critics
would amount to abandoning Jesus as a possible subject of -investigation, and
reducing Him, who is the main subject of the Church's proclamation, to a
mythological figure, with the consequent danger of depriving, that proclamation
of all historical content. Christianity would then become a sort of myth. The
argument of the form critics - that only materials that have no parallel in
contemporary Judaism of the first century AD to the post-Easter Christian
Church could be attributed to Jesus - is faulty because of the limitation of our
knowledge of the first century Judaism, based on available Jewish sources.
Furthermore, it is difficult to accurately date those Jewish sources and be definite
about how much of these Jewish sources go back to the first century. Moreover,
form critics set the beginning of the gospel tradition at Easter, but this is quite
arbitrary. Form critics cannot dispute the fact that during Jesus' ministry, He was
surrounded by a group of disciples who later constituted the earliest Christian
community. The origins of the Jesus traditions, therefore, were in the Pre-Easter
period. It can, therefore, be legitimately assumed that there was something about
the historical Jesus which explains how He came to be the object of the Church's
faith and preaching. Attempts to explain the origins of the synoptic materials in
terms of collective creativity of the early Christian community rests upon an
unproved assumption. Even if the Gospels were written to meet the contemporary
needs of the primitive Church, the Evangelists appeared to have drawn upon the
actual life stories about 'Jesus' teachings and deeds. What kept the early Christian
community:"together was not just the Easter experience, but what they knew of
Jesus before the Easter event and it is evident that this knowledge of Jesus'
teaching and deeds was adequate enough to keep the Church going.
The Church was interested in Jesus because it came into being as a result of
the activities of Jesus and not as a result of invented stories after His death. Any
theory which explains the contents of the Gospels as the creation of the early
Church is ridiculous. Equally false is the theory that only a very tiny amount of
information was handed over to the Church. The theories of the form critics are
too weak to explain the rise of the early Church and faith in Jesus Christ.
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12 S.Oyin Abogunrin
Assuming that it was the resurrection that brought the church into being, this
must have carried with it some personal knowledge of who Jesus was. What the
early Church taught about Jesus would be inexplicable unless there existed some
previous knowledge of Jesus.
The early church did not just esteem Jesus as a wonderful teacher and
prophet; it regarded Him as the Messiah, the Son of God, Redeemer, Saviour and
Lord. The Jesus of the form critics could not have been elevated to the status of
the Jesus that we have in the New Testament. All the form critics agree that Jesus
had disciples who survived Him. If so, did the disciples all forget all that Jesus
ever did and taught and, therefore, need to create stories about Jesus? Had they
no memory of what Jesus said in the course of His ministry which they must
have told and retold over some period of time? Did they distort tradition so
thoroughly that next to nothing of what Jesus actually said and did survived? If
the form critics were all Jesus' disciples and were eyewitnesses, what would they
have done or written after His death?
Furthermore, the argument by form critics that the gospel materials lack the
characteristics which are usually found in accounts given by eyewitnesses and,
further, that our present Gospels look more like oral traditions, preserved and
transmitted by communities rather than eyewitness testimonies of individuals; is
untenable. The gospel traditions played an important part in the faith and life of
the early Christian communities which preserved them. The eyewitnesses must
have been responsible for the vivid details in the Gospels and must have
exercised some control over the development and transmission of the traditions
about the life of Jesus. If Jesus was proclaimed as a mythical figure for about
seventy years and the gospel message still spread so fast, and churches were
firmly established in different parts of the Roman Empire, why would the Church
at that stage need the proclamation of Jesus as an historical person to assist it in
evangelism when it had succeeded without it for seven decades? If the historical
Jesus was invented after A.D 100, why would it be necessary to create so many
detailed traditions? All the early Christian opponents agreed that Jesus once
lived, had disciples, taught and performed miracles and was put to death on the
cross by the Romans. Today nearly all historians accept that Jesus once lived and
that the Gospels contain valuable materials about His life.
The gospel stories indeed reflect Jesus' own time and situation rather than
the time and situation of the early Church and, therefore, they cannot be the
early-Christian inventions. Bultmann's claim that the gospel stories reflect the
life situation in the rabbinic traditions cannot stand. We do not possess any
evidence that similar debates existed within the Judaism of the day which would
necessitate the creation of such scenes in Jesus' ministry. Also we have no
account of such debates within the early Christian communities. Equally
untenable is the argument which regards Jesus' sayings recorded in the Gospels
as inspired utterances of early Christian preachers and prophets. It is true that the
New Testament recorded some occasions when some sayings are attributed to the
risen Jesus or to the Holy Spirit or to a prophet, but when such occurs, it is
usually made clear in the passage. On most occasions when neither the content
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In Search of the Original Jesus 13
•
nor the context of gospel records points to a situation after Easter, the authentic-
city of such materials should be assumed.
However, H. Riesenfeld," and his student Gerhadson, both of whom were
Scandinavian scholars, proposed an alternative to the presuppositions of the form
critics. They postulated the existence of a community for the transmission of
Jesus' tradition within the early Church, a situation where the transmission of
tradition becomes a technical act of instruction. This reflects the method of the
oral transmission of the Torah in Judaism. In Rabbinic Judaism there existed a
methodically controlled transmission of the tradition of the fathers. Gerhadson
sees a parallel in the ministry exercised by the Twelve in Jerusalem. Like in
Jewish tradition, a group of official repeaters (the ministers of the word) could be
responsible for the oral transmission of the Jesus tradition. Paul told the
Corinthians: "For I delivered unto you what I also received" (I Cor. 11:23; 15:3).
The words 'delivered' and 'received' parallel the technical terminologies used for
the control of the oral transmission of the Torah. Obviously, the Twelve must
have exercised influence, if not control, over the way and manner the Jesus
tradition was transmitted at the early period. There may be some elements of
truth in this because it was in this manner that most prophetic oracles, which
~ere first deposited with the disciples or the 'sons' of the prophets, were first
preserved in poetic forms and were kept for some time before being committed
into writing in ancient Israel. But this cannot fully explain the phenomenon of the
relationship between the Gospels."
To some extent, this has a parallel in the Odu !fa system of divination among
the Yoruba of West Africa and the related groups. The !fa Corpus contains
sixteen major divisions or "books" and 256 "chapters". It takes at least seven
years of full-time apprenticeship to learn the art and scriptures by heart, and also
to know the various myths connected with each chapter, as well as their meaning.
It is in the !fa Corpus that we have the most ancient and purest traditions of the
Yoruba people. The Yoruba ancient scriptures are memorized and recited in the
way Quranic students memorize and recite the Quran. In spite of the fact that
many ofthe experts of !fa divination system today are literate.and well-informed,
the old system of memorization and recitation remains the only approved method
of learning and practising the art."
The New Quest of the Historical Jesus
This was a new development during the 1950s and 1960s in consequence of the
failure of the old quest and form criticism. J.N. Robinson argued that the old
quest of the historical Jesus was both impossible and illegitimate. The new quest,
unlike the old, was ready to accept that some historical information about Jesus
survived in the Gospels or in the Kerygma. Of course, it is not that the exponents
were seriously interested in the historical Jesus. Robinson underlined the
illegitimacy of trying to work back to pure history since what we have in the
Gospels are interpreted stories and sayings. He too believed that not very much
could be traced back to the lifetime of Jesus. According to him, the task of the
historian is to recognize the intention behind past historical records, since history
is a matter of interpretation in which the interpreter may find himself being
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14 S.Oyin Abogunrin
interpreted. He concludes that the Gospels are therefore an interpretation of facts
and it is illegitimate to go behind them since the historical Christ remains
inaccessible."
The rise of the new quest was also due to Bultmann's theological hostility to
the liberals' quest for the historical Jesus. He had argued that faith must be
bolstered by rational arguments, lest its sufficiency for salvation be undermined.
He stated further that faith must not be exposed to the risk of the historicity of the
Gospels and, that they should be severed from historical claims. Also, he argued
that faith is directed towards God Who cannot be identified with a bit of worldly
reality. Finally, he advocated a new understanding of the incarnation against the
position of liberal Protestantism which denies the historicity of the Gospels
altogether.
The new questers were in broad agreement with Bultmann on the above
points, but they realized at the same time that since Christianity is centred on the
crucified and risen Jesus Christ as the decisive revelation from God, objective
investigators must at least be interested in what can be known about him by
rational enquiry. The denial of the resurrection of Jesus and the substitution of an
anti-theological explanation for this event cuts the thread of legitimacy which
joins the faith of the early Church to the historical figure of Jesus. The Christian
claim that' Jesus is Lord' would therefore be false. Evading the "risk of history"
by showing no interest in the historical reality of Jesus is therefore unsatisfactory.
Since the claims of Christianity are open to challenge, it must be ready always to
meet this challenge with rational historical arguments. Abandoning the historical
quest would be to break with something that has from the start remained the
cornerstone of the Christian faith. 34
A disciple of Bultmann who broke away from him in October 1953, was E.
Kasemann who insisted that we cannot separate the Christ of faith from the Jesus
history, nor do away with the identity between the exalted Lord Jesus and the
earthly Jesus without falling into docetism. Another disciple of Bultmann, who
also broke away, is G. Bornkamm who admits that Jesus is the only reality of
God who confronts men and calls them to a decision." Thus we see that the new
quest admits that the Gospels contain some historical facts about Jesus, though
they have been interpreted.
Christ and Mythology
There is another vital issue relating to our subject which needs to be discussed
briefly. This is the issue of myths in the New Testament, first examined b~
Rudolf Bultmann and in the recent works edited by John Hick and others. 6
Bultmann wrote his essay on mythology in the New Testament in 1941.
Bultmann was a professor of New Testament, who before then, had served as a
chaplain in the army. He had been very concerned about the growing agnosticism
in Europe and in the army. He believed that the major cause was that the modem
man could no longer accept the myths contained in the New Testament. He was
convinced that an undemythologized New Testament Christianity was no longer
alive and could not make sense to the modem man. He argued that both the Old
and New Testaments were obsolete and were unable to tackle the problem of
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In Search of the Original Jesus 15
man in this age. It is the reason man has fallen into agnosticism. Moreover, he
argued further that the New Testament is unscientific and too elementary for the
modem scientific minds. It must, therefore, be purged of these elements that
make it unacceptable to the present scientific age. Bultmann regarded the
resurrection and miracles as impossible. He went further to say that not very
much is known about Jesus as a historical figure, and His contributions to the
thoughts of the New Testament are almost impossible to identify. He also
submitted that Christ is neither the main figure of the New Testament nor is He
responsible for all that is attributed to Him. Bultmann considered the. Old
Testament more embarrassing than helpful. In his view, the myth of God's saving
act in Jesus was derived from gnosticism and Jewish apocalyptic. The idea of
sacrifice is an anachronism rather than the essence of the Christian faith. He
argued further that, today, nobody would interpret a case of epilepsy or mental
illness as demonic possession. The modem man would take these as illness and
go to a doctor. Cholera epidemic would be seen in terms of germs, rather than as
divine visitation. Moreover, in Bultmann's view, it is impossible to use electric
light, radio, television etc. and, in case of illness, consult a medical doctor and at
the same time believe in the existence of demons and miracles. Bultmann's
radical criticism of the New Testament notwithstanding, he maintains that God
has done something decisive in Jesus Christ and that Christianity is a Gospel.
Unlike many scholars before him, Bultmann believes that the myths should not
be eliminated from the New Testament but must, rather be interpreted, and also
that Christianity is an event rather than an invention. Yet he did not accept the
supernatural in the life of Jesus, such as the virgin birth, miracles, and the
resurrection. He accepted only the interpretation of these. For him, faith does not
depend on the resurrection appearances, but on being crucified with Christ.37
Bultmann, who was greatly influenced by such existentialist philosophers as
Heidegger and Kierkegaard, opined that if all the stories in the Bible could be
interpreted existentially, there would no longer be conflict between religion and
science. For him, Religion would cease to make statements about the material
universe, and the field would be left entirely to science. The problem with
Bultmann's position, however, is that Christianity cannot make such a wholesale
withdrawal from the world and still remain true to itself. Also what man believes
about creation, providence, prayer and miracles implies that God is not only the
Lord of the individual life, but of the material universe. The early Church did not
create the miracle and resurrection stories, as suggested by Bultmann, but merely
responded to them. Christianity cannot dispense with the Gospel traditions about
Jesus and still remain the true Christian faith.
The latest major debate on the issue can be found in the book, The Myth of
God Incarnate edited by John Hick and published in 1977. The volume contains
articles by various scholars who are no longer persuaded by the fundamentals of
the Christian faith. This gave birth to a series of articles written in reaction to this
strong challenge to the authenticity and historicity of the Christian faith. These
were published in 1977 in the volume titled: The Truth of God Incarnate edited
by Michael Green. The two sides were brought together and academic papers on
the subject were presented and discussed. This resulted in another volume titled:
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16 S.Oyin Abogunrin
The Myth of God Incarnate: The Debate Continued, edited by Michael Goulder
and published in 1979.
The first volume, The Myth of God Incarnate, is an attempt to rethink
christo logical beliefs and the primacy of soteriology. The main arguments of
some of the authors go thus: the Christians in the early Church lived in a world in
which supernatural causation was accepted without question and in which divine
visitations were not unexcepted. Such assumptions, they argue, have become
foreign to our situation. It is further claimed that in the West today, both popular
culture and the culture of the intelligentsia have come to be determined by human
and natural sciences to such an extent that the supernatural causation of, or
intervention in, the affairs of the world has become incredible. Therefore, they
have maintained that, Jesus could not have been a real man and at the same time
be unique in a sense different from that in which each of us is a unique
individual. A literal incarnation, no matter how sophisticated the arguments in its
support, cannot avoid the elements of docetism and it requires the believer to
accept a claim for Jesus' uniqueness in a way not acceptable to the majority of
our contemporaries. They are of the view that Christianity, as traditionally
conceived, is alien to the present climate. Also, that it is notoriously difficult, to
the point of impossibility, to prove the sinlessness of Jesus. How, for example,
could even the most consistent companion of Jesus have been sure that He
remained unbrokenly true to His own principle and never, for example, "looked .
on a woman to lust after her", in the sense of Mathew 5:28? They, therefore,
conclude that everything in the four Gospels would have occupied only some
three weeks; meaning that the overwhelmingly greater part of Jesus' life and
deeds remains unrecorded.
John Hick and his colleagues are not saying anything very new, although
they have been able to strengthen and perfect arguments on the belief that the
Bible cannot be more than a compilation of myths in the light of the present
Western culture and the development of science.
Most of what we have considered so far deals with the historicity of the
Christian faith. Therefore, before concluding, it is necessary to consider the
nature of history, the modem understanding of what history is and how much that
has influenced many Biblical scholars and theologians.
History and Faith
The task of the modem historian is often described as aiming at an objective
reconstruction of the past. He is expected to determine and understand what has
happened in the past. But since he has no direct access to the past, he has to make
use of the various kinds of evidence by means of which the past events have left
traces of themselves for the historian. He has to work back to the facts which
underlie them, and interpret them. He must possess the skill and talent to draw up
creative hypotheses, where and when required, for a critical analysis of the
evidence. The word 'history' is derived from the Greek word historia meaning
"enquiry". The noun historia comes from the verb historeo, meaning 'to inquire'
'to visit for the purpose of coming to know someone or something', 'to get
information from' .
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In Search of the Original Jesus 17
Modem historiography has its origin in the 19th century, which is regarded as
the great age of facts and enquiry. The 19th century was occupied with names,
dates, places, occurrences, sequences, causes and effects. It found the idea of
objectivity in the natural scientist's investigation of the physical phenomena. But
since the historian often stands within the history which he is investigating, total
objectivity is apparently unattainable. The historian must know how to select the
right facts, in other words, those which shed light on the historical phenomenon
which he is investigating. His task consists mainly of material selection,
collation, ordering and evaluation of the historical data. This means that the
reconstruction of the past ultimately depends on the historian's judgment."
But the ancient historians did not view their task in the same way as their
modem counterparts. Their criteria of significance were quite different. They
were mostly concerned about transmitting to their readers what they considered
important, useful and edifying in their reconstruction of the past. Pedagogical
example, whether good or bad was the aim of ancient historiographers. The
ancient historiographer did not share our scruples about passing judgements on
the past personalities or events. He freely composed speeches, slating his own
perception of the significance of past events and placing them on the lips of the
actors in the historical drama. Attention was focused on prominent persons and
political changes which they brought about. The biographical genre is therefore
no guarantee that the events took place precisely as reported. Also, the scope of
investigation by ancient historians were restricted to what was considered
appropriate.
The sources for the investigation of the Christian movement during the first
century are the New Testament writings. Archaeologists have investigated the
various sites mentioned in the New Testament, and this has given us valuable
insights into the historical context of Jesus' ministry and the world in which
Christianity arose. But archaeological finds have not shed light on some
important areas of the historical Jesus. This is because during the first century,
Christians did not construct places of worship and prayers, but assembled in
private homes. Their simple worship required no distinctive ritual objects and the
Scriptures they used were those of the Synagogues. We, therefore, depend largely
on the four Gospels for our information on the historical Jesus.
We have tried to demonstrate that in spite of the difficulties raised by critical
scholars, the Gospels contain reliable material about the Jesus of history. The
problem of the historical Jesus is part of the problem of studying ancient history
and has to be studied, to a large extent, essentially by the same methods.
Therefore, the quest of the historical Jesus faces the same difficulties as any other
historical study of the same period. The historical study is not aimed at denying
the truth contained in the Gospels, but rather, at applying the method of historical
science as the basis of assessing the historical worth of the Gospels. When this is
done with an open mind, the historical value of the Gospels can never be in
doubt.
Furthermore, the historical phenomenon that we are dealing with is not just
the life of Jesus Christ, but also the church which was triggered off by His life.
The Christian understanding of history is that of a God who reveals Himself and
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18 S. Oyin Abogunrin
acts in history. The God about Whom Jesus spoke is the God Who stoops down
to seek out and to save man. But if Jesus is not more than a mere prophet and
teacher, then the Christian message is false. The Biblical concept of God is that
of a God Who not only seeks and saves, but expresses Himself in the incarnation
by coming to dwell among men in some tangible way, Otherwise, God will
remain unknowable. The Christian conception of history is that of a history
which finds its centre and climax in the coming of Jesus. The death and
resurrection of Jesus are the basis of the hope for the future. This has rescued
history from being a cyclical process, in which something continually happens,
and makes it into a goal. But to accept the Christian view of history is to affirm
that Jesus is more than an ordinary man who discovered the truth or to whom the
truth about God was revealed. By this statement we are asserting that God has
done something decisive in Jesus Christ and this is a proof that Jesus Christ is
related to God in a unique way."
We must be careful not to move away from the Gospel roots in history. There
is no doubt that in spite of some problems identified in the gospel records
concerning the life, deeds and sayings of Jesus, there is a personal originality,
combined with profundity of insight. He is not just the greatest reformer that ever
existed and a martyr of whom religion cannot be said to have made a bad choice
in pitching on Him as an ideal representative and guide of humanity. Jesus is
more than all these. Indeed, the Christian faith is about the act of God in Jesus
Christ. Hence, Christianity affirms that there is no other way to God and that the
relation is both complete and continuing in Jesus only. What took place in Jesus
is decisive and the Christian faith does not expect any future revelation of God to
supplement, supersede, or correct the one already given in Jesus Christ.
Henceforth, the relationship between God and man is once and for all defined by
the relationship with God in Jesus Christ. What God has accomplished for
humankind in Christ Jesus, is accomplished once and for all. It is finished, and it
is of decisive significance. The reconciliation between God and man is once and
for all achieved. It is God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Cor:
5:19).
Historical evidence may sometimes appear contradictory, and with immense
gaps in it. Quite often the material may be so vast and the questions that can be
asked so endless as to make some process of selection inevitable with different
possible pictures of the same event thereby emerging. This is one serious and
valid observation that critical scholars have always made about the Gospels. But
nobody can write history and conclude, as a result of some apparent
contradictions, for example, that Karl Marx or Bishop Ajayi Crowther, the first
African bishop in the 19th century, never lived. It is not purely 'accidental' that
the four canonical Gospels have survived. Perhaps the most notable phenomenon
is the re-emergence of the historical Jesus from the midst of critical uncertainties
resulting from critical historical research.
A large number of believing Christians have yet to make their peace with
critically historical approach to the Scriptures. They could not see how the
critical approach can be compatible with the reverence which the biblical text
demands. One can appreciate this deep concern. But Christianity is a historical
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In Search of the Original Jesus 19
religion, that is, it is a faith whose credal affirmations are expressed in the past
tense. Also the problem is compounded because the critical approach' is a
challenge to the ancient ecclesiastical dogma of the verbal inspiration and
inerrancy of the Bible, which appears to rule out, a priori a critical approach to
the Scriptures.
Interest in Jesus of faith to the almost total neglect of the Jesus of history
almost naturally leads to historical scepticism and flight from history. But the
reconstruction of the past, in order to be meaningful, must remain relevant to
faith. The Gospels are not just a form of the Kerygma, but sources of what
actually happened. If the historian of Christian origins is to be faithful to his task,
he must steer a course between the Uncritical acceptance of biblical narratives
demanded by fundamentalism and a theologically motivated criticism, whose
hypercritical approach ignores the rules of historical probability; and is itself as
uncritical of its own way as the opposite extreme. A critical reading of the
sources is the only one possible for the historian, if he is to use the New
Testament writings to reconstruct the past. He has no other option, but to ask
whether or not these things really happened in the way in which they are
presented in the available records. However, before the historian accurately
evaluates the evidence, he must first identify the historical material contained in
his sources. It is a fact that the New Testament, being a collection of religious
writings, contains certain affirmations about which the historian is not competent
to pass a judgement. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the historical method
and religious beliefs are incompatible.
Consequently, there is no need for the historian to deny the existence of God
or God's activity in the world. Faith affirmations and historical affirmations often
differ in their content, but not all the time. For example, with the statement:
"Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures", the first part "Jesus
died" is a historical fact, but the second part, "for our sins" belongs to the
dogmatic interpretation of the passion story; yet this dot not make the second part .
unhistorical. The Easter event gives credence to such an interpretation of Jesus'
death.
Jesus Christ has remained the .most remarkable phenomenon in human
history. Jesus Christ was and is different from everyone else. What makes Jesus
universally significant? Is the human race one? If so, what effects does this have
on the human race? Scientists assume that the universe is one; this cannot be
proved. But since without a single consistent universe they could not do what
they do; scientists find this a convenient assumption to make. And empirically,
there must be somewhere a central point where the universe is located. Nobody
has any idea about its location. If it can be proved that the human race has a
single history, then there is the possibility that there could be a central point at
which all human threads converge and from which all threads diverge. It would,
therefore, mean that a theology of history is possible. In Christian theology of
history, the death and resurrection of Christ are the central point of history, This
is the point where all roads of the past converge and all roads of the future
diverge. The biblical concept of history is that of narrowing down to a point.
Human history begins with Adam who is the father of us all, and ends with Jesus
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20 S.Oyin Abogunrin
Christ, the last Adam, Who in His person won victory over sin and death for
humankind. The Gospels present Jesus as constituting Himself the true Israel and
the One in Whom the whole destiny of Israel is realized. From the point at which
He supremely tasted death for sin through obedience, He was supremely
vindicated through the resurrection. It is at this point that the proclamation of the
Gospel begins, and is to be preached as long as the world lasts.
The African Perspective
The above leads us to the following pertinent questions: Of what value to Africa
is the current debate on the historicity of the Gospels, as well as the question of
the historical Jesus? What can African Christianity benefit from the critical study
of the Gospels, which has dominated the West for more than two centuries? Is it
possible to pursue the question of the sequential order and the literature of the
Gospels purely from the academic point of view, quite unrelated to the attested
primitive traditions of the immediate generations after the Apostolic age? Can
African biblical scholars brush aside the age-long accepted traditions and
convictions of the church from the beginning before we can explain the
phenomena of the Gospels? In the light of the African experience is the
multiplication of hypothetical sources the solution to the problem of the sources
of the Evangelists? Can we completely remove the Gospels from their cultural
milieu and the conditions obtainin~ in first-century Palestine and impose Western
cultural understanding of the 20t century upon their texts as if the Gospels
actually originated from the West in the 20th century? What effects has the
imposition of modern understanding of the nature of history on the cherished
traditions of the Church? Can African biblical scholars brush aside the age-long
accepted traditions and convictions of both Judaism and the Church because
Western culture no longer has room for the supernatural? In the light of African
experience, can the current Western approach be the best for African
Christianity?
African Christianity has benefited tremendously from the cumulative labours
of Western scholars These scholars have kept African theologians aware of the
questions being raised about the Bible which are pertinent to serious biblical
research. At the same time, the increasing efforts in Africa to make biblical
scholarship relevant should similarly be seen as contributing to the history of the
enquiry.
But as far as Christianity in Africa, is concerned, the concern for the truth is
still whole and unfragmented. The liberal scholars' approach to the question of
the origin of the Gospels has not always been the best or the right way to
understand the milieu out of which the Gospels emerged. One of the major
reasons for this is the fact that there .is a wide gap between the thought-world of
the Bible and of that of Western critics today. The majority of Africans still live
in the world of the New Testament, where belief in demons and a host of unseen
supernatural powers is still potent and real. A Jesus emptied of all such
supernaturalism as is contained in the Gospels would therefore be meaningless in
the African setting.
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In Search of the Original Jesus 21
In Africa today, the primary source of history is still largely oral tradition.
Ancient traditions are still much cherished. Even now the history of most African
peoples is still unwritten, and still lives on in the form of oral traditions, songs,
family eulogies and genealogies, most of which have taken definite forms over
the centuries or for countless generations. The fact that modem investigators into
African history are often confronted with apparently conflicting traditions does
not necessarily impugn the validity of such historical facts. Therefore, it cannot
be concluded on that basis that the people of Africa have no history, and that
everything about them is false. It is often left to such investigators to
scientifically analyse their collections and decide whether the contradictions are
real or only apparent. To return to our major concern, it is significant that all
ancient evidence is generally unanimous about the origins of our four canonical
Gospels. The concern for the truth and objectivity by serious scholars should not
mean the rejection of the old tradition. Instead, it should lead to commitment to a
thorough investigation of such information without preconceived ideas. It is
important to note that our ideas about what could have happened about two
thousand years ago may not actually reflect the position of things then.
Furthermore, it is a very dangerous procedure to brush aside external evidence,
which is basic to any serious historical research. •
The modem approach to history is, as we have argued, quite alien to the
approach of the ancient historians. It is, therefore, unacademic and unscientific to
impose our present Western understanding and interpretation of history on the
ancient people. The Gospels are essentially a product of faith and of the
experiences of committed individuals and the community of believers. The
Gospels, therefore, require some kind of special treatment and understanding.
Undoubtedly, before the written Gospels appeared, many of Jesus' traditions
had taken definite forms at the time the majority of the eyewitnesses were still
around. This would mean that correspondence among the Synoptic Gospels must
not be traced to some hypothetical written sources alone, but also to the forms of
oral tradition before the first written Gospel appeared. The stories of Jesus'
sayings, parables, healings, miracles, etc must have been told and retold at
various centres in the early church. Within a period of twenty to thirty years of
oral transmission, those traditions must have assumed some definite concrete
forms. Many forms of Jesus' sayings must have been memorized and some
translated into Church hymns, as is the case within the churches in Africa today.
The constant appeal to hypothetical sources to explain the origins of the Gospels
gives the impression that the Evangelists were so ignorant and uninformed about
the tradition of Jesus before they began to write and that they had to resort to
copying from existing written documents or written stories created to glorify
Jesus in the second century A.D. in composing their Gospels. But the
Evangelists, whether they were apostles or not, were prominent and well-
informed members of the early church where the tradition about Jesus took
definite forms, and they were quite familiar with these.
But what is the state of contemporary Christian theology in the West today?
Is theology speaking to the contemporary society, any longer? Who, is it that,
fired what can be described as the fatal shot at Christian orthodoxy in the West?
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22 S.Oyin Abogunrin
The modern Christian theologian it is that fired the shot, and in so doing, he
killed himself by eliminating the Bible, the sole reason for his existence and has,
therefore, in effect committed suicide." Contemporary liberal Western theology
. is incapable of offering any firm advice to modem secular society. The present
secular dilemma of uncertainty is matched by an equal, if not greater, religious
uncertainty of the modem theologian. Philosophical objectors to historic
Christianity have succeeded in establishing a new religion - naturalistic Deism.
They fought vigorously to eliminate the miraculous claims of the Scriptures. But
the foundation of this teaching is the denial of the historicity of the Gospels by
scholars of the Age of Reason and their successors, some of whom now live and
practise in Africa. Biblical studies must not be divorced from the world of reality
and practicability and the world of daily living, if it is to continue to speak to
human needs. Modem Biblical studies are becoming more and more theoretical
and speculative because of the attempt to equate them with abstract philosophy.
Christianity did not begin as speculative thought, nor as speculative systematic
theology. It began as a way of life, not based on intellectual speculative
presuppositions, but on a faith which was in fact, founded on absolute trust in
Jesus Christ and loyalty to Him as the Lord of all.
In a situation where biblical scholars are failing to reach the Church, and in a
world where communication has broken down between it and theologians, as
well as between them and the Church, theologians need to reexamine their
methodology and vocabulary and they must be honest about this. They should
ask themselves whether they are being bogged down by modernism, or they are
being actuated by the living, dynamic incarnate Christ. In a changing world, the
Christian affirmation .is__that God is unchanging. However, there is need to
recognize that our world is changing. There are epoch-making discoveries. Man's
knowledge about himself, the physical universe and culture does undergo
constant changes. Biblical scholarship must serve the society, the Church, and the
changing world. Biblical scholars must not allow the fmdings of science and
history of religion to become a snare in their confrontation with the world. As
long as the source of the message is the living God, it cannot be out of date. The
biblical scholar must see himself, first and foremost, as an apostle of Him who is
the Truth and must, therefore, face all the facts about the Bible as we have them
today. The Bible is a speaking book and where it has ceased to be such a book,
the scholar is no longer communicating, because he has lost touch with both the
word and the world.
The sum total of the Christian message is this: that God became incarnate in
the historic Man, Jesus Christ. The New Testament world, which is said to be
alien to the West of today, is not strange to the present African world. A Jesus
emptied of all the supernaturalism that is associated with Him in the Gospels and
with his disciples in the Acts of the Apostles will be meaningless and irrelevant
in the African context. The concern for the truth and objectivity by scholars must
not translate to the rejection of the Bible story and the inherited traditions of the
Church.
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In Search of the Original Jesus 23
Conclusion
In Conclusion, it is clear from all we have said above that the original Jesus is the
One we read of in the Gospels and in the New Testament and Whose coming had
been predicted by several prophets centuries before He was born. The Jesus of
most of the various critics is fake. The Jesus they speak about has never lived. He
exists only in the various hypotheses, classrooms and in their imagination. Their
kind of Jesus is too weak and powerless to be the Jesus of Nazareth Who
commands respect, worship and adoration. The original Jesus is the One
proclaimed as the Redeemer and Saviour of mankind. He came to proclaim the
gospel of freedom and "to preach the good news to the poor, to proclaim release
to the captives ... and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:16-19). It
was for this reason that Jesus went to the cross. Through His death and
resurrection, Jesus became triumphant over the power of sin, death and the forces
of evil.
What does Jesus as the Redeemer mean in the context of Africa? We are
quite familiar with wars, famine, political oppression, suppression and murders in
Africa today. Not less than 40% of the annual budget of many African nations is
spent on the purchase of arms, while education, agriculture and health receive
much less emphasis. The arms are not meant for fighting external aggressors, but
to suppress, maim and kill political opponents. Consequently, more than half of
the total population of refugees in the world is Africans. In addition, all African
countries are price takers. We have to sell at the price dictated to us for all our
exported raw materials, and when these are turned to finished products, we buy at
the price dictated. All these have combined with greed, mismanagement of
national resources and avarice by most African leaders to impoverish the
continent and cause economic decay. Oppression and political unrest have turned
highly educated Africans to refugees in foreign lands, while the poor die
helplessly in their thousands daily. The currencies have been heavily devalued in
most African countries - in several places by well over 1,000%. Africa is fast
becoming desolate and her children are fleeing their mother land in their
thousands on a daily basis to Europe, America and Asia, either as refugees or in
search of comfort, security, peace and livelihood.
The ready-made Jesus, encased in a statue of wood or gold, enshrined in •
Cathedrals, endorsed by the Church doctrines, is quite often, not the real Jesus.
The real Jesus is the love of God that creates the miracle of redemption and life
in abundance in the midst of hopelessness. The real Jesus is the pain of God
mingled with the pain of humanity, as clearly demonstrated on the cross. The real
Jesus is the hope pf redemption in places where people live in despair in the
midst of death. The challenge of the incarnate Son of God proclaimed in the
Gospels, in this multi-religious world, is that biblical scholars in Africa should
look more deeply into the multi-religious, multicultural, multi-political and
multi-colonial experience of Africa in order to see how Jesus can become
incarnated as the life-giving Redeemer once again as it were, in the suffering of
the peoples of the crisis-laden Africa, an Africa in serious agony.
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24 S. Oyin Abogunrin
How can we affirm in Africa and elsewhere that Jesus is the Redeemer in
every sense of the word in the midst of growing affluence by far less than one
percent of the population: where millions are deprived of the basic necessities of
life like food, shelter, health care delivery, good drinking water, equal
opportunity to education and the right to ancestral land through structural
injustice and violence? Life that is abundantly given by God is being regularly
diminished, distorted and destroyed by fellow citizens who constitute the ruling
oligarchies in Africa. Millions are marginalized and oppressed politically and
economically, and have become outcasts politically from their God-given land-
millions to whom life seems to be a curse, rather than a blessing. But we are
urged all the time to accept murder, injustice, oppression and political
persecution as the will of God. Unless we have rapid changes and there is
genuine repentance and a complete change of attitude by all concerned in and
outside Africa, we may not, in many African nations, be too far away from a
bloody revolution. People are hungry and angry. When the people rise up, all the
arms in the world may not be able to suppress them.
The effective witness of the Church's faith in God is her tireless efforts in
proclaiming the Gospel of freedom in Christ to all men for the transformation of
the world through social change and by helping man to become his best. The
confession of Jesus as Lord and Saviour ought to lead the confessors to work for
the freedom of all men from poverty, ignorance, disease, and for liberation from
all kinds of dehumanizing conditions of life, which are the griefs and anxieties of
Africa. Jesus of Nazareth is where the poor and oppressed are, and wherever
Jesus is, the Church ought to be found actively involved there. Biblical studies in
Africa must emphasize the presence of Christ with the people who are struggling
for a better life against the forces of injustice and oppression. Our scholarship
must also show that Jesus continues to participate in the people's struggle to
attain full humanity. Biblical studies in Africa must be at the service of the
Church, the peoples of Africa, and humanity as a whole while, at the same time,
serving as the motivating force for the mobilization of all who profess faith in
Jesus Christ in the on-going struggles in Africa for freedom, self-identity and
human dignity. Moreover, Christianity cannot be expected to think of abandoning
to the powers of evil the great human society for which Christ died. Jesus loves
and expects His followers to love humanity and seek to serve it as He did. The
alleviation of human suffering and the achievement of abundant life for all have a
primary claim on Christianity in Africa and elsewhere. This is why it is
incumbent on every Christian to strive hard towards the elimination of all causes
of suffering and deprivation, and achieve liberation for all victims of social
injustice and misfortunes.
The woes of Africa are due to the selfishness, greediness, visionlessness and
planlessnessof our leaders, especially in a situation where the self-interest of the
leaders has become the national interest. In collusion with foreign partners, our
leaders divert most of the money made from our export into their private
accounts, which money directly aids the economy of the receiving nations, while
the continent becomes poorer and poorer by the day. Can it be true that some of
the loans given to the Third World' countries are from the ill-gotten gains of their
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In Search of.the Original Jesus 25
leaders stacked away in their secret accounts in Asia, Europe and America?
Some of the loans themselves are fictitious and are sometimes shared by the
officials of the creditors and borrowing nations. When the economy is totally
ruined, citizens are called upon by political leaders who are living in plenty,
through the stolen wealth, to bear the pains of structural adjustment programmes
and of regular currency devaluation as dictated by foreign creditors. What the
present African leaders are doing is worse than what the chiefs who sold their
brothers and sisters into slavery did in the 18th and 19th centuries. The current
leaders are actually destroying the African soul and mortgaging Africa's future.
Today, a large number of Africans and Asians are migrating to the West and this
is putting untold pressure on the economy and labour market of those countries.
Of course, they are partly responsible for the plight of Africans today because of
the policy which allows ill-gotten wealth from the 'Third-World' leaders to be
kept in their banks without question. This is likely to get worse as the economic
and political situation saving deteriorates in Africa and Asia. And will this not
amount to an indirect revival of the old slavery in Africa? Laws should be made
to allow courts to investigate those suspected to have looted their nations' wealth,
and if they are found guilty the money so looted should be repatriated to the
accounts of those nations. This is more meaningful and practicable than the
current campaign for reparation in Africa. Also, the Christian nations in the West
must not only support the law against international fraud in order to support the
poor nations in Africa and Asia, but must fight for the cancellation of current
debts owed by the Third World countries. This will help those nations to begin
life afresh. This will also reduce the unnecessary pressure on the economy of the
Western nations. At the end, both sides will benefit.
Jesus knew what it is to be rejected by one's own people: He knew what it is
to be arrested, brutally beaten, tried, condemned to death, and cruelly crucified.
Jesus says: "I came that they may have life and that they may have it more
abundantly". Theologians must see themselves as God's mouthpiece and agents
of this abundant life. What we are saying is that the essence of the message of
Jesus is as stated in 1902 by Dr. Mojola Agbebi: "The great essentials of
Christian religion are that the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.?" Those
are the words of the original Jesus who is the same yesterday, today and forever
more.
Notes and References
S. o. Abogunrin, "Jesus of Nazareth in Two Centuries of Historical Research",
Proceedings of The 5th Annual Conference, Nigerian Association for the Study of
Religions. No.1, (September 1979), pp. 101-115. "The Modem Search for the
Historical Jesus in Relation to Christianity in Africa". Africa Theological Journal.
Lutheran Theological College, Aruza, Tanzania, (1980) pp. 18-29. ''The Language,
and Nature of the Resurrection in the New Testament", Journal of Evangelical
Theological Society, Wheaton College, Graduate School, U.S.A. Vol. 24, No. (1981)
pp. 55-65; A. Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus. (London 1910); D.F
Strauss, The Life of Jesus Critically Examined. (philadelphia & London 1972); G.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
26 S. Oyin Abogunrin
Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth, (E.T. London and New York 1960); Howard
Marshall, I Believe in TheHistorical Jesus. (Hodder and Stoughton, London 1977);
Otto Borchert, The Original Jesus, (ET. LM. Stalker, London, 1933); Norman
Anderson, Jesus Christ: The Witness of History, (lntervarsity Press, Leicester,
England, 1985); Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter, (Worldwide Publications,
Minneapolis Minnesota, 1977); J.N.D. Anderson: Christianity the Witness of History,
A Lawyer Shifts the Evidence for the Life and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, (Tyndale
Press, London, 1969); Charlotte Alien, The Human Christ; The Search for the
Historical Jesus. (A Lion Book, Oxford England, 1998); Graham N. Anderson, The
Gospels and Jesus, (Oxford Bible Series, Oxford University Press, 1989); Johnson
M. Cheney, The Life of Christ in Stereo, (Multnomah Press, Portland Oregon, 1969);
R. Bultmann, History of the Synoptic Tradition, (London, 1968); New Testament and
Mythology: Kerygma and Myth, (New York 1961); F.F. Bruce, Jesus and Christian
Origins Outside the New Testament, (London 1974); T.R. Glover, The Jesus of
History, (London 1917): E. and M.L. Keller, Miracles In Dispute, (London 1969); G.
Vermes, Jesus the Jew, (London 1973); A. Harrisville, The Historical Jesus and the
Kerygmatic Christ; (New York 1964); M. Kahler - The So-called Historical Jesus
and the Historic Biblical Christ, (Philadelphia, 1964); P. Althans, The So-called
Kerygma and the Historical Jesus, (Edinburgh 1959); G.N. Stanton - Jesus of
Nazareth in New Testament Preaching, (Cambridge 1974); P. de Rosa; Jesus Who
Became Christ, (London 1975); D. Flausser, Jesus (New York 1969); E. Stauffer;
Jesus and History, (London 1960); C.H. Dodd, The Founder of Christianity, (London
1971); W.R. Farmer, Jesus and the Gospel, (Fortress Press, 1982); The Gospel of
Jesus, (Westminster/John Knox Press, Kentucky, Louisville 1994); F.F. Bruce -
Tradition Old and New, (The Paternoster Press, 1970); Robert Morgan and John
Barton - Biblical Interpretation, Oxford Bible Series, (Oxford University Press,
1988): Gerald Bray, Biblical Interpretation: Past and Present (Apollos lntervarsity
Press, Leicester, England 1996): Schuyler Brown, The Origins of Christianity: A
Historical Introduction to the New Testament, (Revised Edition, Oxford University
Press, London and New York 1993).
2 I. H. Marshall, I Believe in the Historical Jesus, p. 56.
3 J. Moltmann - Theology Today, Tr. by 1. Brown, SCM Press Ltd., 1988, p. 57ff.
4 S. O.Abogunrin, "The Synoptic Gospel Debate: A Re-examination From An African
Point of View", The Inter-Relations of the Gospels, Ed., D. Dungan-Mercer
University Press, Leuven, 1990, pp. 404ff; "The Synoptic Gospel Debate: A Re-
examination in the African Context" African Journal of Biblical Studies. Vol. II Nos.
I and 2, 1987; p. 31f, 46-49; "The Modem Search for the Historical Jesus and
Christianity in African" - Africa Theological Journal, vol. 9, No.3, 1980. p. 26f.
5 S.O. Abogunrin, "Biblical Research in Africa: The Task Ahead" African Journal of
Biblical Studies, Vol. 1, No.1 April, 1986, p.lOf.
6 G.E. Lessing, "Neue Hypothesen uber die Evangelisten als bloss menschiche
Geschichtess-chreiber betrachtet" Theologischer Nachfass (Berlin, 1784) 45-72, esp.
68; S.O. Abogunrin - The Interrelations of the Gospels, 382. W.R. Farmer, The
Synoptic Problem: A Critical Analysis, (New York: Macmilliam 1964), 5f.
7 1.1. Griesbach published his synopsis as a part of the first edition of his Greek New
Testament in 1744, but later republished the synopsis separately in 1776. Four
editions of the synopsis were published under different titles, cf, E. Lohse - The
Formation of the New Testament, Tr. By M.E. Boring (Nashville Abingdon Press,
1972, pp. 121-131; S.O. Abogunrin op. cit. 382.
8 S. O.Abogunrin, African Journal of Biblical Studies, Vol. I I , Nos.l and 2, 27.
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In Search of the Original Jesus 27
9 B. F. Westcott, An Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, (1888), 167ff; S.O.
Abogunrin, African Journal of Biblical Studies, Vol. 11, Nos. 1 and 2; 27 ff.
10 Ibid.28.
11 N.B. Stonehouse, The Origins of the Synoptic Gospels, London, Tyndale Press,
1964, 58ff.V.H. Staton, The Gospel As Historical Documents, .1909, II, 30, cf, A.
Farrar in Studies in the Gospels, ed. D. Nineham (1955), 55ff: W. Lockton - Church
Quarterly Review, July, 1922.
12 S.O. Abogunrin, op. cit, 28.
13 B. H. Streeter: The Four Gospels, A Study of Origin, London Macmillan (1924); V.
Taylor The Life and Ministry of Jesus (1954), 14, F.C. Grant - The Gospels, Their
Origin and Growth (1957) 50-51; A H. Neile-New Testament Introduction, 2nd
Edition, rev. By C.S.C. Williams (Oxford University Press, 1953) 59ff; S.O.
Abogunrin, Inter-relations of the Gospels, 384Ibid.385ff.
14 E.A. Abott, The Corrections of Mark Adopted by Mathew and Luke, London (1901),
F.e., Burkit: The Gospel History and Its Transmission (Edinburgh, T and T Clack,
(1911) 42-58; J.c. Hawkins, Horae, Snopticae. Contributions to the Study of the
Synoptic Problem (Oxford Clarendon Press, 1922) 20ff; B. H. Steerer, op. cit. 293-
311; K. and S. Lake-An Introduction to the New Testament (1938) 6ff; C. Torrey-
The Four Gospels: A New Translation (1933); T. Nicklin, Gospel Gleanings (1950)
3Iff; W. Bussmann, Synoptic 32 Studies 1, (1925) 1-66; N.B. Stonehouse- Origins of
the Synoptic Gospels: Some Basic Questions (London Tydale, 1964), 63ff; e.H.
Turner, "Historical introduction to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament", part
2; - Journal of Theological Studies -1908-1909, 175; J.P. Brown - "An Early
Revision of the Gospel of Luke - Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 78 (1959) 21-
227, J. Martin - The Reliability of the Gospels, Hodder and Stoughton (1959).
15 S.O.Abogunrin op. cit., 386-388.
16 Robert Morgan with John Baton, Biblical Interpretation, Oxford University Press,
1988, 44ff; D.F. Strauss, The Life of Jesus, E.T. 1983 ed. M.C. Masey, Life of Jesus
for the German People (1865, E.T. 1977) The Christ of Faith and the Jesus of
History, (1865).
17 Johannes Weiss, Jesus' Proclamation of the Kingdom of God, 1892; ET. 1971.
18 William Wrede - The Messianic Secret (1901; ET. 1971); The Task and Methods of
New Testament Theology (1897, E.T. 1973). E. Lohse, The Formation of the New
Testament, Tr. By M.E. Boring, Abingdon, 198, 34f; G.N. Staton, The Gospels and
Jesus, Oxford University Press, 1989,23f.
19 Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, (London and New York, 1910)
52ff, R.M. Morgan with J. Barton, cp. cit., 48f.
20 Hermann Gunkel, Creation and Chaos (1895); cf B.W. Anderson (ed) Creation in
the Old Testament (1984), The Legends of Genesis (1901 Reprinted 1964); What
Remains of the Old Testament (London 1928).
21 M. Dibelius, From Tradition to Gospel, (Cambridge 1971).
22 R. Bultmann, The History of the Synoptic Tradition (Oxford 1968); Theology of the
New Testament, (London 1952, 1955) .
23 E. Lohse, op. cit. 108ff.
24 S. Brown, The Origins of Christianity: Introduction to the New Testament (Revised
Edition) Gen. Ed. P.R. Acroyd and G.N. Staton (Oxford University Press. 1993) 39ff.
25 Robert Morgan with John Barton, op. cit. 100ff.
26 Ibid. 105ff. R. Bultmann, Jesus Christ and Mythology, S.C.M. Press Ltd., (London-
British edition, 1960); Existence and Faith, Hodder and Stoughton. Fontana Library
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28 S.Oyin Abogunrin
(1961); Kerygma and Myth. A Theological Debate, ed. H.W. Bartsch, Tr. By R.H.
Fuller, (2nd edition,S.P: c.x. London 196).
27 R.F. Collins, Introduction to the New Testament, S.C.M. Press, London, 1983; K.F.
Nickle - The Synoptic Gospels: An Introduction (S.C.M Press London, 1982).
28 G.N. Staton, op. cit., 17-18,20-24.
29 S. Brown, The Origins of Christianity: A Historical Introduction to the New
Testament, Revised Edition, Eds. P.R. Ackroyed and G.N. Staton (Oxford University
Press, 1993) 14ff, 36ff.
30 S.O Abogunrin, Africa Theological Journal, op. cit., 30ff.
31 S. Brown, op. cit. 41 ff.
32 lfa refers to the divination instruments and belief system which Orunmila, the
oracular divinity, introduced into the world. Orunmila is said to be one of the sixteen
aboriginal divinities that descended upon the earth from heaven at the time of the
creation of the solid earth. He was a witness to everything that was created by
Olodumare, the deity. Orunmila represents the divine wisdom; (cf. S.O. Abogunrin)
"St. Paul's Idea of the Pre-Gospel: Man According to Romans", Kiabara: Port
Harcourt University Journal of Humanities, 31 (1980) 5-31. Interrelation of the
Gospels, op. cit., 399-400
33 J. M. Robinson, A New Quest of the Historical Jesus, 39ff, I.H. Marshall, I Believe in
the Historical Jesus, 128ff.
34 R. Morgan with J. Barton, op. cit. 118ff .•
35 E. Kasemann Essays On New Testament Themes, London, 1964, 15-47; l.H.
Marshall, Op. Cit., 130.
36 G. Bomkamm Jesus of Nazareth 1956, E.T London Hodder and Stoughton 1963.
37 R. Bultmann, Jesus Christ and Mythology, (S.C.M. Press Ltd., London, 1960);
Existence and Faith, (Collins, London, 1964). Kerygma and Myth of Theological
Debate, Vols. I and II, ed. H.W. Bartsch, Tr. R.H. Fuller, S.P.C.K., London 1964;
The Myth of God Incarnate, ed., John Hick: (S.C.M. Press Ltd. London 1977); The
Truth of God Incarnate, ed; Michael Green, (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1977);
Incarnation and Myth: the Debate Continued, ed. Michael Goulder (S.C.M. Press
Ltd., London, 1979).
38 E. Lohse, Op. cit. 106-110; R. Morgan, with J. Barton p. Cit., 96ff. S. Brown The
Origins of Christianity: A Historical Introduction To the New Testament (Eds. P.R
Ackroyd and G.N. Starton, Oxford University Press, (1993) 5-18. Howard Marshall
Op. CU. 170ff, R. Morgan with J. Barton Op. Cit. 96ff.
39 I. Howard Marshall, I Believe In the Historical Jesus 219ff.
40 S.O Abogunrin - "Biblical Studies In Africa: The Task Ahead" African Journal of
Biblical Studies. Op. Cit. 20ff; J.W. Montgomery, The Suicide of Christian Theology,
(Bethany Fellowship, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1970), 17ff.
41 S.O. Abogunrin, "The Church, And Cultural Renewal In Africa" Indian
Missiological Review, Vol. 10, No.3, pp. 235-254.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
2
FROM GATEKEEPER TO GATEWAY:
ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION
'Wole Falayajo
Institute of Education
This is the fifth inaugural lecture from the Institute of Education. The first was
given almost twenty years ago, (in 1979 to be precise) by Professor Yoloye.
Others have been given by Professors Obayan, Bajah and Obemeata in 1982,
1988 and 1992 respectively. What an inaugural from the Institute of Education is
going to focus on, is not easily given away like an inaugural from any of the
other departments in the Faculty of Education. For example, an inaugural from
the department of Educational Management will more likely than not address
some issues in the planning and or administration of education. An inaugural
from the Institute of education can address any of the areas of education which an
inaugural from the Faculty of Education will address. In a sense, this is simply
obvious, after all, whether from the Institute or the Faculty, we will still be
talking about education. But the point I want to make is that the Institute of
Education, being both an organized research and service unit in education,
attracts staff with specialization in all the sub-fields of education. I do not intend
to talk about what the Institute of Education is and what it does in this lecture but
I will have cause much later on to put forward some views about how education
(Faculty and Institute) should be structured in the Universities in the country.
Whenever I am in the midst of colleagues in the field of education. I always
state that my field of specialization is Measurement and Evaluation without the
prefix 'educational', in the midst of a mixed group however; the need for that
prefixis compelling lest I be taken for some kind of surveyor or something even
worse!
The Nigerian educational enterprise is like a gigantic beast,
which on close examination displays some healthy tissue, some
diseased tissue, and some scare tissue. There is room for
controversy about how healthy or sick the creature really is.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
30 'Wole Falayajo
Pessimists will say that the creature's death is imminent and
unavoidable. Optimists will say that the creature is not dying any
faster than is natural, and will foresee a long and useful life for
it. It is possible that the creature is not well enough understood
for us to know how healthy or sick it is, however, it must be
cherished for its contribution to Nigerian society. There is great
need to help it to stay alive and improve its health, in order that
those contributions may continue. Aware that the creature has
trampled and destroyed as well as built, its virulent pathologies
must be diagnosed and excised as quickly as possible. (Adopted
from Cooley and Lohnes 1976).
This quotation very aptly· provides a justification for the subspeciality in
education referred to as educational evaluation. This lecture is focused on an area .
of educational evaluation - educational assessment. By way of preliminary
remark, let me clarify the link between three commonly occurring terms in this
field viz Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation. Measurement is the
undimensional operation of assigning numbers to the properties or characteristics
of an object or entity'; it is a quantification procedure. Assessment on the other
hand is the process of collecting information on anything of interest for the
purpose of taking decision on that thing. Evaluation on the other hand uses the
information obtained from assessment and measurement to place a value or
worth on an entity. This is the sense in which both assessment and measurement
are subsumed under evaluation. I will therefore like to begin this lecture by a
discussion of some issues in educational evaluation. .
All public institutions providing one kind of social service or the other are
usually expected to provide 'proof' of their legitimacy or effectiveness in order
to continue to receive public support. The intensity of demand for proof and what
will constitute acceptable proof will depend on the nature of the relationship
between society and the public institution. In the words of Suchman (1963) "In
general, a balance will be struck between faith and fact, reflecting the degree of
man's respect for authority and tradition within the particular system versus his
scepticism and desire for tangible "proofs of work".
What is Educational Evaluation?
There are as many definitions of evaluation as there are people who care to
attempt a definition. Some win offer a conceptual definition by saying that
evaluation is the process of determining the value or amount of success in
achieving a predetermined objective; or the procedures of fact-findingabout the
. results of planned social action (Hyman, Herbert H 1982). If one goes further to
state that this process includes formulation of objective, identification of proper
criteria to be used for measuring success, determination and explanation of the
degree of success and recommendations for further programme activity, then one
would have provided an operational definition of evaluation (Suchman op cit).
The range or variation in- these definitions is captured in the comprehensive
characterization of 'evaluation as .the determination (whether based on opinions,
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From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment ill Education 31
records, subjective or objective data) of the results (whether desirable or
undesirable, transient or permanent; immediate or delayed) attained by some
activity (whether a programme, or part of a programme) designed to accomplish
some valued goal or objective (whether immediate, intermediate or ultimate).
The key elements in this characterization are: determination which represents the
process; results which are the criteria; activity which is the social intervention
and value which stands for the objective. From the above characterization of
evaluation, it would appear fairly obvious why there should be such a field as
evaluation of social intervention programmes. But in reality, educational
evaluation did not come to its own as a field of scholarly discipline until very
recently when compared with other sub-disciplines in education. For example,
courses in educational evaluation and testing (a component of evaluation) were
introduced into pre-service teacher education programmes in this country only in
the early seventies .
. Approaches to Evaluation otherwise known as Models of Evaluation
Different approaches (which are complementary rather than competing) have
been adopted by evaluators in carrying out their assignments. The first approach
which was spearheaded by Tyler (1950) was that which saw evaluation as a way
of finding out the extent to which programme objectives are being achieved. In
its original formulation this approach was considered rather static. Later
improvements to the Tyler's model such as the Stake (1967) model introduced
some important components. These components were such as to make it possible
not only to document the attainment o~ nonattainment of <the programme
objectives but also to be able to explain why the objectives were or were not
achieved. Scriven (1967) observed that decisions about a programme can be
taken not only at the completion of the programme but also while the programme
is still in progress; this gave rise to his famous formative and summative
evaluationmodel. Stufflebeam (1971) and Dave (1973) introduced the idea of
context or environment in which programmes are operated into the components
which evaluators have to take into account in the evaluation of programmes.
All these models have been summarized as falling into one of two categories
- the Engineering model as typified by all the input-output models and their
variants and the Medical model as exemplified by the Scriven's (1967) formative-
summative evaluation model. On a lighter mood, we have been able to identify
some 'Home-grown' models variously referred to as the 'Firebrigade' model,
the 'panic' model, the 'kiakia-bus' model and the 'push me I push you' model.
The label of 'firebrigade' captures the essence of what typifies these so-called
models: An educational crisis occurs, a group is mobilized to put down (this
crisis and investigate both the immediate and remote causes and suggest
remedies. As you may have guessed, what I am talking about here are the various
commissions of inquiry, investigation panels and national conferences, (both
sovereign and non-sovereign) which are usually set up whenever ~ome
malfunctioning or inadequacy is observed in our educational system. < Such
gatherings are usually followed by blue-prints and white- papers and green-lights
for implementation. This seems to be our own 'home grown' approach to
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
32 'Wole Falayajo
educational evaluation. I have now provided the general background for this
lecture on assessment in education.
My Excursion into Educational Assessment
In 1977, I made a presentation to the conference of Principals of Secondary
Schools in the old Bendel State. In that presentation, I argued on how the practice
of continuous assessment can promote more meaningful learning and also how it
can potentially minimize the problem of examination malpractice. Most of us
will recall that the year 1977 witnessed an unprecedented scale of examination
leakages which necessitated the setting up of the Sogbetun Tribunal. The use of
continuous assessment in schools was one of the recommendations of that
Tribunal. Also the National Policy on Education which was published that same
year specifically had the use of continuous assessment in schools as a matter of
policy. Part of the implementation strategy of the then new education policy was
a programme to popularize the new approach to assessment of students. A
Committee was set up under the auspices of the Evaluation unit of the Federal
Ministry of Education. This committee produced a handbook and my
contribution to that handbook was a chapter on "Operating the System"
(Falayajo 1983). This chapter was later elaborated upon at a seminar given at the
monthly seminar of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). That
presentation took the form of a formal proposal for the initiation of a National
Assessment of Educational Achievement programme as the national equivalent
of operating continuous assessment at the classroom level. To my mind,
establishing a National Assessment programme in the country then, would have
been the educational analogue of the call for a maintenance culture in the country
at that time. Several attempts were made to sell the idea of National Assessment
. of Educational Achievement in Nigeria from 1983 with virtually no success.
Then suddenly in 1994, I was invited by UNICEF Lagos to lead a technical
committee to propose and execute a project on Monitoring of Learning
Achievement (MLA). Not only did I regard this invitation as a unique opportunity
but also as 'an important landmark in my career. The greater part of this lecture
will be on National Assessment of Educational Achievement or Monitoring of
Learning Achievement, to call it by its new (UNESCOfUNICEF) name. But
before I do this, let us recall what we may regard as the working definition of
assessment given at the beginning of this lecture: the process of collecting
information for the purpose of taking decision. The following figure shows the
kind of educational decisions which can be supported by educational assessment.
As the Figure shows, there are three categories of decisions which can be
influenced by assessment data - decisions about policy issues, students and
curriculum/programmes. The main reason why the figure was only extended
beyond the decisions about students is to underscore my main concern about
using assessments to positively influence students' learning. Assessments can
and do act as gatekeepers to learning.
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From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 33
EDUCATIONAL DECISIONS SUPPORTED BY EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT
Educational Assessment
Decisions about Decisions on
Policy Curricula and Progarrns
Classifying
Students
Feedback Feedback
to Students to Teachers
and Parents about
about achievement effectiveness
Institutions which use Assessment as Gatekeeper in Nigeria
The normal function of a gate is to keep out 'intruders' or uninvited persons
from a restricted area. We do quite often put a person at the gate (a gatekeeper)
to enforce the restriction order. The two commonest uses of assessment in this
are country for selection and certification of students. For certification purposes,
there seems to be an unwritten law that all students cannot pass, hence, only
those who qualify to pass will be allowed in by the gatekeeper. Similarly, in
selection, there is always a limited number of places to which people can be
selected; again there is a fierce looking gatekeeper who does not allow the
'weaklings' to pass through. As of now, there are four officially designated
'gatekeepers' stationed at different strategic locations in the Nigerian educational
estate: The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Bonrd (JAMB), the West African
Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Business and Technical
Examinations Board (NABTEB) and the National Board for Educational
Measurement (NBEM). JAMB deals with selection at the tertiary level, WAEC
deals with certification at the secondary level, it also does aptitude testing for
some establishments for job selection. NABTEB deals with selection and
certification at the secondary level and NBEM deals with selection from primary
level and certification at the junior secondary level. A few comments about these
organizations might be in place at this point.
West African Examinations Council (WAEC)
This is the oldest examinations body in the country. It was established in 1952.
It was charged with the responsibility of conducting examinations required in the
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34 'Wale Falayaja
public interest in West Africa and to award certificates equivalent in standard to
those of similar examination Boards in the United Kingdom. In the course of
time the body became overloaded with increased number of different types of
examinations it hid to conduct. While this was going on, there was also
development in the area of quantitative expansion in education in the sub-region
such that WAEC not only had to contend with increased number of examinations
but also with tremendous increase in the number of examinees. If we bring back
our gatekeeper analogy again, we now have more gates to keep and a stupendous
number of 'guests' trying to enter the estate. Consequence? The phenomenon of
'gatecrashing' which in the official language is known as examination
malpractice. I will address this issue later in the lecture.
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)
JAMB was established in 1978 for the general control of matriculation
examinations for admission into all Universities in Nigeria. The sphere of
influence was later (1989) extended to cover Polytechnics and Colleges of
Education. The problem of 'gatecrashing' is perhaps even more severe with
JAMB than WAEC. Both bodies are dealing with what is called 'High Stake'
examinations. High .stake examinations are those whose outcomes have very
profound if not decisive effect on the life aspiration of the examinees. Opinions
are divided about the need for a body like JAMB in a country which is supposed
to be a Federation. My-own opinion is that JAMB should not have been created
in the first place.
Apart from its role being likened to that of a gatekeeper, it is also an
unnecessary bottleneck in transition to the tertiary level of education. But having
been created, "I will say do not scrap it as I can think of a more educationally
useful job for it to do than what it is doing now. I will suggest this later.
Educational outcomes as measured by the performance of students in public
examinations have remained the main source of information about the
performance of the Nigerian educational systems for a long time. It is on the
information from this source that the public usually makes such comments as
"the standard of education is falling" or "the performance in this year is better
or worse than that of last year". We know that the main purpose of public
examinations is to assess the performance of individual students out of a
population of students from a given cohort. There are a number of reasons which
I will go into presently why the kind of comments mentioned above may be quite
misleading. Public examinations are not designed to warrant such comments. The
point of view I want to argue for in this lecture is that there is an alternative
approach to the assessment of educational outcomes which is specifically
designed to warrant such comments. This alternative approach is referred to as
National Assessment. While public examinations are concerned with measuring
the knowledge and skills of individual students, national assessment is a form of
parameter estimation for a whole education system or part of it (for example, a
state or a local government area). Such a parameter is aimed at providing·
information about the nature and, extent of existing conditions in the educational
system. It may be the conditions of the inputs, the process and/or the outputs. If
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 35
national assessment involves parameter~ estimation, the monitoring of these
parameters is a logical extension. In other words, following the trends in the
estimates over time is a necessary part of national assessment. The index used to
identify such trends is quite often referred to as an educational indicator -
analogous to such economic indicators as gross national product or consumer
price index. Educational Management has, for a long-time, concentrated on
giving us such educational macro indicators as enrolment ratio, pupiVteacher
ratio, transition rate etc. There has been little or no effort at establishing
corresponding micro indicators for education. Such micro indicators will report
on what those who have passed through the educational system can do as a result
of having been exposed to say x number of years of education. This is the gap
that national assessment has to fill.
Table 1
Differences between national assessment and examination
National Assessment Examinations
Administered to A sample of students Population of
students
Level of Report School, Local, State or - Individual students
Nation
Frequency Every 2 or 3 years per Every year
subiect
Subjects tested Math (Numeracy) Marking, All in Curriculum
Writing (Literacy) Science
Administered at Usually one class per cycle End of schooling
(e.g. Primary 4, JSS2, SS3) cycle
Source: Adapted from 'Testing to Learn -Learning to Test' by Joanne Capper 1996
Assessments of any type, even at the best of times and with the best of
intentions put people in a very stressful position. The amount of stress seems to
be directly proportional to the value of what is at stake. National examinations
(which are all high stake examinations) are very stressful to the examinees. I
have a friend who fears three things -soldiers (for obvious reasons), water (he
cannot swim) and examinations (he is always afraid he might fail particularly if
there are figures involved). Can you then imagine the state of stress he was under
when he was being interviewed by a naval officer - a symbolic figure for all the
three objects of his fear!!
It is always doubtful whether a student can give a good account of what
he/she knows and can do under this stressful condition. National examinations
are also not known for being concerned with the improvement of learning among
students. Infact, on the contrary, they are better known for restricting students
learning to just those things that are examined which usually fall short of all that
students are expected to know. It is as if the message being passed on to the
students by the examining bodies is "If you want to give yourself a chance of
passing through our narrow gate, you better shed all excess baggage!"
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36 'Wole Falayajo
National assessment which is a policy oriented approach to assessment of
students, is focused on the improvement of learning among students. In the first
place, the detailed specification of what students are expected to know and how
these will be assessed give a sharp focus to the efforts of both teachers and
students; also national assessment covers all that have been specified as expected
competencies during any cycle of administration. It does this by using the matrix
sampling technique. Most important of all, national assessment results are
reported in such a way that guides instructional improvement. This is why we
will like to claim that the national assessment approach to evaluation of the
performance of an educational system serves as a gateway to giving proper
education to our students and not just preparing them to be allowed into the
educational estate by the gatekeepers.
We will now address the efforts we have made to introduce the adoption of
national assessment in the country. In the first place, there was no financial grant,
to execute a national programme and so what we did was to adopt a piecemeal
approach. The first study was not actually designed by us. It came as a result of
the membership of our Institute of Education in the International Association for
the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (lEA). There was a survey of the
level of achievement of form three students in Mathematics in about. twenty
countries which included Nigeria. The Nigerian participation was coordinated by
me (Falayajo 1983). This study covered only ten states in the Southern part of
Nigeria. An extension of the study to form five (last year of Secondary
education) was carried out for Oyo State by one of my doctoral students
(Osafehinti 1984). This study was carried out to demonstrate the fact that in a
Federal System as we have in Nigeria, just as we can have a national assessment
programme so also c an we have State assessment programmes going on
concurrently. There were other lEA studies which were all co-ordinated from the
Institute. I also got another doctoral student of mine to carry out a longitudinal
study of achievement in mathematics i.e. following a group of form one students
through form two to form three in some selected schools in Ondo State (Faparusi
1987). Since instrumentation is one of the critical issues in national assessment,
some I.C.E.E. students have developed cognitive instruments for different levels
of senior secondary schools in mathematics and science subjects (see Farombi
1990, Onwuakpa 1990, Abdulraifu 1991, for their masters degree projects).
Some Results and Observations
The analyses used in these studies vary quite considerably. They range from
purely descriptive accounts to some fairly sophisticated multivariate analyses.
Our intention here is not to go into the details of such analyses but rather to
highlight some of the types of reporting which were done. In this approach to
assessment which we are trying-, to illustrate, this wide range of analytic
procedures is to be expected. Reports are made to different groups of audience.
The results we want to show here are the type that will be easily meaningful to
teachers, administrators, and policy makers. It is also important to bear in mind
that the sort of things we will be reporting on are those features of schools,
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From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 37
teachers and students which tend to change over time and for which reason the
trends of such changes should be monitored.
Some Demographic Information about Schools and Students
A systematic monitoring system of an educational system provides an
opportunity for collecting demographic data on the system. Information like age,
distribution of students and teachers, parents, level of education and occupation,
distribution of schools in urban and rural areas etc. can easily be collected under
a non-politicized atmosphere thus ensuring more reliable and valid data. For
example in the lEA study, the age range of students in form 3 was found to be
between about 12 years and 20 years with a mean of 16.4 years and standard
deviation of 1.8. In the longitudinal study, the modal age was 13 for form I and
14 for form 2. But there were 10 year-olds in form 1 (3.re) and also 16 year-olds
(4.4%) in the same class. The same pattern was noticeable in form 2. Our lEA
study sample contained 70.6% boys and 26.4% girls while the longitudinal study
sample contained 52.3% boys and 47.7% girls. The rate of women participation
in education is certainly a very important issue which any nation should keep
under constant observation. Students' home background is an important variable
which affects their achievement - parents, level of education, parents, occupation
etc. are also important. Suppose we take a survey today of the level of education
of parents of children in our primary schools; will there be a noticeable
difference across the states of the Federation? In the lEA study we did not carry
out such a state by state analysis, but we did gather information on this variable
for the whole sample and the fmding is as shown below.
Parents' Level of Education
Level of Education % Fathers % Mothers
lEA Longitudinal lEA Longitudinal
Little or none 17.6 25.0 28.6 29.8
Primary 25.8 28.2 31.7 31.3
Secondary 23.9 21.8 21.9 22.4
University 28.8 25.0 13.6 16.5
The occupational categories of these parents were also obtained. The result
of the lEA and the longitudinal are given here separately because of differences
in categorization. The longitudinal one is of more interest to us.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
38 'Wale Falayajo
PARENTS' OCCUPATION (lEA STUDy)
Category % Fathers % Mothers
Unskilled 12.0 2.6
Semi-Skilled 7.9 3.7
Skilled Lower 12.5 10.9
Skilled upper 1.2 2.0
Clerical lower 20.1 5.0
-
Clerical upper 4.3 1.6
Managerial lower 27.1 38.3
Managerial Upper 5.3 1.2
PARENTS' OCCUPATION (LONGITUDINAL STUDy)
FORM! FORM 2
Cateaorv % Fathers % Mothers % Fathers %Mothers
Unskilled 1.2 1.9 0.1 1.3
Semi-Skilled 10.7 8.6 9.3 8.9
Skilled 1.0 0.5 4.0 2.4
Traders 10..0 56.7 10.0 56.9
Farmers 54.3 18.6 49.7 15.0
Professional 22.8 13.7 26.8 15.2
The kind of information that one can get out of survey of the type we have in
the longitudinal study should be of particular interest to a society that claims to
be or aspires to become egalitarian. Imagine what could be revealed if this kind
of break down of students by parental education and occupation is carried out for
our unity schools! We shouldn't be surprised if it happens to be the children of a
class of Nigerians who are being united. Trend may not be noticeable yet in the
two years covered by our longitudinal study; but notice that the percentage of
farmers children moving from form 1 to 2 has dropped by 4% while those of
professionals has increased by about the same amount. In the form five study
which was carried out in Oyo State, the percentage of students with fathers
having post secondary or University education was 47.7, while those with fathers
who are upper clerical to upper managerial i.e. mainly professional, the
percentage was 48.4 but remember that Nigeria is a predominantly an agrarian
country.
Report on How Much Has Been Learnt at School
Recall that a central aim of the assessment programme we are advocating is to be
able to say how much of a certain content area of the school curriculum has been
learnt by how many of the students. Mathematics is the content area used in all
the studies we carried out. What we will like to show here is the level of the
detailed analysis possible. In all the studies, the summary answer to the central
question of how much mathematics Nigerian students know is fairly unequivocal
-very little. This itself is no news since WAEC tells us that much every year
judging from the failure rate in the subject. But we will start getting alarmed
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 39
when we come to the details of the tasks these students cannot perform after
about 10 years of exposure to mathematics. For example in the form 5 study in
Oyo State, students were asked to find the value of 0.213+4.001-2.1 and only
3.4% of the sampled students could answer this correctly. In 11 of the 40
sampled schools, no student could give a correct solution. This item could easily
appear in a national or state common entrance examination for admission into
secondary schools.
The concept of prime members and prime factors comes up in primary
schools and it is also encountered in the early forms of secondary schools. Yet at
the end of form five when students were asked to find the prime factors of 84,
only 0.6% of the sampled students could do so. In 33 out of the 40 schools not
one single student could give a correct answer.
The following table shows the kind of summary result we obtained in the lEA
study.
Subtest Number Mean S.D. Average Reliability
ofItems Difficulty
Arithmetic 46 17.7 38.5 7.5 38 83
Algebra 40 12.5 31.3 5.5 31 72
Geometry 48 13.2 27.5 5.4 27 68
Measurement 24 13.2 28.8 2.9 28 45
Statistics 18 6.0 33.3 2.4 32 30
TOTAL 176 56.4 32.0 23.8 32 94
By way of comparison, the other country whose results are as bad as the above is
Swaziland - another developing country.
We also produce below some items with different levels of difficulty.
-1054 ~o Responses
865
A 189 *A 78.6
B 199 B 6.1
C 211 C 3.6
D 289 D \.9
E 299 E 1.7
168 x 45 is equal to
A 1378 A 0.8
B 1458 B 0.6
C 5890 C 1.1
D 6290 D 8.1
E 7290 *E 87.7
What is the capacity of a cubic container
10cm bv 10 cm2
A 1 Litre *A 5.7
B 10 Litres B 9.1
C 100 Litres C 15.4
D 1000 Litres D 24.0
E 10000 Litres E 4\.1
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40 .Wale Falayajo
These three items are not likely to be included in a regular examination paper
because the first two will be considered too easy and the third too difficult. In
national assessment, they are very informative; we want to know those tasks
which almost everybody can perform as well as those only few can perform.
In deciding on the subdivisions of mathematics to use for analysis, we have
used the conventional ones for our IEA study analysis. But others are possible;
for instance in the form V study we grouped items into "worded" and "non-
worded" and found that performance on worded items was much poorer. We also
correlated scores on worded items with the amount of English spoken at home
and obtained a correlation of .72. These results clearly show a language
component in the problem of poor performance in mathematics. This problem
was discussed in Falayajo (1986) and it has surfaced again quite glaringly in
Nigeria's first national assessment study as reported by Falayajo et al (1997).
Prototype of National Asssessment for Nigeria
I have just described some of the piecemeal efforts which some of my colleagues
and I have made to demonstrate the possibilities from a national assessment
programme. In 1994, as I reported earlier, I had the good fortune of being asked
to lead a team to propose and execute Nigeria's first national assessment of
educational achievement exercise; it is this exercise that I am referring to as a
prototype of national assessment for Nigeria. I have already discussed the
following: the continuous assessment policy, our participation in the different
IEA studies and the various studies referred to in the last section. These may be
regarded as the national antecedents to the exercise. There are some international
antecedents also which I do not want to go into here.
It is to be noted however that apart from the participation of the IeEE of our
Institute of Education in the IEA studies, it is doubtful whether there are any
African or indeed any developing country in which there is any programme of
national assessment before the nineties. One can then understand the need for the
workshop organized by the IAEA and World Bank on national assessment in
Sub-Saharan Africa held in Nairobi, Kenya in January 1993.
It is in the light of all the observations above that we will like to see the
exercise which is being reported here as a prototype of a national assessment
programme for Nigeria.
The objectives of the exercise were to:
• assess the level of competency of primary four pupils In certain
skills: numeracy, literacy and life skills.
• report on the competency by aggregating the pupils into subgroups:
urban/rural, public/private and male/female
• collect information on contextual variables that many be used as
explanatory variables for the level of competency acquired in the
various skill areas.
• use the execution of the project to build capacity for monitoring of
learning achievement or national assessment.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 41
.
The national curriculum was used as guideline for drawing up the expected
competencies which pupils should have acquired by the end of four years of
primary education. These competencies were then translated into items by a
group of classroom teachers and test specialists. Five equivalent forms of the
tests in numeracy and literacy were developed while four were developed for the
life skills. Questionnaires were also developed to collect information from pupils,
parents, teachers and schools. The instruments were trial - tested before a final
selection of items was made.
A stratified random sample of twenty four pupils was selected from each of
thirty two schools in each of the thirty states of the federation while twenty four
pupils were selected from each of sixteen schools in the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT) of Abuja. The designed sample was therefore twenty three thousand and
fort) pupils drawn from nine hundred and sixty schools.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
42 'Wole Falayajo
PERFORMANCE ON LIFE SKILLS TEST BY STATES
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
PERFORMANCE ON NUMERACY TEST BY SECTOR
50
o URBAN I
45 • RURAL I
40 -----
35 -----
30 I-- >---
25
20
15
10
5
o
o m c...m z 15 z o15 z Q (")r- c o o -t
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 43
PERFORMANCE ON LITERACY TEST BY SECTOR
45 10 URBAN
40 • RURAL
35 -
30 I--- -
25 -
20
15
10
5
o
(ll o m ;>; -no m z m z o o ;0 ~ o
;0 r c m G) zo 6 <: ;0 --I
PERFORMANCE ON LIFE SKILLS TEST BY SECTOR
45
o URBAN
40 • RURAL
35 I--
30 I-- >--
25 ~
20
15
10
5
o
om o m '-- ;>; ;0
-rt
m z G) m z o o
;0 r c m G) z
-< <: oo o --I
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
44 •Wale Falayajo
PERFORMANCE ON NUMERACY TEST
BY STATE AND SCHOOL TYPE
60 r-------------------------------~----~II.D~P~U=B~LI~C~~r--.
• PRIVATE
50+-----------------------~~------~--~------------~
40
30
20
10
O -noJ mo Em '- z o o ;uGi Gi z -< <' o;u r o o --;
PERFORMANCE ON NUMERACY TEST
BY STATE AND SCHOOL TYPE
ID PUBLIC r
• PRIVATE
70
60
50
40
30 f-
20
10
o
}> OJ OoJ o zm '-
;>; -n
OJ }>
c m Gi m
z o ::0
r c Gi z
o-< o
;u OJ o o <' --;
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
FI'O/Il Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 45
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE ON NUMERACY SUB-SKILLS
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
z -n
e Ql s: oCD CD
3xr $2
Q) ~ 0
(/)
CD 0" e
S[ 3
:::J a; n" CDUl (/) ~
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE ON LITERACY SUB-SKILLS
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
,,
0
SO ;u 0
CD 0 ~
<= Q)$2 C. 3 ~
e S" "0
:::J
a; co $[ co
0"
:::J
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
46 'Wale Falayajo
PERFORMANCE ON LITERACY TEST BY STATE
AND GENDER
40
IDMALE L
35 • FEMALE
30 I--- r--
«,
25 r-- I--- I--- r-- I--- -
20 r-- I--
15
10
5
o
~OJ OoJ o zm '- x z ;0
-n
c mr c Gi
m o o
;0 OJ Gi z -<
o
o o <: --I
PERFORMANCE ON LIFE SHILLS TEST BY GENDER
40 0
1 MALE I
• FEMALE
35
30 I--- I-- I--- r-- r--
25 -
20
15
10
5
0
~ ~ O~J~ OJ 0 mz '-
;>; ;>; z ;0 --I -n
;>;
~ c 0 m Gi ~
m 0z 0-< ~ o
;0 r C Z OJ ~ Gi <: --I0 0 ;0
UNIVERS TY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 47
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE ON NUMERACY SUB-SKILLS
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Z "Tl
c: Ql s::: GJ(l) (l)
3 @: Q)
CT en
~ 0
(l) 0 c:
!e.
Cil ::> Ci! e(n'r
3
~
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE ON LITERACY SUB-SKILLS
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
~ :::0 0
2 (l) 0
~
Q)
!l a:s.. 3
;:!:
c: "0
:j"
<0
Ci! <0 SoP·:
::>
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
48 'Wole Falayajo
NATIONAL PERFORMANCE ON SUB-SKILLS OF LIFE
SKILLS TEST
35
34.5
34
33.5
33
32.5
32
31.5
31
30.5
30~~=-~~~~~~~~~~~L-~~
The general impression that one has about the low level of pupil's attainment
in cognitive skills at the end of primary education in Nigeria has been made quite
understandable by results from this survey. Opinions are usually expressed about
level of attainment of pupils after the publication of the results of public
examinations like the end of primary-school cum selection examination into
junior secondary schools. Unfortunately, no meaningful remedial action can be
taken at this stage. But with the kind of result we have obtained from this survey;
coming as it does, two years before the end of primary education, some remedial
actions can still be taken. This is the real strength of the national assessment
approach to the evaluation of pupils' learning. One of the most revealing results
of this survey was that the vast majority of the pupils in primary four going to
primary five could not read instructions written in English. With the present
policy on education, pupils begin to learn English language from the first year in
school and by the beginning of the fourth year (primary four), English becomes
the language of instruction. The pupils are expected to have completed reading
three or four graded readers in English by the time they are at this level, most of
the pupils in the sample claim that English is one of the subjects they like ,
majority of them have the required text book for English. "What then was the
problem, one might ask?" Even though most of the teachers (63 percent)
reported that they had access to pupils' text, only few of them (37 percent) had
access to the required teachers' guide. Also, only very few schools (19.9 percent)
had any form of library facilities. The problem may therefore be the way the
language is taught. One may recall at this point the experience from the famous
Ife six year project on the use of mother tongue as language of instruction in all
classes at the primary education level while English.was taught as a subject. The
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 49
project team looked at the then existing programme for the teaching of English
and found them unsatisfactory. The team therefore developed an enriched
English language programme and trained the teachers who will use it. The result
showed that the experimental group was better than the control pupils both in
English and some of the other school subjects.
The lesson is therefore clear, that something quite drastic must be done about
the teaching of English in our primary schools. For a start, even primary school
teachermust have a copy of both the pupils' text and the accompanying teachers'
guide. The teachers' guide must be written in such a way that it will be 'robust'
against the quality of the teacher. In other words, any teacher, including low
quality ones, can use the guide with reasonably good results in terms of pupils'
learning. The effect of language (English) is noticeable in the performance in all
the skill areas. For example in numeracy, any test item which had even the
minimum amount of words in it constitutes a big problem for the pupils because
they Will not be able to read such an item. The result of this was that'
performance on such items was not better than chance performance. The effect of
language on performance also came out strongly in the relational analyses carried
out.•Interest in English (as indicated by English being reported as 'my best
subject') and not finding any"topic in English difficult show up as two of the best
ten predictors of performance. It can be concluded from all of the above
observations that the most urgent step to take in order to improve pupil
performance in Primary schools in the country is some kind of 'Literacy
Campaign' in English Language.
Learning Environment
The questionnaires used in this survey provided information for 'painting a
picture' of the environment in which learning was taking place in the schools.
Environment in this case should be taken to include. the human, material and
psychological. .
The Teacher as Provider of the Immediate Learning Environment
Most schools in the sample (80 percent) had teachers with either a Teachers
Grade II Certificate or the Nigeria Certificate in Education as the minimum
qualification for teaching in the nation's schools. The teachers had an average of
eleven years of teaching experience and have been teaching primary four for at
least three years in their current school. One can therefore say that the typical
primary four pupil in the country is likely to have a teacher with about eleven
years of teaching experience and who has also been in the pupils' school for at
least three years. These observations .seem to be signals for expecting good
performance from the pupils; but the reality of the situation in the schools was
that pupils did not performance well. Again, one may ask, 'what went wrong?'
First of all, let us recall some of the results reported earlier in this write-up.
These 'experienced' teachers do not usually have copies of either the
recommended text books for pupils and/or the accompanying teachers' guides.
Also, when an attempt was made to use some of the teacher variables to predict
pupils' performance, no teacher variable featured among the best ten predictors
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
50 'Wole Falayajo
pupils' performance, no teacher variable featured among the best ten predictors
of pupils' performance, There must therefore be something in between these
teacher variables and the performance of their pupils. One obvious thing that
comes to mind is the pattern of interaction between the teachers and their pupils
i.e. the classroom 'practice of the teachers. Unfortunately, this was not covered by
the present survey. The result was more or less implying that teachers do not
make a difference; but one knows they do. The next survey must therefore
include taking a sub sample of teachers whose classroom practices will be
observed. From such classroom observations one may be able to identify those
teacher practices which tend to promote learning and those which do not. Next to
the classroom as learning environment, the whole school is the next factor that
can facilitate or impede learning.
The School as a Facilitator of Learning
Schools can facilitate learning through both the human and material resources
available in them. Schools must, as a first prerequisite for facilitating learning,
provide a pleasant physical surrounding such that pupils will like coming to
school. From the response to the pupils' questionnaire, pupils indicated that they
love school. This must be in spite of the physical structures which our data
collectors reported they saw during the field work. One cannot but note the sharp
contrast between most of the privately owned schools and the public schools in
terms of their physical structures and general surroundings.
The 'tone' of a school is generally determined by the effectiveness of the
leadership of the school. Most of the headteachers in the sampled schools had
either the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) (49.6 percent) or the
Associateship Certificate in Education (ACE) (18.6 percent) and they were
mostly very experienced teachers. Most schools did not have the necessary
facilities for effective learning. The few schools which had libraries, laboratories
and other special rooms tended to be private schools. Less than half of the
schools had such necessary materials for record keeping as School Diaries,
Continuous Assessment Record Books etc. Most head-teachers reported that poor
conditions of service and irregular payment of salary are some of the most
serious problems they have to contend with. The general picture that emerges
from the above scenario is that our schools did not provide conducive
environment for learning. It is on the basis of some of these observations that the
World Bank has come in with some loan to revamp the whole of the primary
education sector. Most of the loan is expected to go into the production of text
books and their distribution, effective supervision of the schools, development of
assessment instruments for monitoring learning achievement in the schools and
improvement of the managerial skills of the headteachers of the schools.
The Home's Enabling Role For Pupils' Learning Achievement
The role of the home in providing an enabling environment for pupils to achieve
cannot be over emphasized. The home must provide the material needs of the
pupils; the home must ensure that the pupils are in good health by making sure
that they are well fed and that they receive proper medical attention when
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 51
environment for the pupils. Parent's level of education; amount of books
available in the home and presence of such gadgets as radio and television are
some of the factors that make for this enabling environment. In this survey, most
parents reported that they provided exercise books and writing materials for their
wards, but many did not provide text books.
Many of the parents also arranged for their wards to have extra help with
their school work after school hours, there was every indication that many
parents tried to give support to their wards, but there were still quite a number
who were not quite supportive. Some headteachers reported lack of interest on
the part of some parents (27.4 percent) leading to outright withdrawal of the
pupils from school in some cases (22.9 percent). Pupils in rural schools gave
'sickness' as the major reason for being absent from school. In the final analysis,
it is the home that will decide which children will come to school and which ones
will not. This is particularly true in a country like Nigeria where there is still
some ambivalence as to whether primary education is compulsory or not. The
official policy (which is almost twenty years old) stipulates that primary
education shall be free and compulsory as soon as possible. There are however,
no sanctions put in place which will handle cases of those who do not send their
children t9 school.
Miscellaneous Matters Arising
I will like to end this lecture by bringing up some issues either as matters arising
directly from the lecture or as related matters. I have in the course of the lecture
tried to compare national examinations with national assessment bringing out the
essential differences I hope I have not created the impression that one can be
substituted for the other; this is not possible. What we are trying to present is an
approach to assessment (national assessment) which will profitably complement
the other (national examination) in providing the educational system with a rich
database for decision making. National examination will always be with us. But
as it is now it is bedevilled with a big problem which is threatening the integrity
of the whole educational system.
The Problem of Examination Malpractice
This is a problem that, to most people has defied all attempted solutions. It
appears candidates are always a step ahead of those seeking solutions to the
problem. A very comprehensive study of this problem was undertaken by
Uwadiae (1996) showing the multidimensional nature of the problem. The
bottom line to the problem of examination malpractice, most writers on the
subject agree, is what we may call the low level of learning that now takes place
in our educational institutions. The immediate consequence of this situation is
lack of self confidence on the part of the students. The question then is why is
there little learning taking place in our schools? I will suggest three major
reasons: there is very little time being devoted to learning; the resources for
ensuring that some learning will take place are not present in most cases and
.most teachers are not very competent. Any attempt to tackle the phenomenon of
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
52 'Wole Falayajo
examination malpractice must first addr.ess these th.ree basic issues. I will talk
about the teacher component of the solution presently.
The attempted solutions to examination malpractice can be classified as follows:
Legal - decrees have been promulgated and suggestions have been made
about reviewing the decrees to make prosecution of offenders
easier.
Moral - there is now in place an examination ethics project.I am not well
informed about the activities of that project.
Security Measures - this is the earliest of the solutions and the students seem to
have beaten the security outfits hands down by their sheer
ingenuity in devising new approaches.
Curiously enough, there doesn't seem to have been what I will call a
professional solution yet attempted - the 'testing profession' if we can call it
that. This solution involves the use of multiple forms of each examination paper
which will be randomly assigned to candidates in the examination hall. Each
paper may have as many as four equivalent forms going on at the same time such
that candidates sitting together will be working on different forms and no
candidate will have a foreknowledge of which form he/she will be working on.
The equivalence of the different forms will have been established at the test
development stage. The use of equivalent forms is the standard procedure we
used in the lEA studies and the prototype national assessment study discussed
earlier. Of course, we were constrained to use this procedure for a reason
different from trying to prevent malpractice.
Another professional approach is to revisit the practice of continuous
assessment (CA) in schools. The original intention for CA was that if students
know that what they do at school will count towards their final assessment, the
urge to cheat at the final examination will be reduced somewhat. There was a
rider to the combination of internal and external assessment - the performance on
the external examination must not be below a certain level before the candidate
can have an overall pass. This rider was adopted to forestall the envisaged
problem of inflating the internal assessment scores. Some studies were also done
on the problem of finding appropriate weighting for internal and external
assessment (Bandele 1984), Falayajo (1988). Teachers are expected to be assisted
by the provision of standardized instruments made available at a central location
which they can use to improve the quality of their internal assessments (Ojerinde
and Fa/ayajo 1983).
Teacher Education
Teachers constitute one of the pivots of any educational system; consequently the
education of teachers is a serious issue whenever we are thinking of improving
that system .. In our discussion of the results of the prototype national assessment
study, we mentioned the need to reinforce the competence of teachers in the
teaching of English and Mathematics by providing them with comprehensive
teachers' editions of the pupils textbooks. This of course is an adhoc and piece-
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 53
meal approach to the problem. The big problem really is that our teachers are no
longer being well trained to do the work they are expected to do in school. The
professional nature of the preparation of teachers seems to have at best taken the
second place in the scheme of things. Teachers who are being prepared to teach
in primary schools may never have seen the primary school curriculum
guidelines (let alone have a copy) before stepping into the classroom. The
situation of those being prepared for the secondary schools (the popular B.Ed
teachers) is even worse. Some of them may not have stood in front of a class for
ten days before being absolved into the teaching force. There is a need for a
complete restructuring of the content of the programme of the preparation of
prospective primary school teachers. I am here referring to the NCE programmes.
All NCE programmes must be completely targeted at preparing primary school
teachers. All the contents of this programme which presume that the NCE is a
preparatosy for University entry should be expunged and be replaced with what
will ensure more competent primary school teachers. For example, one out of the
three years of training should be devoted to guided supervised practical training
in schools.
In the case of teachers being prepared for the secondary' schools. (both junior
and senior) the time has come to say goodbye to the B.Ed,programmes. I believe
it was a child of emergency or a crash programme to produce graduate teachers.
Anybody who wants to be a secondary school teacher should come to the
University and take a regular degree of B.A or B.Sc and then do a postgraduate
professional training for teachers. If the B.Ed must be retained, then it should be
an avenue for upward mobility for the teachers in primary schools (remember
they unll all be NeE) and such a B.Ed programme will be located in the Colleges
of Education (not in the Universities) and the graduates will still be primary
school teachers.
What is the implication of these for the existing set up in the Faculties and
Institutes of Education in the Universities? I believe that the dichotomy between
the Faculty and the Institute should disappear. There should be one 'something' of
Education. What the something should be called is not a big issue even though
for obvious reasons (I trained in an Institute Jor Studies in Education) my choice
is clear. But the most important point I what to make is that this something of
education will run only Postgraduate programmes and will also retain all the
existing departments and new ones to be created as departments. The something
of education will run both academic and professional programmes.
Management of Nigerian Examination System
The four bodies managing the national examinations in the country - WAEC,
JAMB, NABTEB, NBEM need all the help they can get in coping with the
enormous task of conducting national examinations. The final comment I will
like to make which applies to WAEC, NABTEB and NBEM is that the Research
division of these bodies should be strengthened. Take for example the
professional solution to the problem of examination malpractice which I
suggested earlier. Only a very virile research division can effectively initiate the
use of this approach. Issues in the development of item bank (not item pool)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
54 'Wale Falayajo
callibration of the items and establishing parallelism among the different test
forms are all assignments for the research division of examination bodies. There
is therefore a need for capacity building for the personnel of this division.
As I said earlier, I do not feel that JAMB should be scrapped but the task of
conducting selection examinations for the Universities should be taken away
from it. It should be transformed into a Testing organisation providing Testing
service to the Nigerian public. This will make it similar to the Educational
Testing Service (ETS) of the United States. In this new status it can produce tests
which Universities and other educational institutions can use on individual basis.
A ready example of the type of test that comes to mind is the development of
Aptitude tests.
Institutionaiising National Assessment
This lecture has given me yet another opportunity to sensitize the public to the
need for establishing national assessment of education as part of the routine
management of our educational system. Sometime in February this year, my
technical committee presented the report of the prototype study to an audience
made of State Commissioners of Education, Directors of Planning, Research and
Statistics divisions of Federal and State Ministries of Education. This was
expected to have been followed up with a number of zonal sensitization
meetings, only one of such zonal meetings has been held to date. There is an
urgent need for a national protem committee to be set up to work out follow up
activities to the national report of the monitoring of Learning Achievement
(prototype national assessment) study. The ICEE of our Institute ran a one month
capacity building workshop for senior officials of State Ministries of Education
in 1996. This needs to be followed up. The use of national assessment as a device
for having effective control over the performance of educational system has
become imperative and the government is well advised to move in the direction
of institutionalizing this approach to assessment.
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in Physics for Senior Secondary Class Two". Unpublished M.Ed. Project.
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Clark C. Abt (Ed.) (1976) The Evaluation of Social Programs Bevely Hills; Sage
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Gatekeeper to Gateway: Assessment in Education 55
in Nigeria Public Examinations Benin: Faculty of Education, University of
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
3
FISH HUSBANDRY AND MEDICINE:
THE EXPERIENCE OF A TROPICAL VETERINARIAN
B. E. Olufemi
Department of Veterinary Medicine
Introduction
This year's inaugural lecture from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is the 6th
from the Department of Veterinary Medicine and the 20th from the Faculty. I
thank God, to whom. honour and glory belong, for giving me the opportunity to
fulfil this academic responsibility in this historical year - the 50th anniversary of
the founding of the University of Ibadan - the First and the Best.
While human medicine deals with only the health of man, veterinary
medicine has a much wider scope, dealing with the other animals (aerial,
terrestrial or aquatic). When I was employed in 1975 as a Lecturer II, I became
the first Veterinarian in Nigeria to be asked to specialize in Swine diseases. This
interest has continued until date. In 1981, I widened the scope of my specialist
interest to include the fish species. I was privileged, through a University of
Ibadan Staff Development Fund to train at the famous Institute of Aquaculture,
University of Stirling, Scotland. My veterinary background became an advantage
to me in my study of fish husbandry and medicine. I thus became the first
Nigerian Veterinarian to train as a fish diseases and management specialist. I
have decided to limit the scope of today's lecture to fish husbandry and medicine,
leaving Swine diseases and management to another occasion.
Definition of Aquaculture
Aquaculture has been defined in a number of ways. It has been called "the art of
cultivating the natural produce of water; the raising or fattening of fish in
enclosed ponds". Another author has defined aquaculture as "the rearing of
aquatic organisms under controlled or semi-controlled conditions. Thus,
aquaculture is "underwater agriculture". No single definition is universally
acceptable, but as the term is used in this lecture, I will consider aquaculture
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58 E.£. Olufemi
broadly and state it to be simply the large-scale husbandry or rearing of aquatic
organisms, in this case fish, for commercial purposes. Mariculture of course, is
aquaculture in brackish water or sea water.
The farming of fish, either for food or as a hobby, is a relatively new
industry. Man has held fish in ponds and harvested the fruits of the sea for
centuries but the knowledge of intensive production methods only developed
from the early part of this century.
As the rapid increase in production of farmed fish has occurred, so too have
the problems. Congregating fishes in intensive systems leads to higher stocking
densities resulting in stress and disease.
For domestic animals, a farmer goes to his veterinarian for advice on
husbandry, disease and therapy. Sadly this has not generally been the case in fish
farming although many highly gifted non-veterinary fish pathologists have ably
advised in this area.
The Role of Veterinarians
Veterinarians are now realizing that their responsibilities do not cease with
warm-blooded animals. They are uniquely qualified to assess production
practices and disease in the context of both welfare for the animal and
profitability for the client. Clinically competent scientists, whether medical or
veterinary, can indeed contribute effectively in the assessment and management
of fish diseases. Thus the work of Professor Mackie and his medical colleagues
on the Furunculosis Committee set up by the British Government in 1930 marked
the first real recognition of the economic importance of fish diseases, and
provided what Stanislaus Snieszko, the doyen of American fish pathologists
(who himself received part of his training at the Jagelonian University Veterinary
School, Poland) referred to as 'a "must" for anyone who intends to study
communicable diseases of fish'.
Since the 1960s, however, driven by the economic imperative of the
commercial expansion of fish culture, our knowledge of fish diseases has
expanded beyond all bounds, thanks to the scientific endeavour of
multidisciplinary research workers. It is however noteworthy that the
contribution of the Veterinary Scientists has been significant both in its volume
and its quality. The major advantage that the veterinarians bring to the discipline
is the comparative dimension, the ability to relate aetiology and host responses of
disease patterns seen in fish populations to the whole spectrum of such conditions
in the vertebrate phylum.
In contrast to the situation in the 1960s, when the embryonic fish farmer had
virtually no one to turn to (except in the USA where extension services were
often very good), nowadays, practising veterinary surgeons are servicing fish
farms and farmers just as any other sector of livestock production and being seen
to be an essential adjunct to intensive fish production.
One of the features of farmed fish clinical medicine is the generally low
value of the individual fish. Thus it is usually possible to sacrifice a few clinical
examples to gain diagnostic information which is often of a much higher order of
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Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 59
sophistication than in species where the individual is the subject rather than the
flock or school. ,
My work, as a veterinarian working in the tropics, I believe, has contributed
greatly to the advancement of the veterinarian's role in fish clinical medicine. Of
particular importance in this respect, of course, is an understanding of the aquatic
environment, and of the husbandry systems in which the fish are being
maintained. Of no less importance, however, is the understanding of the
differences in the pathophysiology and immune response, which a poikilothermic .
existence imposes on fishes. In the past it was, on occasion, a concern within the
veterinary profession as to whether fish were a proper concern for them. The
contributions which veterinarians have subsequently made are very clearly
demonstrated in this lecture. The lecture also demonstrates that, as with any other
livestock production system, the veterinarian by training, by legislative rights and
responsibilities, and by experience is the appropriate professional to practise the
diagnostic skills derived from the integration of the collaborative scientific
efforts of the aetiologists, pathologists and fish biologists of whatever discipline
who have created the corpus of primary knowledge.
Aims of Aquaculture
The aims of aquaculture are similar to those of agriculture, but with some very
important differences:
1. Impounding water with the intention of rearing fish really constitutes the
creation of a new environment while conventional agriculture makes use
of the existing environment.
2. Fish culture can thus be more productive than conventional livestock
rearing on the same area of land - rather than rearing pigs in a multi-
storey building!
3. Fish farming can make use of marginal land, such as marsh, which is
otherwise unsuitable for agricultural development.
4. It is also a more efficient food production system than almost all other
types of animal farming.
Proportionally fish contains a greater amount of edible flesh than pigs, sheep,
cattle, goats, etc, and eats a smaller quantity of food to produce this flesh. In
other words, to produce one kilogram of meat, a cow would need to consume
about 45kg of food, a chicken around 12kg, while a fish would need as little as
5kg. This high efficiency of food conversion is partly due to fish being cold
blooded (poikilothermic). Assuming the temperature of their surroundings, they
do not have to burn energy to keep warm, and this saving may be expressed as
growth. The buoyance of their watery environment also reduces the energy
requirement for movement and support - they never have hills to climb. Their
excellent food conversion efficiency is also partly due to the quality of their diet.
However, there are some disadvantages of fish farming:
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60 R.E. Olufemi
1. The proportion of protein in the diet of ruminants is low, and they live
mainly on food sources unusable directly by man, especially in poorer
countries. In contrast, most fish need a fairly high percentage of protein
in their diet.
2. The constant nature of an aquatic environment means that fish does not
have to develop the robustness that characterizes land animals, and they
are therefore prone or vulnerable to a wide range of predators, parasites
and diseases. They can tolerate only relatively small changes in their
physical environment and a disease can mean destruction of the entire
stock. The evolutionary answer to these problems has been an incredibly
high reproduction rate.
3. The capital required to set up an intensive fish farm and the operational
demands are considerable. The term intensive refers to the high density
production of organisms per unit area compared to that occurring
naturally. "
History of Fish Culture
Fish culture has a substantial history, although its exact origin is still somewhat
of a mystery! An Egyptian bas-relief on the tomb of Aktihetep (2500 B.C.)
shows what appears to be men removing tilapia from a pond. In China, carp is
known to have been spawned and reared about 2500 years ago, although many
scholars believe the practice in that country may be twice as old.
Wen Fang, founder of the Chou Dynasty, is often called the first fish-farmer.
It is said that when Wen Fang's predecessor, the emperor of the Shang Dynasty,
confined Fang to an estate in Hunan Province (1135 to 1122 B.C.), Fang built
ponds and kept records on the growth and behaviour of the fish. Fan Li, who
wrote about aquaculture in 475 B.C., supported the idea of carp culture and
described its practice in his Yang Yu Ching (Treatise on Fish-breeding). It was
found that when certain combinations of fish were used, greater yields were
achieved, and this system of polyculture has been in use ever since. Aquaculture
methods spread from China to Korea and then to Japan about 1700 years ago.
The Greek Philosopher Aristotle also spoke of carp, suggesting that the
Europeans were also interested in farming this fish. Carp culture was brought to
England in the 15th century AD for the first time. Wild fish had been kept before
then in England, in "Stewponds", as security for times when red meat was
difficult to obtain. The death penalty could be imposed on anyone caught stealing
a fish from another's pond.
In modem Africa, attempts to cultivate tilapia species were made in Kenya in
1924. The Congo followed the Kenyan example in 1937. In Central East Africa,
the first trials of fish ponds were probably those made in Zambia in 1942 and in
Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1950. The origin of fish cultivation in Nigeria is
probably more recent. Efforts were made to develop fish cultivation after the
second world war.
The need to increase the amount of animal protein eaten by pregnant women
was recognized by the late Professor Oladele Ajose in the early fifties. He
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Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 61
constructed the first fish pond in the former Western Nigeria at Dora in 1954 for
the raising of ta'ble fish which eventually served as cheap and readily available
animal proteins not only to pregnant women but also the community of Dora.
There was about a decade of slumber in the construction of other ponds but
thereafter, the Government decided to set up demonstration fish ponds which
were widely accepted by individuals and communities. Since its introduction to
Western Nigeria, the development of fish culture could be conveniently divided
into three phases as follows:
(i) the persuasive and initiation phase - (1956-1977)
(ii) the partially assisted phase (1978-1982)
(iii) the do-it-yourself phase (1983 to date)
Today, aquaculture accounts for over 13 million metric tons of aquatic
products harvested each year in the world over, and the industry is growing
rapidly even in Nigeria. It is extremely important in Asia, where carp, tilapia,
yellowtail, salmon, shrimp and seaweeds are grown. In Central America,
aquaculture is dominated by a very productive shrimp industry. In Europe, the
Atlantic salmon, eels, trout, carP, oysters and mussels are cultured in large
numbers. Israel's freshwater and marine culture systems are among the best in
the world. In Canada, salmonids are the most cultured species. In the United
States, catfish, salmonids, baitfish, crawfish and several species of mollusks also
generate significant amounts of income and here at home in Nigeria, fish species
cultured include common carp, Clarias spp., Heterotis niloticus, Heterobranchus
sp, Gymnarchus niloticus, and of course our most popular of all - ihe tilapia
species.
The Farming of Tilapias
Tilapia has been something of an overnight sensation in fish farming. It has
actually been exploited for some considerable time, but its potential as a farm
fish was "rediscovered" during, or just after, the Second World War. According
to Chimits (1955).
Since World War II a new fish, tilapia has appeared among the
tools of trade of fish culturists and has provoked keen interest
everywhere; it has made prodigious progress in fish culture in
warm waters and there are great expectations for it as a new
source of protein food.
Fossil remains of members of the genus Tilapia about 8 million years old have
been found (Fryer and Iles 1972). These were found in Lake Victoria area and
possibly of a marine ancestor (Kirk, 1972), but little was known about the group
until just over a century ago.
One member of the group, Aureochromis niloticus, was the subject of
detailed observations in Egypt of 5,000 years ago. Depicted in many Egyptian
paintings, it was regarded as sacred, symbolizing the hope of reincarnation. There
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62 B.E. Olufemi
is a biblical reference indicating that fish ponds were extant in Egypt in the early
part of the first millenium B.C. (Isaiah 19:10). Tilapia also formed a major
fishery at that time. Kirk (1972) in a review related to culture, discussed tilapia
with special reference to the aspects of physiology and breeding behaviour which
are relevant to its culture in fresh and brackish water heated effluents; Mathes
(1973) lists some 400 references on tilapia in his bibliography of African
publications. A computer search of catalogued literature had indicated the
existence of some 3000 papers dealing with some aspect of the biology of tilapia.
Detail husbandry techniques have been succinctly described by Maar et al,
(1966). Bardach et ai, (1972) and Huet (1972), with emphasis being placed on
the biology of the group and ways in which it may be manipulated to improve
production.
Once promoted as the "miracle fish", several species of tilapia especially
Sarotherodon mossambicus, were widely distributed around the tropics during
the 1950's. However, the original hopes that tilapia culture would make a
significant contribution to protein production soon turned to disillusionment,
especially in Africa, as the problems associated with its husbandry became
apparent. Although tilapia was relatively simple to cultivate, resistant to poor
water quality and diseases, and able to efficiently convert many organic animal
and agricultural waste materials into high quality protein, these advantages were
offset by one highly significant disadvantage: excessive reproduction in culture
ponds. The result of this prolificacy was a large number of small, unmarketable
fish which were certainly not acceptable to the African consumer who was
traditionally accustomed to the larger fish obtainable from rivers and lakes.
Consumers in South East Asia, with their different cultural background, were
better able to utilize small fish. The inability to control this unwanted
reproduction soon discouraged most attempts at tilapia culture and thousands of
fish ponds throughout Africa and Asia were either abandoned or used to rear
other species of fish.
Several workers, recognizing the potential of tilapia continued to study
methods of reducing or eliminating unwanted reproduction and of improving
culture methods in general. The continued success of their efforts has led to a
relatively recent revival in tilapia culture, which now seems to have a very
hopeful future. As a result of these efforts, enthusiasm for the species has become
so high that some have begun to describe tilapia as the future "aquatic chicken".
Workable technologies are now available for raising some of the species or
hybrids of tilapia on a profitable basis, even though many problems still remain
to the solved.
Fish Diseases
Intensive production of fish increases the probability and severity of parasite and
disease outbreaks, some of which can kill an entire population in a short time.
Diseases cause economic losses from:
(i) mortality
(ii) treatment expense
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Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 63
(iii) growth reduction during and after an outbreak
(iv) increase in the time required for the fish to reach market-weight size and
therefore postponement or loss of the opportunity to sell the fish
The frequency and importance of diseases which occur on fish farms can be
the result of overstocking of ponds, poor conditions of farming e.g. handling the
fish badly or feeding them incorrectly. In the wild state, fish are widely dispersed
and diseases are often not noticed; the risks of contamination are fewer and
losses less.
Diseased fish usually exhibit either physical or behavioural signs, or both.
These signs can be helpful, but also misleading; in almost all instances an
accurate evaluation can be made only at a diagnostic laboratory.
The following physical signs suggest disease and the corresponding
associations which are often made:
• Dead or dying fish - many diseases, cause should be investigated.
• Open lesions or sores, bloody or reddened areas - bacteria; bacteria
secondary to parasite infections; external parasites; toxins.
• Gaping mouths - low oxygen; diseased gills. •
• Scale loss - Myxobolus notemigoni (milk scale disease);
• External parasites; fighting; predation; rough handling.
• Gills pale, eroded, puffy, bloody or brown, or gill covers flared -
anaemia; vitamin deficiency; gill disease; environmental stress; toxins;
external parasites. Branchiomyces (fungus); Flexibacter columnaris
(bacterium).
• Bleached skin colour - vitamin E deficiency; low oxygen
• Exophthalmia (popeye), stargazing - bacterial dropsy; brain flukes; gas
bubble disease; malnutrition; environmental contaminants.
• Bloated belly (dropsy) - bacteremia; white grubs (flukes); ligula
(tapeworm); catfish virus (affects fingerlings).
• White "fungus" patches - external fungus; Epistylis (protozoan).
• Bloody internal organs - bacteria; virus; vitamin A or B deficiency.
• Fluid in body cavity (cloudy, bloody, or clear) - bacterial dropsy; catfish
virus; malnutrition.
• Nodules, pustules, white spots - myxosporidian cysts (protozoons);
larval trematodes (flukes); Ichthyophthirus or Ich (protozoon); yellow
grub (fluke); lmval nematodes.
• Folded fins or tail, pectoral fins pointed forward - toxins; many diseases.
• Spinal curvature - vitamin C deficiency; pesticides; genetic deformities.
• Excess mucus (light grey film), sloughing of skin scratches on body -
external parasites; fungus; fighting; predation.
• Emaciation (thin fish, pinheads) reduced growth - any disease that
causes fish to reduce feed intake or cease feeding; under- feeding;
malnutrition; intestinal worms (helminths); vitamin deficiency.
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64 B.E. Olufemi
• Air bubbles under skin - gas bubble disease (excessive N~ or O2 in the
water).
• Cloudy eyes - eye flukes; nutritional deficiencies.
• Red spots near bases of fins - larval lernaea (copepod); external
parasites; bacteria.
• Foul smelling lesions - Edwardsiella tarda (bacterium).
• "Hole in-the-head" - Edwardsiella ictaluri (bacterium).
• Brown blood - nitrite toxicity.
• Behavioural signs also indicate the presence of certain diseases.
These include:
• Swimming weakly, lazily, erratically or in spirals - many diseases.
• Failure to feed - many diseases.
• Scratching, flashing, or rubbing against objects in the pond - external
parasites.
• Twitching, darting, convulsions - toxins; nutritional disease; external
parasites.
• Failure to flee when exposed to fright stimuli - low oxygen; metabolic
factors; many diseases. '
• Crowding or gathering in vegetation, shallow water, or at water inflow,
hiding under objects to avoid light - many diseases; low oxygen; toxins.
• "Topping" or "piping" at water surface, floating head-up, moribund
(dying) -low oxygen; toxins; external parasites; bacteria.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the agents of disease in farmed fishes
are very numerous and various. On aetiological basis, these can be divided into
four groups - in increasing size. These are:
(i) Viruses
(ii) Bacteria
(iii) Fungi
(iv) Parasite
(v) Nutritional and/or metabolic diseases
It is important to note, however, that erratic behaviour and syndromes
characteristic of infectious diseases may be produced by environmental stress
(low oxygen, supersaturation of dissolved gases such as nitrogen or oxygen),
toxins (hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, nitrite, many pesticides and even
therapeutic agents used to treat infectious diseases), and nutritional deficiencies.
Stressed fish are very likely to allow pathogens in the water to invade their
tissues. Most pathogens normally occur in small numbers in water or on the fish
surface. Some occur within a few fishes without causing any harm - these are
referred to as carrier fish.
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Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 65
Viral Diseases of Fish
Viruses are successful parasites or pathogens that utilize a wide range of hosts
from the bacteria and algae to the specialized cells of the highest vascular plants
and warm-blooded animals. It is not surprising, therefore, that viruses are also
found in fishes. Fish viruses are essentially similar to the viruses found in warm-
blooded vertebrates. The routes of infection of fish viruses are essentially similar
to those found in other vertebrates, namely oral, respiratory, cutaneous and
vertical i.e. from generation to generation. The venereal route has not been
documented but cannot be excluded. Domestic and international transfers of live
crier fish and contaminated eggs are major factors in the spread of the causal
viruses, and this calls for fish health control regulations.
Nottidge, Olufemi and Ibe (1992) showed that the tilapia Oreochromis
niloticus, did not show any sign of illness or abnormality irrespective of the route
of challenge with rabies virus. The work confirmed the hypothesis that fishes are
not susceptible to rabies virus even though the fish used was a tropical fresh
water species with the temperature of the water being high enough to support the
growth of the virus. Clark (1972), had successfully propagated rabies and rabies-
related viruses in poikilothermic cell lines with some degree of attenuation, it
was therefore pertinent to investigate fish reaction to rabies virus experimental
challenge in vivo.
The clinical, histopathological and diagnostic aspects of the major fish
diseases now known to be of viral aetiology have been summarized, Olufemi
(1988). These include lymphocystis, infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN) ,
viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VIIS), carp virus septicaemia (CVS) and
infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN). IPN virus is the aetiological agent of serious
disease of trout and other salmonids and has been isolated from non-salmonid
fish.
Lymphocystis disease is the only viral disease of fish demonstrated to date in
cichlids from the East African lakes (Paperna et al 1983). Lymphocystis disease
virus (LDV) is the aetiological agent of this common benign, unique, giant-cell
disease of worldwide distribution found in many freshwater and marine fishes. It
is the oldest and best-known fish virus. The virus is unique in that it evokes a
non-lethal infection resulting in neoplastic like growths or flat patches on various
parts of the body - usually the external body surface. The infection seldom
causes death but, depending on the size and location of the lesion, swimming
behaviour may be greatly affected. The virus infects cells of the fibroblastic
series and causes extensive changes, particularly an increase in the size of the
cells.
Nigrelli and Ruggieri (1965) gave a detailed histo-pathological description of
the infected cells, which included hyaline capsule, enlarged nucleus, often in
various stages of necrosis, one to several nucleoli, granular cytoplasm, and single
or clustered intracytoplasmic inclusions.
Lymphocystis disease can cause severe problems in marine fish culture and
in tropical aquaria and represents a potential hazard for intensive culture systems.
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Bacteria Diseases of Fish
Bacteria are responsible for many fish diseases especially those associated with
environmental stresses such as handling. Bacteria are always present in water and
they usually almost always occur in small or large numbers on the skin or inside
healthy fish. Unlike the situation in higher animals, most of the organisms
associated with disease in fish are naturally occurring and widely distributed
saprophytes which utilize the organic and mineral matter in the aquatic
environment for their growth and multiplication. Only comparatively few species
such as Aeromonas salmonicida, Haem oph ilus piscium and possibly
Renibacterium salmoninarum appear to be true obligate parasites which are
unable to survive for any length of time outside the fish host. Although the
distinction between saprophyte and parasite is of prime importance when disease
control or eradication measures are being considered, it is of less significance in
the diagnostic bacteriology laboratory as both types of organisms may be isolated
from the external body surface or internal tissues of apparently healthy fish.
The transition from commensal to pathogen is invariably triggered by the
imposition of one or more "stress" factors which increase the susceptibility of the
fish to bacterial infection. Poor water quality and temperature changes are
probably the most commonly encountered factors which predispose to clinical
disease, but overcrowding, trauma, transportation, nutritional deficiencies,
parasitism and primary viral infections may all adversely affect resistance. It is
important that this should be borne in mind when assessing the significance of
laboratory isolates and prescribing treatments as chemical or antibiotic therapy or
prophylactic vaccination measures are seldom entirely satisfactory without
proper attention being given to correcting the underlying causes. Representatives
of 25 bacteria genera have been implicated as pathogens of freshwater and/or
marine fish (Austin and Allen- Austin (1985). Olufemi, Akinlabi and Agbede
(1991) isolated eight different bacterial organisms, each isolate originating from
a different case, from the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus, Burch) in tropical
fresh-water earthen ponds in Ibadan.
A considerable number of bacterial diseases of freshwater fish have been
recognized in Nigeria. Ogbondeminu and Okaeme (1986), Fasanya et al. (1988),
Ibiwoye et al. (1989), found that most of the bacterial microflora associated with
the skin of Clarias and Tilapia species were Gram negative rods and cocci -
usually Escherichia and Citrobacter. The Gram positive cocci were mainly
Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium
Olufemi, et al. (1991), however, isolated Lactobacillus fermenti from C.
gariepinus. The organism was considered to be an opportunistic pathogen,
although there has been a report of a pathogenic Lactobacillus sp. in fish from
North America (Ross and Toth 1974).Other opportunistic organisms isolated
from our laboratory are Micrococcus roseus and Enterobacter cloacae. The
pathogenic organisms we isolated are Actinomyses (Corynebacterium) sp.,
Mycobacterium marinum, Pseudomonas anguilliseptica and Edwardsiella tarda
(Olufemi et al. 1991).
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Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 67
Fungi Diseases of Fish
Because fungi are larger than bacteria, they were recognized earlier as agents of
disease. However, of the estimated 200,000 species of fungi known, only about
40 are now known to cause infectious disease (mycoses) in marine or fresh water
cultured fish species. Fungi associated with tilapia culture ponds in Nigeria have
been described (Okaeme and Olufemi, 1997). Compared' with the bacteria and
viruses, however, knowledge of fungal pathogens/parasites of aquatic animals is
relatively fragmentary. This area of study has presented me with a rewarding and
exciting experience!
The fungal origin of a disease is usually suspected on the basis of its clinical
behaviour and the appearance of the lesion. The most convincing diagnostic
evidence is usually provided by detection of the fungus in lesions and exudates
by direct microscopic examination and by isolation and cultivation. In addition,
animal inoculation serves to distinguish between pathogenic and non-pathogenic
(saprobic) fungi, which can be identical in colonial and cellular morphology; the
saprobes are usually innocuous in test animals.
Problems Associated. with Studies on Mvcotic Diseases in Fish
While mycotic infections of fish are known to exist and have been documented in
both fresh and salt water environments (Wolke 1975; Richards 1978; Olufemi, et
al. 1983), far less is known about these diseases than is generally known about
diseases of bacterial or viral aetiology. The lack of knowledge relates to a
significant degree to the consensus that fungi infecting fish are normally
secondary invaders. This doubtless, relates also to the fact that the commonest
most obvious and most frequently studied fungal pathogen of fish, Saprolegnia
parasitica (diclina) appears in many ways to be the example of a secondary
opportunistic invader par excellence. Although it is accepted that it may
eventually result in mortality, it is generally assumed that a traumatic or primary
bacterial or viral disease allows it to invade and thus it is these which must be
controlled. There are reports, however, that some piscine fungal disease
outbreaks unassociated with other pathogenic agents have been epizootic in
proportion and responsible for considerable mass mortality. Such epizootics have
been recorded under both aquacultural and natural conditions (Wood et al., 1955;
Carmichael 1966; Fijan 1969; and Olufemi et al., 1983). An important fungal
(mycotic) disease of fishes is aspergilomycosis caused by Aspergillus species.
This disease was first described by Olufemi et al. (1983).
The Aspergilli as Pathogens of Cultured Fishes:
Historical Background
The genus of moulds known as Aspergillus has always been a factor in man's
environment. Even before the development of the microscope, Aspergillus
colonies were well-known as the white, yellow, green, red or black moulds seen
on foods and rotting vegetation, although of course, attempts at proper
interpretation of the cause of such growths were not feasible at that time.
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68 B.E. Olufemi
Michelli (1729) was the first to distinguish the stalks and spore heads
peculiar to the genus: He noted that the spore chains radiated from a central
structure to produce a pattern that suggested the 'aspergillum' with which he, as a
priest, was familiar. He therefore applied the name Aspergillus to the moulds he
observed because of the similarity in appearance between the fruiting head of the
mould and the brush (aspergillurn Latin - rough head) used for sprinkling of holy
water.
Considerable interest had developed by the middle of the 19th century when
the Aspergilli began to be recognized as active agents in processes of decay, as
farmenting agents capable of producing valuable metabolic products, and
significantly as causes of human and animal disease. The genus began to take
definite form with the work ofWehmer (1901).
In the years since 1945, many new species of Aspergillus have been
described. Altogether, more than 132 species and 18 varieties have been
recognized, in contrast to 77 species and 8 varieties in the Manual of the
Aspergilli of 1945 (Raper and Fennel, 1965).
Parallel with the dramatic increase in the size of the genus has been an even
greater proliferation of the published literature relating to the aspergilli as agents
of decomposition, as tools for physiological and genetic studies, as agents
responsible for the production' of a variety of products in industry, and
significantly as primary or secondary pathogens of animals and man.
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Aspergillomycosis in Tilapias
Although systemic diseases caused by a range of pathogenic fungi have been
defined under aquaculture conditions (Wolke, 1975; Richards, 1978), systemic
disease of fish associated with Aspergillus spp. had not been described until
comparatively recently (Olufemi et al., 1983, Olufemi, 1984, 1986). This is
probably because of the lack of detailed study of tropical fish culture diseases,
and the lesser importance of systemic mycotic infections compared to
aflatoxicosis. Nevertheless, losses under tropical conditions can be extremely
high, and aspergillomycosis is bound to cause even more serious problems as the
tropical fish farming industry expands.
First report related to Aspergillus infection of fishes was derived nom Kenya
(Olufemi, Agius and Roberts 1983) where mortalities in intensive tilapia culture
at Bamburi, Mombasa, occurred. This led to detailed pathological investigations
and microbiological analyses of feedstuffs being used, and thus to the definition
of the condition as systemic aspergillomycosis (Olufemi et ai, 1983).
The account described aspergillomycosis associated with A. flavus and A.
niger which occurred under intensive aquaculture conditions. The cause and
effect relationship which was successfully ascribed to A. flavus and A. niger in
the experimental infection which followed, coupled with the clinicopathological
findings suggested that it was genuinely an aspergillomycosis problem. The
presence of the two species may have indicated a synergistic effect and the nature
of the outbreak also suggested that the original infection probably occurred via
contaminated food and emphasizes the importance of prevention of mycotic
contamination in tropical farm animal diets.
Pathogenicity
There are always difficulties in specifically relating particular species of
Aspergillus to actual clinical disease outbreaks because of the ubiquity of the
organism. Mere isolation without direct association with clinical
histopathological damage is not satisfactory.
It is also difficult to be certain with outbreaks of apparent clinical Aspergillus
infection, as to whether the infection was primary or the Aspergillus was simply
taking opportunistic advantage of a pre-existing condition. Therefore,
experimental infection studies should be carried out.
In such studies on the experimental pathogenesis of aspergillomycosis in
tilapias, Olufemi (1983; 1984; 1986) showed clearly that these fishes are highly
susceptible to infection by members of the genus Aspergillus although there is
variability in the pathogenicity of the various species. A. flavus was shown to be
more pathogenic to fish than A. niger, and the combination of the two species
produced a more serious disease than the monospecific infection (Olufemi,
1983). Clinical outbreaks with Aspergillus sp. are serious because of infection by
more than one Aspergillus species - conditions which Olufemi (1985) termed
polyspecific infection.
The pathogenicity of Aspergillus species may be attributable to theirabililty
to grow under the environmental conditions provided by the host, water
temperature appearing to playa significant role in this regard. At 26°C, A. flavus
was about twice as pathogenic to Oreochromis niloticus than at 17°C. A. flavus
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
70 B.E. Olufemi
was able to produce mortalities at various temperatures, whereas A. niger was
usually only able to initiate the disease when the water temperature was low
(17oC)(Olufemi (1983). .
Histopathology
The histopathological picture associated with aspergillernycosis may best be
described as a systemic necrotizing septicaemia characterized by the formation of
granulomas (Olufemi, 1984). The disease may either occur as an acute
fulminating or a chronic proliferative form. In the former, larger areas of organs, .
especially the liver, undergo necrosis. Histologically, there is usually diffuse
distribution of macro phages within a stroma of necrotic tissue and fungal hyphae
(Olufemi 1985; 1986). The chronic form is probably more common under
aquaculture conditions and is characterized by the production of granulomas
particularly in the gut wall.
Diagnosis
A presumptive diagnosis of aspergillomycosis can be made from recently dead of
moribund fish. A positive diagnosis must rely on the isolation of the organism or
histopathological examination of the lesions.
Immunological techniques are widely used in' human and in animal medicine
for the detection of the disease organism or for testing for the carrier state. The
amount of immunity conferred by previous exposure or vaccination can usually
be measured by the quantity of specific antibody present in that animal. The use
of such techniques for the diagnosis of disease exposure or infection in fish has
not been in practice. This is often because of difficulties in obtaining adequate
amounts of blood, although there are also major problems relating to
environmental effects on antibody production. It has been shown however, that
by using the Ouchterlony immunodiffusion test, it is possible to detect and to
identify antigens of the Aspergillus species fungi in fish with overt disease
(Olufemi 1984; 1986). Serological studies were carried out with extracts of
Aspergillus species and sera samples obtained from Aspergillus infected and non-
infected tilapias by means of Ouchterlony gel-diffusion technique. Clinically
affected tilapias were positive for the presence of circulating antibodies.
Possible Control Methods of Aspergillomysosis and Aflatoxicosis
The knowledge of the epidemiology of any disease provides the possibility of an
approach to its control. Although until recently aspergillomycosis had not been
described in fishes, there is an extensive literature on aflatoxicosis in fish, the
intoxication leading to hepatoma in a wide range of fish species (Ashley et al
1964;Butler 1965; Halver 1965; Wales 1970, 1979; Wales and Sinnhuber;1966;
Wolf and Jackson 1963), but particularly in the rainbow trout (Majeed, Jolly and
Gopinath, 1984). Aflatoxicosis results from the elaboration of aflatoxins, as
metabolic products, by aflatogenic species of Aspergillus jlavus as it grows on
feedstuff prior to feeding.
Undoubtedly one way to prevent fungal contamination of feeds and
subsequent mycotoxin formation or aspergillomycosis developing, is the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 71
maintenance of good husbandry and the adequate and rapid drying of feeds to a
water content at ~hich fungal growth cannot occur. In the tropical humid
atmosphere, moisture absorption during storage means that most fresh fish feeds
are subject to fungus spoilage if stored for any excessive periods of time and/or
under adverse conditions. Consignments of nuts or cereals rejected for human use
should not be used for fish feed compounding. Although aflatoxin residues and
infective Aspergillus spores may be removed during oil refining (Dollear 1969),
the meal will retain residual toxicity. Some ingredients, especially oil seed meals
such as peanut or cottonseed meals, used in the formulation of modem pelleted
fish feeds, are generally recognized as the foods most frequently contamiated by
aflatoxins or Aspergillus spores (Sinnhuber et al., 1968; Wolf and Jackson,
1%3~ .
Fish feed manufacturers, especially those producing pellets for tilapias, will
inevitably include increasing levels of vegetable proteins in rations as fish meal
prices rise, with limits imposed by the necessity of providing sufficient dietary
essential amino acids. Such ingredients must, therefore, be very carefully
checked for the presence of pathogenic (or toxin producing) fungi such as the
Aspergilli.
Numerpus methods have been evaluated for the destruction of Aspergillus
organism and aflatoxin in agricultural produce. Although aflatoxins are relatively
stable to heat (Dollear 1969), studies with cottonseed meal and cereal grains have
demonstrated the feasibility of decontamination by very high temperature
treatment in the presence of ammonia (Campbell 1972; Goldblatt 1973). The
ammonia-treated product may subsequently be used for animal feed. Treatment
of agricultural products with ethylene oxide not only kills insects and fungal
contaminants but destroys aflatoxins, These modes Of. treatment or
decontamination warrant further investigation as far as fish pellets are concerned.
The problem of contamination of equipment, buildings, walls, ceilings, and
other structures on the fish farm, should not be overlooked. Aspergillus spores
are readily air-borne. and may travel considerable distances; Cleanliness, of
course, will contribute significantly to retardation of growth of fungi.
In addition, fungistatic paints may be used on walls, ceiling and all structures
likely to be subject to fungal growth. Commonly used in such paints are copper-
containing compounds. Care should, however, be taken to prevent pollution of
water by the copper compounds as these at certain concentration levels are toxic
to fish (Olufemi 1985).
Investment in husbandry and storage improvements will therefore appear to
be more productive than the continuous expenditure on chemotherapy which as
far as aspergillomycosis is concerned, may be at best palliative. Consequently,
the only sound approach to Aspergillus problems is prevention. Care should be
taken in the storing, handling, shipping and processing of high fungus hazard
products so that they will not become invaded by Aspergillus species. Together
with this must go a relatively foolproof system of surveillance - sampling and
testing to make sure that no products significantly contaminated with the fungus
escape detection. In the developed countries although this is not exactly easy, it is
at least feasible. In the less-developed countries this may not be possible, and in
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
72 B.E. Diu/em;
some of those countries where tilapia culture is intensifying and expanding, it is
likely to be a problem for a long time to come.
Parasitic Diseases
About 100 genera of protozoan and metazoan parasites have been described as
the aetiologic agents of fish and shell fish diseases (National Academy of
Sciences, 1977). Fortunately, only a handful of these parasitic organisms are of
serious consequence to pond cultured fish. Sairg (1971) states that ectoparasites
are the largest group of disease organisms in warm water fish ponds .. The
significant parasites as far as Nigeria is concerned, include members from the
Phylla Protozoa, Platyhelminths, Aschelminthes, Arthropoda and Annelidae
(Olufemi 1986).
Fish parasites can be grouped according to their usual location on the host.
Ectoparasites are found on the external body surface, including the gills, while
endoparasites locate in internal organs such as the liver, kidney or intestines.
According to Bauer (1961), parasites affect fish populations by causing:
1. mortality (1-100 percent)
2. reduction in growth
3. weight loss,
4. . suppression of reproductive activity or efficiency
In addition to these effects the poor carcass quality of fish infested with
parasites can result in reduction in market value for aesthetic reasons (Rogers
.'1978).
An understanding of the parasites life cycle is essential in developing rational
prevention and treatment strategies for the control of parasitic disease problems
(Olufemi 1988).
Diseases of Nutritional and Metabolic Aetiology
Generally, nutritional diseases are not recognized as a problem in warm water
pond fish culture unless stocking rates approach or exceed 4,000 kg/ha, This is
believed to be due to the availability of natural foods in the pond's environment.
However, nutritional problems in fish populations may appear in the form of
reduced fecundity, slowed growth, decreased appetite, increased susceptibility to
infectious disease, frank morbidity with clinical signs and pathological lesions,
mortality, or some combination of these. It is well known that prolonged storage
of feed may result .in reduction of feed quality, particularly for vitamin C and the
essential fatty acids (Lovell 1976; National Academy of Sciences 1977).
Disease Prevention
Only a few therapeutics are available for the treatment of fish diseases, and it is
generally recognized that disease prevention is more economic than treating sick
fish with expensive drugs and chemicals. The following management practices
often will prevent disease outbreaks:
(i) Suitable Pond Management: Where infectious disease organisms are
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
· Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 73
known to OC.cur,disease can be eliminated from the pond after the fish
have been harvested. The remaining fish can be killed and if possible,
the pond hould be completely dried. Apply just enough fresh calcium
hydroxide (hydrated lime) to cover the entire pond area at a ratio of 100
gm per square meter (1000 kgiha) or 1 tonlhectare), and additional
liberal amounts to the puddles and wet-spots. This chemical leaves no
final toxic residue.
The application of calcium hypochlorite (HTH) to water at the rate of 40
pounds per acre-foot (10 ppm available chlorine) has been used for
killing fish, and also kills many types of disease organisms. The
chemical should remain in the pond two or more days before the pond is
drained or flushed. The HTH must be used with caution, because the
chemical is corrosive and very irritating to the skin, eyes and nose. If all
fish are kept out of the pond for several weeks many fish pathogens (but
not their spores) will die. Treatment of brood stock of fmgerlings to
remove the external parasites is a simple precautionary measure. Also,
the exclusion of wild fish that enter fish ponds may help to avoid disease
outbreaks.
(ii) 'Maintenance of a Disease-free Water Supply: Ordinarily no 'pathogens
are introduced with well water. Water from springs, however, may
contain wild fish that pass infectious organism along to the cultured fish.
If water from streams or reservoirs containing fish is used, one can
expect pathogens to be introduced into the culture ponds. At some fish
farms, the contaminated incoming water is passed through sand and
gravel filters to remove certain protozoans arid larger parasites.
Reservoir water can be treated with Rotenone® to remove unwanted
fish, or with HTH (Calcium hypochlorite) to remove predators and
parasites. The chemical must be dissipated or neutralized before fish is
stocked into the pond. There is no practical way to remove bacteria and
viruses from large, flowing supplies of surface water.
(iii) Constant Surveillance: Where there is danger of transmitting infectious
diseases through fish transfer, the fish should first be inspected. The
practice of disinfecting nets, .seines, tubs and other equipment before
and after harvesting and transporting fish, even though no disease
problems are observed, reduces the possibility of introducing or
spreading infectious diseases.
Recommendations
1. Emphasis should now be on investments to improve and/or increase
CULTURE rather than CAPTURE- methods of fish production,
especially as it is now generally appreciated that fish supplies through
CULTURE can playa very important role both from the socio-
economic viewpoint as well as environment conservation. It should be
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
74 B.E. Olufemi
possible to achieve self-sufficiency in fish production within the next
few years - let us for example, take the year 2010 A.D. as the magic
year, since the year 2000 A.D. is no longer realistic!
2. Provision of incentives through the "Accelerated Fisheries Production
Programme" has been a major thrust of fisheries policy in Nigeria in the
past. The provision of incentives has been less successful than expected.
Where subsidies had been provided, it had always been impossible for
people to take government for Jess than Father Christmas. Loanees grab
the loans through the schemes as their share of the 'National Cake' for
which only the 'stupid' would actually be jailed for failing to repay!
Besides, the Federal Departments in me past distributed certain facilities
and imputs on political/national character basis, rather than with respect
to needs, and the preparedness of the communities to put the facilities
into full use. Such facilities as bcreholes, cold storage, ice making
machine, etc, now lie idle in many States of Nigeria today and some are
being considered for privatization! The determination of government to
"leave market forces to take its normal course has also not been helpful,
since the policy allowed unsubsidized prices of imputs to rise far
beyond the reach of most fish ,farmers. Ayeni (1991). advocated that
what is required mostly is .people ,based grassroot planning. He
opined that past developmental programmes appeared to have been
"inflicted" from above, onto the people at the grassroot. He advocated a
developmental effort which seeks to ask what people do and wish to do
better; what they use .and wish to be modernized; and how the Sarkin
Ruwas, the' Councillors for Agriculture at .the Local Government level,
the State Agricultural and the Federal Fisheries Officers, as well as
Research Scientists, come together to plan for what is requiredand how
best to do things. Government investment should now therefore be
based on what the people "ask for" and not what "we think" they want
at the Federal level.
3. Farmers with major investments in fish culture should seriously
consider' arranging for training in parasite identification and disease
diagnosis' for themselves and key personnel, and setting up basic
facilities for examining fish and monitoring water quality. This training
may provide diagnosticians with vital information that could save time
in verifying or selecting the proper treatment This training, I make bold
to announce, is possible at the University of Ibadan, if the NUC would
approve.
4. The establishment of specialist fish disease laboratories appear
necessary to handle fish clinical materials or specimens referred by fish
farmers or by veterinarians. To start with, a fish disease laboratory in
every State of the Federation is desirable. The fish diagnostic aspect
should be part of the State veterinary diagnostic laboratory dealing with
all species. A microbiologist will serve all species and so does a
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
.
Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 75
histopathologist, and I so humbly recommend .
5. Fish treatments themselve•s may either be supplied by the Veterinarian
on prescription or be available to the client directly on general sale. In
either case, the Veterinarian should be responsible for all fish
treatments, as is now the case in most parts of the developed world.
6. In our present state of knowledge on diseases of fish and their control,
there are a number of diseases, especially viral infections, for which
there are as yet no known treatment, and the infected stock has to be
destroyed in order to prevent the disease from spreading to other culture
installations. Legal provision is therefore necessary to enable authorities
concerned to destroy such stocks and when the infection has been
caused by factors beyond the farmer's control, provision for payment of
appropriate compensation should be made.
7. The development of aquaculture on either a large or small scale involves
the use of a number of specialized equipment and supplies, which are
not ordinarily available from the open markets in Nigeria. Examples are:
.
(a) hatchery equipment like jars and troughs
(b) rearing tanks
(c) special pumps for use in hatcheries and rearing facilities
(d) ova and fry graders and containers
(e) special trucks for transport of fry and live adult fish
(f) cages for cage culture of fish or cage fabric or vinyl-coated plastic
netting for making cages
(g) feed dispensers and feed timers etc.
It is extremely difficult to base a large-scale aquaculture industry on
regular import of all such equipment. In the interest of overall economic
development therefore, it is advantageous to develop such, auxiliary
industries. The effort of Rural Agricultural and Industrial Development
Services (RAIDS) in this connection is highly commendable. RAIDS
has recently produced a smoking equipment for rural use. A lot more
remains to be done!
8. At the present stage of our development in Nigeria, most· forms of
aquaculture are to be classed as high-risk activities. This is due to
hazards, some of which are beyond the control of the operator as they.
result from environmental changes such as adverse weather conditions,
changes in water supply, natural calamities like typhoons, floods, etc
and others like epidemics of mortality due to diseases, pollution from
. domestic, agricultural or industrial effluents, which are only partly
under his control. Besides providing assistance to control or minimize
the losses caused by such disasters, governments, often provide financial
and material assistance to farmers and entrepreneurs to rebuild their
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
76 B.E. Olufemi
installations and culture stocks. This can become a major burden on
governments. An alternative means of mitigating such losses is by
provision of insurance cover through comrriercial underwriters.
There are, at this stage of the industry, major problems in arranging
insurance cover from the point of view of both the underwriter, who has to
provide the cover, and the aquaculturist who needs protection. First of all, there
has hardly been any insurance underwriter willing to cover risks, associated with
aquaculture production at reasonable premium rates. The general lack of
knowledge of insurance companies of the commercial and industrial
characteristics of aquaculture and the nature of the risks that they are required to
underwrite, has been a major handicap. Insurance covers have to be based on the
principle of spreading the cost of risks among the insured by charging premiums
that in total exceed the losses that will have to be compensated. The twofold
problem that stands in the way of the spread of aquaculture insurance is the lack
of expertise among underwriters to assess risks and the scarcity of enterprises
that are ready to participate in insurance schemes. The underwriters have to enlist
the services of scientific and technical experts to help in assessing risks and
advise them on the prevention and reductipn of losses.
An insurance facility meant to cater for the needs of the aquaculture industry
and available through the normal insurance agents, is now necessary and when
sufficiently well developed and well spread in the country, would contribute
substantially to greater investments in aquaculture.
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fish Husbandry and Medicine: The Experience of a Tropical Veterinarian 79
Diseases of Fishes and shell fishes. American Fisheries Society. New York. pp.351-
65.
Wales,J .H. (1979) Induction of hepatoma in rainbow trout Salmo gaairdneri,
(Richardson) by the egg bath technique. F Fish Dis. 2, pp. 563-6.
Wehmer,C. (1901) Die pilzgattung Aspergillus in Morphologischer physiologischer and
Systematischer Baziehung Mem. Soc. Phys. Hist. Nat. 33. pp. 1-157 (Commonly
cited as Wehmer's Monograph). Geneva.
Wolf, H. and Jackson, E.W. (1963) Hepatoma in rainbow trout: Descriptive and
experimental epidemiology. Science, 142 pp.676-8.
Wolke, R.E. (1975) Pathology of bacterial and fungal diseases In Ribelin, W.E. and
Migaki, G. The Pathology of Fishes. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. pp.33-
116.
Wood, E.M., Yasutake, W.T. and Lenihan, E.C. (1955) A mycosis-like granuloma of
fish.J. Infect. Dis. 97. pp.262-7.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
4
DISTRIBUTIONAL INEQUITY AND THE PROBLEM
OF NATIONAL INTEGRATION
Sylvester Abumere
Department of Geography
Introduction
I regard it a great honour and privilege to be asked to give the 1997/98 session
inaugural lecture on behalf of the Faculty of the Social Sciences. Looking atthe
records, this is the 10th inaugural lecture from the Department of Geography, the
first having been given in 1951 by Professor B. J. Gamier.
My own specialization enables me to look at what happens to economic
development in space. This would mean that whereas ecoriomists view economic
development mainly in sectoral terms, geographers like me' regard it as taking
place among areal units. This geographer's viewpoint underlies the issues raised
in this inaugural address. My first thought was to christen this address ''Nigeria's
Two Nations and the Problem of National Unity". After much agonizing, I opted
for today's title, "Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National
Integration". Distributional inequity is taken to mean differential availability of
the fruits of economic development among populations in different Nigeria's
areal units. Economic development itself is defined as economic growth plus
spread. This would mean that if the benefits of economic growth were
concentrated in the hands of a few people or in a few areas, that would not be
economic development at all. Equality of access by people and areas to the good
things of life is therefore, perhaps, the best way of measuring development.
Indeed, the 1996 Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP
1996) states that distributional equity is at the heart of economic development.
Unequal access is not only inequitable, it can also do tremendous damage to
national integration.
I did not realize the extent of the distributional inequity in the space economy
of Nigeria until 1976 when we started, studies in the new Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja. I discovered that over the whole Territory which is about 8,000
sq.kms and therefore two and-a-half times the size of Lagos State and larger than
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
82 Sylvester Abumere
many of Nigeria's current 36 states, there was no single secondary school, no
hospital and no single mile of tarred road. Everywhere you went, there was
poverty and a high level of governmental neglect. One came away with the
conclusion that Nigeria must truly be two nations - a nation of haves and of
have-nots. Later, I found out that the level of deprivation in the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) was true of almost the whole of the Middle Belt of Nigeria in
which the FCT is situated. This is usually traced to the neglect of the Middle Belt
during the colonial administration. The fact was that unlike the areas to the north
which produced exportable crops such as groundnut or to the south which
produced palm oil and kernels, rubber and cocoa, the Middle Belt produced
mainly food crops such as yams which turned out not to be of much interest to
the British. The area did not therefore receive much attention from the colonial
administration in the distribution of social and physical infrastructures.
Whatever the reason for the neglect of this area, the point I want to make is
that my visual experience in the FCT stimulated my interest in the whole issue of
unequal access to development infrastructures. I started to investigate why we
have rich and poor areas in a nation, and the consequences of this. In what
follows, I will attempt to share my findings. The lecture divides into five
sections. After this introduction, I move on to the issue of the spatial pattern of
development in Nigeria. This will enable me to distinguish between the areas that
have access to development opportunities and those that are not. I will then
examine the access gap, that is, the gap of opportunities between the areas that
are developed and those that are not. This will be followed by an explanatory
framework. Lastly, the obstacles placed in the way of nation-building and
national integration by the unequal or "two-nation" phenomenon will be taken
up.
Space and Economic Development in Nigeria
In 1911, the Dutch economist, Boeke (Boeke 1953; Furnival 1939), produced a
classic on the two-nation concept. He noted the co-existence within one economy
of two economic systems, different in behaviour, organization and performance,
a phenomenon he described as a dual economy. The duality consisted of a
modern, developed, enterprising, industrial, innovative and rich sector and a
traditional, subsistence, unentrepreneurial and poor sector. Rather than viewing
this dualism in the form of sectors, geographers have often viewed it in terms of
space. It is then argued that under certain conditions, growth begins to occur in a
certain region and this may produce backwash effects in other areas leading to
their stagnation. The consequence of such conditions is the perpetuation of an
economy with a dynamic growing area existing side by side with a stagnating
one (Hirschcman 1958; Mydral 1957; Friedman 1966; Logan 1972). The idea
that space can be subdivided into areas that have development and areas that do
not have or into rich and poor areas has dominated researches in regional
development in the last three decades or so.
In any attempt to categorize the Nigerian space according to levels of
development, the problems of measurement and data will loom large. It used to
be fashionable to measure economic development by per capita income alone.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 83
The quadrupling of oil prices by OPEC countries in 1973 forced a rethinking of
this strategy. This was because many of the Middle East OPEC countries then,
such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Quatar and the United Arab Emirates, had per
capita incomes greater than those of many European countries. It became absurd
to argue that these Middle East countries were more developed than the
numerous European countries. To obviate this problem, many variables are now
used to measure development. These variables attempt to capture the many
dimensions of development including economic, social, political and cultural
dimensions. Using many variables immediately confronts the researchers in
Nigeria with formidable data problems. The data required on the variables are
either unavailable or prone to numerous errors. This usually means that the right
balance has to be struck between number and reliability of variables.
To distinguish between the areas of more or less development in Nigeria, two
strategies were adopted for this address. The first was to use the results of the
Report on Human Development in Nigeria produced by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP 1996). The second was based on nineteen
indicators of development with the states of Nigeria as the points of observatiori.
The statistical techniques of factor and multivariate analysis were used to
regionalize the results.
UNDPResuits
In chapter 3 ofthe-UNDP's Nigerian Human Development Report (UNDP 1996)
an examination was made of the widening gap of opportunities over the nation's
space. The Report used three indicators to measure development - longevity,
knowledge and income. Longevity was measured as life expectancy at birth.
Knowledge was measured by two variables including levels of adult literacy and
mean years of schooling. Income was measured by purchasing-power based on
real GDP per capita, adjusted for the Local Cost of Living (that is, purchasing
power parity, PPP). These variables were regarded, as providing adequate
approximation of the command over resources needed for a decent living. Data
on the three variables were then combined to obtain composite indices for .the
states of Nigeria. !able 1 shows the result. so obtained .. .:
-,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
84 Sylvester Abumere
Table 1
Components of HDI for Nigeria (1992)
SIN State Life Adult Mean Educa- Real Adjusted HDI
Expec- lite- years tional GDPper GDP
tancyat racy % of attain capita (PPPS)
Birth school ment (PPPS)
(years) %
\. Bendel 53.7 65.6 4.00 45.07 5,003.4 5,003.3 0.631
2. Rivers 50.2 5\.9 3.84 35.88 4,860.7 4,860.7 0.539
3. ClRiver 57.8 69.4 3.27 47.36 2,626.0 2626.0 0.5\3
4. Lagos 6 \.4 65.0 3.92 44.64 2,034.7 2,034.7 0.489
5. Imo 60.0 75.6 3.80 5\.67 1,34\.1 1,34\.1 0.466
6. Gonzola 57.8 26.0 2.15 18.05 665.\ 665.1 0.214
7. Ondo 49.4 50.6 3.29 34.83 422.9 422.9 0.212
8. Ovo 51.3 40.4 3.11 27.97 678.\ 678.1 0.210
9. Niger 54.9 16.0 1.04 11.01 1,262.0 1,262.0 0.191
10. Benue 53.5 27.0 1.91 18.64 809.5 809.5 0.188
11. Kwara 45.9 40.0 3.00 27.67 1,020.1 1020.\ 0.\83
12. Anambra 44.9 43.\ 2.91 29.70 860.1 860.1 0.174
\3. Kano 57.1 12.1 0.73 8.31 692.6 692.6 0.161
14. Plateau 39.5 36.7 2.\8 25.19 1,224.1 1,224.1 0.\49
15. Sokoto 49.2 2.7 0.43 \.94 1,246.2 1,246.2 0.\28 .
16. Bauchi 36.7 39.8 2.03 27.21 762.2 762.2 Q.127
17. Ozun 37.4 4\.8 2.81 28.80 619.3 619.3 0.126
18. Kaduna 36.6 30.8 \.52 21.04 876.4 876.4 0.\01
19. Borno 37.0 10.0 0.55 6.85 957.8 957.8 0.042
HDIof 5\.5 50.7 1.20 34.20 1,215.0 1,215.0 0.246
1993
Source: UNDP (1996). Nigerian Human Development Report, p. 29.
From Table 1, the stat es with the highest life expectancy at birth are Lagos
and Imo with 6 t."4years and 60 years respectively. The states with the lowest life
expectancy include Kaduna (36.6), Bauchi (6.7), Borno (31.0) and Ogun (37.4).
In the case of adult literacy, Imo State has the highest level (75.5%), followed by
Cross River (69.4%), Edo and Delta States (former Bendel) (65.6%) and Lagos
(65.0%).
States with the least levels of adult literacy include Sokoto (2.7%), Borno
(10.0%) and Kano (12.1 %). As for mean years of school, former Bendel tops the
rest with 4 years, followed by Lagos (3.92 years). Rivers (3.84) and lino (3.80).
The states at the bottom are Sokoto with 0.43 years of schooling, Borno with
0.55 and Kano with 0.73. In the case of Real GDP per capta, former Bendel,
Rivers, Cross River and Lagos, in that order, top the list while at the bottom are
Ondo,Ogun, Gongola, Oyo and Kano.
The composite index derived from these variables, the HDI index, can be
seen clearly in Table 1. From this Table, former Bendel, Rivers, Cross River,
Lagos and Imo top the list. Note that all the states in the north, apart from
Gongola, performed poorly on the HDI. Also note that Ogun State is the only
southern state ranking with the low performing northern states (Fig. 1). From this
figure, northern Nigeria is virtually a sea of low performing states. The contrast
in distributional inequity between the north and the south cannot be more
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 85
dramatic. In summarizing Table 1, UNDP (1996) reckons that on the basis of
their Human Development Index (HDI), the three leading states of former
Bendel, Rivers and Cross River, would easily have qualified in 1990 as middle
human development countries occupying positions 79th, 91st and 96th
respectively in the world while the lowest HDI - Ogun, Kaduna and Borno
would have occupied 148th, 150th and 161st (i.e. the last positions respectively).
HOI
OVe<O.60
0.41-0.60
" 0.21-0.40
.' • Below 0.20
~
Fig. 1: NIGERIA: HDI by States, 1992
The relative positions of the states in 1992 (Table 1) seem to have been
maintained in 1996. From the 1996 results, the UNDP (1996) concluded as
follows:
A ranking of the Nigerian States by HDI puts, for example, the Edo
arid Delta States (formerly Bendel State) on the top with an HDI of
0.666 while Borno has an HDI of 0.156. Were Edo and Delta States
constituted into a separate sovereign country, their "nation" would
rank 90th in the world ..relatively high among the medium-level
human development countries while Borno as a separate polity
would rank lower than any other country in the world. While Edo
and Delta States together have an' average life expectancy of 59.5
years, Borno has 39.6. years and against their adult literacy of
79.5%, Borno's is 12.1%. Wide regional disparities is Nigeria's
Achilles' heel- the primary source of its perennial conflict, political
instability and social unrest.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
86 Sylvester Abumere
Results Based on the Nineteen Variables
The point has already been made that to measure economic development
adequately requires the use of many variables. The UNDP study used three
variables. It can be argued, however, that far more variables are required to
capture the numerous dimensions of economic development. The counter
intuitive rankings of Lagos and Ogun States in the UNDP study may, in fact, be
attributed to the reliance on three variables alone. Abumere (1978, 1980, 1981)
has demonstrated that the results obtained in this type of study can be radically
affected by the number and types of variables used. The use of our nineteen
variables is therefore regarded as an improvement upon the UNDP study.
Attemptirigto use many variables in Nigeria, in this way, runs into at least
two formidable problems - availability and quality of data. There are some
sensitive measures for which data are not available. Others have doubtful and
unreliable data. In the end, nineteen variables were selected for the purpose in
hand. They include:
1. Level of urbanization;
2. Road density km/area;
3. Populationper hospital bed;
4. Populationper doctor;
5. Walking radius of a hospital;
6. Walking radius of a postal facility;
7. Walking radius of a primary school;
8. Secondary school enrolment per unit population;
9. Walking radius of a secondary school;
10. Walking radius of a Teacher Training College;
11. Population density;
12. Walking radius of a rural bank;
13. Per cent industrial establishments;
14. Per cent industrial employment;
15. Per cent industrial income;
16. Value added in industries;
17. Per cent population served with water supply;
18. Per capita water consumption in litres;
19. Per cent population in primal activities.
Sources:
1. Variables 1and 2 from the Nigerian Population Census Report. 1963.
2. Variables 2-10 and 12 from Idachaba, F. S. et al. Rural Infrastructures
in Nigeria Vol. 2, Federal Department of Rural Development. 1981.
3. Variables 13-16 from Ayeni, Bola (1978) "The Spatial Distribution of
Manufacturing Industries in Nigeria." Department of Geography,
University of Ibadan, Technical Report, No.2.
4. Variables 17-18 from J.O. Ayoade and B. L. Oyebande "Water
Resources:" In J. S. Oguntoyinbo et al. A Geography of Nigeria's
Development, Heinemann, 1978,p. 49.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Distributional Inequity and the Problem of Natiensl Integration 87
5. Variable 19 from Agricultural Development in Nigeria 1973-1985,
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Lagos. 1974, p. 345.
These variables were regarded as adequate measures of economic
development. It needs pointing out however, that most of the data used here are
old and are for different time periods. The confidence in using them derives from
the belief that although the magnitudes of the data may have changed the relative
positions of the cases (states) on the variables may not have altered much. This
maintenance of relative positions by the areal units was clearly evident in the
UNDP data.
The nineteen variables were factor analyzed (Abumere 1987). Multivariate
cluster analysis was then used to categorize the areal units (states) according to
levels of development. The resulting groupings are shown in Figure 2. Figure 2
highlights clearly the levels of differential access to development in Nigeria.
From Figure 2, almost all the states in the north apart from Kano, are categorized
as least developed and therefore with least access to the fruits of economic
development. Lagos is clearly the most developed state followed by the south-
eastern block consisting of the states of Bendel, Imo, Anambra, Cross River and
Rivers. The south-western block then follows: the performance of Lagos is
largely accounted for by industrialization. Oil and allied activities probably fuel
the performance of the south-eastern block. The south-western block is
dominated by a pre-colonial type of urbanization in which elements of
traditionalness exist alongside elements of modernity.
Region I r~
Region II i[100 Region III
, I , 2OP"'"
. Region IV C
~
Fig. 2: Nigeria: Four regions according to stage of economic development
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
88 Sylvester Abumere
The concentration of development in the south, along the coast and lack of
it in the hinterland as has been observed for Nigeria here is, of course, typical of
colonial type spatial development everywhere in the world. In Africa, the same
phenomenon has been observed in Ghana by Forde (1968), in Sierra Leone by
Riddell (1970), in Tanzania by Gould (1910), and in Kenya by Soja (1968). This
colonial type of development is characterized by the desire of the metropolis to
get more out of the economy than it puts in. This leads to all kinds of distortions
and distributional inequities. In the first place, it leads to a concentration of
efforts (roads, power, trade, etc) in the coastal port areas insofar as it will involve
t00 much expense to extend these efforts to the hinterland. In the second place, it
leads to the almost exclusive interest in the export-import trade which turns out
to favour mostly coastal port areas. The dichotomy thus created, according to
Soja (1968) is dysfunctional to national integration.
Temporal Trends in Distributional Inequity
Immediately after the civil war in 1970, Nigeria adopted five national objectives
to be attained, namely:
1. A united, strong and self-reliant nation;
2. A great and dynamic economy;
3. Ajust and egalitarian society;
4. A land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens; and
5. A free and democratic society.
It is clear that the attainment of distributional equity underlines all these five
objectives. This would mean a reduction in the gap between the areas that have
and those that do not have development artifacts. It is of the utmost importance to
examine whether this gap is increasing or decreasing. We carry out this
examination by looking at measures of longevity, knowledge and income
following the UNDP (1996) strategy. Longevity was measured by availability of
medical facilities (hospital beds). Knowledge was measured by enrolments in
secondary and tertiary institutions. Income was measured by levels of
industrialization and of income per capita. Time series data was not available on
income per capita. A surrogate measure was.devised as state internally generated
income per capita. This probably captures the levels of economic activities in the
states. It also probably measures the differential capacities of the states to collect
revenues in the first place. The confidence in using the per capita internally
generated revenues as a measure of income here derives from the strong
correlation which it has with real GDP per capita.
Since independence in 1960, Nigeria's Federal Government has formulated
numerous policies and programmes to achieve the goals of distributional equity.
These range from the creation of more states and local governments (LGs) to
'federal character' and other policies. Have all these policies reduced the gaps
between the haves and have-nots? This is the question we now attempt to
examine. The examination of trends in the regional inequality gap will
concentrate on the north-south gap: The geopolitical situation in Nigeria dictates
that this is far more significant than the east-west gap. Since the north as a block
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Distributiona/lnequity and the Problem of National Integration 89
and the south as a block are not internally homogeneous, we would also examine
the gaps within the north and within the south.
Results
According to Kilby (1969), the gap in income per capita between the north and
the south by 1953 was as high as W76 (in 1952 money and prices) or 223.5%.
The estimates of income per capita in the Second National Development Plan for
Nigeria, 1968, showed that the gap reduced somewhat but was still as high as
206%. Figure 3 shows that per capita incomes are rising over time in both north
and south and also clearly in the entire nation. The difference in income between
the north and the south appears to be rising over time. This is so because incomes
have risen far faster in the south than they have in the north.
-.._--
- -0I!I0_
.......-
.........
..-..'
'"'111 71111 19 80 "y':""" 15 IiIO'1 t2
Fig. 3: North South income per capita
Figure 4 on enrolment in secondary schools depicts the same general picture.
However, the gap between the north and the south is not as spectacular. Indeed, it
rose rapidly up to 1982 and then started to decline. In the case of the gap between
north and south, in respect of levels of university enrolment, Figure 5 shows that
the gap between north and south is probably widening (also see Table 2).
Fig. 4: North-South Secondary School Enrolment
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
90 Sylvester Abumere
s = south
N == North So Difference between Nand
NA = National Average
o
~--~N'"
N
oL-__--~----~1m~----~1~111-----1;99~2-
1989 Y.'"~
Fig. 5: University Enrolment
Table 2: University Enrolment
Year North South Difference National
Average
1988 6,391 26,241 19,850 16,316
1989 8,938 31,813 22,875 20,376
1990 7,351 28,882 21,531 18,117
1991 9,186 38,504 29,316 23,845
1992 15,425 45,008 29,583 30,217
Source: Abstract of Statistics, 1996, Federal Office of Statistics, Lagos.
With respect to the gap between the north and the south in levels of
industrialization, it appears (Table 3) to have been stable over time. This is
because the north has consistently, over the period, scored no more than 25% of
the national industrial performance (Table 3 and Figure 6). It is possible to argue
that the magnitude of this gap is likely to remain high for a long time. This is
because whereas the industrial efforts of multinational corporations and Nigerian
private companies are concentrated in the south, those of the Nigerian Federal
Government are made mainly in the north (Abumere 1978, 1982). However,
since no less than 80% of the industrial investments in Nigeria are made by
multinational corporations (Edozien 1968) and since these investments are
mainly in the south, the durability of the north-south gap in industrial
performance is perhaps inevitable.
We next look at medical facilities as measured by number of hospital beds.
Table 4 and Figure 7 show clearly that the gap is widening though not
remarkably so.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 91
Table 3: North/South Shares in No. of Industries
Year North (%) South (%) Differences
1964 21.4 78.6 57.2
1972 21.9 78.1 56.2
1975 25.2 74.8 49.6
1989 21.4 78.6 57.2
22.5 77.5 55.0
Source: For 1994, Hakam; p. 64; for 1972 and 1975, Industrial Surveys, Federal Office of
Statistics, Lagos; for 1989, Federal Ministry of Industries, Ahuja.
-- South
90 _ •• - North
, -. - Difference
,•.••• : .••• National
801- _
70
----- ...••.....•
~~50 ' •. ~-c
~
:¥ 40
'0
z0
';f!. 30
- _ _ -. _ ....•..- ..-.. .. .. ..•.... "- .. -
20
! ,,'
10
:C",
0
1964 1972 1975 1989
Years
Fig 6: North-South percent shares in no of Industries
Table 4: Hospital Beds
Year North -South Difference NationalAverage
1987 33,732 61,773 28,041 47,753
1988 39,098 67,546 28,448 53,322
- - -
1989 37,624 66- ,.092 28,468 51,858
1990 39,098 67,546 28,448 . 53,322
1991 43,624 75,268 31,644 59,446
Source: Abstract of Statistics, .1996, Federal Office of Statistics, Lagos.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
92 Sylvester Abumere
......-...D·~-"""·
teA- ••••••.•••••••••••
.....•
Fig. 7: Hospital Beds
Gaps within the North and within the South
As already noted, neither the north nor the south is homogeneous with respect to
levels of access to development. To measure the levels and trends of the
inequality within the north and the south, Vuw scores (Williamson, 1965) were
computed. The Vuw is given by:
N
VuW = :E (yi_y)2
i=1
N
y
where yi is the score of the ith state on the indicator of development, y is the
average of the scores of all the States in the region and y is the national average.
The higber the Vuw score, the higher the level of inequality. From the Vuw scores
based on per capita incomes (Table 5 and Figure 8), it appears that the access
gap in the south is higher than that of the north. Secondly, the overall trend in
both the north and the south appears to be downwards. To be more certain about
the trend, a simple linear regression model of the form Y = a + bx was fitted.
Table 5: JlUWSCORES FOR NORTH AND SOUTH BASED ON
PER CAPITA INCOMES
Year North South
1975 0.43 0.99
1976 0.56 1.01
1977 0.49 1.01
1978 0.53 1.00
1979 0.37 1.00
1980 0.27 1.55
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 93
1981 0.26 1.53
1982 0.27 1.54
1983 0.29 1.54
1984 0.32 1.55
1985 0.35 1.58
1990 0.45 0.63
1991 0.47 0.88
1992 0.49 0.68
",. ..-..-
.A.
1175' 17 71 • so vfks 12 .3 14 IS "90 '1 92
Fig. 8: North-South Vuw scores based on per capita incomes
For the north, the equation obtained was Y=0.42.004X (r=O.l) while for the
south, it was Y=1.2-004X (r=-O.05) (see Table 6).
Table 6:Simple Linear Regression Results Based On The VUW Scores
Areas R a b T
North (a) per capita incomes -0.1 0.42 -0.004 0.35
(b) Sec. Schl. Enrolment -0.85 1.03 -0.036 12.3***
South (a) per capita incomes -0.05 1.2 -0.004 0.17
(b) Sec. Schl. Enrolment 0.33 0.05 0.004 1.5
National (a) per capita incomes 0.13 1.27 0.02 0.48
(b) Sec. Schl. Enrolment -0.47 0.94 -0.007 3.0*
**significant at less than 0.01 level
* significant at 0.05 level.
Although there is some evidence of decline in inequality in both north and south,
the evidence is not strong enough for us to be confident (r and b not statistically
significant even at the 5% of level).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
94 Sylvester Abumere
The Vuw for north and south based on secondary school enrolment are shown
in Table 7 and Figure 9. The inequality trend appears to be downwards in the
north but upwards in the south.
Table 7: Vuw Scores fr North ad South Based 0 Secondary
School Enrolment
Year North South
1970 0.65 0.46
1971 1.03 0.47
1972 0.90 0.45
1.973 0.86 0.45
1974 0.79 0.36
1975 1.07 0.36
1976 1.00 0.37
1977 0.75 0.90
1978 0.89 0.33
1979 0.59 0.33
1980 0.64 0.37
1981 0.59 0.46
1982 0.51 0.56
1983 0.51 0.65
1984 0.47 0.52
1985 0.43 0.55
1986 0.39 0.44
1987 0.39 0.43
- •....,
··-North
\'. I .
-. j
:
I "!I
1/ I
I
I
o.
~
~ o.
o.
o.
1970 71 72 u n n n n n ~ ~ n ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
VIars
Fig. 9: North-South Vuw scores based on secondary school enrolment
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 95
The fitted regression equations (Table 6) are Y=1.03-0.03X (r=-0.85) for the
north and Y=O 05+0. 004X (r=033) for the south. These results show that the
inequality in access to secondary education is probably declining in the north but
rising in the south.
The conclusion that can be drawn from all these is that firstly, the access gap
between north and south is very wide and probably rising. However, the gap
appears to be narrowing for facilities where the government has direct
responsibility such as education but widening where private sector efforts loom
large such as incomes and levels of industrialization. Secondly, although the
evidence is not strong the inequality within the north appears to be lower than
that within the south. This probably confirms Mabogunje's (1971) view that once
industrialization starts in any region, incomes begin to be more unequal. The
difference between north and south here is therefore probably accounted for by
stage of industrialization.
Explanatory Framework for the Distributional Inequity
In any attempt to explain the distributional inequity in Nigeria, the role played by
historical factors will loom large. This is not to say that other factors such as
location, culture, natural and human resources, level of urbanization, etc. are not
important but it is to emphasize that their importance quickly takes the back seat
when compared with the factors of history. The fact is that the seeds of the
present inequality in Nigeria were gathered during the pre-colonial period,
planted and nurtured during the colonial period blossomed and bore fruits in the
post-colonial period. These will be discussed in turn. First, however. I will
attempt to provide insights from theory.
(a) Insights from Theory
As will be expected the literature is replete with theories which attempt to
provide explanation for regional inequality. We here identify two sets of theories.
The first set provides understanding of why we have rich and poor areas, while
the second explains the temporal trends in the gap between the rich and poor
areas.
Among the first set, we may identify four theories, namely, export base,
sector, urban size ratchet and circular causation theories. The export base theory
states that economic growth in a region depends upon the growth of its exports
and that expansion in demand external to the region is the main determinant of
regional growth. These exports could be of manufactures, raw materials or ideas.
This would mean that areas with these exports will grow more than those
without.
The sector theory states that there is always a sectoral shift in demand from
agriculture to manufacturing and even later from manufacturing. The main
reasons for these shifts are different income elasticities of demand for the
products of the sectors. When people's incomes rise, they do not spend
proportionately higher amounts on food but instead shift to manufactured goods
such as radios, television, carpets, refrigerators, etc. This would mean declining
prosperity for the areas producing food and increasing prosperity for the
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96 Sylvester Abumere
manufacturing areas. Even within manufacturing a shift from heavy industries to
electronics and computer will have similar effects.
The urban size ratchet theory simply states that size confers many
advantages due to agglomeration, mix of labour pool and accumulated capital
investment. As a result, regions with larger cities tend to do better than those with
smaller cities or rural settlements.
The circular cumulative causation theory emphasizes the importance of an
early start and states that once growth starts in a region, self-generating
momentum sets in. to ensure that the region continues to have growth more than
others.
To these four theories must be added the concept of distance. Proximity to a
region that has done well is crucial in determining whether a region will do well
or not. This is why there is spatial autocorrelation in development around the
world. The fact that spatial clusters of development exist enables us to speak of
the north and the south when discussing world development. Notice how the
factor of proximity enabled the Asian tigers to rise and fall almost together.
Among the second set are the equilibrium and disequilibrium theories. The
equilibrium theories (including neo-classical, Lewis and Ranis-Fei and
Hirschamn) argue that given a relatively free mobility of the factors of
production, factor movements tend to bring about an equalization of development
among regions. Any differences in development between regions are regarded as
temporary, due, perhaps, to some slight lag in adjustment. For equilibrium capital
will flow from high to low wage regions since the latter offers higher returns to
capital, and laoour will flow in opposite direction until factor returns are
equalized. Convergence of development among the regions is therefore to be
expected.
On the other hand, disequilibrium theories (Hatrod-Domar, Myrdal, Ullman
and Hicksian) predict increasing regional inequality. They argue that economic
development tends to be concentrated in the areas where most have already taken
place. In that case, the regions that have already done well will continue to do so.
It is argued that the higher a region's growth rate the more likely that it will
attract capital and investments which will then result in the widening of regional
inequality.
(b) Insightsfrom History
The Pre-colonial Period
For centuries before the advent of the Europeans in the area now known as
Nigeria, the people had very strong links in trade and ideas with North Africa.
The Mediterranean ports of the Maghreb were the outlets for this area's
contribution to international trade. The northern parts of present day Nigeria -
including Katsina,. Kano, Zaria and Kukawa - exported handicrafts, dyed cloths
and leather goods to North Africa and in turn imported salt and metals, especially
copper. According to Mabogunje (1968), one important consequence of this
area's trade with North Africa was that certain development centres emerged in
present-day Northern Nigeria. If this trend had continued, Northern Nigeria today
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Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 97
might probably have faired better with respect to development. However, this
trend was to change drastically with the advent of the Europeans.
Logan (1972) has pointed out that the most conspicuous effect of the
European contact of the 20th century was the dramatic change in the entire
economic orientation of West Africa from the North (North Africa) to the South
(Europe). According to Logan, Nigeria illustrates very well this reorientation and
the kinds of spatial changes which follow. The pre-colonial Europeans traded
with the coastal peoples first in slaves but later in oil palm, etc. According to
Dike (1956) this trade with Europeans stimulated the economic, political and
social life of the coastal peoples in the present Southern Nigeria and new city
states emerged in these areas to cope with this prosperity. With time, the
economic links which the areas now known as Nigeria had with North Africa
became considerably weakened and replaced by economic links with Europe.
Spatial changes accompanied this reorientation and the areas of prosperity
changed accordingly from the north to the south. The coming of the European
missionaries who founded schools, dispensaries, hospitals, etc mainly in the
south then reinforced this new spatial pattern begun by the European traders. In
this way the north-south dichotomy was well and truly underway .
.
The Colonial Period
There can be little doubt that British colonial rule in Nigeria served to worsen the
north-south dichotomy in development which had started to emerge during the
period of the European traders and missionaries. This it did in at least three ways:
through its ordering of Nigerian cities; through its pre-occupation with the export
and import trade; and through its distribution of amenities and developmental
infrastructures. These three are not necessarily mutually exclusive and so need to
be discussed together.
In 1917, the colonial administration passed the Township Ordinance which
provided for the creation, constitution and administration of all towns in Nigeria
(Mabogunje 1968). Three categories of towns were so created - first, second,
and third class towns. Lagos was the only first class town. There were eighteen
second class towns, twelve in the south and six in the north. Of the fifty third
class towns created, as many as thirty-eight were in the south and only twelve
were in the north. Figures 10 and 11 show the distributions of the first/second
class towns and the third class towns respectively. From these figures, it is clear
that most of the towns accorded status in the classification were either along or
close to the coast or along the railway lines which had then just been constructed.
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98 Sylvester Abumere
Fig. 10: Distribution of first and second class towns by the British colonial administration
Fig. 11: Third class towns classified by the British colonial administration in 1919
(Source: Mabogunje 1968).
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Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 99
It is usually argued that ability to raise revenue was an important factor in the
classification. However, it is difficult to pin down what other factors may have
influenced the colonial administration in this township classification. It was
certainly not population size alone, otherwise many towns in Figure I I classified
as third class towns, such as Ijebu-Ode and Benin, would at least have qualified
as seoond class towns; while towns, such as Ogbomoso and Osogbo, which were
not classified at all even as third class towns, will also have qualified as second
class towns. Again the presence of such small centres as Forcados, Itu and Opobo
in Figure 10 and Burutu, Koko, Kwale, Brass, Degema, Bonny, Eket, Ankpa, Ibi,
etc. in Figure 11 means that other factors other than population size guided the
township ordering. It was also not the traditional status of the towns which
mattered, otherwise Ife, Sokoto and Benin would have qualified even as first
class towns. It seems proximity to coastal ports and facilitation of the export and
import trade were important in the rating. Forcados, a. small town on the coast
(Fig. 10), classified as second class town was so important during the colonial
period that until 1914, according to Church (1955), goods for Lagos, the Nigerian
capital, were transhipped at Forcados. In the end, we have to accept that
proximity to the coast and contribution to the export trade were critical factors in
the ranking. This contribution may have been measured firstly as the actual •
production of the raw materials exported which were at this time mainly palm oil
and kernels, secondly, as the role played in the evacuation of the raw materials by
serving as ports or other notable transport centres and lastly as role played as
base or headquarters of either the colonial administration officials or indeed the
officials of the merchant firms. All these factors favoured southern locations
more than they did northern ones.
Whatever the reasons for the township classification, however, the important
point to make is that this classification guided the colonial administration in the
distribution of amenities and other developmental infrastructures. Thus, Lagos
the only first class town was the first to get electricity in 1896 followed by the
second class towns of Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kaduna in 1929, and Kano and
Abeokuta by 1930. Indeed, by 1950, the only first class town had got electricity
supply, and of the eighteen towns classified as second class, twelve had received
electricity and only three third class towns out of fifty had done so. The same
pattern is true of pipe-borne water where, by 1932, of the twelve towns having
reasonably good water schemes, nine were either first or second class towns.
Eight other centres, mostly third class townships had smaller water schemes
(Mabogunje 1968, p. 114). The first and second class towns also had priorities in
the distribution of health, educational and transport facilities. Later, even the
distribution of colonial investments in basic industries were to follow this pattern.
It is therefore clear that the colonial government emphasis on the export trade
with the building of roads and communications networks to facilitate this trade as
well as the distribution of amenities and infrastructure on the basis of the
township classification were to. result in the build-up of developmental
advantages well in favour of the coastal areas, meaning southern Nigeria. The
explanation of the current spatial imbalance in economic development in Nigeria
can therefore be traced, in part, to the activities and policies of the colonial
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100 Sylvester Abumere
administration. If the beginnings of the spatial imbalance in Nigeria can be traced
firstly to the early traders and secondly to the colonial administration which
reinforced this imbalance, then, it must be to the activities of the later traders
especially the multinational trading companies that we must turn for an
overwhelming reinforcement of the imbalance.
In the 1920s, Nigeria came to be dominated by a relatively small number of
large and highly integrated multinational companies. These included the United
Africa Company (UAC). John Holt, Paterson Zochonis (PZ), Union Trading
Company (UTC), CFAO. SCOA. etc. Kilby (1969) reckons that by 1949, the
largest three of these companies accounted for some 49% of all traded
commodities in Nigeria. With the discovery of oil in Nigeria in the 1960s, several
multinational oil companies began to invest in Nigeria. Now, the volume of
multinational investments in Nigeria is very large, in some cases, outstripping
national effort. By 1963, according to Edozien (1968), multinational investments
in Nigeria represented about 87.3% of all private investment and 80% of total
investments in Nigeria. From my own studies of Bendel State of Nigeria,
multinational companies accounted for as high as 83% of all investments in the
state during the period 1963-69. By all accounts, the volume of multinational
investments in Nigeria is simply tremendous. The question is, where were these
multinational investments located?
According to Hakam (1966) and Kilby (1969), the factors that guided the
location of multinational investments in Nigeria were knowledge of the local
market and the economic environment, the existing distribution network and the
cost of gathering information. In effect, multinational investments were located
in areas which they already knew and these turned out to be the coastal areas
which had been crucial for the export and import trade of an earlier period. It is
logical, therefore, to hypothesize that multinational investments in Nigeria will
show bias for coastal locations.
The arguments in support of this hypothesis are many. For instance, by 1969,
well over 50% of all multinational investments in Nigeria were in Lagos. If we
add the other coastal towns of Sapele, Warri, PortHarcourt and Calabar, the
figure quickly jumps to about 70%. There is, therefore, a strong inverse
correlation between distance from the coastal ports and level of multinational
investments in Nigeria. Clearly, multinational corporations in Nigeria serve as
important agents intensifying the distributional inequity. The circular cumulative
causation theory in regional development states that nothing succeeds like
success. Once a region has had an early start, it continues to attract development
to itself. The endurance of the south-north gap can in part be traced to this
phenomenon.
The Post -colonial Period
Nothing spectacular has happened during the post-colonial period to drastically
alter the spatial pattern of economic development bequeathed by the pre-colonial
and colonial periods. In the first place, since independence, transportation as a
vehicle for integrating the economy has not been taken up with the urgency it
deserved. The transport structure, especially the railways, with its south-north
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Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 101
orientation, designed to help the export/import trade by the colonial
administration bas not been altered in any meaningful way. As a result, 38 years
after independence, there is still no railway line or major roadway running east-
west! In the same way, industrial location policy as a means of redressing the
spatial imbalance has never been pursued vigorously enough. According to
Aboyade (1968), industrial policies concentrated on granting incentives such as
import duty relief, income tax relief and capital allowance, but location policy as
a means of achieving a rationally distributed pattern of industrial activity was
ignored.
It is often argued that the status quo remained in Nigeria long after
independence precisely because, according to politicians of the first republic,
Nigeria achieved independence on a "platter of gold" without any revolution or
bloodshed. Many of those who fought for independence did so not so much
because they wanted to change things as that they wanted Nigerians to replace
the British. The revolutionary fervour which was clearly apparent in America and
Angola where the fight for independence was seen not just to end colonialism but
also to alter the system of governance was clearly absent in Nigeria. No where is
this endurance of the status quo more evident than in our railways. If Lord
Lugard were. to rise from his grave today, he would recognize virtually '111our
current railway lines precisely because they were built in his time!! Yet, transport
is regarded, around the world, as one of the most important means to integrate a
country.
The emergence of oil during the post-colonial period along with numerous
concomitant economic activities have only served to reinforce existing spatial
inequity. Amidst these plethora of forces that have tended to favour the south,
there is a crucial countervailing force in favour of the north. This is the fact that,
since independence, political and military powers have always resided in the
north. This has meant that the.mvestments by the Federal Government and its
agencies (for example, the Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF) have almost always
favoured the north without apparent effect on the spatial imbalance.
Distributional Inequity and National Integration
Unequal access can seriously undermine national unity and make the task of
national integration difficult. This is especially so when the inequality coincides
with ethnic divides. This is true of Nigeria where the regions with or without
access are not just political areal units alone but also, in most cases, ethnic units.
The fact is that in any nation, there is nothing that promotes ethnic harmony and
national unity more than visible distributional equity. Inequality, in addition to
threatening national unity, also stands in the way of sustainable development.
Nobody will contribute his best when he feels cheated and deprived. So, to those
who say that the cake must be baked before it is shared, the true answer is that
the envisaged equity in the sharing will affect the baking in the first place!
Distributional inequity is doing havoc to our overall development, affecting
ethnic harmony, damaging our social cohesion and ruining our politics. One
notable Nigerian politician asserted recently, and I quote:
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102 Sylvester Abumere
Northerners are endowed by God with leadership qualities. The
Yoruba man knows how to earn a living and has diplomatic
qualities. The Igbo is gifted in commerce, trade and
technological innovation.
(Aboyade 1997, 14).
Needless to say, that underlying this statement is a sign of desperation arising
from perceived unequal access. Clearly, the bizzare division of labour which the
statement implies, connotes exclusion which is bad for politics and bad for
national unity and integration. All these mean that the major obstacle in the way
of national integration in Nigeria is not so much ethnic diversity but
distributional inequity. National integration cannot be built upon a foundation of
gross distributional inequity.
Take the case of a United Germany. At unification, the problem posed for
national integration by the unequal prosperity between the West and the East was
real. This is in spite of the fact that the peoples of both East and West are of the
same ethnic stock. Chancellor Kohl quickly realized that to integrate a United
Germany, the gap in levels of prosperity between the East and the West must be
bridged. This was done by pumping investments .into the East. by reactivating
factories and creating jobs. Note that East Germany was being propped up by
investments and creation of jobs in all its areal units. If this was Nigeria, a federal
character policy which made individuals from the deprived areas Permanent Sec-
retaries, Directors, etc, will be reached for! The point to emphasize, however, is
that Germany realized that it cannot integrate the country given the very unequal
access to development between East and West. The lesson to learn here is that
inequality tears a country apart far more than ethnicity. No country can achieve
national unity and integration unless it tackles the 'two-nation' problem. What
can we do? To this, I must now turn,
What to Do
The pattern of Nigeria's spatial inequality is unique. There can be very few
countries in the world, if at all, where the. areas that hold political power are
deprived. Elsewhere, minority and deprived groups and areas seek political
power as a platform to help redress their deprivation. The coincidence of political
power and socio-economic deprivation is very rare. This is because exclusion
usually fuels inequality, and political power is the most important key to' the
promotion of inclusion and access. In the United States, the blacks have long
realized that access to political power is the key to remedy the. state. of their
deprivation. They argue, "Seek first political power and all the other things will
be added onto you." So Nigeria represents a 'special case of political power
coinciding with deprivation. . .
In pondering on what could be done' in Nigeria to promote distributional
equity, it occurred to me that Nigeria has tried numerous policies from the trivial
to the. serious. But then, Nigeria is not alone in trying trivial and ephemeral
strategies to reduce the inequality gap. According to the London Economist, in
the United States: .. ,~ .
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Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 103
... at the turn of the century, with the economy booming and
inequality on the rise, the Salvation Army threw a dinner party at
Madison Square Garden. The Stadium's lights beamed down on
thousands of poor people tucking into free food. The rich hired
boxes and galleries to savour their philanpropy. Every body
sang, "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow". It was
hailed by the Salvation Army Commander as, "the dawning of a
new era, the bridging of the gulf between the rich and the poor".
Economist. May 30, 1998, p. 13.
Clearly, acts of phil antropy and feeding of the poor cannot solve the problem
of inequality. More seriously, the Federal Government has, over the years,
formulated policies and programmes to reduce regional imbalance. These include
the creation of more states and Local Governments, Federal Character policy,
Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI) and Community
Banks to promote rural development, the Urban Development Bank to provide
loans for urban infrastructures, the various housing programmes, creation of the
new Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, etc. As this address has shown, these
policies have had no substantial effect on the inequality gap. Lipton and
Pavallion (1995) have argued that the best way of reducing the access gap is to
grow the economy. Economic downturn exacerbates inequality. The problem is
that the Nigerian economy has not grown in real terms in the last decade or so.
The best way to reduce the access gap in Nigeria is to put the reduction of
this gap at the top of the national agenda. This would mean an affirmative
action programme which concentrates on regions rather than on individuals as
the current Federal Character policy does. The current Federal Character policy
places emphasis on people rather than on areas. It is assumed that if the appoint-
ments of Permanent Secretaries, Ministers, Commissioners, -General Managers,
Board Members, etc. are' such that all areas and ethnic groups are represented,
then all will be well with spatial imbalance. It is forgotten that even if all such
posts were filled by people from the deprived areas alone, the spatial imbalance
will still be there. This is because most of the recipients of the Federal Character
jobs from the deprived areas do not actually reside in the areas. Their
contributions by way of incomes, savings and investments are therefore mostly
felt -elsewhere, probably more in the prosperous areas than in their deprived
homelands.' It will therefore be infinitely better for the Federal Government to
concentrate on reducing spatial rather than people inequality. In the end, the
narrowing of spatial inequality will itself narrow down people inequality. .
To implement this areal-centred policy to reduce distributional inequity, it is
crucial to set up a Federal Regional Commissionsimilar to that of the.European
Union. Such a Commission was recommended some years ago but has never got
off theground. The Commission should be charged with. the responsibility of
bridging the regional imbalance. To achieve .th{s.• the Commission will need to
identify, from time.to time,thedepriyed regions and concentrate-social (schools,
hospitals, etc) and physical (roads, electricity, water, etc.) infrastructures in these
areas. Investments in industries and social amenities could be attracted, through
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104 Sylvester Abumere
various incentives, to the deprived areas. These will increase the access of the
people in these deprived areas. With time, this increased access will build
capacity among the people of the deprived areas which will enable them compete
for jobs and other positions in the national setting without needing the Federal
Character policy. Nigeria, of course, already has too many Commissions. The
alternative to creating a new institution is the strengthening of the National
Planning Commission to put reduction of inequality at the top of its agenda and
carry out the areal-centred policies outlined here. This to me, is the way to go if
we are serious about attaining distributional equity.
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Distributional Inequity and the Problem of National Integration 105
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5
OGI - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
J.O. Akingbala,
Department 01Food Technology
Introduction
It gives one great pleasure to present on behalf of the Faculty of Technology, the
seventh in the series of inaugural lectures for the 1997/98 session, and the third
ever in Department of Food Technology. The first two lectures from the
Department were presented by Professor A.O. Olorunda and Professor O.c.
Aworh.
Past definitions of ogi as a "starch cake" or starchy extract of cereals need
some modification since strictly speaking, ogi is the endosperm extract of a
fermented cereal. This accounts for the other components e.g. protein, fibre,
minerals and fat present in ogi apart from starch.
Traditionally, ogi is made by steeping maize, sorghum, millet or rice in water
at ambient temperature (30°C) for three to five days to soften the grain for wet-
milling and wet-sieving to remove bran, sedimentation and dewatering of the
extract - ogi: Before the advent of mechanical grinders powered by electricity or
petroleum products, the softened grain was pounded in a mortar using a pestle. In
Benin Republic, ogi is made by steeping maize in water overnight. The water is
decanted in the morning and the relatively soft grain is ground without water into
a dough which is then fermented before use. The dough generally is not sieved.
Basically the raw ogi is cooked into two products. The soft porridge called
ogi or eko mimu (Yoruba), akamu (Hausa, Igbo) and various modifications of
this e.g. koko (Hausa); and the hard gel known as eko jije (Yoruba) or agidi
(Yoruba, Igbo): or kala (Hausa). These products were eaten almost daily in most
Yoruba homes accompanied by akara (fried bean balls), moinmoin (steamed
bean paste), ekuru (steamed bean paste with sauce) jogi (steamed melon paste)
and sauces; and at least once a day in its various forms akamu, kala and koko, by
the average Hausa family.
Most Nigerians at this lecture who are over fifty years old, were weaned on
ogi. Ogi was consumed by the very young and the very old as a light food and
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108 J.D. Akingbala
further diluted or crushed (agidi) in water as a thirst quencher. Ogi was also used
for administering herbal medicines (agunmu) which kept our fore-parents healthy
or cured of all ailments (awogbaarun).
In my first class introduction to ogi as a student in the University of Ibadan, I
was told that it is a starchy extract of corn, low in protein content and quality and
the nutrients need to be enhanced by the use of milk or legume protein. Judging
from the protein content of cereals and the losses sustained during the traditional
manufacture of ogi, this statement may be true. However considering that there is
only 3.4% protein in natural liquid cow's milk and at least 5.6% protein in ogi by
the poorest manufacturing method, ogi, has a greater protein content than liquid
milk. Quality wise though, the milk protein is superior to ogi protein, due to the
amino acid composition of the protein of cereals from which ogi is derived.
Cereals
Cereals are edible fruits of grasses and were probably the first living things that
God created. In the Bible account of creation (Gen. 1: 10.11), the Holy Bible says
"And God called dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called
He the seas; and God saw that it was good. And God said, let the earth bring
forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,
whose seed is in itself, upon the earth and it was so" (K.J.V.).
Cereal grains are caryopses composed of the pericarp - a thin covering, the
endosperm or food reserve and the germ or embryo. The endosperm is divided
into two the floury and the corneous endosperm and texture of the seed is
dependent on the relative proportions of these endosperms. The common cereals
of economic importance include: wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, barley, oats, rye,
and the millets. Others not so common include teff (found in Ethiopia), Acha and
triticale - the man-made cereal.
Cereals have high starch content - 80% on dry weight basis, about 12%
protein, 3-4.5% fat, 1.8 - 2% fibre and about 2% ash, some vitamins and
sometimes different quantities of antinutritional compounds such as phytates,
oxalates, condensed polyphenols (tannins), amylase inhibitors and flavonols.
Starch content increases from the outside to the interior of the grain, protein
content decreases while protein quality improves towards the centre of the kernel.
The protein content of cereals range from a mean of 13.4% in rye to 7.6% in rice
Wheat, sorghum, oats and maize are in between these extremes.
Cereal proteins are poor in quality because of deficiencies in the sulphur
. Hi' i~ ' 1 ~m.tno adds. LYSIne IS generally in gross deficiency, with
tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, threonine, cystine and valine of marginal
deficiency.
Protein
Proteins are composed of amino acids. There are about twenty naturally
occurring - amino acids, some of which can be synthesized by man, and are
therefore not essential. A shortage of anyone of the essential acids stops the
synthesis of a particular protein. Proteins are formed by amino acid building
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Ogi - Past, Present and Future 109
blocks in a specific sequence. The protein is formed until the next essential
amino acid in the' sequence is not forth-coming, then the sequence is stopped.
The absence of some essential amino acids causes health problems because the
required protein for the bodily function cannot be formed. For the infant, nine
amino acids are essential. These include isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine,
phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine and histidine. The adult does not
require histidine, therefore, only eight amino acids are essential.
Apart from amino acid composition, protein digestibility is an important
factor in nutrition. Animal proteins are generally more digestible and of better
quality to man than plant proteins because they contain a complete profile of all
essential amino acids while plant proteins are deficient in some essential amino
acids. However, plant proteins can be consumed in a combined form e.g. ogi and
akara to provide a relatively complete required amino acid 'soup'.
Cereal Processing
Cereals are processed for the following reasons:
• to add value;
• to remove inedible parts;
• as intermediate materials in the production of other products e.g. starch
and flour;
• to increase shelf-life;
• to increase aesthetic value;
• to improve nutritional quality;
• to remove or reduce antinutritional compounds;
• to make available in ready to-use form; and
• to improve digestibility.
Some of the reasons are interrelated and overlapping. Generally the
processing of cereals involves one or several of the following unit operations.
• Drying
• Steeping
• Decortication
• Size reduction
• Heat treatment
• Classification
• Germination
• Fermentation, etc.
These unit operations can be combined in several ways to manipulate nearly any
cereal to produce the desired product and to improve the nutritive value of the
cereal.
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110 JD. Akingbala
Ogi Processing Operations
Traditional ogi processing operations include cleaning, steeping, size reduction
(grinding), separation into different portions and further fermentation. Each of
these operations contribute to the improvement of cereal into ogi, an intermediate
material in the production of hot pap or agidi. The traditional process is long and
wasteful in view of present day technology. The traditional long steep was to
soften the grain for manual size reduction, not a fermentation step per se. Though
some fermentation occurs, the real fermentation step is during and after
sedimentation when the ogi is "soured". Excessively long steeping removes the
soluble solids including protein into the steep water where they are lost.
However, if the steeping period is too short, most of the harder corneous
endosperm which is richer in protein, is lost as overs or bran. Fermentation
improves flavour, colour, texture, protein quality, digestibility and produces acids
which inhibit spoilage and disease causing organisms of ogi.
Factors Influencing Ogi Quality
The indices of quality in this instance include: yield, viscosity, flavour, texture,
nutritional quality and sensory acceptability. Ogi quality is influenced mainly by
the raw material.- i.e. presently the type of cereal grain, and the processing
method. Of the three most popular cereals for making ogi i.e. maize, sorghum
and millet, maize appears to be the best for ogi production. Maize ogi is similar
in yields to sorghum, has better flavour, white or custard yellow colour which is
preferred and cooks easier than sorghum ogi. Nutritionally, there is little
difference between sorghum and maize ogi contrary to popular beliefs. Also
brown sorghum is not the best for food or feed or as supplementary food because
of the high tannin content in brown sorghum which reduces digestibility of the
food components.
Millets are the best nutritionally. However the ogi yields of millets are
smaller due to greater losses as solubles during steeping (Banigo 1972). Within
each species, there are wide variations in ogi quality. Grain texture affects yields
(Akingbala et al. 1981a) while the tannin content (polyphenolic) affects
digestibility, colour and acceptability of ogi (Akingbala et al. 1981b). Popcorn
yields greater amounts of ogi with better quality than several maize cultivars
(Adenekan 1985). Starch type affects ogi quality. Waxy grains produce "thin" ogi
and cannot be used for agidi. (Akingbala et al. 1981a). Waxy starches are
composed of 100% amylopectin as opposed to the mixture of amylose and
amylopectin usually in the ratio of 1:3 in "normal" starches.
High lysine Materials
In 1967, Mertz et al. of Purdue University discovered the maize mutant named
Opaque 2 or high lysine maize because of its opaque endosperm and greater than
normal lysine content on which improvement of the nutritional status of the
maize consuming populations was hung. However, the high lysine varieties did
not live up to expectation in various food tests. In Mertz's own words; "There
was great hope during the early 1970s that Opaque 2 would improve the health of
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Ogi - Past, Present and Future 111
millions of people in the countries where com was a major staple in the diet,
unfortunately, this did not occur" (Mertz 1990). The Opaque 2 had other
problems including chalky grain, small ears, lower yields, greater susceptibilities
to fungi and insects, and lower drying rates; it also contained amylase inhibitors.
In addition to all these and more importantly, the Opaque 2 or High Lysine corn
(HLC) was not suitable for making ogi by the traditional commercial methods
(Banigo and Adeyemi 1975).
The HLC has been improved over the years into the quality protein maize
(OPM) which has harder and more transluscent endosperm than the comparable
ogi yields, comparable ogi protein digestibility and greater lysine and tryptophan
contents in ogi, than the normal com (Agbara 1991).
Factors affecting the nutritional quality of ogi for adults include proximate
composition of the ogi which is linked closely to the proximate composition of
the grain and the method of ogi production. Generally, the nutritional quality of
the grain is improved during ogi manufacture. The protein quality is improved as
well as digestibilities of the other components. Because of the larger capacity of
the adult stomach, adults 'may derive considerable nutrients from ogi especially
when supplemented with legume products.
Ogi alone is highly incapable of satisfying the requirements of a growing
child during the food-accustoming period - before the child is satiated
(weaning). Akinyele and Omotola (1986) reported that the factors which limit
the energy intakes of an infant weaned onto a lower energy gruel are the volume
that the child can consume at one time and the frequency of feeding. An infant
dependent on bulky gruels would be receiving 878kj of energy and 4.8g protein
daily against the recommended daily allowance of 3229kj and 13g for a 6 month,
7kg child (FAOIWHO 1973). Realizing that the child might not be having
enough, our people force-feed the child till the stomach and the eyes begin to
bulge.
The solid content of ogi porridge rarely exceeds 10% and for agidi 15%, the
rest is water. Hence the Yoruba saying: "Oyinbo mu tea, mo mu ko, omii gbona
fa jo nmu ", The translation, "there is no major difference between the white
man's tea and ogi porridge, both are basically hot water" is not far from the truth.
Advantages of ogi as a weaning food include the following:
• it is cheap
• it is available
• it is easy to prepare
• when freshly-prepared and hot, it is pathogen-free
• it is easily digestible
• it can be made to satisfy the needs of a growing child.
The disadvantages include:
• low protein content
• poor nutritional quality
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112 t.o. Akingbala
• bulkiness
• if handled carelessly. it has been reported to cause diarrhoea.
Ogi: Past, Present and Future
The Past
Before the 1960s, very little was reported on ogi or any other Nigerian traditional
food, as Food Science and Technology as a discipline was established in
Nigerian Universities only in the 1970s (Aworh 1994). Early pioneer scholars on
ogi, Akinrele (1966) Oke (1967) and Banigo (1967) were chemists and
biochemists. Akinrele submitted a thesis titled "A Biochemical Study of the
Traditional Method of Preparation of ogi and its effect on the Nutritive Value of
Com" for the award of a Ph.D. degree of the University of Ibadan in 1966. He
had also published several well-researched articles including "The Nutritive
Value of Og; a Nigerian Infant Food (1967); "An Assessment of the Nutritive
Value of a Maize - Soya Mixture, "soy-ogi", as a Weaning Food in Nigeria
(Akinrele and Edwards 1974). These and the works of Oke (1967), the Ph.D
thesis of Banigo (1967), other published articles by Banigo and Muller (1972a,b),
Banigo et al.. 1974), Banigo and Adeyemi (1975) and Oyenuga (1968) formed the
basis for my submission to my supervisor in 1977, when asked to -write a
proposal for a Masters' degree project on ogi; then, in my intellectual naivity, I
had asserted that all the work on og; had been done.
The emphasis of these initial (pioneering) works were to describe and
evaluate og; as food to an international community. The traditional process of og;
preparation was described. Microorganisms involved in the wild fermentation of
grain to ogi were described and their contribution to ogi acidity, flavour,
acceptability and storage were reported. Nutritional losses during ogi
manufacture were also highlighted.
Present and Future
Efforts of the pioneers of studies on ogi have been rewarded. Ogi is now well
known internationally though still stigmatized as a poor weaning food, bereft of
protein. However, many of the present day workers see ogi differently - the
reports that fermentation improves cereal protein quality were to my knowledge
first presented in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Fields and his students
(Hamad and Fields 1979; Kazanas 1979; Au and Fields 1979; Hamad and Fields
1981). This has changed the way we view og; nutritional quality. The emphases
of most present works have been on improving ogi yields, evaluating new
materials in the manufacture of og; to improve nutritive status, review of
processing methodology, isolating and evaluating starter organisms for ogi
fermentation and improvement of ogi acceptability.
My Contributions
My contributions towards knowledge on the improvement of ogi started about
two decades ago. My first two papers on ogi (Akingbala et al. 1981a & b), were
extracted from my Master's thesis - Characterization of Selected Sorghums for
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Ogi - Past, Present and Future 113
the Preparation of,Ogi, A Nigerian Fermented Food (1979), which highlighted
the contributions of endosperm texture, endosperm type and presence of tannins
as important parameters for determining sorghum ogi quality.
Similar evaluation has been done for maize where ogi yields and qualities
were compared for nonnal, high lysine com, quality protein maize, popcorn etc;
and maize of different grades - sound, slightly damaged and heavily damaged
(Ogunsekan 1988; Agbara 1991; OIayemi 1986, Akingbala et al. 1986). Work on
improvement of ogi quality was done in three dimensions viz - evaluation of
improved and new raw materials for ogi production (Ogunsekan 1988; OIayemi
1986, Agbara 1991; Sangodoyin 1990), improvement of traditional method of ogi
production (Ogunsekan 1988; Agbara 1991; Animashaun 1992; Oyeleye 1997)
and fortification of ogi using available cheap local resources e.g. okra seed
(Adenekan 1985; Amakoromo 1987; Ashaye 1992; Oyeleye 1997; Akingbala et
aI1994).
Evaluation of New Materials
Grain amaranth (Amaranths cruentus) was evaluated for ogi quality using the
traditional ogi production method (Akingbala et al. 1994). Grain amaranth is
more nutritious than cereal grain judging by its proximate chemical composition
and protein quality. However because of its very small size, it is very difficult to
grind. Also after fermentation, steeped grain amaranth does not sediment in water
at room temperature. However, the ogi produced from this material was well
accepted.
Fortijication
Ogi protein had been fortified using protein from sesame seed (Ekpeyong et al.
1977), soybean (Akinrele and Oniwinde 1981) and other protein-rich seeds. The
mature okra seed is one of these. The okra seed has the following proximate
chemical composition: 20.3% crude protein, 18.2% starch, 36.7% crude fibre,
14.0% fat and 5.0% ash. When dehulled, protein and other components increase
while fibre decreases. Dehulled, defated okra seed cotyledon may contain up to
50% protein. Okra seed increases ogi protein content, but also contributes an
awful seed odour. Toasting of the seed before dehulling replaces this flavour with
a nutty flavour which was well accepted and a chocolaty brown ogi which was
well rated.
Flavouring
The acceptance of the nutty flavour of ogi fortified with toasted okra seed
indicated that consumers, especially the young ones prefer flavours other than the
traditional mainly lactic acid flavour of ogi.. Adeyemi (1988) had earlier reported
a preference for ogi flavoured with ripe pawpaw, mango and banana fruits.
Oyeleye (1997) confirmed this finding by reporting greater acceptance of ogi to
which vanilla flavour and colour had been added.
Changes in Ogi Processing Method
The low nutrient quality of ogi had been blamed on the traditional ogi processing
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
114 1.0. Akingbala
method by several workers (Oke 1966; Akinrele 1967; Akingbala et aI1981a).
Since most of the nutrients are lost via the steep water, wash water, and sieving,
these materials may be saved if these steps are omitted. Thus Animashaun
(1992), produced ogifrom ground sorghum paste. Yields of ogifrom dry milled
unsieveil sorghum was 98.5% and the protein content was 98.1% of that in the
grain. In comparison, yield of ogi from the traditional method was 57.8% and the
protein content was 77.6% of protein of the grain. However, flavour, texture and
colour of the sieved ogi were more acceptable than those of ogi from unsieved
paste.
Preparation of OgiFrom Malted Grain
Another deficiency of ogi as a transition food is its bulk. Ljungqvist et al. (1981)
concluded that the prevalent protein - energy malnutrition of the third world was
due to low energy density foods. Ogi density can be increased by reducing its
viscosity through malting.
Malting is the germination and limited seedling growth of cereal grains
(Aisien and Palmers 1983). Food reserves of the endosperm are hydrolized by
enzymes such as a-amylase, ~-glucanase, proteases and lipases during
germination (Aisien and Gosh 1978). Thus, malting has the advantage of pre-
digesting the nutrients for greater availability for use. Other advantages of
malting are: increase in B vitamin content, increase in lysine and tryptophan
contents, increase in sweetness and decrease in viscosity.
The use Of malted maize for producing ogi was straight- forward and,
produced the expected results (Agbara 1991). However, use of sorghum malt for
ogi was more tricky because of the controversy surrounding the use of sorghum
sprouts. Wangs and Fields (1978) suggested that sorghum should be germinated
at home to produce more nutritive foods. However, Panusuik and Bill (1984)
opposed this suggestion based Qn the high HeN content (613 ppm) of sorghum
sprout which is considered dangerous'. It is safe to use sorghum malt for ogi,
production, 'while tables 7 and 8, and figure 1 show the advantages of using the
malt for preparing ogi especially for the young (Animashaun 1982) Malted
cereals are however unsuitable for ogi for agidi production because of the mushy
texture of the gel formed (Nwagwe 1997). ' .
Ogi-: The Future .
In addition to the studies highlighted earlier, the future of ogi production and
quality is typified by the work of Adebawo (1997), who isolated _and
characterized strains of lactobacillus plantarum which secretes excess lysine (up
to four timesthe amourit secreted by the wild strain) and produced acceptable
ogi. Ogi of the future will be generally well defined, bylaw as to the composition
and nutrient information per serving; produced in factories as dry powdered
products, flavoured and coloured. Packaging materials and storage conditions for
ogi are presently being tested. Easy-to-prepare precooked ogi may be. sold dry.
Biotechnology will play more important roles in the preparation, definition and
preservation of ogi.
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6
ARABIC, THE MUSLIM PRAYERS AND BEYOND
Sayed H. A. Malik
Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Introduction
This inaugural lecture is the second from the Department of Arabic and Islamic
Studies. The first was delivered on Thursday, January 30, 1986 by the late
Professor Musa Abdul, who was the first Nigerian on the academic staff of the
Department. His lecture came from the Islamic Studies component of the
Department" and was titled: "Religious challenges to National Development".
My lecture is corning from the Arabic Language component of our
Department. Therefore, I have the honour of delivering the first inaugural lecture
from the chair of Arabic Language of this University.
The title of my Lecture is: "Arabic, the Muslim Prayers and Beyond", and the
intention is to examine the relationship of Arabic with the religion of Islam, its
historic contribution in the past and its role in modem times. The relevance of
Arabic to the contemporary human societies will, I hope, emerge in the course of
the lecture.
Arabic as a Language of a Revealed Religion
Wherever Islam was preached, encouragement was given to the learning of
Arabic and to the establishment of schools for teaching the reading of the Qur'an
and for the study of the Arabic Language and Islamic Literature. This is in
consonance with the divine injunction in the Qur'an which stresses the impor-
tance ofliteracy in the life of man. This divine injunction is as follows:
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
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116 Sayed H.A. Malik
1. Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists)
2. He has created man from a clot (of thick coagulated blood).
3. Read! And you Lord is the Most Generous.
4. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen.
5. He has taught man that which he did not know.
(Qur'an; 96:1-5).
It is evident that the main factor responsible for the spread of Arabic to areas
outside the Arabian peninsula is Islam. Being the language of the Qur'an and the
Islamic branches of knowledge (i.e. commentaries of the Qur'an, hadith-
criticism, Islamic Law, theology etc.), Arabic has inevitably been interwoven
with Islam. The intimate relationship between the two is reflected in the
attributes and beliefs of the Arab and non-Arab Muslims over the centuries. They
have always had great reverence for the Qur'an which exerted from the outset, a
great influence on their religious, political, social and intellectual life.
The fact that every Muslim must recite portions of the Qur'an in its original
Arabic in his ritual prayers, no matter what his native tongue may be, promoted
considerably the study of Arabic, both as a native and foreign language. In the
early centuries of Islam, there were linguistic developments which stemmed
directly from the religious stimulus and aesthetic appreciation of the Qur'an.
In the long run, many non-Arabs were motivated to learn Arabic and
suddenly the language found its users fast multiplying with the passage of years.
Such fast increases in the number of Arabic users invariably led to the loss of the
original purity and correctness of the language. Consequently, many ungram-
matical Arabic expressions were soon to be heard in oral expressions as well as
in the reading of the Qur'an. And with time, not only the non-Arabs were
committing such grammatical mistakes but many. Arabs as well. These
developments naturally led to meticulous philological studies which culminated
in the writing of valuable books on grammar, lexicography and other aspects of
the language, all of which form the Arabic heritage to the present day'. Thus; the
Arabic Qur'an became the pivot around which linguistic studies revolved. Arabic
grammar and morphology, for instance, were developed in order to protect the
Qur'an from corruption by foreigners who later accepted Islam as a way of life;
Qur'an exegesis evolved in an attempt to give the correct interpretation of
specific verses of the Qur'an; Phonetics and the art of the recitation of the Qur'an
in accordance with the established code of pronunciation and intonation emerged
to ensure the correct production of the phonemes which make up the Qur'anic
words and expressions. Arabic lexicography and Philology developed so that
specific expressions contained in the Qur'an may be traced to their roots. Arabic
rhetorics evolved to explain the use of unfamiliar images in the Qur'arr'.
The Qur'an was believed to represent the highest linguistic achievement of
the Arabic language. For this reason, it has become a factor to be considered in
any study of the Arabic language. This conviction must have facilitated the rapid
development and dissemination of Arabic and contributed immensely to its
transformation from an obscure dialect into one of the important languages of
medieval and modern times.
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Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 117
Commenting on. the relationship of Arabic with the Islamic religion, Browne,
a non-Muslim, has observed:
•
The Arabic language is in a special degree the language of a
great religion. To us the Bible is the Bible, whether we read it in
the original tongues or in our own, but it is otherwise with the
Qur'an amongst the Muslims. To them this Arabic Qur'an is the
very word of God, an objective, not a subjective revelation',
The Quran, which is held by the Muslims to be the very word of God, was
revealed to Muhammad in the Arabic language. This book is thus regarded as the
source of all knowledge and wisdom. Since the Arabic Qur'an is the word of
God, it is inimitable and is generally held untranslatable. For this reason,
Muslims in every age and place have considered it a religious duty to acquaint
themselves with Arabic so as to be able to read the Qur'an in its original
language. Thus, Arabic has become the religious language of all Muslims
irrespective of colour, race or nationality. Hitti emphasized this point when he
said:
The classical form is not only th; literary form used by all the
Arabic writing peoples but also the religious language of all
Muslims, no matter what their native tongue may be. To
Muslims, Arabic is the only appropriate language of approach to
Allah4• '
Many Muslim theologians, philosophers and philologists upheld the doctrine of
the divine nature of the Qur'an. This came to encompass the Arabic language
itself. In the introduction to his well-known Arabic lexicon, Lisiinu-l- 'Arab, Ibn
Mansur says that it is God who made the Arabic language superior to all other
languages and that He enhanced it further by revealing the Qur'an through it and
by making it the language of the people of paradise. He relates a tradition.
attributed to Prophet Muhammad stating the three" reasons why people love the
Arabs:
I am an Arab; the Qur'an is Arabic; and the
langu.age of the people of Paradise is Arabic" .r .
Similarly, Mahmud Taymur, a famous Egyptian scholar and a member of the
Egyptian language Academy, rejects the views of those who consider standard'
Arabic doomed to perish as Latin did. He argues that Arabic is the language of a
revealed religion (Lughatu dinin samiiwiyyin) and that it is bound to remain a
living language as long as the Qur'an and Islam exist".
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118 Sayed HA. Malik
This situation is aptly described by Chejne as follows:
It is the kind of conviction coupled with the religious devotion of
the faithful that was the main factor contributing to the belief in
the supremacy of the Arabic language as revealed through the
Qur'an and in the necessity for learning and reproducing the
language of God's word in a way befitting its divine origin'.
It is worth noting that the grammar taught in the schools of the Arab world today
is virtually identical with the grammatical system devised by the eight-century
Muslim scholars. It should also be pointed out that the efforts of these scholars
were confined to classical Arabic rather than spoken Arabic dialects. Thus, while
the latter developed faster along different lines in different areas, the former was
much slower in development holding the classical form of the Qur'an and pre-
Islamic poetry as its model and was always close to this model no matter in
which areas the literature was produced. This implies that standard Arabic was
protected from what is normally termed 'linguistic decay' to which some
European languages like Latin and Old English have been exposed", As a result,
the spoken Arabic of the different Arab countries can truly be described as
dialects of one and the same language rather than separate languages.
Arabic as a Medium of Historical Documentation
From the historical perspective, Africa, like some other continents, is greatly
indebted to Arabic for serving as the vehicle of a vast literature and for keeping
African historical records which we, as Africans, can proudly call our own. Many
centuries before the coming of Europeans to West Africa, Arabic had brought its
educational achievements as well as its rich literature to the West African
environment. It is on record that for about three hundred years, between the 17th
and 19th centuries, Arabic documents remained the only sources of information
for European writers who were interested in the history of the Western and
Central Sudan. Many of the scholarly works written by native West African
authors in Arabic or in their native languages using the Arabic script formed
valuable source material for the reconstruction of African history. It is worth
noting that these Arabic works contain convincing and sufficient evidence to
show that Africa had never been a dark continent as claimed by European writers
on Africa. This point has been well articulated by renowned African scholars. For
instance, the late Professor K.O. Dike, a former Vice-Chancellor of this
University said:
As a historian myself, I have taken the keenest interest in this
development for it is through the aid of these Arabic documents,
and those written in African languages in the Arabic script, that
the scholar will be aided in his task of unlocking the secrets of
the African past. It had been a revelation to the whole world of
scholarship to realize for the first time that Africa before the
European penetration, so far from being a "dark continent", was
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Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 119
in fact a continent where light of scholarship shone brightly, as
the Arabic works now being discovered bear testimony."
Emphasizing the importance of Arabic in the history of the Sokoto Caliphate,
Last commented:
... the fullest histories of the first fifty years of the nineteenth
century are those written in Arabic ... For the later period, it is
the Arabic sources again ... that provide the data for the Sokoto
administration and its crises during the last two decades of the
nineteenth century ... Without recourse to the Arabic sources no
adequate study of Sokoto, I believe, is possible. Most modern
historians have overlooked the importance of the Arabic sources
in relation to the oral tradition, owing to the property of
published texts or translations. Further, since the translations that
are generally known are sometimes misleading, scholarship
based on them is somewhat vitiated".
Commenting on the important role of the Arabic scholars in various. research
efforts aimed at discovering indigenous materials for writing authentic Nigerian
history, the late Professor Dike said:
.. .It is through their work on the enormous amount of Arabic
material in Archives and Libraries, both public and private, that
we shall be enabled to put together a coherent picture of
Northern Nigerian history based on our own indigenous source
materials and not, as in the past, chiefly on the report of colonial
administrator and foreign travellers, valuable though much of
these material is. The significance of this for the new generation
of Nigerian students in schools and colleges can hardly be over-
emphasized. The Arabic scholars of the present, drawing upon
the writings of the Arabic scholars of the past, will be able to
bring before us the events and happenings of the past ages of
Nigeria, and so help us to write a history we may rightly call our
own 11.
It is pertinent to mention that records written in Arabic or in Swahili using the
Arabic script also constitute an important source material for the history of East
African countries. On this point Kamera and two other scholars comment as
follows:
But the most important documents of medieval history on the
eastern coast is [sic] found in written records. Most of them were
written in Swahili (using Arabic characters), in Portuguese,
English and German, and in Arabic, Persian and Gujerati".
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120 Sayed H.A. Malik
It is thus clear from the assertions of scholars of African history that the
importance of Arabic to African history, including West African history, is
immense. Since records of pre-colonial Africa existed only in Arabic or in
African languages written in the Arabic script, knowledge of Arabic is certainly
indispensable to historicans of those periods of African history. The validity of
this assertion is underlined by the fact that the doctorate theses of at least two
former students of the Department of History of this University had to be jointly
supervised by our Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Department
of History. Both of them are now accomplished historians ofintemational repute.
That Arabic is very relevant to African history is also attested by the fact that
the title of the journal published for the Historical Society of Nigeria is Tarikh,
which is the Arabic word for "history".
It hardly needs saying, of course, that there will be no history if there are no
events, and events can only be prevented from falling into oblivion if they are
recorded through the instrumentality of language. It is, therefore, important to
note that prior to the European penetration, Arabic language had played a crucial
role by serving as the only indigenous African language through which the events
of the African past were recorded for the present and future generations.
Arabic Literacy
In all communities that have embraced Islam, the history of Arabic literacy is
traceable to the advent of Islam in such communities. Thus, Arabic has made
outstanding literary contributions to the indigenous West African civilization by
bringing the first form of literacy (i.e. Literacy in Arabic) to West African
countries before the coming of the colonial masters to the area. Many West
African languages such as Wolof, Mandimka, Hausa, Fulfulde and Yoruba were
commonly written in the Arabic script before the introduction of the Latin script.
Writing in local languages using the Arabic script is known as ajami. Until the
twentieth century, Hausa and Fulfulde were written in this Islamic literacy
tradition 13.
Records show that by the first quarter of the nineteenth century, itinerant
Hausa trader-teachers had settled in Yorubaland teaching the natives basic
Islamic sciences and Arabic literacy. A testimony of the cultivation of Arabic by
the Yoruba at that time is given by Richard Lander, the British explorer who, in
company of Captain Clapperton, visited parts of Yorubaland between 1825 and
1926. He has recorded:
There were Mallams (teachers) from Hausa reside [sic] in almost
every town through which they passed. The Mallams were in
such towns propagating their religion and teaching the
inhabitants to read and write in Arabic. Therefore, Islamic
education had evidently been introduced to towns like Oyo,
Ogbomoso, Ikoyi, Iseyin, Igboho and Badagry, at least, by the
beginning of the last century". .
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Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 121
Furthermore, the encouragement and patronage of the ruling elite enhanced
Arabic-Islamic learning in major towns of Yorubaland in the nineteenth century.
For instance, it is on record that Apati, a chieftain of the Owu clan, sent eight of
his children for instruction in Qur'anic studies under the guardianship of a Fulani
Mallam who accompanied the clan during its migration to the city of Abeokuta in
the nineteenth century". It is, therefore, not surprising that the earliest documents
in Yoruba language, as in other West African languages, employed Arabic script.
This is because Arabic was the only written language known to the natives before
the advent of Western education and the introduction of the Latin script. That
Arabic literacy was a prominent phenomenon in the Yoruba Muslim
communities by the beginning of the nineteenth century when colonialism was
being imposed and Christianity was being introduced is further confirmed by
another evidence to the effect that the Christian missionaries in their attempt to
develop a standard Yoruba orthography to enable them to undertake scholastic
and evangelistic work considered; among other options, adapting the Arabic
script. On this point Samuel Johnson says:
The earliest attempt to reduce this language into writing was in
the early forties of the last certury, when the Church Missionary
Society, ... organized a mission to the Yoruba country .... After
several fruitless efforts had been made either to invent new
characters, or adapt the Arabic, which was already known to
Moslem Yorubas, the Roman character was naturally adopted".
The prominence of Arabic literacy before the advent of colonialism in Africa is
also true in the case of East Africa as attested by the following statements of
Tolmacheva's:
There is evidence that literacy came to the East African coast
very soon after hijra; but that it was at first a hieratic art confined
to religious works in the Arabic language".
There is the story of a British professor of African languages who visited the
president of a West African country sometime ago. While the professor was
talking about education and literacy in Africa, the president was surprised to hear
about the high literacy rate in his country. When the president asked the professor
for evidence, the professor requested the Head of State to allow his cook and
servants to be brought in. They could, of course, neither write in English nor in
the Latin script. But when the visiting professor insisted that they should write
anything, they all started to write their names in the Arabic script". Thus was the
British professor able to prove his point to the president who had previously
regarded his servants as illiterate.
It should be noted that in recent times, there is a growing interest of Muslim
peoples in using the Arabic script to write their native languages. For instance,
there are at present in Northern Nigeria publications in Hausa language using the
Arabic script. These include books, pamphlets and weekly newspapers. The
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122 Sayed H.A. Malik
.
current effort being made by the Morocco-based Islamic Educational Scientific
and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) in encouraging the use of the Arabic script
in writing the languages of Muslim peoples is noteworthy in this regard. Four
Nigerian languages - Hausa, Kanuri, Fulfulde and Yoruba - are among the
fifteen languages selected from East and West Africa by this organization which,
in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) has
standardized the Arabic symbols and manufactured special typewriters are
available in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies of this University.
Empirical evidence shows that there are many people in West and East
Africa today who cannot write either in the English or the Latin script but who
still read and write things in their local languages using the Arabic script. Thus,
those who are erroneously considered illiterate are in fact literate in Arabic. An
indication, perhaps, that more Nigerians are literate in Arabic than in English is
the fact that the Nigerian currency note carries an inscription indicating its value
in a Nigerian language written in the Arabic script.
From the foregoing analysis, it is clear that many countries in West and East
Africa has proved no exceptions to the general rule that the spread of Islam is
accompanied by a spread of literacy in Arabic which provides a means of
opening up communications in a way not possible/or illiterate people. Therefore,
the role of the Arabic language in providing a common form of literacy over
large parts of West and East Africa as well as in establishing a means of both
local and international communication and as a vehicle for education right up to
the present day cannot be ignored.
Arabic Literacy Contribution
Apart from the Qur'an, which was revealed in Arabic, the Hadith and the literary
works which explain in clear terms the religious, philosophical and legal
foundations of the Islamic community and its contributions to world civilization
in the fields of literature, arts, science, medicine and architecture, were originally
written in Arabic before they were translated to other languages. It should be
further noted that in the ninth and tenth centuries, which were accompanied by an
enormous literary output, the Arabic language acquired a universal character. As
the medium of intellectual expression, it has a general appeal not only among
Muslims but also among non-Muslims.
Commenting on the important role which Arabic played from the eleventh
century onwards, Chejne says:
Arabic served as the medium for transmitting Greco-Arabic lore
to the West through the translation of Arabic books into Latin,
Spanish and Sicily served as the link between East and West in
the cultural osmosis that had an enormous influence on Western
thought".
Moreover, it should be pointed out that Arabic served as the medium through
which many of the excellent works of the Romans and the Greeks were passed to
modern Europe. On this point Hitti observes:
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Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 123
Language, •next to religion, constituted the major enduring
contribution of Arabians. For some three hundred years,
beginning in the mid-eight century, Arabic was the vehicle for
transmitting scientific, philosophic and literary thought, which
was quantitatively and qualitatively superior to anything being
transmitted in Latin, Hindu, Chinese or any other language/",
Thus, scores of books were preserved in the Arabic translation whereas the
original writing of such works was lost forever.
An important aspect of the literary contribution of Arabic is in the area of
travel literature. It is to be noted that Arabic travel literature constitutes a large
segment of the general main stream of Arabic literature. Many Arab and Muslim
travellers have contributed in varying degrees to our knowledge of the people and
places with which they came into contact at certain periods of Islamic history. It
is pertinent to mention that scholarly travels for the sake of acquiring knowledge
in both medieval and contemporary Muslim societies are motivated by religious
purposes. In this connection, the following hadith (tradition) of Prophet
Muhammad is very relevant:
He who goes out in search of knowledge will
be in the path of Allah until he returns.
Thus, travel as a meritorious activity is endowed with an ancient pedigree in
the Muslim tradition.
One of the most famous contributions to Arabic travel literature is the
Moroccan, Muhammad Ibn Abdallah, known as Ibn Battuta. He travelled widely
in Africa, Asia and Europe. One of his primary aims was to describe the
contemporary scenes of the Islamic WorId and beyond.
Among the most outstanding works of medieval Arabic travel literature are
the two books written by Ibn Jubair and Ibn Battuta. The books are still available
in Arabic and some European languages". It is to be noted that Ibn Battuta's
work and the results of field research and historical studies of other Muslim
travellers are still of interest not only to historians, geographers, anthropologists
and folklorists, but also to students of literature and stylistics.
Arabic was used in various ways during the nineteenth century in Nigeria in
particular and West Africa in general. They include correspondence, political
books and pamphlets, treatises of advice to rulers, biographical literature,
histories, ethnography, sociology and education". It should be pointed out,
however, that the uses to which Arabic was put in the past should not be
interpreted to mean, in spite of the impact of education in English or French over
the past eight years, that the language is falling into disuse in West and East
Africa as a means of communication and recording history or as a medium of
education. In fact, the tradition of Arabic scholarship is still very much alive in
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124 Sayed H.A. Malik
Nigeria and other West African countries. In these areas, many learned Islamic
scholars still use Arabic to express their ideas and to record events. Many of
them also have large libraries and correspond with each other in the Arabic
language.
A thorough examination of the level of scholarship and the degree of
proficiency and artistry achieved by indigenous West. African Arabic scholars
reveals that Arabic has become a symbol of intellectual development and identity
of Islamic communities of sub-Saharan Africa. From the second-half of the
twentieth century, West Africail scholars Writing in Arabic with remarkable ease
have increased considerably/They have written scholarly works in every genre of
Arabic scholarship such as poetry, prose, short stories and novels in addition to
their great contributions in the field of pure Islamic sciences. A survey of the
extant literary works of these 'ulama' shows that they have been very prolific.
In their provisional account of the Arabic literature of Nigeria up to 1804,
Bivar and Hiskett (1962) listed some 45 Arabic works written by Nigerian
scholars". Kensdale (1955) published a catalogue of the Arabic manuscripts
preserved in the Kenneth Dike Library (formerly Ibadan University Library),
University of Ibadan," while Balogun (1975) listed 115 Arabic works written by
Uthman Dan Fodiy025. Bello is also reported to pave listed 521 Arabic works
attributable to Nigerian writers", Similarly, Bashir (1985) listed 101 by Abdullah
b. Fudi, 114 by Muhammad Bello b. Uthman b. Fudi, 51 by Shaikh Junaidu, the
late Waziri of Sokoto, 44 by 'Abdul Qadir b. al-Mustafa and three by Asma'u,
the daughter ofUthman Dan Fodiy027.
That Arabic literary composition was held in high esteem in the Sokoto
caliphate is attested by Last who averts:
To write poetry in Arabic was the attainment of a cultured man,
and the famous poems of the founders of the Sokoto caliphate
became part ofSokoto culture: the poems of the Shaikh (Uthman
Dan Fodiyo), Bello and others were learnt by rote by children;
today they are broadcast over the radio".
It is pertinent to mention that the cultivation of Arabic literacy scholarship in the
nineteenth century in West Africa was not confined to male scholars only. Nana
Asma'u, the famous daughter of Shaikh Uthman Dan Fodiyo "was one of the
most learned of the Shaikh's children, a poet in Fulfulde and Arabic, and an
author of three books in Arabic?".
As has been pointed out earlier in this lecture, the cultivation of Arabic-
Islamic learning was prominent in Yorubaland in the nineteenth century. The
uses to which Arabic is put in Yorubaland confirm its relevance and importance
. to the Yoruba Muslim community. From the time Arabic found its way to
Yorubaland up till the present day, many learned natives of Yorubaland have not
only used written Arabic for all sorts of purposes - religious, social and
educational - but have also produced sizeable works of great academic value in
Arabic". In this connection Muslim scholars in the city of Ibadan have always
played a leading role.
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Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 125
An important fact which indicates the importance of Arabic in Yorubaland is
that certain records were kept in Arabic, notably those of qadi's courts. Many
families in parts of Yorubaland are called 'alikai' families because their
forefathers were Shari 'ab court judges. It is on record that Oba Abibu Olagunju,
the first Muslim Timi of Ede in Osun State, who ruled in the second half of the
nineteenth century, accorded the Shari 'ah official recognition in his domain.
Consequently, a shari 'alt court was officially established in Ede at a quarter
called Agbeni in 191331• The name of the first qadi (alkali) of the court was
Sindiku (Siddiq) who recorded the proceedings of the court in the Arabic
language.
It should be noted that the extent of Arabic penetration into Yorubaland is
not confined to the area of scholarship but is also visible, together with Islam,
among the lowest classes of the society. That is why we still see thousands of
private and unrecognized Arabic schools everywhere in Yorubaland devoted to
the teaching of Arabic and Islamic literature to the exclusion of almost anything
else. Thousands of Yoruba Muslim children attend these schools, many of them
thereby forfeiting their places in the recognized Government schools. The
establishment of these Arabic schools was and is still a spontaneous reaction on
the part of the Muslim masses and ~ way of demonstrating their strong interest in
Arabic Studies. As has been said, Arabic was the only form of education before
the colonial era. Far from fading away with the spread of the Western-type
schools, these Arabic schools are on the increase everywhere in Yorubaland.
Therefore, the relevance of Arabic to the Yoruba Muslim community (like any
other Muslim community) cannot be overemphasized.
The remarkable diffusion of Arabic language among the various ethnic
communities of sub-Saharan Africa has made it a status symbol of the cultured.
As Last has rightly observed, "Arabic was the lingua franca of the learned: being
not merely a literary but also a spoken language (admittedly in the classical form)
throughout Muslim West Africa, it was often the only means of communication
between the communities of Tuareg, Kanuri, Hausa, Fulani, Nupe or Yoruba ..
Further, the religious and scholastic character of the Sokoto caliphate ensured
that Arabic was the language of state?".
Arabic vis-a-vis Other Foreign Languages
While many Nigerians are aware that Arabic is one of the foreign languages
taught in Nigerian schools, only a few of them know that the provision for its
teaching in Nigerian schools is much less adequate than that for the teaching of . . .
English and French. This imbalance can be attributed to the fact' that there are
still some misconceptions about Arabic in spite of its long history in Nigeria. One
of such misconceptions is that Arabic is only relevant to Qur'anic teaching and
Muslim prayers. Obviously, this view is held by people who were educated in
missionary schools and even public schools which are noted for prejudices
against the Arabic language and the Islamic religion. This kind of misconception
can be regarded as a remnant of the colonial past.
The misconceptions about Arabic are manifested in a number of hostile
attitudes, stands and statements related to the teaching and learning of the
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126 Sayed H.A. MaUk
language even in tertiary institutions. On one occasion, to cite just one instance,
the late Professor El-Garh, who was then the Head of the Department of Arabic
and Islamic Studies, was introduced to a female University of Ibadan Professor at
a social gathering. She then asked Professor El-Garh: "For how long do you keep
students in your Department?" Professor El-Garh replied: "We keep them for
four years". She then retorted: "Four years! Is there anything to learn in Arabic
other than these Muslim prayers?" Obviously, the learned professor was quite
ignorant of the fact that in modem times the role of Arabic as a language
transcends the religious sphere.
There is no doubt that the most popular of all the foreign languages taught in
Nigerian schools is English. The reasons for the popularity of English are
obvious. First, English is a colonial language and, as such, it has been adopted as
the official language of Nigeria. Secondly, it is the language of science and
technology. Thirdly, English serves as a kind of international medium of
communication. For these reasons adequate provisions are made for its teaching
in Nigerian schools. Hence, Nigerians who are literate in English show evidence
of a high degree of competence in using it.
But despite the fact that English is Nigeria's official language which serves,
• among other things, as the medium of communication for persons from the
~jtt~.r~~m~ic fOuPS, it is not used by the majority of Nigerians, It is only
popular among the elites who are literate in English. 'Professor Ayo Bamgbose, a
distinguished linguist, has summarized the situation with regard to the place of
English in Nigeria in the following words:
The case of English has always been overstated. It is true that
English in Nigeria is a common language, but only for e~ucated
elites. Perhaps as many as 90 per cent of our people m both
urban and rural areas are untouched by its alleged
communicative role",
French enjoys a more favourable position in Nig~rian scho?ls ~an Arabic even
though it arrived in Nigeria much later than Arabic, An objective assessm~nt of
the situation in most primary and secondary schools shows that the teaching of
French is encouraged more than that of Arabic. One continues to wonder why the
current wave of enthusiasm for French in schools has not been extended to
Arabic. It certainly should be, in our own opinion.
Considering the present socio-linguistic situation in Nigeria, it is pertinent to
mention that at least one well-known Nigerian linguist has acknowledged the fact
that Arabic, like English, is another foreign language whose influence over
millions of Nigerians cannot be ignored. This view has been expressed by
Professor Ayo Banjo as follows:
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Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 127
But we must remember that English is not the only non-Nigerian
language that exerts a strong influence over millions of
Nigerians. There is also Arabic, and those who have it in their
repertoire have more situations to adjust to appropriately".
Universal Applicability of Arabic Wise Sayings
Arabic wise sayings, like proverbs, are brief epigrammatic utterances presenting
well-known truths that are popular and familiar to most people. They reflect the
way of life of the Arabs, their social relations, moral values, manners and
customs. In addition, they reflect their powerful expressions and eloquence, and
their mastery of the Arabic language.
On the whole, Arabic wise sayings constitute a rich source for Arabic
literature as they are universally applicable to various contemporary situations.
Here are some examples.
On knowledge:
-1
(1) Every glory unsupported by knowledge
will soon vanish and be replaced by
humiliation".
,.~ ~I.JrJaJl ~'1.i6A~.)JI,.~ ~1 -2
·rJaJl ~.;JI6A e~1
(2) What has he got who has missed
knowledge, and what has he missed
who has acquired knowledge?"
On Justice:
.ll:f.l.l.a u~ 'i Jall
Justice does not know any friend.
On the importance of health:
~I ol.,>.!'i ,.~'il OM..llJ JJ! [U ~I
.~~I
Health is a crown on the heads of the healthy
people, but only the sick people see it.
On the ephemeral nature of worldly power:
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128 Sayed H.A. Malik
If the position you occupy were to last for ever,
your turn would not have come.
Influence of Arabic on other Languages
As the language of the Qur'an and a vehicle of Islamic culture Arabic has
influenced the languages of Muslim peoples, resulting in syntactical and lexical
borrowings.
In Asia, Persian, Turkish, Urdu and Malay are amongst the languages that
have been tremendously influenced by Arabic. In Africa too, Somali, Swahili,
Mandinka, Wolof, Hausa, Fuffufde, Kanurr and Yoruba have acquired loans from
Arabic words and expressions. Thus, Arabic has enriched these languages with
thousands of religious, political, legal and commercial words and expressions.
Arabic Influence on Swahili
Swahili, which is spoken in Tanzania and other East African countries, has been
greatly influenced by Arabic. One of the theories concerning the origin of
Swahili language is that it is a creole that came into being when the coastal Bantu
tribes in East Africa inter-married with Arabs. In this connection, Dr. G.S.P.
Freeman-Greenville in his article on medieval evidences for Swahili has argued.,
Swahili owes much to Arabic: and the first indication of such a
process of hybridization on the East African coast is in the
Peri plus of the Erythraean sea, written by an unknown
Alexandrine Sea-Captain of the l" Century A.D ...37
Professor Muhammad Hassan Bakalla computes that Swahili has borrowed more
than thirty percent of its vocabulary from the Arabic language". It is interesting
to note that the influence of Arabic is also reflected on proper nouns and epithets
used in the Swahili language. For instance, the name of the capital of Tanzania,
Dar es Salaam, is borrowed from the Arabic phrase "ddrus-saldm" meaning "the
home of peace". Also the popular Swahili epithet for Julius Nyerere, the former
Tanzanian President, is "mwalimu" which is borrowed from the Arabic word
"Mu'allim" meaning "a teacher".
Arabic Loan Words in Hausa
Hausa has borrowed extensively from Arabic". It has also adopted Arabic names
for the seven days of the week. Apart from many lexical items used in Hausa
which are loan words from Arabic, a good example of the influence of the latter
on the former is the use of the pronoun prefixes /ya-/ and /ta-/ for masculine and
feminine nouns respectively. The following sentences amply illustrate this point:
ARABIC HAUSA MEANING
(i) yadhhab yana tafiya he is going
~~
(ii) tadhhab tana tafiya she is going
~j:j
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Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 129
Similarly, the pronominal suffixes I-ka/ and I-kil are used for masculine and
feminine nouns respectively in both Arabic and Rausa as shown in the following
examples:
ARABIC HAUSA MEANING
(i) baituka gidanka your house (masculine)
4-
(ii) baituki gidanki your house (feminine)
~
Some other examples of the Arabic lexical items commonly used in Rausa
are the following:
ARABIC HAUSA MEANING
(i) al'ahad lahadi Sunday
~'il
(ii) al'ithnain litinen Monday
~~I
(iii) 'aththulatha talaata Tuesday
~~I
(iv) al'arbi'a' laaraba Wednesday
~~..)'il
(v) alkhamis alhamis Thursday
~I
(vi) aljum'ah juma'a Friday
~I
(vii) assabt asabari Saturday
~I
(viii) al'akhbar labaari news
.;.p.'il
(viii) jaridah jariida newspaper
o~
(ix) dars darasi lesson
U".;J
(x) talib daalibi student
~
(xi) '11m ilimi knowledge
~
(xii) mu'allim maalami teacher
~
(xiii) mithal misaali example
JIlt
Arabic Loan Words in Yoruba
Yoruba language is also not free from the influence of Arabic. Prof. Ogunbiyi
(1984) has identified eight subject matter groups in which the Yoruba language
has borrowed words and expressions from the Arabic language". As a matter of
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130 Sayed H.A. Malik
fact, the range of Arabic loan words in Yoruba shows the impact of the language
on the linguistic and cultural life of the Yoruba people. Here, an attempt will be
made to focus attention on some of the Arabic loan words which are frequently
used by Yoruba speakers in their daily speech, in Yoruba classical poetry (ewi),
as well as in Yoruba radio and television programmes. Reference will also be
made to some Arabic words used in the translation of the Bible into Yoruba.
(A) Examples of the Arabic loan words used in ewi.
1. Iyan ajaju 10 n fa sababi ibinu
A continuous argument causes anger.
The Yoruba word sababi is borrowed from the Arabic word sabab meaning
"reason, cause". The ewi in which this word was used was read on N.B.C. Ibadan
by Olalomi Amole on March 6, 1976.
2. Ma fi epe ye kadara omo
Don't change the child's destiny with curse.
The word kadara is borrowed from the Arabic word qadar meaning "destiny,
fate". The ewi was read on N.B.C. Ibadan on March 23, 1976.
3. Alamori aye kanpa
The affair of this world is not a simple thing.
The word alamori is borrowed from the Arabic world al' amr meaning
"affair". This ewi was read on N.B.C. Ibadan on November 11, 1976.
4. E tuuba ninu ise ibi
Repent of evil deeds.
The Yoruba word tuuba is a loan word form the Arabic word taubah meaning
"repentance" .
5. E da aniyan tuntun ninu odun tuntun
Make a new intention in the new year.
The word aniyan is borrowed from the Arabic word an-niyyah meaning
"intention". The Yoruba words tuuba and aniyan were used in the ewi read on
Radio Nigeria, Ibadan by Ademola Isola on December 31, 1982.
(B) Examples of Arabic loan words used in Yoruba news bulletins.
1. N won kan saara si ijoba ipinle Oyo fun mimu itoju awon omo
abirun ni ibaada.
The Oyo State Government was commended for taking good
care of the handicapped children (i.e. The Government regarded
the care of the handicapped children as a divine service).
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Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 131
2. Olori ile wa ni ki awon omo akeko mu ere idaraya ni ibaada
gegebi bi nwon se mu eko won ni ibaada.
Our Head of State appealed to school children to take sports
seriously just as they take their studies seriously.
The word ibaada is borrowed from the Arabic word ibaadah meaning
"divine service, act of devotion". This word was used in the 8p.m. Radio O-Y-O
Yoruba News Bulletin of December 16, 1981 and 11.00 a.m. Radio Nigeria,
Ibadan Yoruba News Bulletin of May 18, 1982 respectively.
3. An toka aleebu si awon towa ni ijoba
We pin-point the fault of those in Government.
The word aleebu is a loan word from the Arabic word al- 'aib meaning "fault,
defect". The statement in which the word aleebu was used was made by a pastor
in a Palm Sunday sermon carried on NTA Ibadan Yoruba News Bulletin at
9.30a.m. on April 4, 1981.
4. Komisanna Adedoja se sapdakata si ile ise
Redio 0-Y-0 fun ise daadaa reo
Commissioner Adedoja commended Radio O-Y-O for its truth
and sincerity.
The word sadankata is a loan word from the Arabic expression sadaqta
meaning "you have spoken the truth". This expression was used in the Radio 0-
Y-O Yoruba News Bulletin at 5.3Op.m. on April 1, 1986.
5. Nwon da seriya fun awon ole naa
The robbers were given the punishment they
Deserved in accordance with the law.
The word seriya is a loan word from the Arabic word Shari 'ah meaning
"Islamic Law". This expression is often heard on Radio and Television in reports
on cases of robbery and the punishment attached to it.
(C) Examples of Arabic loan words used in Radio advertisements
1. E yee gba riba mo
Stop taking bribe
The word riba is a loan from the Arabic word riba meaning "usury, bribe".
This statement is often heard on Radio Nigeria, Ibadan. It is designed to eradicate
bribery in the Nigerian society.
1. E yee je haramu
Stop engaging in an illegal act.
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132 Sayed H.A. Malik
The word haramu is a loan word from the Arabic word haram meaning
"illegal act, cheating." This statement is also often heard on Radio Nigeria,
Ibadan. It is meant to discourage corruption in the society.
3. Eyin sowosowo e yee se makaruru
o you traders! Stop engaging in dishonest acts.
The word makaruru is a loan word from the Arabic word makruh meaning "a
destested thing, a dishonest act". Radio O-Y-O designs this advertisement in
order to discourage traders from cheating or engaging in commercial
malpractices.
(D) Examples of Arabic loan words used in various editions of the Yoruba
Bible.
1. "Jesu pade won, 0 wipe, Alafia"
"Jesus met them and said, "Hail!"
The Yoruba word a/aajia is a loan word from the Arabic word al-afiya
meanmgvgood health, well-being". It is used in Matteu, 28:9, Samneli 3:21 and
Iwe Owe 17: 1.
2. "Gbo adura mi, Oluwa"
"Hear my prayer, 0 Lord".
The Yoruba word adua is borrowed from the Arabic word ad-du'a' meaning
"prayer". It is used in Orin Dafidi, 102:1; 65:2 and 142:8.
3. "Kalamu ayawo akowe li ahon mi"
"My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe".
The word ka/amu is borrowed from the Arabic word qa/am meaning "pen".
It is used in Orin Dafidi 41: 1.
4. "0 si wi fun won pe, E je ki a 10 si ilu miran,
ki emi ki 0 le wasu nibe pelu".
"And he said to them, let us go on to the next towns, that I may
preach there also".
The Yoruba word iwaasu is borrowed from the Arabic word wa 'z meaning
"sermon, preaching". The word is used in Marku, 1:38 and 1:7 as well as in
Matteu, 10:7.
5. "Bi a ti koo ninu iwe Woli Isaiah".
As it is written in Isaiah the Prophet".
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 133
The word wolii is borrowed from the Arabic word waliy meaning "saint,
holy man". This word is used in Marku 1:2.
All the Arabic words used in Yoruba which are cited above are taken from
BIBELI MIMO (The Bible in Yoruba, corrected edition) published by United
Bible Societies, Lagos, 1969. The English translations are taken from the HOLY
BIBLE Revised Standard Version published by Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.,
London 1957.
Indeed the general distribution of Arabic loan words in Yoruba and their
acceptability all over Yorubaland indicate that the words must have entered the
Yoruba language and perhaps in the early days of Islam in Yorubaland. This is
why such words and expressions are often used by Yoruba men and women
regardless of whether they are Muslims, Christians or Traditional worshippers.
That the history of the contact between Yoruba and Arabic through Islam has
been a very long one is attested by this popular Yoruba saying:
Aye l'aba 'fa
Aye l'aba 'male
Osan gangan ni igbagbo
wole de".
We met ifa (the Yoruba traditional religion) in this world,
We met Islam in the world; but
Christianity came later in the day.
While talking about the influence on some important Nigerian languages, we
consider it pertinent to remark that Arabic is, indeed, qualified to be regarded as a
Nigerian language. This view can be supported by the fact that a Nigerian ethnic
group, the Shuwa Arabs, who are found in Borno State, speak Arabic as their
mother tongue. Since these Shuwa Arabs have a definite location within the
political map of this country, it cannot be denied that they are bonafide citizens
of Nigeria.
Religious prejudices notwithstanding, it is virtually impossible to eliminate
Arabic loan words from the living vocabulary of the .\'J'i~erianlanguages referred
to in this lecture. I venture to say that any attempt to rembve the indelible impact
of Arabic on these languages will be an exercise in futility. This is because not
even a dictator can prevent people from speaking as they please.
Africa's Lingua Franca: Arabic as an Option
In the quest for Pan-Africanism, the Union of writers of the African peoples
agreed on the need to adopt a national language for all the countries of Africa.
This is clear from the following statement made by Professor Wole Soyinka, one
of the members of the Union: .
At the Conference in Algiers in 1975, the All-Africa Union of
Teachers boldly resolved that the continent of Africa adopt one
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
134 Sayed H.A. Malik
common lan~uage and proposed a selection from Hausa, Arabic
and Swahili" .
The call for the adoption of Swahili was later made by the Union and it was
repeated by Professor Wole Soyinka at the 1977 FESTAC colloquium.
Without going into the merits of the choice of Swahili by the Union, ~ic
seems to be highly qualified to the lingua franca of Africa. After aU, it is not a
foreign language as is the case with English, French, Afrikaans or other non-
African languages. This view is predicated on the premise that Arabic is the
national language of the whole of North Africa and the common language of
many communities in sub-Saharan Africa. In this connection, Last has this to say:
The lingua franca of the community was Arabic, and thus it
transcended national divisions'",
The criteria to be used in choosing a national language, as advocated by
Professor. Ayo Banjo, 44include the following:
1. Population: This has to do with the number of people
who already speak the language as native
speakers and whether there is a standard variety
of the language.
2. Acceptability: How acceptable the language is to the native
speakers of other languages
3. Typology: What the relationship of the language is to other
languages.
4. State of Development: This has to do with whether or not the language .
already has a standard orthography in use.
5. Literary Status: This has to do with the quantity and quality of
the literature existing in the language. ... "
,,~.
Bearing these criteria in mind, the choice would seem to be Arabic as far as
choosing a lingua franca for Africa is concerned. '
First, Arabic has the largest number of people who speak it either as a native
or non-native language in Africa. Also, there is a standard variety of Arabic
which enjoys universal acceptability all over the Muslim world. Secondly, the
influence of Arabic on many African languages has been discussed. Thirdly,
there is a well-known Arabic script which has served and is still serving as a
medium of writing many African languages. Fourthly, it has been established that
a large quantity of good quality Arabic literature exists in the Arab world and in
Muslim communities in Asia and Africa. Fifthly, Arabic has been recognized as
an international language: it is one of the six official languages used by the
Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.) and-the African Petroleum Producers
Association (APPA), Arabic'is the only indigenous African language.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 135
Problems Facing the Teaching of Arabic in Nigeria
I do not intend to dwell at length in this lecture on all the pedagogical and related
problems facing the Arabic language in Nigeria. This important aspect has been
treated extensively by non-Nigerian and Nigerian Arabists such as Mr. Selim
Hakim, Professor Ayoub, Prof. Ogunbiyi and Prof. Malik. Nevertheless, an
attempt will be made to highlight some aspects of this problem. These aspects
include the following:
1. Weak Background of Arabic Learners
The standard of the students who learn Arabic in secondary schools is very low.
The reason for this is that most of these students have no previous knowledge of
Arabic before their admission to secondary schools as a result of non-teaching of
Arabic in their primary schools. Hence, these pupils know absolutely nothing
about Arabic.
2. Inadequacy of Trained Arabic Teachers
In most states in Nigeria, there are no colleges where Arabic teachers are trained.
In the Northern states where a few Arabic teachers' colleges exist, the teachers
produced in those colleges are few, and as such, they cannot meet the demand for
trained Arabic teachers in both the primary and secondary schools. Hence, there
is scarcity of trained Arabic teachers in most states of Nigeria.
3. Non-availability of Suitable Instructional Materials
At present, there are not enough good books on the Arabic language suitable for
various categories of readers and levels of learners.
The problems that have been identified as confronting the teaching of Arabic
in Nigeria at present are in no way insurmountable. One way of solving the
problems is the early introduction of Arabic language at the primary school level.
The merit is that many pupils will have a good background in Arabic.
Consequently, many of them will be encouraged to learn Arabic in secondary
schools as well as in Teachers' Colleges and other institutions of higher learning.
The training of Arabic teachers should be taken very seriously at the elementary,
secondary and tertiary levels. To achieve this objective, refresher courses,
seminars and in-service training prorammes should be organized for Arabic
teachers.
With regard to the availability of instructional materials, the situation has
improved through the emergence of a new breed of indigenous Nigerian Arabic
writers such as Binuyo, Hijab, the late Professor Suwaid, Professor Ogunbiyi,
Professor Malik and Professor Oseni. Nevertheless, a lot more needs to be done
in the area of the provision of a wide variety of suitable Arabic books and
instructional materials which employ new audio-visual techniques and
supplementary aids such as phonographs, magnetic tapes, slides, flashcards, films
as well as language laboratories with facilities for group and individual practice.
While such books should be very relevant to the learners' environment, they
should also reflect the true picture of Arabic and Islamic culture.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
136 Sayed H.A. Malik
It should be admitted that the religious factor has far-reaching consequences
on people's attitude to Arabic in Nigeria. This has also affected government
support for the cause of Arabic scholarship. Consequently, Arabic has suffered
considerably from religious prejudice and subjectivity.
Considering the various aspects of Arabic and its relevance to sub-Saharan
Africa, its religious and historical values, its linguistic and literary values, its
indelible impact on a number of indigenous African languages and its role on the
international scene, there is need to re-appraise the role of Arabic in Nigeria. This
is with a view to formulating an objective and realistic policy which will improve
the teaching of Arabic and encourage more people to learn it so that access to the
original sources of our heritage as preserved in Arabic documents will be made
possible for many Nigerians in the next millenium.
It should be pointed out that an important aspect of the Islamic culture and
civilization is literacy in Arabic. Through Islamic education, non-Arab Muslims
all over the world are exposed not only to Arabic and Islamic literature but also
to new ideas and the Arabic literary world. A remarkable feature of the exposure
of non-Arab Muslims to a different civilization is the fact that Islam offers an
alternative access to a renowned culture and enduring human civilization other
than through Christianity and submission to European cultural colonization.
It is-appropriate on this occasion to remember my late mother, who did not
live long enough to enjoy the fruits of her labour. I pray that Allah may have
mercy on her. I must also express my sincere gratitude to my father, who made
my nature the object of his precious care. My profound thanks are due to my wife
and children for their patience over the seemingly interminable period of time
involved in my study and writing of Arabic materials which compelled me to be
away from them for most of the hours of the day and night. In terms of love, care,
affection and assistance my wife, Khadijah Titilade, is to me what Khadijah bint
Khuwailid was to Prophet Muhammad. I pledge my eternal love for her and our
children. I also convey my appreciation to my benefactors, friends and well-
wishers. .
In my efforts to be a Nigerian Arabist, I have benefited, as is to be expected,
from the knowledge and expertise of many teachers whom I hold in high esteem.
But, encouragement, inspiration and scholarly guidance came at a crucial time
from the late Professor Muhammed Salim El-Garh and the late Professor Musa
Ajilogba Abdul, both distinguished scholars who made outstanding contributions
to Arabic and Islamic scholarship. It is to their memories that this humble
exercise is dedicated.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I can think
of no better words to conclude this lecture than the divine words contained in the
following verses of the Qur'an:
.~c"..J..r: t'l r--'--'I Q-.o'8~..~J - It.. .-J-l
1. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little.
(Qur'an 17:85). .
.~ ~ (j~ Ji J:,i ~ -2
2. And above all those endowed with knowledge is the All-knowing (Allah)
(Qur'an 12:76)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Arabic, The Muslim Prayers and Beyond 137
REFERENCES
I. Chejne, A.G. (1969). The Arabic Language: Its Role in History, (Minneapolis,
University of Minnesota Press), P. 12.
2. Abd al-Tawwab, R. (1980) "Fusulun Fi Fiqh al-' Arabiyyah", Chapters in Arabic
Philology (Cairo, Maktabat al-khanji),
3. Browne, E. g. (1928). A Literary History of Persia, (Cambridge, Vol. 2), P. 4.
4. Hitti, P.K. (1976). Arab Civilization in B.S. Gayne (Ed.), The Encyclopedia
Americana, Vol. 2 (New York, Americana Corporation), P. 112.
5. Ibn Manzur, M. I. (1955) Lisan al- 'Arab, Vol. I (Beirut, Dar Bayrut), P. 7.
6. Taymur, M. (n.d.) Mushkilat al-Lugbati-l- 'Arabiyyah, (Cairo, Maktabatu-l-Adab),
pp. 6 and 7.
7. Chejne, Op. cit., P. II.
8. Potter, S. (1971). Language in the Modern World, (Harmondsworth, Penguin Books
Ltd.), pp. 103 and 104; Lord, R. (1967). Comparative Linguistics., (London, The
English Universities Press Ltd.), pp. 29-31 and Barber, C. (1964). The Story of
Language, (London, Pan Books Ltd.), chapters vii, x and xv.
9. Hunwick, J. O. (1965). Report on a Seminar on the Teaching of Arabic in Nigeria,
(lbadan and Kano), p. 31.
10. Last, D. M. (1967) The Sokoto Caliphate, (London, Longman, Green and Co. Ltd.),
p.227. •
II. Hunwick, Op. cit., pp. 32 and 33.
12. Kamera, W. D. et. al (1986). "The Socio-cultural and Economic Factors in
Developing a National Language: The Case of Kiswashili in Tanzania", The Arts and
Civilization of Black and African Peoples, Vol. iv, (Lagos, The Centre for Black and
African Arts and Civilization), p. 131.
13. Boyd, J. and Mack, B.B. (1999). The Collected Works of Nana Asma 'u Daughter of
Usman Dan Fodiyo (1793-1864), (lbadan, Sam Bookman Publishers), p. xxii.
14. Bidmus, K. (1972) "A Literary Appraisal of the Arabic Writings of the Yoruba
Ulama", Unpublished M. A. Dissertation, University oflbadan, pp. 3 and 4 quoting
Richard Lander. Records of Captain Clapperton's Last Expedition to Africa
(London, 1830), p. 277.
15. Biobaku, S. O. (1957). The Egba and their Neighbours 1842-1872, (Oxford), p. 25.
16. Johnson, S. (1973). The History of the Yorubas from the Earliest TImes to the
Beginning of the British Protectorate, (Lagos), p. xxiii.
17. Tolmacheva, M. (1978). "The Arabic Influence on Swahili Literature: A Historian's
View" Journal of African Studies, Vol. 5, No.2, (London), p. 224.
18. Bakalla, M.H. (1983). Arabic Culture Through Its Language and Literature,
(London, Kegan Paul International), p. 18.
19. Chejne, Op. cit., p. 16. See also Crittenden, P.W. (1971). The Achievements of Islam,
(Basingstoke and London, Macmillan Education Ltd.), pp. 6-20.
20. Hitti, P.K. (1970). Islam: A Way of Life (Regnery/Gateway, Inc.), p. 106.
21. Bakalla, Op. cit., p. 266.
22. For a detailed analysis of the uses to which Arabic was put in the nineteenth century,
see Hunwick, J. O. (1964). "The Influence of Arabic in West Africa", Transactions
of the Historical Society of Ghana, Vol. vii, (Legon, Ghana), pp. 37-40.
23. Bivar, A. D. H. and Hiskett, M. (1962). "The Arabic Literature of Nigeria to 1804: A
Provisional Account", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Vol.
xxv, pp. 104-118.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
138 Sayed H.A. Malik
24. Kensdale, W.E.N. (1955). Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the University
Library, Ibadan, Nigeria.
25. Balogun, I.A.B. (1975). The Life and Works of 'Uthman Dan Fodiyo, (Lagos,
Islamic Publications Bureau).
26. Ogunbiyi, I. A. (1987). Of Non-Muslim Cultivators and Propagators of the Arabic
Language. Inaugural Lecture (Lagos State University).
27. Bashir, U.A. (1985) Qa'imatu 'Asma 'u al-Makhtutat al- 'Arabiyyah Li'Ulama'
Sokoto, (List of the Names of Arabic Manuscripts on Sokoto Scholars)", (Sokoto
History Bureau).
28. Last, op. cit., p. 222.
29. Ibid., p. 233.
30. Hunwick, (1964). "The Influence of Arabic Language in West Africa", pp. 24-41.
31. Shittu, D.O. (1977). "The Nigerian Draft Constitution and the Shariah Controversy",
NATAIS, No.1, p. 114. See also Population Census of Nigeria, May 1962:
Historical Events ofEde District Council, p. 1.
32. Last op. cit., p. 192.
33. Bamgbose, A. (1985). "Language and Nation Building" Review of English and
Literary Studies, Vol. 2, No.2, p. 97.
34. Banjo, A. (1985). "On Citizenship in a Multilingual State", Review of English and
Literary Studies, p. 184.
35. .Shalaby, A. (1973). Tarikh al-Tarbiyati-I-islamiyyah, (History of Islamic Education)
(Cairo, Maktabatu al-Nahdati-L-Misriyyah), p. 287.
36. Ibid., p. 287.
37. Kamera, op. cit., p. 125.
38. Bakalla, op. cit., p. 18.
39. Abubakar, a. (1972), Al-Thaqafatu-L- 'Arabiyyah fi Naijiriya (Arabic Culture in
Nigeria), (Beirut, Mu'assasatu 'Abdul Hafiz al-Bisat), pp. 387-469.
40. Ogunbiyi, I. A. (1984). "Arabic Loan Words in the Yoruba Language", Arab
Journal of Language Studies 3 (1), pp. 161-180.
41. Gbadamosi, T. G. O. (1978). The Growth of/slam among the Yoruba, 1841-1908,
(London, Longman), p. 16.
42. Soyinka, W. (1977), "The Scholar in African Society", Second World Black and
African Festival of Arts and Culture-Colloquium: Black Civilization and Education,
(Lagos), p. 14.
43. Last, op. cit., p. Lxxx.
44. Banjo, L. A. (1986). "Language Policy in Nigeria", The Arts and Civilization of
Black and African Peoples, Volume four of Black Civilization and African
Languages, (Lagos, The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization), pp. 112
and 113.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
7
BOTANY - BEYOND CONVENTIONAL
AGRICULTURE
O.Osonubi
Department of Botany and Microbiology
Introduction
I give honour and glory to Almighty God for making today a reality and for
giving me the opportunity to deliver this inaugural lecture on behalf of the
Faculty of Science. The topic of my inaugural lecture is "Botany - Beyond
Conventional Agriculture". As an agriculturist and a botanist, I have chosen this
topic because of its interest to humanity and also to marry the tower and town,
town and gown in botany and agriculture. In order to bring the topic into a more
appropriate focus, I have decided to break it into the following subheadings:
(a) What is Botany?
(b) The contribution of Botany to agricultural sustainability
(c) Adaptability and adoptability
What is Botany?
To any scientist, Botany is simply the study of plants. Whereas to a plant
biologist, botany is the mother of all sciences, which is to say that botany is all
encompassing, directly and indirectly related. For example:
In agriculture, without green plants, there can be no agriculture;
In medicine and veterinary medicine, No human being or animal can survive
without consuming plants or its products;
In pharmacy, most drugs are products of plants;
In chemistry, dyes, essential oils, common reagents like alcohols are
obtained from plants;
In physics, speeds and forces are checked by plants;
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
140 0. Osonubi .
In geography, location, vegetation and spatial relations are appropriately
occasioned by distribution of plants;
In urban planning, the interest is in the cosmetic relocation of plants (trees,
grasses and flowers) in the cities and their residences;
In zoology, all flesh is grass.
The Contribution of Botany to Agricultural Sustainability
What is agricultural sustainability? Sustainability in agriculture is a biologically-
based system that ensures long-term adequate levels of food production without
degrading the resource base i.e. soil medium. In the last two decades,
International Agricultural Research Centres (!ARC) situated in the tropics,
particularly in Sub-saharan Africa have been concentrating their efforts on the
development of improved crops based on biological processes. One of such
fanning systems is referred to as alley farming/alley cropping (Kang and Wilson
1987) or hedgerow intercropping or avenue cropping (Wijewardene and
Waidyanatha 1984). Other natural methods regarded as biologically based
systems include planting of cover crops, crop rotation and biological pest control
(Reganold et al. 1987).
Alley cropping concept was introduced by the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (lITA) in the mid-1970s. It is a fanning system in which
arable crops are planted in the alleys formed by hedgerows of trees/shrubs,
particularly legumes. The system combines both the cropping and the fallow
phases. The hedgerows are cut back at planting and subsequently pruned at
regular intervals during cropping season to prevent shading and to reduce
competition with the associated food crops. The prunings are used as mulch for
the associated food crops. The system offers longer cropping yield with increased
,land use efficiency. However, alley cropping has not matched the reported
potential because the trials were regarded as peculiarities of the research
scientists by the resource-poor fanners. Furthermore, the monetary benefits of
alley-cropping are not realized until 2-3 years after commencement.
The role of soil microorganisms in management of the resource base has
been ignored or virtually overlooked by most soil and plant scientists. For
example, most research programmes in the name of sustainable agriculture
underscore the role of mycorrhizal fungi as a soil microbiological resource for
crop production. Until about 20 years ago, mycorrhizal fungi were known to
increase P uptake, enhance N2 - fixation of Rhizobium, and drought resistance of
plants in the greenhouse experiments, particularly in temperate countries. Most of
these greenhouse studies showed that mycorrhizal associations are effective
biological mechanisms for the plants to counteract commonly found edapho-
climatic tropical stress situations. Until 10 years ago, no practical experience had
been gained on how to manage mycorrhizal fungi under field conditions in
Nigeria and no practical results had been presented on whether mycorrhizal fungi
could be used as a soil microbiological resource to improve crop production in
the tropics.
The term 'rnycorrhiza' was coined by Frank in 1885 to describe the symbiotic
association of plant roots and fungi. Of the five types of mycorrhizae, two of
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Botany - Beyond Conventional Agriculture 141
them - ecto- and endo- mycorrhizae are the most important. For the purpose of
this inaugural lecture, endomycorrhiza which is also known as vesicular-
arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) will be described and will henceforth be referred
to in this lecture. These are some of the beautiful microorganisms called VA.·
mycorrhiza which God has made available to man for the purpose of improving
crop yields and to reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers.The word mycorrhiza
means - myco: fungus; rhiza: root, hence mycorrhiza means 'root fungus'. In
VAM type, the mycorrhiza consists of spores, vesicles and arbuscles (hence the
name) and hyphae. The spores germinate and produce both intercellular and
intracellular hyphae which penetrate the root cortical cells, forming specialized
haustoria - like structures within the cells called arbuscles, where metabolic
exchanges take place between fungus and host cytoplasm. In many VAM fungi,
there is development of spherical sac-like structures known as vesicles which are
formed in the cortical cells and function as nutrient storage organs or as
propagules in root fragments. The YAM-fungal hyphae extend from the root out
into the soil where they interface with soil particles. Soil (extraradical) hyphae
function as absorptive structures for mineral elements and water. Because of the
extension of hyphae from the root into the soil for several centimetres, they can
effectively absorb immobile nutrientsfrom the bulk soil and thereby bridge over
the zone of nutrient depletion around roots. The soil hyphae also attract other
microbes and together they form water-stable aggregates necessary for good soil
tilth. In summary and for all ecosystems, the coupling of plants with rhizoshpere
microbial processes is optimized by VAM fungi and they form symbiotic
relationship with plant roots (Bethlenfalvay 1982).
The main purpose of this inaugural lecture is that of painting VA
mycorrhizae into the picture of sustainable agriculture in Nigeria. The impression
created hitherto was that VAM fungi would work best in infertile acid soils
(Sieverding 1991), however, our evidence shows that they can work in near
neutral and alkaline soils in Nigeria. My first effort into mycorrhizal research 10
years ago was exciting. In contrast to many reports, trees that are drought tolerant
are less dependent on mycorrhiza (Fig. 1) and only those trees that cannot
withstand drought-stress are more dependent on mycorrhiza for survival under
5 Ectomycorrhiza
Unstressed 1::..
Drought stressed 0 •
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Drought response index
Fig. 1: Relationship between Mycorrhizal dependency and Drought response index
MD= 7.16 - 8.16DRlr=-O.96
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
142 O.Osonubi
drought-stressed conditions (Osonubi et al. 1991). This pioneering work was
done in conjunction with IITA and Drs. Awotoye and Atayese who were then in
the forefront of mycorrhizal research.
In my desperate attempt to test the practical application of mycorrhiza in the
field, I sought collaboration with lITA and within a short time, a research grant
under the auspices of Alley Farming Network for Tropical Africa (AFNETA)
managed by lITA was made available. This gave me and my team the ample
opportunity of exploiting the benefits of VAM fungi in the field. Then the issue
of where to practise alley farming came in and we approached the Faculty of
Agriculture which told us that the only land for the type of research we were
contemplating was available at Ajibode but that it had been abandoned by
students because of nematode infection and the fact that the top of the slope was
too gravelly for cropping. We jumped at the offer, nevertheless, as it would
provide the sort of challenge required. To the glory of God, that land has been
under cultivation from 1990 to date as a result of alley cropping and mycorrhizal
research. It was this experience that led us to the title of this inaugural lecture
"Botany - Beyond Conventional Agriculture". In an alley cropping carried out
and constantly monitored for six years at Ajibode, it was consistently shown that
VAM fungi improved both the yield of cassava intercrop (Fig.2) and hedgerow
trees (Awotoye et al. 1992; Atayese et al. 1993; Osonubi et al. 1995; Okon et al.
1996; Fagbola et al. 1998 a and b; Liasu, 1999). This work was carried out in
conjunction with Drs. Atayese, Awotoye, Fagbola, Okon and Messrs Oyetunji,
Liasu and Adetunji.
Glomus clarum Glomus etunicatum
Acaulospora dilatata
Fig. 2: Effect of VAM inoculation on cassava tuber yield during six-year continuous alley
cropping.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Botany - Beyond Conventional Agriculture 143
VAM inoculation had no effect on cassava root yield in year one as there was
no mulching of cassava with the prunings from hedgerows. However, in years
two and three, root yields improved significantly because VAM made the
nutrients from the applied prunings available to cassava. Also, cassava root
yields from the uninoculated alleys of Gliricidia ('Agun mani ye) (and
Leucaena ('Sekeseke') were increased over the yields in year one. In the
inoculated plots after year three, the root yield of cassava alley-cropped with
Gliricidia was about 80-100% greater than cassava alley-cropped with Senna
('Cassia') and control (without trees). In years four and five, VAM inoculation
had no effect on the cassava root yield except when fertilized (year five). The
non-significant difference in the root yields of cassava between inoculated and
uninoculated plots could be attributed to competition between the hedgerows and
cassava plants. Hence, when more nutrients (fertilized with 25kg hal NPK) were
made available to the plots, cassava root yields in both inoculated and
uninoculated plots increased in years, five and six. The sporadic root yield
increase in inoculated Senna plot (years five and six) could be attributed to the
fact that the competition between Senna hedgerows and cassava had been
removed by fertilizer application. This is likely to be so as many fine roots of
Senna trees inhabit the same topsoil with cassava roots (Ruhigwa et al. 1992).
In other comparative experiments, similar alley cropping experiments were
set up at the top and base ofthe slope (Fig. 3) (Osonubi et al. 1994). In year one,
cassava root yields were significantly lower at the top than at the base of the
slope, the latter being more fertile than the former. However, in year two, VAM
inoculation restored the anomalies between the top and base of the slope by
bringing the cassava root yield to similar levels. The root yield restoration
between the two parts of the slope could not have been due to alley cropping
alone as the root yields from the uninoculated plots varied significantly from
each other irrespective of hedgerows.
G ~ Gliricidia sepium
L ~ Leucaena /eucocepha/a
S = Senna siamea
35 C ~ Control (without trees)
o• M+ ~ InoculatedM· ~ Uninoculated
2~-30 I I LSD (5%)
'0 I
Q'si,25 I I
~ 20
s:
(/) I
~ 15 I
ro
m> 10
(/)
(ro) 5
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1 ~11 ~
o IG L S CIG L S CIG L S CIG L S •CIG L S CIG L S CIG L S CI
1 2 3 4 5 5 (fert) 6
Year of alley cropping
Fig.3: Effect ofVAM on cassava tuber yield at the different parts of the slope during a two-year
alley cropping period,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
144 O.Osonubi
Alley Cropping Experiments with Mixed Hedgerows
In contrast to the two alley cropping experiments in which one tree species was
utilized as hedgerow, the present experiment utilized the mixing of interplanting
of two tree species as hedgerows. In the experiment, the objective was to
determine the influence of mycorrhizal inoculation and two pruning regimes on
the leaf biomass and nutrient yield of sole Gliricidia sepium (a nodulating tree),
Senna (syn Cassia) siamea (a non-nodulating tree), and their mixtures as
hedgerows and their subsequent effect on two cassava cultivars and intercropped
maize.
In both Gliricidia and Senna, there were similar leaf dry matter in sole and
mixed inoculated or uninoculated trees for either of the pruning regime and for
most of the pruning harvests, although significant differences occurred between
inoculated and uninoculated mixed or sole trees (Fig. 4). There was no difference
between the total leaf dry matter of the two- and three-month pruning regimes in
Gliricidia. However, in contrast to Gliricidia, the total leaf dry matter of two-
month pruning regime of Senna was lower than its three-month pruning regime
except for sole uninoculated trees.
G = Gliricidia sepium
L = Leucaena leucocephala
Top of slope
25 Base of soIpe S - Senna siameaC = Con trol (without trees)
• M+ = Inoculated
20 OM· = Uninoculated
LSD (5%)
15 r- f-
e-
- 10 e-
s'" r-r-: - r-2-
"a0; 5
.;;'
(e5
0 -•..... n --
G L S C G L S C
s:
0'") .r Year 1
.l=
'>'""'"
o''"" 30 Top of slope Base of slope
25
20 f- e-
15 f-
f- f-
10
5
0 nil n
G L S C G L S C
Year 1
Fig. 4: Effects of pruning and VAM inoculation on leaf dry matter ofG. sepium and S. siamea.
Vertical bars represent LSD (5%).
UNIVER
ITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Botany - Beyond Conventional Agriculture 145
Generally, inoculation and mixing of trees in the same hedgerows
significantly increased the total Nand P yield in Gliricidia and Senna with
greater values in the former than in the latter (Table 1). In Gliricidia and except
for mixed inoculated trees, while total N yield in the leaf was higher in three-
monthly pruned trees, the converse was the case for P. For Senna, the total Nand
P yields were higher in three-monthly than two-monthly pruned trees.
Table 1: Effect of pruning regime and mycorrhizal inoculation on the total foliar
Nand P yield of hedgerow trees.
Treatment Prunning
regime +-
N- P ~
(kg ha")
G. sepium
SoM 2 months 358.4d 14.7c
SoM· 2 months 250.2g i5.5k
MiM 2 months 810.0a 16.2a
MiM· 2 months 267.3f 8.5g
SoM 3 months . 454.4c 11.5fSoM- 3 months 302.7e 4.51
MiM 3 months 551.1b 15.5b
MiM- 3 months 349.3d 5.8i
S. siamea
SoM+ 2 months 233.6h 8.5g
SoM- 2 months 92.9k 4.3m
MiM 2 months 312.4e 12.8e
MiM- 2 months 119.0j 6.21
SoM 3 months 301.2e 11.5f
SoM- 3 months 117.8i 4.51
MiM 3 months 349.6de 13.6d
MiM- 3 months 186.91 7.8h
Interactions
MxMi *** ***
MxPr ** **
MixPr ** *
MxMixPr ** **
Means within each column followed by different letters are significantly different at P<O.05. M+
vesicular - arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation or (M-) uninoculation. So, sole hedgerows; Mi,
mixed hedgerows; Pr, pruning regime. * P<O.05, **P<O.OI, *** P<O.OO.l.
Except for control (treeless) treatment, maize grain yield was significantly
increased by mycorrhizal inoculation irrespective of the hedgerow treatment
(Table 2). Highest grain yield was obtained from gliricidia alleys inoculated with
VAM followed by mixed gliricidia and senna alleys. This could have been due to
the high nutrient yield, notably Nand P (Table 1), as well as fast decomposition
and nutrient release of Gliricidia prunings. In spite of the higher nutrient yield
from three-month pruning regime of hedgerow trees, the root tuber yield of the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
146 O. Osonubi
two cassava cultivars under two-month pruning regime was higher than their
counterparts under three-month pruning regime (Fig.5), indicating judicious use
of nutrients at relative short intervals rather than at long intervals. TMS 30572
gave higher yields with sole Gliricidia and Senna prunings than TMS 4(2)1425.
Also, indigenous mycorrhiza were more compatible with TMS 30572 than with
TMS 4(2)1425. In all treatments, including the control that received no pruning,
VAM inoculation consistently increased the root tuber yield over uninoculated
counterparts.
Table 2: Effect of alley cropping and mycorrhizal inoculation on the dry grain yield
of intercropped maize
Hedgerow tree Dry graln yield (kgha')
G. sepium
M 1108.4a
M- 724.5c
S. siamea
M+ 661.2c
. M- 266.3eGs + 55 (mixed)
M 961.4b
M- 782.9c
Control
~ 472.1d
M- 370.0d
Interaction
MandH **
Means followed by different letters are significantly different at P<O.05, ~, VAM inoculation,
M', uninoculation H hedgerow tree.
!:$12manIM 3tJ1O(1ths (12.6)11 (11,7)::::::
12 1 I (76) tbyI(7I 7I)(87)(62)
5 • Sole inoculated
•... 0 Sole urunocutated
.!! • Mixed inoculated
~ 4 D Mixed uninoculated
€
~~3 ~2mon"" I(11.3) 3
1 I I I (95)
lf~(5.1)
~ (4.7)
Oct-Jan. Apr ..Jut Oct-Jan, Apf-Jut
Time (monlhs)
Fig. 5: Effect of pruning regime and VAM inoculation on the fresh not yield of cassava cultivars.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Botany - Beyond Conventional Agriculture 147
It is pertinent to mention here that by the second year of operation, the soil
under alley cropping and VAM inoculation which was originally full of gravel
had turned brown and full of humus, while the soil under alley cropping without
inoculation retained its original dirty white colour still full of gravel and difficult
to work with. One of the implications of VAM inoculation in this study is the
optimization of mineral nutrients from applied prunings. The consistent positive
response as a result of VAM inoculation is an indication that VAM technique is
either complementary or a major component in agroforestry systems. This
experiment was carried out in conjunction with Mrs. Sonibare, Dr Okon, and Dr
Sanginga of lITA.
Assessment of VAM fungus mediation of heavy metals in refuse dump site
This trial was performed on refuse dump site close to the residential area. Soil
nutrients (N & P) were very high in the dump site (Table 3). Similarly, the levels
of heavy metals and micronutrients that could be toxic to the plants were very
high (Osundina 1999). After the experiment and except for N, the levels of
various nutrients and the heavy metals were significantly lower in the soil than
the levels before the commencement of the experiment. Mycorrhizal inoculation
significantly reduced the heavy metal in tre harvested grains. High levels of
heavy metals and micronutrients in the refuse dump would pose health hazards to
man. This is a clear warning to all of us who eat fresh boiled maize planted on
dump sites that we may be slowly accumulating poisons in our bodies. However,
from the present study, effective VAM inoculation could protect host plant from
metal toxicity. This is welcome news to man as consumption of maize grains
grown on refuse dump sites around homes or in farms will pose no potential
health risk when the seeds at planting are inoculated with effective VAM fungus.
Table 3: Effect of VAM inoculation on chemical contents of the dump site soil and maize
grain before and after the experiment.
P" N P Pb Mn Cn Fe Zo
(11I2 k2.1 Soil)
Before 6.4 450.6 5.3 5.1 15.1 12.9 93.3 13.8
After 6.2 395.7 4.2 1.2 5.2 3.3 28.7 4.9
LSD · 62.1 0.4 \.6 4.8 6.2 12.7 3.2
(50%)
For · . .
grains
(mg
plant -I)
M+ 12.6b 152.7b 20.4b 216.2b 43.6a
M· · . - 24.la 183.5a 26.5a 282.la 40.2a
VAM inoculation on cowpea and subsequent cassava yield
The influence of VAM inoculation on cowpea yield was evaluated in researcher-
farmer managed farms in two villages in Oyo State. After harvesting, cassava
cuttings were planted during the following season on the ridges already
incorporated with the cowpea trashes.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
148 0, Osonubi
VAM inoculation enhanced the yield of both cowpea and cassava crops. The
yield of the uninoculated crops were 40-60% lower than the inoculated crops
(Table 4). It can be deduced from the study that VAM inoculation induced
greater nodulation of cowpea and hence greater N and other mineral nutrients
which benefited the subsequent cassava that followed. The existing VAM
propagules from cowpea and the current VAM inoculum are likely to be
responsible for accelerated nutrient release from the cowpea residues. Hence,
VAM inoculation is an essential component of restoration strategy.
Table 4. On - farm evaluation of VAM inoculation on cowpea and cassava yields
Treatment Aeboye Fasola
Cowpea seed yield (kg 550a 590a
ha-1)-M+
M- 280b 285b
Cassava tuber yield (t ha' 12.1a 14,3a
I)M+
M- 7.4b 7.2b
Values with the same plant species followed by different letters are significantly different at P<O.05
when compared by Duncan's multiple range test M+, inoculated; M-, uqinoculated.
VAM inoculation and cocoa production
We also investigated the influence of VAM inoculation on the pod carrying
capacity of cocoa trees in Ondo State (Osonubi 1996). In collaboration with
Professor Adegeye ( Department of Agricultural Economics) and Dr. Akintola
(Department of Geography) of this reputable university, we inoculated cocoa
trees in Akure (Ondo State capital), with VAM and left others uninoculated after
hand pollinating them. In any cocoa plantation that has been producing pods and
beans for at least five years, there would be locked up nutrients around the trees
from the fallen and decomposed leaves and the various chemicals that would
have been sprayed on cocoa plants.
The effect of our inoculation was that many inoculated trees were able to
carry 60-105 pods per tree to maturity while the uninoculated trees were only
able to carry 10-25 pods per tree to maturity. All the pods ripened at the same
time and they were also filled with beans. This would be economical to the cocoa
farmers as tire labour for harvesting would be at once instead of the staggered
labour that used to characterize cocoa harvesting during the production period.
VAM in biological control of soil-borne 'pathogens
When pepper (Capsicum annum) ('Ata rodo') seedlings were infected with a soil- .;
borne pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, the seedlings r~sponded with signs of
damping-off, the leaf-curl, chlorosis of both the stem and leaves and then
defoliation of leaves. When the seedlings were treated with VAM simultaneously
(immediately) or concomitantly (two weeks interval - VAM before pathogen or
pathogen before VAM), the disease symptoms on pepper plants were drastically
reduced.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Botany - Beyond Conventional Agriculture 149
The basis for pathogenesis was found out to be the secretion of cell wall
degrading enzymes by 'pathogens. These enzymes are cellulases and pectinases.
The latter include pectin methyl esterase (PME) and polygalacturonase (PG).
Both the cellulases and pectinases degrade the cell walls and middle lamella of
infected plant tissues leading to tissue maceration which facilitates the
penetration of the tissue by the pathogens. The activities of these enzymes help
the pathogens in providing them with nutrients in the infected tissues.
When VAM is used as a means of control, the effect is two-way. Firstly,
VAM inoculated plants are nutritionally healthier than the uninoculated plants. In
the inoculated plants, P and other nutrients are made more available by VAM
hyphae than in the uninoculated plants and the former are therefore able to
withstand and resist the pathogenic infection than the latter (Salami 1998).
Secondly, the cell wall degrading enzymes e.g. polygalacturonases are
counteracted by effective VAM by keeping in check the activities of the
degrading enzymes. In addition, the mycorrhiza fungi are able to stimulate higher
production of catalase (oxidative) enzymes which modify phenolic compounds
for inhibitory substances like quinones against the pathogen (Phythophtora
infestans). The overall effect of mycorrhiza inoculation in this study was the
restrjction of inward invasion of pathogen into the plant's roots, which invariably
reduced the plant's disease incidence severity. Drs. (Mrs.) Salami, Odebode and I
carried out this work.
Adaptability and adoptability
I have tried to show from the evidences of my research that effective vesicular-
arbuscular mycorrhiza can provide solutions to some of the problems militating
against sustainable agriculture in Nigeria. There is no problem with the
production of VAM for farm-use by individuals, it is like bread and butter. Both
male and female farmers fteely participated in the training of production and use
of VAM fungi on the farms. The fact that the tools and materials used for VAM
production could be adapted to resources within the village environment and the
farmers' willingness to produce VAM on their own have gone to show that VAM
technology is sustainable.
As regards alley cropping, although significant economic gains can be
obtained from practising the technology, farmer adoption still remains low. This
is because the technology is fairly complex. Farmers familiar with plantation
crops and with management of trees under bush-fallow systems may find it easier
to adapt alley cropping. One of the problems identified with the technology is
that many farmers and even agricultural scientists do not know the fertility
potential of hedgerow trees like Gliricidia(Agun moni ye), Leucaena (Sekeseke),
Senna(Cassia) and others that are used for mulching. Therefore, there is the need
for learning-adoption process for the would-be adopters. In spite of these
shortcomings, many farmers who were introduced to the technology have looked
for a better match of the technology with their resources and preferences by
adopting and making important modifications to the technology (Adekunle
1998), which include using the hedgerows as life fences, planting the stems as
staking materials for yam with an added fallow phase.
UNIVERSITY OF IBA
AN LIBRARY
150 Oi Osonubi
People do things better when pulled by incentives rather than pushed by
regulations. Many fanners willing to imbibe alley cropping are handicapped by
basic tools like good hoes and cutlasses. Our provision of these little incentives
with the holding of regular meetings have assisted us in keeping most of our
adopters in Oyo and Osun States. It is therefore important that our government
should make funds available to direct future research into the modifications
preferred by the resource-poor farmers and test them in high potential areas.
Conclusion
I have never regretted being a Botanist with a stint in Microbiology. Many are
called but few are chosen. To date, I give glory to God that two out of my trained
students are now Associate Professors (Readers) in Nigerian universities. My
lectureship and research endeavours in the Department of Botany and
Microbiology of this premier university have provided me with the opportunity
of travelling to all continents either to carry out research or deliver scientific
papers. In countries like Britain, USA and Canada, admission into Botany
programme is like a camel entering into the needle's eye because it is a
programme for pure academic research. However, in Nigeria it is the other way
round because people are interestedin professional programmes that will bring
immediate returns on the money invested in their education.
Owing to our dynamic nature in the Department of Botany and
Microbiology, we are floating a professional Masters in Economic Botany
(MEB) that will tap our natural plant resources and create jobs and employment
for would-be graduates. It is the first of its kind in the African region. Those
things we would be imparting to the students in the MEB programme are results
of research findings in the past two to three decades. So, there is need for funding
of research programmes. When International Agencies provide grants, the
disbursements are timely. However, when it comes to our own Nigerian
government being called upon to fund research, the funds are not made available
in time, apart from the notable impediments' to frustrating the efforts of the
researcher. Delay in releasing funds for agricultural research is tantamount to non
releasing of funds at all because of seasonal dependency of agriculture.
Any nation that fails to take adequate care of, and provide for its youths is on
the way to frustration and ruins. In most of the academic departments within our
universities, particularly in the natural and agricultural sciences, many of our
young colleagues are yet to obtain their Ph.D degrees after having spent many
years on their programmes. Many of them have no facilities to work with and
there are no research grants made available to them. At this juncture, it is
important to remind the government and the universities, that these categories of
academic staff in addition to the newly minted Ph.D degree holders in all our
universities should not be allowed to waste away. They should be provided with
research funds to keep them gainfully encouraged and motivated into research
investigations. If this issue is not addressed in all areas of learning, it will get to a
stage when it will be difficult to replace the experienced hands. I am of the
opinion that this issue should be raised at every available opportunity we have of
llleeting with representatives of government.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Botany - Beyond Conventional Agriculture 151
The establishment of Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) in all the
states of the federation is a right step in the right direction in terms of bridging
the gap between the researcher and the r~~our~e-poor farmers, that is Extension.
The performance of these bodies was rated/high initially, however, in the last
three years, most of their activities have been tremendously reduced because of
our lack of maintenance culture. If results of research findings are to get to the
ultimate users and increase food production for the teeming population of this
country, drastic steps must be taken to sustain the good structures that have been
put in place. r:
REFERENCES
Adekunle, A.A. 1998. Incorporation of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) into maize/cassava
intercrop and its effect on the development of component crops. Ph D thesis,
University oflbadan, Nigeria.
Atayese, M.O., Awotoye, 0.0., Osonubi, O. and Mulongoy K 1993. Comparisons of the
influence of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza on the productivity of hedgerow woody
legumes and cassava at the top and the base of a hillslope under alley cropping
systems. Biology and Fertility of Soils 16, 198 - 204. "
Awotoye, 0.0., Atayese M.O, Osonubi, 0., Mulongoy K. and Okali D.U.U. 1992.
Response of some tropical nitrogen-fixing woody legumes to drought and
inoculation with mycorrhiza. In: Biological Nitrogen Fixation and Sustainability of
Tropical Agriculture (K. Mulongoy, M. Gueye and D.S.C. Spencer eds.) Wiley -
Sayee Co Publication, pp 67-77.
Bethlenfalvay,G.J. 1992. Mycorrhizae and crop productivity. In: Mycorrhizae in
Sustainable Agriculture (G.J. Bethlenfalvay and R.G. Lindennan eds.) American
Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconson, pp 1 - 27.
Fagbola, 0., Osonubi O. and Mulongoy K 1998a. Growth of cassava cultivar TMS 30572
as affected by alley cropping and mycorrhizal inoculation. Biology and Fertility of
Soils 27,9 - 14.
Fagbola, 0., Osonubi O. and Mulongoy K 1998b. Contribution of arbuscular
mycorrhiza(AM) fungi and hedgerow trees to the yield and nutrient uptake of
cassava in an alIey cropping system. Journal of Agricultural Science 131,79 - 85.
Frank, A.B., 1885. Uber die auf Wurzelsymbiose beruhende Emarhung gewisser Baume
dUTch unterirdische Pilze. Ber. Deut. Bot. Gesell. 3,128 - 145.
Kang, B.T. and Wilson, G.F. 1987. The development of alley cropping as a promising
agroforestry technology. In: Agroforestry: A Decade of Development (HA Step pier
and PKR Nair eds.) ICRAF, Nairobi, Kenya, pp227 - 243.
Liasu, M.O. 1999. Mycorrhiza, plant and soil effects on productivity of cassava and
hedgerow trees in continuing alley cropping system. Ph D thesis, University of
Ibadan, Nigeria.
Okon, I.E. 1996. The influence of vesicular- arbuscular mycorrhiza and woody legumes
on crop yield in a degraded alfisol in southwestern Nigeria. Ph D thesis, University
of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Okon, I.E., Osonubi O. and Sanginga N. 1996. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza effects
on Gliricidia sepium and Senna siamea in a falIowed alley cropping system.
Agroforestry Systems 33, 165 -175.
Osonubi, O. 1994. comparative effects of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza inoculation
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
152 0. Osonubi
and phosphorus fertilization on growth and phosphorus uptake of maize (Zea mays
L) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L) plants under drought-stressed conditions.
Biology and Fertility of Soils 18,55 - 59.
Osonubi, O. 1996. Sustaining the developing cocoa pods with nitrogen-fixing tree
prunings and mycorrhizal inoculation. In: Cocoa Revolution in Nigeria (AJ Adegeye
and WO Ajayi eds.) Hiswill Inforesources Management Limited,Ibadan, Nigeria, pp
34 -37.
Osonubi, 0., Atayese M.O and Awotoye 0.0. 1994. Improving root yield of alley-
cropped cassava with mycorrhizal symbiosis in a degraded hills lope of an alfisol.
AFNETAN 6,4 - 5.
Osonubi 0, Atayese M.O. and Mulongoy K 1995. The effect of vesicular-arbuscular
mycorrhizal inoculation on nutrient uptake and yield of alley-cropped cassava in a
degraded Alfisol of southwestern Nigeria. Biology and Fertility of Soils 20, 70 76.
Osonubi, 0., Awotopye .0.0, Atayese M.O. and Fagbola 0.1991. Assessment of
response of hedgerow trees to vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) inoculations
in alley farming. AFNET AN 3, 6 - 7.
Osonubi, O. Bakare O.N. and Mulongoy K 1992. Interactions between drought-stress and
VA mycorrhiza on the growth of Faidherbia albida (syn Acacia albida) and Acacia
nilotica in sterile and non-sterile soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils 14, 159 -165.
Osonubi O. and Mulongoy K 1991. Responses of two Acacia species to drought and
inoculation with an ectomycorrhizal. fungus.Jn: The Rhizosphere and Plant Growth
(D.L. Keister and P.B. Cregan eds). Netherlands Kluwer Publishers p375.
Osonubi, O. Mulongy, K, Awotoye 0.0., Atayese M.O., and Okali D.U.D. 1991. Effects
of ectomycorrhiul and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on drought tolerance
offour leguminous woody seedlings. Plant and Soil 136, 131 -143.
Osundina, M.A. 1999. An arbuscular-mycorrhiza fungus mediation of heavy metal
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Reganold, J.P., Elliot L.F. and Unger Y.L. 1987. Long-term effects of organic and
conventional farming on soil erosion. Nature (London) 330, 370 - 372.
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Acioa barteri, Alchonea cordifolia, Cassia siamea and Gmelina arborea in an acid
Utisol. Agroforestry Systems 19,67-78.
Salami, A.O. 1998. Biochemical interactions of mycorrhiza and soil-borne
microorganisms on growth of pepper (Capsicum annum Linn.) seedlings. Ph.D
thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Sieverding, E. 1991. Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae management in tropical
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
8
NUTRITION, SURVIVAL AND LIFE EXPECTANCY
Funke Ajayi
Department of Human Nutrition
Introduction
This inaugural lecture is the third from the Department of Human Nufrition since
its inception in 1963. The first lecture was given by Professor.Adewale Omololu,
now retired and the second by Professor Isaac Olaolu Akinyele in 1993. Today,
the inhabitants of the universe are demanding all the basic necessities of life as
well as all the amenities essential for adequate standard of living. Although more
food is being produced in some parts of the world than the inhabitants can
possibly eat, roughly half of the people of the world go hungry daily.
The global food situation especially the food security problems in Nigeria
was the theme of the inaugural lecture delivered by Professor 1.0. Akinyele and
titled "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread". The confounding factors in the
utilization of these foods and the consequences on the well- being of the
individual constitute the focus of this inaugural lecture titled "Nutrition, Survival
and Life Expectancy".
The Covenant
When God created Adam his intention was that man should enjoy all benefits of
creation; that was why he put him in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 1: 29-30) where
all his needs were provided in abundance. God must have intended for him to
live forever. Unfortunately, he sinned and was thrown out of the Garden with a
curse (Gen. 3: 17b). He lived for 130 years, gave birth to Seth and lived for
another 800 years. The "lifespan" of our forefathers from Adam to Noah as given
in the Bible is found in the book of Genesis 5: 3-32.
Lifespan, from this account can then be defined as the greatest possible age
to which an individual can live. However, situations and circumstances can
influence and prevent the fulfilment of this potential inheritance. This is evident
when God made a pronouncement in Genesis 6: 3 saying "My spirit shall not
always strive with man, for that he is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
154 Funke Ajayi
twenty years (120 years). So, God entered into a covenant with man and this
becomes the prescribed "lifespan" for man.
Since then, survival has been the preoccupation of man and man is constantly
in search of food. This phenomenon of life- span applies to all cells of the body.
For example, the red blood cells ~hich carry oxygen throughout the body have a
lifespan of 120 days and are replaced every four months. Even the cells of the
mouth or intestines have a shorter Iifespan and are replaced much faster - on a
daily basis. .
Life Expectancy ,/"
Life expectancy is often indicated at birth and gives an estimate of the total
number of years newborn infants)would live under the prevailing mortality risks
within the population at the time of birth.
Globally between 1980 and 1993, overall life expectancy has increased by
more than 4 years to about 65 years. However, the gaps are still widening
between the rich and the poor, between population groups, between sexes and
between ages. In developing countries in particular, the span of life between
infancy and old age is concealed by the shadows of poverty and inequity and the
dual burden of suffering and disease. According to 1997 calculations, (UNI<;EF
1999) a person in one Of the least developed countries in the world has a life
expectancy of 43 years cempared- to a life expectancy of 78 years for another
from the most developed countries. By the year 2000, life expectancy at birth is
expected to decrease to 42. years in some of the poorest countries and reach a
peak of 79 years in the richest .countries. Furthermore, projection to the next
millemium 2050 (Table) -sho;Vs a marked increase in life expectancy for
developing countries, and the gain is particularly high for Sub-Saharan Africa
(thus, life expectancy is at least 30 years higher in developed than in the poorest
countries.
In industrialized countries women live on the average about 6 years longer
than men (Damton-Hill 1995) women in industrialized countries live about 15
years longer than those in middle income developing countries and about 30
years longer than those in the poorest countries, where life expectancy is 50
years. The difference in women's.life expectancy in rich and poor countries has
only slightly decreased during the last 20 years. Inequalities in mortality rates
seen within countries, are associated largely with class differences.
A large part of the difference between men's and women's life expectancy is
due to differences in alcohol. and tobacco consumption, as well as accidents,
suicide and incidence of chronic diseases. In countries where increased numbers
of women smoke, there is a rising mortality rate for older women.
According to the dietary patterns account for variation in life expectancy,
vegans or strict vegetarians 'and to a certain extent Seventh Day Adventists
children who are accustomed to high consumption of plant foods are apt to grow
slower and are leaner than omnivorous children. These vegetarians compared
with the general population experience somewhat lower mortalities from lower
incidence of degenerative diseases and have longer expectation of life. The
vegetarian diet is bulky, hence, the near vegetarian pattern of diet of the African
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Nutrition, Survival and Life Expectancy 155
child explains in part of the lower amount of food eaten and the lesser growth
recorded. Also, the monotonous nature of vegetarian diet may contribute to the
growth impairment observed in Mexican children aged 7-9 years
Nutrition
Eating good quality and healthy food adequate in all the nutrients required by the
body does not guarantee good nutrition or health. The food must successfully
meet with the challenges of ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and
elimination.
In Nigeria, the greatest challenge we face today is how to find and select
appropriate foods that provide a variety as well as an abundance of nutrients i.e.
nutrient diversity and nutrient density.
The nutritional status of a population is a reflection of national development
and is a good indicator of effectiveness of national resource allocation. Adequate
nutrition is a major contribution to physiological and economic growth. Hence,
adequate nutrition is a reflection of body growth, work output, motivation and
educational and mental attainment. In essence, economic growth and
development depend on adequacy of food and efficient utilization of the nutrients
provided. ,
How long an individual lives is dictated by the quality of nutrition. The
impact of nutrition is laid down at conception and is a determinant of how long
an individual lives and freedom from diseases and illnesses throughout life.
Nutrition had earlier been regarded as a national concern where every
country fends for its own citizens. However, nutrition drew international
attention in 1950 when kwashiorkor was recognized as a major killer in
developing countries. In less fatal cases, it contributed to retarded physical
growth, increased susceptibility to infection and in very severe cases, depressed
development of the central nervous system.
The earlier conception was that if the energy value of the food supply was
increased (i.e. the calories are adequate) then a limited amount of protein would
suffice to cater for growth and repair of tissues. This led to a shift in terminology
from protein calorie malnutrition to the use of the term energy protein deficit.
Little did the world know that nutritional problems exist in America, "the
land of plenty" until a television documentary "Hunger in America" in 1968
revealed the existence of hunger in the midst of plenty. This revelation led to the
emergence of White House Conferences on Food, Nutrition, and Health in 1969
and 1974.
These Conferences brought into limelight the magnitude of the scourge
"Malnutrition". Efforts to correct this vacuum eventually lifted nutrition unto a
higher pedestal and is given recognition as a National and International Priority.
Thus, nutrition has become a household word and is a subject of research not
only in science-based disciplines like Agriculture and Biochemistry but also in
the social sciences such as Economics, Sociology, Anthropology and
Psychology.
Food has been the preoccupation of man from the Stone Age to the Industrial
Age. Food fulfils many important roles in the life of an individual. Man is a
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156 Funke Ajayi
product of his environments which are biological, physiological and
psychosocial.
Nutritional well-being is greatly influenced by the nutrient content of foods
consumed in relation to physiological needs which are determined by age, sex,
level of physical activity and health status. The efficiency of nutrient utilization
by the body also plays a significant role in the ability of the individual to adapt to
varying levels of nutrient intake.
A diet is considered adequate when it provides sufficient energy,
carbohydrates, protein, fat, micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and other
essential components, including dietary fibre to meet the body's needs. A diet
that promotes optimum well-being must be balanced with regards to nutrient
content, diversified in relation to food choice and must be culturally acceptable.
Hence, diets that provide inadequate or excessive amounts of nutrients lead to
malnutrition. Undernutrition arising from insufficient food/nutrient intake is
prevalent in the developing countries while overnutrition due to excess
consumption of nutrients is widespread in industrialized countries.
Energy is the basic need of every organism including man. Hence, the dietary
energy supply (DES) has become a widely used estimate of the average daily
energy available for human consumption from the food supply within a given
period. The DES figures synthesized by FAO from the data of Food Balance
sheets indicate trends in food and energy supplies at national and regional levels
According to FAO World Food Summit (1996) average per caput food
supplies have been on the increase since 1970s such that by 1988-1989 there was
enough food in the world. Individual requirements would have been met if
distribution had been equitable. During this period, over 786 million people in
developing countries regularly failed to have access to enough food to meet their
energy requirements, compared to 941 million in 1969-71.
Statistics of malnourished individuals globally is scary. The latest rough
estimate put the number of undernourished individuals from inadequate food
intake at 780 million which constitutes about 20 percent of the developing
world's population. In the same vein, over 192 million children are suffering
from protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). On the other hand, various
micronutrient deficiencies are assuming greater significance affecting about 2000
million people. In addition, chronic diet-related non-communicable diseases such
as cardiovascular diseases, some cancers and obesity are assuming public health
significance particularly in developing countries.
Maternal Nutrition
High mortality and morbidity have been reported for women during reproduction
arising from malnutrition and infection. Maternal mortality rates also show wide
variations ranging from 50 to 700 per 100,000 live births. Currently over 90% of
all maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
Maternal weight gain (pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy) is considered
the most sensitive measure of acute nutritional stress in pregnancy. According to
Prentice et al. (1987) the incidence of LBW decreased significantly from 20 to
6% after severely malnourished and underweight mothers received caloric
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Nutrition, Survival and Life Expectancy 157
supplementation (431 kcal/day) during pregnancy. Also, continuous daily
supplementation with 465kcal through two pregnancies and the lactation period
produced a more significant increase (300g) in the birthweight (Kusin et al.
1992).
Seasonal fluctuations in food availability invariably influence the cost of
food and quality of life, nevertheless, women who gained little weight during
pregnancy gave birth to babies with normal weight (Tripathi et al. 1987). The
favourable pregnancy outcome in these women is explained by Durnin (1987) as
successful "adaptation" to the high energy burden of reproduction which may
occur when the system is energetically stressed.
Chronic maternal undernutrition is often complicated by infection, repeated
and closely spaced pregnancies and physiological stress of growth as occurs in
teenage pregnancy. Undoubtedly, poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy
would imply a risk of nutrient availability to the foetus who is totally dependent
on the maternal store of nutrients for its nutrition and development.
The negative effect of rising price on quantity and quality of food consumed
was expressed by Falusi (1985). Falusi inferred that the quality of feeding was
generally affected by the high price of starchy staples.
• Bassey and Ajayi (1999) studied the market price of food sold in Akwa Ibom
over a six year period and prepared a time plot relating the cost of starchy staples,
animal products to pregnancy outcome. Seasonal variations were observed in the
cost of food stuffs with general increases occurring throughout. The increase in
the market price of animal products was pronounced. The third quarter of the
year appeared to be the most unfavourable period for pregnancy outcome
because of the food restricted second quarter while the fourth quarter of the year
was the most favourable.
Mortality and Morbidity in Infancy
How long a baby is expected to live (i. e. life expectancy) is pre-determined
before birth (prenatally). Data abound that growth before birth (prenatal) is
influenced by the intrauterine environment while postnatal growth is influenced
by the physical environment and care provided. Epidemiological data have
shown that low birth weight is detrimental to survival in infants. A baby is
termed low birth weight if he weighs less than 2,500g at birth. In fact, such
babies are at a disadvantage during the first few weeks of life. The mortality rate
for infants with normal birth weight is put at 2/1 000 live births but it is as high
as 86/1000 for low birth weight (LBW) infants. The prevalence of LBW is at
least 3 times higher in developing than in industrialized countries.
A greater proportion of low birth weight (LBW) infants can be traced to
maternal malnutrition rather than to prematurity. Maternal malnutrition before
conception or during pregnancy leads to growth retardation in the foetus
(intrauterine growth retardation) and accounts for a greater percentage of the low
birth weight babies in developing countries. Intrauterine growth retardation is at
least five times as high in developing countries as in industrialized countries.
Invariably, small babies grow to become small adults and a vicious cycle of
growth failure is perpetrated from generation to generation.
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From scattered and limited retrospective and prospective studies on new born
babies in rural and urban settings in Nigeria (Hussain and Omololu 1983;
Lawoyin and Oyediran 1992; Airede 1995). The incidence of LBW deliveries is
reported to vary from 8.3 - 20%. According to UNICEF (1999) the national
prevalence rate of LBW is 16%. However, when pregnancy is superimposed on
growth in adolescence, a higher incidence of LBW is commonly observed. LBW
is reported to be higher in teenage mothers than in older mothers. (Lawoyin and
Oyediran 1992). The data of Bernstein-Oguntona (1999) also emphasized that the
younger the teenager, the greater the chances of delivering a baby of low birth
weight.
Bassey and Ajayi (1999) also analysed hospital data of a mixed population
from a retrospective study in Akwa Ibom State involving 16,175 infants born
within the period 1988-1993. The mean birth weight of the infants was 3053 +
47g (SD of the mean). The total number of newborn infants with a birth weight
below 2,500g (LBW) was 1,844. This translated to a LBW incidence of 11.4%.
Intrauterine growth retarded delivery, a reflection of maternal malnutrition
accounted for 73% of the LBW infants while prematurity was 27%
Foetal Growth
The health status of the mother may have direct or indirect impact on foetal
growth. Maternal infection is known to depress appetite and reduce food intake
thereby restricting nutrients for foetal use. Also, the metabolic stress of infection
as in malaria or other fevers may increase the excretion of nutrients from the
body thereby raising the requirements for nutrients by the mother herself.
Furthermore, epidemiological studies have emphasized the impact of intestinal
parasites such as hookworm and ascaris in decreased absorption of energy,
protein and micro-nutrients (such as vitamin A, zinc and iron, in particular). In
extreme cases, the foetus itself may become infected or placental efficiency may
be grossly affected and the transfer of nutrients from the mother to the foetus
jeopardized.
Nutrition Security in Infancy
Breastmilk provides nutrition security for the infant. Infancy is the only time in
the life cycle when the child depends on only one food source (breastmilk) for his
nutritional needs. Hence lactational failure is detrimental to child survival.
Insufficient milk production is a common cause of failure of lactation in
developing countries which is often attributed to inadequate energy intake to
sustain milk production. (Bates 1987). In particular, milk composition is mostly
affected by the mother's intake of water soluble vitamins. It is less influenced by
her consumption of fat soluble vitamins, and is relatively unaffected by maternal
mineral intake. Therefore, Allen (1992) suggested that maternal deficiency of the
water soluble vitamins as well as vitamin A and iodine should be avoided.
Studies carried out in different parts of the country have reported riboflavin
deficiency among population groups. Attempts to identify the implication effect
for infant nutrition encourage our study of the level contained in breastmilk the
only food for the newborn infant.
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Nutrition, Survival and Life Expectancy 159
Onurah and Ajayi '( 1985) studied riboflavin content in breastmilk of lactating
Nigerian women six weeks postpartum (after delivery). The mean riboflavin
content of breastmilk was 0.34mgll (range 0.22 to 0.47 mg riboflavinlI).
However, infants, suckled by these mothers look healthy. Unfortunately, their
total daily breastmilk consumption was not measured. Support for sustainability
of breastfeeding encourages us to look into possible changes in breastmilk
riboflavin under storage. We conclude that riboflavin level did not change after
refrigeration for 5 days provided power failure does not occur. So, infants whose
mothers secrete low volume of breastmilk can be helped from the breastmilk
bank supply. Thus, household storage of breastmilk on a small scale will
contribute to the sustenance of exclusive breastfeeding especially where the
employment site does not provide a breastfeeding centre. At the national level,
operation of a breastmilk bank may constitute a temporary solution for HIV
infected mothers who would like to give breastmilk to their babies and for babies
who lost their mothers at birth. Therefore, proper pasteurization, handling and
storage of breast milk samples would protect them from contamination.
Complementary Foods
The introduction of additional foods in infant feeding must be properly timed.
Complementary foods (foods consumed' in addition to breastmilk) are often
introduced at a time when breastmilk alone is no longer able to satisfy the
physiological needs of the infant for energy and specific nutrients. The optimal
time for introduction of complementary food is controversial. However, the
nutrient content and the number of meals or frequency of feeding would
determine the nutrient intake of infants. The relatively high energy requirements
of infants demand that the complementary food should be energy dense, of good
quality (nutrient dense) but not bulky. Nutrient density and bioavailability are
probably the factors most commonly used as indicators of dietary quality (Brown
1991). The contamination of the food is related to the preparation or processing
method, as well as the time lapse between preparation and consumption (Brown
et al. 1995).
In order to avert nutritional deficiencies and secondary functional
impairment, complementary foods must be wisely chosen. An array of
complementary foods have been produced for infant feeding in Nigeria with
cultural acceptability, cost and diversity as common considerations. Akinyele and
Abudu (1990) produced household adaptable complementary foods of high
nutrient density from cowpeas. Ketiku and Olusanya (1986) formulated
complementary foods in which meat was a prominent component along with fruit
and vegetables or cereal and vegetables. The high quality of the protein source
must have contributed to the high biological values reported.
Recently, Alabi and Ajayi (1999) formulated eight different kinds of diets
from locally available staples. Home processing techniques of malting, roasting
parboiling and pounding were employed to encourage adoption and reduce cost
in comparison to commercially produced ones. The diets consisted of mixtures of
sorghum and cowpea, sorghum and groundnut flour in the ratio of 70:30. For
four of the diets, part of the staples was replaced with cassava leaves in the ratio
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160 Funke Ajayi
of 5-30%. The protein content of the mixture was 12.3-16.6%, crude fibre 2.3 to
6.1% and energy value 389-446ca/IOOg. The protein content compared
favourably to another blend containing malted sorghum-com-crayfish. The
formulated diets were biologically evaluated using rats as test animals. The
results indicated that the mixtures would support normal growth and
development of young children. Thus, care givers can successfully combine
available staples to nutritional advantage of children and prevent malnutrition
and associated unhealthy consequences.
Adolescence
The International Year of the Youth celebrated in 1985 and the World Health
Assembly in 1989 focus attention on the adolescents. The adolescents comprise
about 30% of the total World Population. Between 1960 and 1980, the youth
population increased by 66% while the global population increased by 46%. Over
70% of these youth live in the developing countries and the number is expected
to reach 83% by the year 2000. According to the World Health Organization
(1992), the adolescence is a period characterized by dramatic anatomical,
behavioural and physiological changes. The characteristic growth spurt in
adolescence raises requirements for nutrients, thus exposing the group to multiple
nutritional deficiencies especially the B-group of vitamins, zinc and iron. Our
studies for over a decade focus on the dietary pattern, food selection and nutrient
intake of free-living adolescents in rural and urban settings. The role of
institutions in influencing dietary habits of this group was also assessed in federal
and state government-controlled schools.
Our comparative studies on nutritional status of rural and urban adolescents
revealed that rural adolescents are 8-15cm shorter in height 4-8kh higher in
weight. These are indications suggestive of persistent chronic malnutrition in
rural areas. Nutrient intake of rural adolescents was markedly low for energy,
protein and riboflavin. Functional impairment due to restricted intake of
riboflavin (Vitamin B 1) was assessed. The contribution of animal sources to the
total protein intake was also lower 15% versus 26% for rural and urban subjects,
respectively. Nutrients' intake of rural adolescents was lower than that of urban
adolescents especially energy, protein and riboflavin. Lower intake of other
nutrients like vitamin B6 and zinc which were not measured could have occurred.
Recent studies on energy intake of urban adolescents by Cole et al. (1997)
reported similar energy values but much higher body weight than for our rural
subjects. The lower body weight in rural adolescents is not surprising because of
their higher activity level. Other investigators have reported that an imbalance
between energy intake and expenditure has a negative effect on body
composition.
The Institutions (Ibadan Grammar School, Government College, Ibadan,
Federal Government Colleges at Odogbolu and Ijanikin) provided the students
with adequate foods which are equally high in nutrients. Unfortunately, disparity
was observed in nutrients intake of students because the sharing of the food by
the students was haphazard in nature. A class differentiation to the detriment of
younger students was obvious with school prefects followed by the mess boys
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Nutrition, Survival and Life Expectancy 161
receiving choice and larger portions of each food item. Protein intake ranged
from 45- 77g1day and riboflavin was 0.45-0.83 mgllOOOkcal.
From these studies, we also determined riboflavin status required for
metabolic function using either the load test enzyme stimulation techniques.
From regression analysis (Ajayi 1979) it was established that a minimum intake
of O.4mg riboflavin! lOOOkcalor 0.65mg available riboflavin was equivalent to
saturation of enzyme glutathione reductase with riboflavin activity Coefficient-
EGRAC/l.20). This recommendation proved adequate in later studies (Ajayi and
James 1984). A comparison of urban adolescents drawn from International
School (Cole et al. 1995) with our urban female adolescents (Ajayi 1984 Korede
and Ajayi 1992-93) showed that Federal Government College Odogbolu and
Ijanikin had higher energy and nutrient intakes than Cole's subjects. To some
extent, government policies like Structural Adjustment Programme operative in
the 90s and other socio-economic policies must have produced negative effects
on the nutrient intake of Cole's subjects. Such an effect was absent from studies
conducted early in the 80s (Ajayi 1984).
Ageing
Lifestyle Changes •
Ageing is a global phenomenon. In 1990,55% of 176 million of the elderly
population of the world were living in the so-called developing world. By 2025,
the proportion is expected to rise to 65%. The ever-increasing number of elderly
people raises issues about the quality of life in the extra years. Economic
condition, nutrition, level of education influence feelings of life satisfaction will
all have impact on ageing.
Increased food availability has been shown to be associated with increasing
life expectancy up to a stage after which further increases in dietary fat intake
may actually be associated with a reduction in life expectancy. Other factors
attributable to development of coronary heart disease in old age are, when one's
internal and external environments synchronize (meaningful and manageable
life), satisfaction is positive.
Women and men age differently and women live longer than men at all ages
hence cannot be considered the weaker sex. They also seem, to be more resilient
than men at all ages. No wonder they can cope effectively with their diverse
roles. The typical female advantage in life expectancy ranges from 5 to 8 years. It
is therefore not surprising that the oldest people you find around in homes, even
in villages are mostly women.
The biological advantage in life expectancy of women compared to men may
not be readily observed in developing countries where closely spaced pregnancy,
large family size, poor access to health facilities and childbirth complications
condemn them to premature death. Although occupational risks may account in
part for the reduced longevity in men. In addition, men voluntarily indulge more
in lifestyle risks like smoking and alcohol consumption which contribute to
higher incidence of death from lung cancer, violence and road accidents.
In Nigeria and other developing countries where social security schemes in
old age are not operative, older people are always dependent on their families.
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162 Funke Ajayi
Factors commonly associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular
disease become more evident with age and include current smoking habits,
family history of coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and high
blood cholesterol level (Murray and Lopez 1997).
Lifestyle and Diseases
Longer and healthier lives are achievable through a delicate balance of diet,
relaxation, exercise and rest. The epidemiologic and demographic transition
suggest a shift in disease profile from one dominated by infectious and
communicable diseases to a scenario characterized by premature adult mortality
from chronic degenerative and non-communicable disease. In essence, the very
high mortality at the younger ages is giving way to an emergency pattern'
dominated by chronic disease and injuries with lower mortality reaching a peak
at older ages hence the phenomenal increase in life expectancy.
This association is further explained by the current trend of drift from rural to
urban areas which is expected to increase from 37% in 1995 to 57% in the year
2025. In effect, both internal migration and rapid urbanization have encouraged
changes in dietary pattern and lifestyles.
The technological changes have given rise to the modem dietary pattern that
is high in saturated fats, sugars and refined food devoid or of low fibre content.
China is a good example of developing countries in economic and demographic
transition demonstrating dramatic changes in food consumption patterns. The
intake consists of high fat diets rich in animal products with little change in
energy intake.
The industrialization, modernization and urbanization phenomena in
industrialized countries have led to intense mechanization, reduction in
occupational activities and increased leisure time, most of which is devoted to
sedentary activities such as watching of television. The change in physical
activity pattern has contributed to the high incidence of obesity (excessive weight
accumulation) in children and adults in industrialized societies. This trend is
spreading fast into developing countries. For example, rural-to-urban migration
in Nigeria has reduced participation in physical activity needed for agricultural
production.
Furthermore, pursuit of sedentary leisure time activities similar to what
obtains in the developed world has contributed to the emergency ef obesity even
in developing countries. Obesity is a major risk factor fer several chronic
diseases. Thus, the changes in dietary patterns and physical activity levels and the
accompanying changes in body composition and body weight will undoubtedly
account for the increased risk of NCDs in developing countries.
Accordingly, coronary heart disease, cancer, diabetes may be exacerbated by
lifestyle habits characterized by lack of rest, physical activity, inappropriate diets,
use of tobacco and alcohol consumption. A recent analysis of mortality trends
(Murray and Lopez 1997) revealed that cardiovascular disease is a leading cause
of mortality, while death due to cancer ranks third.
There is evidence linking CHD in later life with events during uterine growth
in particular. The association was particularly strong for infants who at birth
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Nutrition, Survival and Life Expectancy 163
weighed less than 2500g, were short in length and had small head circumference.
The highest prevalence was also found in adults whose mothers weighed less
than 45kg (1OOlb) during pregnancy. These associations were independent of
coronary risk factors such as hypertension, non-insulin dependent diabetes,
abnormalities in lipid metabolism and blood coagulation.
Strategies for Enhancing Longevity .
Today, our choice of food has broaden, and food is readily transported across the
States. Unfortunately, the quality of the food is greatly affected if they are moved
over a long distance. For example, chemical changes like oxidation may be
initiated during such movements and this is capable of destroying its vitamins A
and C content. In this environment, light can also destroy nutrients like
riboflavin, Vitamin A and Vitamin C and induce oxidative changes in fats.
Excessive ripening of fruits will make them rotten and unconsumable. Storage of
foods under damp environment will promote microbial growth which will
destroy the nutrients and constitute potential hazard to us. Food preparation
methods in the home like peeling (yam) cutting and dicing (vegetables) coupled
with exposure to light or heat reduce the nutrient content of our foods further.
Bulk preparation of food (soups, sauces) accompanied by repeated warming is
detrimental to the retention of nutrients in food. Even keeping prepared food over
steam for hours before consumption destroys the nutrients.
In addition to these various ways by which nutrients are lost from our foods
social habits like smoking, alcohol consumption and dieting may limit the benefit
we derive fr6m nutrient~l're~ent in foods. Other asp cts of our lifestyle can also
increase the demand for nutrients such as physical activity (need for antioxidants
increase) daily exposure to environmental pollution - car exhaust, filth,
contaminated water, cigarette smoke, stress (physical and mental) and
medication. Under these prevailing conditions, an individual must gain optimal
health and avoid instalmental or premature death, the only option is _to take
vitamin and mineral supplements. .
Supplementation
Supplementation, altho-ugh expensive produces an immediate and rapid
improvement in metabolic functions. Our supplemen-tation studies using water
soluble vitamins alone or together With .iron (Ajayi et aI. 1990) were
accompanied by increases in haemoglobin concentration which essentially make
more oxygen available to the cells and enhance performance.
Fortification .
This is a long term strategy that can be used to raise the nutrient content of foods.
Cooperation is required at all levels - the consumer, the industry and
government. The policy of iodization of salt embarked upon by the government
has successfully spread to at least 95% of households.
Liquid milk and margarine are currently being fortified with Vitamins A and
D, but how many Nigerians can afford to buy them? The debate still goes on as
to acceptable foods to be fortified with vitamin A and Iron. Other nutrients
especially the B Vitamins would have to be included in the fortification
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164 Funke Ajayi
programme and the prices of fortified foods adequately subsidized to encourage
consumption.
Food Diversification
The consumption of a varied diet, wisely chosen to include foods rich in specific
nutrients is necessary. However, the success of this will depend on a broad-based
Nutrition education to inform people on the selection and consumption of a
variety of foods within the budget. Fruits should not be considered as snack items
but a part of the meal, likewise, sizeable portions of vegetable should be
consumed.
The Paradox of Life
My story goes like this:
I was born a baby like everyone else
I was well nourished and started to grow
.... until things started to fall apart
as inflation set in malnutrition soared
a mixture of insufficient food and improper diet made me grow
emaciated and distorted.
Who am I then to blame for my woes?
Am I to blame the government for:
an insufficient income and inadequate health facilities the deplorable
sanitary environment and the contaminated water I drink
Or myself for not taking heed of health and environmental hazards
even when I was told that smokers are liable to die young
I did not control my appetite but delighted in sumptuous meals rich in
cholesterol which took its toll on my health.
My family would not even be spared in apportioning the blame
I was not given the necessary immunization
and enough food which I needed to grow in infancy.
I once had a lifestyle but it developed into a habit
I once had little to eat but later had too much to eat
I once fought for food now I'm fighting for life
My Certificate of death is now before my very eyes
I then ask myself.: ...
What will the Doctor write as the cause of Death
..Anonymous.
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Nutrition, Survival and Life Expectancy 165
Charity begins at home, to reduce instalmental death traceable to poor diet on this
campus, my Department is committed to offer training programmes to all food
establishments on this campus to ensure that foods sold are not only safe but are
dense in nutrients. I presume that such training will be a pre-requisite for
issuance of catering permit on this campus.
Secondly, a basic course in Human kinetics should be made compulsory for
all categories of students admitted to this University. Thirdly, smoke is a
pollutant whether from cigarette or burning of refuse. "NO SMOKING" signs
should be displayed in public places including lecture halls and hostels.
Growth and Longevity
Almost six decades ago, Cathcart (1940) in Glasgow, asked, "should we aim, as
some enthusiasts would have us do, at feeding children in such a way as to
produce the maximum growth and development of which each child is capable?
If we succeed in this, are we sure that we have benefited the child?" Does
maximum growth make for health and longevity?" There is certainly some
evidence that it does not.
Masoro (1985) also contended; "there is potential conflict between the
dietary recommendations of half a century ago, which were directed towards
maximizing growth, and those of the present which are directed towards
maximizing longevity. If we want a lot of one, we may have to settle for a bit less
of the othe".
Growth ."
Growth is a good indicator of health and nutritional well being especially in
children. Health and nutrition problems in childhood, particularly in developing
countries, arise from unsatisfactory food intake or severe and repeated infections,
or a combination of the two Oluboyede and Ajayi 1984. These conditions
invariably reflect the quality of life or the ability of the population to meet basic
needs like food, shelter and health care. Thus, growth assessment provides an
indirect measurement of the quality of life of the entire populace and a reliable
means for evaluating health and nutritional status of children.
Anthropometric indices are commonly used to assess child growth and
nutritional status. The indicators used include the following: height-for-age
(height/age ratio) which describes linear growth and essentially measures long-
term growth faltering; weight-for-height: expresses the harmony of growth and is
particularly sensitive to acute growth disturbances; and weight-for-age related
together with linear growth and body proportion.
Growth retardation prevalences for under-Svyear-olds were taken as the
proportion of weight- for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height below -2 and-
3 standard deviations (SDs) from the reference medium.
These anthropometric indices derived from the latest available data from
national surveys of 112 countries in developing countries covered 87% of the
total population of under-5-year-olds (about 468 million children) in 1990 (de
Onis 1993). The data revealed no consistent differences in prevalence of
malnutrition among male and female children. Nevertheless, prevalence rates are
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166 Funke Ajayi
consistently higher in rural than in urban areas. Also, marked variation was
observed by age and region within countries. De Onis and Blossner (1998)
reported that about 38% or 206 million children under 5 years of age living in
developing countries were stunted in 1995. Asia recorded the highest number of
stunted children both in absolute numbers and in terms of prevalence. In Africa,
there were 40 million stunted children or 20% of total stunted children in
developing countries (see table).
Table
Global trends in prevalence of stunting in Children
under five years of age, 1975-1995.
Regions 1975 -1990 1990-1995
Africa 36.8 40.6 38.6 47.0
East Africa 48.3 17.5 48.0 19.4
North Africa 25.4 5.3 26.6 5.6
West Africa 36.8 12.4 37.1 14.2
Asia 42.6 162.2 41.0 149.1
East Asia 31.4 39.( 31.4 34.5
Central 52.7 94.2 49.6 86.5
South East 40.8 23.2 39.7 22.6
Latin America and 21.9 11.9
Caribbeans 17.9 9.7
Oceania 36.4 0.3 31.4 0.3
Developing 39.4
Countries 215.0 38.1 206.2
Global 34.6 216.0 34.0 208.1
Source: Adapted from de Onis and Blossner 1998
Conclusion
It is just not enough to sign on the dotted lines, there must be a policy to back up
the protection and affirmation of the right of every child to adequate nutrition to
ensure proper physical growth and mental development.
In a world of abundant resources where there is enough food for everyone, to
subject our children to harsh environment and inequitable access to resources
which mar their growth and development is a colossal waste of human potential
which a society can least afford.
It is my submission that strategic and coordinated framework would need to
be initiated along these lines:
1. There is need to popularize urgently the National Policy on Food and
Nutrition and increase the awareness of the Food and Nutrition situation
in Nigeria. The National Plan of Action should go before the Legislative
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
'.
Nutrition, Survival and Life Expectancy 167
Ann of Government with dispatch for proper funding and empowerment
by the three tiers of Government for implementation,
2. The Government needs to put into operation, relevant National Plan of
Action that will enhance unlimited access to good quality food and
provision of accessible and affordable health care as well as reduction of
environmental hazards.
3. (a) It is also expedient that the economic, social and nutritional situations
of women should be improved since they are the primary care givers.
(b) Adequate family support should be provided within the family to
promote exclusive breastfeeding and immunization of children against
preventable childhood diseases. Furthermore, uninterrupted power by
NEPA would provide support for establishment of breastmilk bank.
There is an urgent need for the Government to enunciate and implement
a policy that will improve sanitation and housing and overcome
overcrowding.
4. Considering the negative effects of some of our lifestyles like: _
(a) Smoking: There is need for Government to come up with a policy
that will not only prevent smoking in public places but to put an
outright ban on tobacco advertisement in the media.
(b) Alcohol: Promote public awareness on the ill effects of alcohol
consumption on quality of life and possibly ban the consumption of
alcohol in public places.
(c) Physical Activity: Establish more recreation centres with exercise
facilities in all communities. Exercise should be regarded as an
essential part of life for all ages. Employers should provide exercise
facilities and administrators should be compelled to participate to
burn off excess and ugly fat. Exercise not only improves efficiency
of respiratory capacity, it also improves cardiac functions and
increases efficient blood flow to all muscles.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
9
FERTILIZERS: NIGERIAN FARMER'S DILEMMA
G. O. Obigbesan
Department of Agronomy
Introduction
Throughout the world, food production is fundamental to human survival, and
fundamental to agricultural production is soil fertility. Food security and poverty
alleviation are inseparable phenomena, which can only be judiciously addressed
by self-sufficiency in production. Adequate food production based on natural soil
fertility alone is the practice of the past. Today, all levels of modem agriculture
depend on the application of some plant nutrients.
This is the sixth inaugural lecture from the Department of Agronomy; the
Fifth was delivered by our renowned Professor of Soil Physics on "Works of
Water on Earth" which centred on soil and water management and conservation
for crop production. It is a unique privilege and honour for me to be called upon
to deliver today's inaugural lecture on behalf of the Faculty of Agriculture and
Forestry.
The farmer remains the centrepiece of our research efforts in the Department
of Agronomy. Today's lecture has, therefore, been chosen, in my discipline of
plant nutrition, to focus on a production input of vital importance to farmers, a
factor indispensable for achieving bountiful yields of top quality, so as to
eliminate hunger, alleviate poverty, attain self-sufficiency and provide excess for
export.
The central theme of this lecture is Fertilizer. A sound knowledge of plant
nutrition forms the basis for fertilizer science. NUTRITION may be defined, as
the supply and absorption of chemical compounds needed for growth and
metabolism, while the chemical compounds required by an organism are termed
NUTRIENTS. Plant nutrition is concerned with the nutrition of cultivated crops
with a view to influencing their quantitative and qualitative yield. The first part
of this lecture deals with the historical development of crop nutrition and
fertilizer science, the second part considers the plight of Nigerian farmers in the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
170 Goo. Obigbesan
use of fertilizers, while the third part respectfully welcomes this. important
audience to share my own personal experience and humble contribution. The
lecture concludes with suggestions and recommendations.
Historical Perspectives
Development of the Science of Plant Nutrition
From time immemorial, mankind has been concerned with the maintenance of
fertile soils for food production. The story was told of a conversation between the
planets, Saturn and the Sun, probably before the last eclipse of the moon. The
planet Saturn asked the Sun "How do you feel about Planet Earth?" The Planet
Sun responded drily "I am sad. It can't even manage its SOIL, WATER and
NUTRIENTS properly". That celestial conversation probably triggered the recent
development of the global Soil Water and Nutrient Management Programme
(SWNM).
The Incas of Peru used dead fish in the plant hole to grow better maize
yields. About 10,000 years ago, legumes were introduced in Mesopotamia to
improve the yields of other crops and shepherds led their flocks across barley
fields to stabilize and fertilize the soil. The cattle Fulani, the nomadic pastorals of
, Nigeria still operate this method of soil fertility maintenance. While Medieval
Europe introduced crop rotation to avert crop failures and resolve serious food
problems, the traditional method of restoring soil fertility in Africa is through
bush fallowing in a system of shifting cultivation or land rotation.
We would recall that around 350 Be the Greek philosopher Aristotle
propounded the humus theory that plants grew by feeding on humus which they
absorb from the soil through their roots and after the plant dies it decomposes and
forms humus, which is then absorbed by plants (Fig. 1). This view held sway for
over a century.
"""
c 0 Q o .' S~V'\1"ht;;S
_______ ~_ .JIo....
,- - _ ,~. l;' .~,-..... ....~.-- s c .•• -: t. :0 ~
L\,.::" 0 t. (J '1 , Pij:l~1 (""to
c6scrio. h•.v.V•.t~
Fig. 1: Humus Hypothesis according to Aristotle
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 171
The development of the knowledge of plant nutrition was painfully slow over
the centuries until the application of chemical sciences to Agriculture. Nicholas
of Cusa (1401-46) suggested that plants absorb constituents from the soil through
water uptake. Van Helmont (1577-1644) described the first classical experiment
in plant nutrition. He grew a 5-pound willow branch in a pot containing 200
pounds of oven-dried soil, watered it for five years to a tree weighing 169 pounds
and concluded, though erroneously, that the 164 pounds wood, bark and roots
had arisen from water alone. In a water culture experiment, Woodward (1165-
1728) discovered that plants grew better in water containing dissolved solids than
in distilled water. With the advances in science towards the end of 18th century
and the elucidation of the chemical and physiological basis of plant growth, the
application of chemical sciences to practical Agriculture (Agricultural
Chemistry) became initiated in the 19th Century. Thus notable scientists, such as,
Lavoisier (1743-1794), a French scientist, who is well known as the founder of
modem chemistry, who administered the 'coup de grace' to the phlogiston theory,
conducted numerous experiments on his farm. While Scheel (1770) asserted that
plants excrete carbon dioxide (they pollute the air). Priestley (1775) discovered
that plants liberate oxygen (they make the air fresher) and Ingen-Housz (1779)
who showed the effect of light on gaseous exchange, postulated that oxygen is
liberated only by day (light).
Woodward (1699) and De Saussure (1804) originated the water culture
approach to study plant nutrition; while Sachs (1860) developed the basis of
modem water culture techniques. The qualitative elucidation of photosynthesis
that plants require carbon dioxide from the air and water beside ashes from the
soil was also credited to Saussure (1804). Research on plant nutrition and soil-
plant interrelations reached a high point in the work of Jean B. Boussingault
(1802-1887) who conducted carefully planned field experiments on his farm for
36 years between 1834 and 1871. He, thus, introduced the methodology of
modem field experimentation and also discovered that leguminous plants
assimilate and fix atmospheric nitrogen. It was in 1886 that German
investigators, Hellriegel and Wilfarth, ultimately discovered that it is the bacteria
in the nodules of the roots of leguminous plants that fix free nitrogen from the
aIr.
Carl Sprengel (1787-1859) postulated that a soil may be favourable to crop
growth in almost all respects - "yet may often be unproductive if it is deficient in
one single element that is necessary as a food for plants". Here was a clear
statement ofthe "law ofthe minimum".
Fertilizer Use Development
With the publication in 1840 of his famous book "Chemistry in its Application to
Agriculture and Physiology", the great German chemist, Justus Von Liebig
(1803-1873) and a foremost chemist of his time, after whom the University of
Giessen, my alma mater, was named, finally laid to rest the humus theory of
Aristotle. He established the mineral nutrient concept that the organic matter of
the soil (humus) constitutes a source of nutrients which plants absorb through
their roots (Fig. 2).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
172 G.o. Obigbesan
---·-----1
I
'- __ .. J
. "'l••·:....,.,,~',~? pl~(,(..) ('1(". ' .t!I\I'\I' ! ~\I''''41
("1~"' •. "'ll'U 'If I •.•. k:!Rtf,:) 1" •• j" ~: "i :( :-c'~
•.l.'.·l.(Ll ..
Fig. 2: The Mineral Nutrient Concept as of 1840
This concept won acceptance for the mineral theory of fertilizers and drew
attention to the possibility that artificial fertilizers could be used to supplement
the mineral content of the soil. This concept also inspired extensive
investigations carried out in Britain at John Lawes Rothamsted Estate by Lawes
(1814-1990) and Gilbert (1817-1901) which paved the way to new knowledge of
soils, crops and livestock. The dramatic effects of artificial fertilizers on British
soils stimulated similar work in other countries of Europe and elsewhere (Table
1). '
Table 1: Historical Development of Modern Fertilizers
1830- Chilean Nitrate of Soda imported to Europe
1840 Beginning of Regular import of Guano (bird droppings) from
Peru
1842 Superphosphate patented in ERgland
1855 Superphosphate as first fertilizer from the factory in Germany
1860 Potash from underground mines
1879 Development of Thomas-Phosphate Process
1890 Ammonium sulphate introduced
1903,.. Saltpeter (sodium nitrate)
1906 Nitrogen synthesis in calcium cyanamid-process
1913 Synthetic ammonia by Haber-Bosch process
1916 Production of rhenaniaphosphate
1987 Ammoni and urea by NAFCON
1976 Single superphosphate by Superphosphate Fertilizer Company,
Kaduna
An understanding of the role of major nutrients in plant nutrition and the
benefits to crop growth when plant nutrients were added to the soil in the form of
fertilizers led to the development of a commercial form of soluble calcium
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 173
•
phosphate, the superphosphate by Lawes in England which was patented in 1842.
The experimental appraisal of fertilizers, originated by Lawes and Gilbert at
Rothamsted, has continued to the present day. By 1840 it was recognized that:
1. Mineral substances are not just found by chance in the plant, they are
essential components of the plant.
2. Plants require ten elements (COH.NPSK Ca Mg Fe). All except COH is
derived from salts in the soil.
3. Different plant species need different quantities of nutrients.
4. Many soils lack some nutrients, which can be restored through applied
fertilizers.
5. The plant as a nutrient does not require humus, however it is important
as nutrient source.
Soil Fertility Investigations in Nigeria
Research on soil fertility maintenance in Nigeria dates back to 1925-1933 with
experiments on leguminous crops at Ibadan and fallow trials with pigeon pea
(Cajanus cajan) and gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus) at Samaru (Faulkner
1934) as well-as at Yandev during 1938-1940. Farmers however, could not
understand or accept the economics of a practice where no actual cash returns
were realized.
Attempts were made to replace the legume fallow system with farmyard
manure (FYM), animal dung, poultry droppings and household refuse, including
human wastes. The bulky nature of FYM (requires 20 tonnes per hectare),
cumbersome transportation, tasking labour requirement in. the application
coupled with low mineral nutrient content (6.1 %) and slow mineralization and
release rate, discouraged its widespread acceptance as researchers found its
adoption to be rarely practicable.
The first record of mineral fertilizer use in Nigeria was in 1937 when it was
demonstrated that response of cereal crops to FYM was matched by the use of
single superphosphate (SSP) containing quantities of phosphate equivalent. to that
in the organic manure. This, with the series of soil fertility studies at Ibadan
(Vine 1953), standard DNPK experiments at Samaru (Obi 1959), fertilizer
studies in Eastern Nigeria (Irving 1951) and others in the Middle Belt (Watson
and Goldsworthy 1964) marked the beginning of fertilizer consumption in the
country. Agronomic studies on fertilizers were carried out in Eastern Nigeria in
Cupertino with Messrs Albatross Superfosfaatfabriken who arranged for
preparing the mixtures; there was also the FAOlFreedom from Hunger Campaign
Fertilizer Programme in the country from 1962 to 1971 set-up with trials and
demonstrations. Notable scientists from our universities and research institutes
made significant contributions on soil organic matter, soil microbiology, soil
physics,and soil fertility and plant nutrition to extend the frontier of knowledge
in soil fertility maintenance and fertilizer use in Nigeria over the past six decades.
The activities of the late sixties calumniated in anF AOINORADIFDA sponsored
seminar on fertilizer use development in Nigeria, beldat Ibadan in April 1974.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
174 GD Obigbesan
Considerable data on fertilizer response are now available in Nigeria,
generated from researches also by National Accelerated Food Production
Programme (NAFPP) minikit trials, the Agricultural Development Projects
(ADP), the lamentably short-lived National Fertilizer Centre at Ibadan and later
the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC).
Fertilizer Use Development in Nigeria
Why should we blame Nigerian farmers on their sub-optimal use of fertilizer
nutrients when besides individual publications at state level, up-to-date
information on fertilizers and their use on all crops in all parts of Nigeria was not
made available until 19 years ago, precisely 1980, with the publication
"Fertilizers and their Application to Crops in Nigeria" (FDA 1980). The first
National Seminar of Fertilizer Use Development was held in Port Harcourt in
1987 followed by another on Organic Fertilizer at Kaduna in 1991.
Fertilizer Production and Distribution Service in Nigeria
The procurement, pricing, subsidy and distribution of fertilizer was centralized in
1977 after the launching of "Operation Feed the Nation" (OFN) Programme in
the 1976/77 crop season. Prior to this time, each state government imported its
own fertilizers, which resulted in price discrepancies, and little or no control on
the quality of fertilizer type and packaging material. This created congestion at
the seaports as orders arrived at the same time following indiscriminately huge
importation and heavy subsidy.
In order to reduce importation, the Government of Nigeria approved pla
for the domestic production of fertilizers (Table 2). The Federal Superphosphate
Fertilizer Company (FSFC) based in Kaduna was commissioned in 1976 to t
produce single superphosphate (SSP) from phosphate rock and sulphur andthg.'
National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON) based in Onne (Port
Harcourt) was commissioned in 1987 to produce anhydrous ammonia from
natural gas (Table 3). The National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON)
also manufactures granular Urea and NPK of various grades.
Table 2: Fertilizer Procurement Structure Tonnes in Nigeria
(1~88- 1995)
'- Year Import Local Total %Local
sources supply supply
1988· . 384,500 ·365,500 750,000 49 ,.
.1989 400,000, 500,000 900,000 56
1990 ' 706,000* 608,000 1;314,000 46 .. :
1991 400,000 600,000 1,000,000 60 ,
199'2 610,000 800,000,_ },410,900 ·57,. -
. - 1993 645,000 745,000 .1,390,000 54 i '.< .
1994 ' 850,000 800,000 1,650,000 ~9
199'5 - 835,000 835,000 100
*Include~ World-B;i1k funded' impo-rts
Sources"PPDD. Reports': . " ," ,
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Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 175
Table 3: Bask Raw Materials for Fertilizer Production in Nigeria
Fertilizer Raw material Sources Estimated
nutrient reserves
Nutrient Natural gas Niger Delta oil 1,200 billion
provides provmce M3
hydrogen; air
supplies
nitrogen
Phosphorus Phosphate rocks Dahomey Basin 100,000 tons -
(Ogun State - 5 million tons
1921 Lullemedor
Basin (Sokoto
State) -1976-
1978 Anambra
Basin (lmo State)
- 1979 Niger
Delta Basin
(Delta State) 1986
Sulphur - Pyrites Ogun 70 million
, Marcasite Ondo tons
Tar sand Edo State extractable
from 40
Gypsum Sokoto basin Imo, billion barrels
Ogun, Anambra of heavy oil
Cross River
States.
Calcium and Limestone Igbeti (Oyo State
magnesium Marble Kwara (Elebu)
Dolomite Niger (Kwakuti)
(CaMgC03) FCT (Burum)
Kaolin Kaolin Ubulu-Uku
(fertilizer filler) Clay (86.7%
Quartz 133%
Micronutrients Zin-carbonate, . Benue Abakalili
FuS (Sphalerile) Area ,
Zinc, Copper (Smithsonite) All over Nigeria ~ ,
- Pb-Zn deposits . , ..
Boron Tourmaline All over Nigeria- .-
with pegmatites
Molybdenum Molybdenite. . Nassarawa-Egom ., .-
Mos Tibochi Hills .,
-- .-. .. 2 -' - -' .,
'7.' Ikere-Ekiti.v '. ~,..... , .,
Unfortunately, the National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON)
in-i'j'iorls'phosphQric acid and potash while Federal' Superphosphate Fertilizer
Company (FSFC),also imports phosphate rock and~~~phll\'.,¢(),n$~quentiy, this
situation contributes to the high cost of production arid poorfarmers are required
to pay high prices for fertilizers, _" _
< .~ -~- •• - -" • • ....- 1_
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
176 G.O.Obigbesan
Farmers' Dilemma Over Resources, Production Technology and Resources
Management
The main medium of crop nutrition, the soil, constitutes the farmers' most
important production capital. Most Nigerian soils, however, have low inherent
fertility and fragile physical structures prone to degradation and erosion. Due to
predominance of low activity clay (LAC) particles which result in low buffering
capacity against acid formation and low ability to retain nutrients (that is, low
cation exchange capacity) against removal by percolating rain water, they vary
widely in their mineral nutrient reserves.
Soils: low fertility.
According to FAO's classification, 63% of Nigeria land area consists of low
productivity soils, only 6% is of good productivity and virtually no soil of high
productivity potential. This classification is based on the physical and chemical
properties of the soils and ease of management. Our resource poor farmers must,
therefore, contend with and overcome this constraint if they are to produce
meaningful yields. The scope of expansion of agricultural areas is limited by land
tenure system, explosive demographic growth and non-agricultural land
development uses (roads, townships, industrial estates, petrol stations, etc.). The
farmer is therefore compelled to cultivate continuously the same piece of land
which in some places is hotly contested by his nomadic kinsmen who are always
in perpetual search for grazing areas. Moreover, new crop technologies
particularly improved varieties being made available are usually fertilizer-
intensive. Fertilizer use has a dual purpose of feeding crop plants with nutrients
and replenishing the soil (to maintain soil fertility) and environment to make up
for nutrient losses due to leaching, fixation and surface wash.
Given the above scenario, the Nigerian farmer has an uphill task and,
therefore, must use fertilizers to ensure the production of substantial yields.
Nigerian farming population is dominated by illiterate and old generation peasant
farmers whose number dwindles by day and who could not be expected to sustain
medium-scale farming of about 12 ha, talk less of large scale 100-1000 ha. The
efficient use of fertilizer by illiterate farmers remains enigmatic as only 25
percent of agricultural graduates have taken up agriculture as a profession. The
dilemma facing Nigerian farmers in their ploy to use fertilizers could be grouped
into two broad categories. The first category is the farm-level constraints to
fertilizer use associated with:
(i) Agricultural production technology - inadequate knowledge of fertilizer
type, as well as the time, rate and mode of fertilizer application, and the
growing oflow yielding, non-fertilizer responsive crop varieties.
(ii) Resource endowment of Nigerian farmers - lack of access to credit in
spite of existing Nigerian Agricultural Co-operative Bank.(NACB) and
low purchasing power.
(iii) Socio-economic factors affecting the attitude and behaviour of farmers.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 177
Until recently, On-Farm-Adaptive Research (OFAR) with farmer-participatory
approach was lacking. A farmer might reject or modify the recommended
fertilizer application rates.
The second group of obstacles is characterized by constraints on the supply
of fertilizers and are associated with
(i) importation
(ii) production.
(iii) (iii)marketing and distribution
(iv) research and extension
(v) soil testing.
Importation
Fertilizer import bills into Nigeria skyrocketed particularly with the launching of
various agricultural programmes such as NAFPP,(1973), ADPs (1975), RBDAs
(1976), OFN (1976) Green Revolution (1979), DFRRI (1986). The huge
importation of fertilizers, however, did not mean their ready availability to
farmers. What happened?
Production
Local production of superphosphate since 1976 and ammonia, including urea and
NPK fertilizers since 1987 within Nigeria has also been inadequate to meet local
or national demand (table 4). What happened?
Table 4: Local Fertilizer Production Capacity in Nigeria
Company Year Product slates Iustalled Capacity
Commissioned capacity utilization
iMTI (%)
FSFC; Kaduna 1976 SSP Sulphuric acid 100,000 20
40,000
NAFCON, 1987 Ammonia 300,000
Onne Urea 450,000
DAP
NPK:25-1O-10
27-13-13
20-10-10
20-10-05 300,000 100
F&X: 1989 NPK:27-13-13
Kaduna 20-10-10
20-1 0-1O+S+Zn
20-10-05+\ 0 Ca
150,000 30
Agro- 1993 NPK:27-13-13 100,000 20
nutrients;
Kano
KASCO; 1993 NPK:27-13-13 10,000 25
Kano
NAFCON 1995 NPK:27-13-13
Bulk blending 20-10-10
plant; Onne 12-12+2mGo
12-12-17+7Mg() 200,000 •
·Started test-runs 2200 April, 1995.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
178 G.o. Obigbesan
Marketing and Distribution
Inconsistent pricing and subsidy policies and vexatious distribution systems have
with time made fertilizers a scarce commodity. Fertilizers were not available at
the crucial time of need by farmers. For instance, this year's (1999) allocation of
117,000 tonnes of fertilizers to 36 States was done in mid-August (Ref: New
Nigeria, 20th August, 1999). A 50 kg bag of NPK-15-15-15 which sold for
Wl,500 in 1998 was priced at W900 in 1999, thanks to President Obasanjo's new
policy of "milk of life" to restore subsidy.
In spite of heavy subsidy of up to 82-85 % over the years, except in 1985
(35%) and 1995 (no subsidy) consumption of plant nutrients is abysmally low at
9-11 kg of nutrients/ha compared with 91, 94 and 231 kg of nutrients/ha in Asia,
North America and Western Europe, respectively. IFDC (1988) estimated that
31, 54 and 23-kg fertilizers per hectare are utilized in the north, middle belt and
southern zones of Nigeria, respectively.
As rightly noted by Falusi (1987), fertilizer to the individual farmers is just
like any other input in their farming enterprises. The farmer's costs and returns
are determined by the technical efficiency of fertilizer used in each crop or crop
combinations, the price of fertilizer applied and the price of crops produced
therefrom. Farmers must be convinced that the returns (unit gain) from the use of
external input are sufficiently high to motivate them to rnvest in the restoration of
the fertility of their farms. This is real dilemma.
Research and Extension
Ogunfowora (1987) observed that the operative fertilizer research and extension
policy aimed to encourage balanced nutrient use consistent with agronomic
requirement of crops in different agro-ecological zones had been restricted to
certain crops. He also noted that lack of funding had not allowed a continuous
evaluation of fertilizer recommendation packages through research and
demonstration. As of today (1999), the establishment of statewide ADPs has laid
a solid foundation for effective nation-wide fertilizer
extension activities. Invariably, adverse reports about the quality of some
fertilizers on the market were of concern to farmers. Thus a study by the
International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC-A) in 1995 in West Africa
sub-region found that 58 % of fertilizers sampled were underweight as regards
weight shown on the bags.
The chemical composition of the products such as sulphate of ammonia,
NPK-15-15-15 and single superphosphate also gives researchers some concern as
the nutrient element content sometimes falls far short of the analysis indicated on
the bags. Farmers are advised to beware when next they purchase bags of
fertilizers. - --
Needfor Soil Testing Service
The efficacy of fertilizers in stimulating increased crop yields is now well
recognized by Nigerian farmers. However not every arable land will respond to
fertilizers, for there are indeed some soils which give adequate yields without
fertilizer application, and, therefore, fertilization of such soils will amount to a
waste of resources.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 179
The question arises as to how to identify such fertile soils in order to advise
the farmers correctly. Soil testing for chemical and physical properties has to be
done. It is basic for fertilizer recommendations. Without soil testing a farmer who
employs a general blanket fertilizer recommendation would be unable to correct
the yield limiting nutrient deficiency peculiar to his farmland with grave
consequences of acidification and yield decline.
My Contributions
The foregoing considerations inspired my own humble contribution to soil
fertility management and fertilizer use in Nigeria. I had the privilege of a seven-
year foreign scholarship at Justus Yon Liebig University Giessen in then West
Germany to study Agricultural Chemistry in the Institute of Plant Nutrition. I was
permitted to present my Diploma Thesis on "Die Anpassung Yon Dungemitteln,
Dungungsverfahren und Ausbringungsmenthoden an tropische Verhaeltnisse-am
Beispiel Nigerias" (The suitability of fertilizers and fertilization techniques for
tropical conditions on the example of Nigeria) in 1967 and my doctorate thesis
focused on "Untersuchnngen Zur Frage der PVersorgung mittelafrikanischer
Boeden und P- Wirkung vershchiedener Phosphatdungemittel" (Investigations on
the phosphorus status of soils of West and Central Africa and the effect of
different phosphate fertilizers) in 1970.
My research has focused on the assessment of nutrient status of soils in the
humid tropics in relation to fertilizer nutrient needs of arable food crops, maize
(Zea mays), yams (Dioscorea species) and cassava (Manihot esculenta), as well
as plantation crops (cocoa (Theobroma cacao), plantain (Musa paradisiaca) and
coconut (Cocos nucifera)). I have also monitored and continue to monitor the
role of fertilizer nutrient elements on the yields, chemical composition, quality
and disease tolerance of improved crop varieties of cassava, white yam and water
yam that were released to National Food Production Programmes in the country.
Nigeria is richly endowed with local raw materials for fertilizer production. The
assessment of the potentials of Nigerian phosphate rocks for direct use as sources
of phosphorus and calcium for crop production grains, forage grass and oil palm
seedlings in selected agro-ecologies also constitutes an aspect of my research
thrust. I wish to highlight just a few.
Evaluation of Soil Nutrient Status for Crop Production
Towards accurately establishing the hunger status of the soil in a farmland, we
adopted various diagnostic techniques. Among the tools we employed in our soil
testing programme is the Electro-UItra-Filtration (EUF) equipment designed for
soil fertility and plant nutrition studies.
The EUF -technique extracts nutrients from the soil solution through
electrolysis and ultrafiltration by simultaneous extraction of cations and anions at
different voltage levels. It simulates the action of plant roots in nutrient
absorption from the soil environment (Fig. 3).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
180 G.o. Obigbesan
=:::..-=::.: l"t<NI.s.t::! (i.",t C••"u....\nU" •••...••.
:::.::::::~: .;J.!>oto..hi>.,) .
•• ~ ~ ~11•.•'.\ti\<,t lp'.l .~ Cl~~i''''(••101L
;I'i~','y .....!rit>\h) e..~. ~QM5U4~1o.-l<.·'I:~1\:l e"'ffer-~ ~tA l<lb\,(.i~ to rl.fu...al!d 1 ~"" Mlt-r,c,...4}. .
,I..
f)"' •.••. t.i.,"" "" b(,'itO~tt..o"" tfli\l",\
I 1 I I
.. . ...
Fig. 3: EUF-Equipment extracts soil nutrients to ascertain fertility status
We are, thus, able to determine the nutrient intensity, quantity and buffering
capacity of the soil simultaneously. In several studies (Nemeth, 1979; Obigbesan
and Mengel; 1981a, 1981b; Obigbesan, Akinrinde and Kayode, 1986), we
demonstrated the high predictive value and usefulness of the EUF technique for
soil fertility investigations and fertilizer recommendations.
This EUF-Equipment was generously donated for my use through a
fellowship award by Alexander-Yon-Humboldt Foundation of Germany and we
have been able to train scholars at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Among
our products is currently a Senior Lecturer in our own Agronomy Department.
We have calibrated the EUF-Equipment for soil testing and fertilizer advisory
purposes (Tables 5 and 6; Fig. 4).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 181
Table 5: Calibration ofEUF-Extractable Nutrients for Maize grown in an Alfisol
Plant Nutrient EUF la-nutrient EUF IO-nutrient Corresponding
data rating values (fig g-I nutrient of
soil) earleaf (% in
drv matter)
N Low <If.OO <2.19
Medium 11.00-22.00 2.19-2.53
High /' >22.00· >2.53
Optimum 31.50 3.05
p Low <0.435 <0.33
Medium 0.435-0.520 0.33-0.37
High >0.520 >0.37
Optimum 0.640 0.45
K Low <20.70 <1.78
Medium 20.70-23.55 1.78-1.80
High >23.55 >1.80
Optimum 27.42 1.79
Ca Low <22.00 <0.43
Medium 22.00-25.80 0.43-0.44
High >25.80 >0.44
. Optimum 30.11 0.44
Mg Low <6.60 <0.23
Medium 6.60-12.80 0.23-0.32
High >12.80 >0.32
Optimum 12.65 0.32
Table 6: Evaluation ofEUF-K data for cassava crop on an Alfisol
EUF Extraction time Ranking-order EUF K-Ievel for
(min.) (low, medium, optimum root
hlzh e kle soil) vield
1. 5 10 11-15 15 16.8+
ReI. yield 57-73 88-96 98-99
(%)
2. 5 10 11-14 15 17.3++ 17.1
(R.Y) 61-84 88-95 99.2
3. 10 25 26-35 40 42.9+
(R.Y) 72-82 84-98 99
4. 10 25 26-35 40 46.8++ 44.9
(R.Y) 65-80 82.97 98.8
5. 30 40 41-55 60 69.3+
(R.Y) 58-83 84-95 97
30 40 41-55 60 69.7++ 69.5
(R.Y) 60-81 74-97 98
+ Fresh root
++ Dry weight
Source: Akinrinde, Obigbesan and Okeke, 1983)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
182 GiOi Obigbesan
Fig. 4: Calibration ofEUF-K soil test values for maize yields in field experiments
In our other works on soil testing for plant nutrition we have elucidated the
micro-nutrient status of tree crop plantation soils of South West Nigeria, the
importance of zinc and copper in cacao production and. the safe and toxic
application rates of boron for cacao seedlings for the benefit of cacao farmers
(Chude and Obigbesan 1982, 1983, 1984). We have also identified the critical
nutrients needed for the establishment of coconut plantations in Coastal Plain
Sands such as found in Badagry area (Amalu and Obigbesan 1990; Obigbesan
and Amalu 1994).
Role of Fertilizers in Crop Yield and Quality
The role of soil and fertilizer nutrient elements in the quality, storability and
disease infestation of farm/crop produce did not attract the attention of early
fertilizer researchers on food crops in Nigeria even though by the 1960s there
was enough information to encourage the establishment of fertilizer
recommendations on the basis of fertilizer response zones in the different
ecological areas (Hartley 1937; Doyne et al. 1938; Obi 1959; Mann 1963; Amon
and Adetunji 1969; Goldsworthy 1966). Even though farmers recognize and
accept that fertilizer input would boost their crop yields, many farmers would
decline to apply fertilizers to yams, claiming or arguing that chemical fertilizers
would impair the quality attributes of tubers such as taste, colour and shelf life of
harvested tubers. Some would even swear that yams fertilized with the popular
sulphate of ammonia did not store well nor pound well and farmers in Kabba area
complained that yams grown with 125 kgN/ha sulphate of ammonia blackened
on cooking. These complaints could be attributed to the misuse of fertilizer
\
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 183
elements arising from lack of knowledge of the appropriate fertilizer nutrient
ratios and type of fertilizer suitable for their soils. Similar observations of
darkening of potato flesh as a result of K deficiency are well documented and the
application of K fertilizers minimizes the proportion of tuber darkening. From
our experiments at Eruwa in 1977 and 1978, we established that yams might not
need P-fertilizer doses beyond 30 kgPlha as they were able to utilize P efficiently
at low concentrations (0.07 ppmP) in the soil solution due to mycorrhizal
association (Vander Zaag, Fox, Kwakye and Obigbesan 1980). Unfortunately,
food crop farmers are yet unable to take full advantage of the mycorrhiza input to
reduce fertilizer costs because of the complex technology.
Results of our investigations on the role of fertilizer and soil nutrients
revealed that incomplete nutrient application (nutrient imbalance) adversely
affects yield and quality. For yams, optimum yields were obtained (15-38 %
higher yield) with combined application of 60 kg Nand 30 kgPlha in the
Savannah zone of Western Nigeria. Higher N rates led to significant yield
reduction and subsequently accelerated the sprouting of yams during storage
while adequate P rates suppressed sprouting thereby promoting the shelf life
(Kpeglo, Obigbesan and Wilson 1981). Our recent findings (Adeniji, Obigbesan,
Asiedu and Bokanga 1998) confirm that application of nitrogen alone reduced
the quality, while a combination of N.P.K.-Mg improved the general
acceptability of yam tubers when pounded or fried (1999).
Our data in Table 7 revealed for the first time ever, that yams are greater
depleters of soil nutrients than cassava, removing about four times as much N
and at least twice as much P and K as cassava that was reputed to be a voracious
depleter of soil nutrients (Obigbesan and Agboola 1978).
Table 7: Nutrient Removal by Yam Crops Through Tuber Harvest
Yam species Fresh Dry Nutrient removed, kg/ha
tuber matter
yield yield
t/ha t/ha
N p K Ca Mg
D. alata 35.9 9 12 16.9 162 2.8 7.9
8
D. cayenensis 33.5 11.6 10 14.8 139 2.9 10.1
5
D. rotunda cv 39.5 12.1 15 18.2 176 3.9 10.7
efuru 5
D. rotunda c. v. 20.4 7.2 82 10.5 91 2.1 6.6
Aro
It is my significant contribution, in collaboration with an erudite professor of
nematology to elucidate the spread and host preference of the serious yam pest,
Scutellonema Bradys, under different soil fertility regimes. We found that
increasing N application from 60 to 90 kglha escalated the nematode population
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
184 G.O.Obigbesan
in white yam (D. rotunda), while P did not favour nematode buildup (Obigbesan
and Adesiyan 1981). This has led to a caution to farmers that application of
incomplete nutrient has deleterious effects on produce quality.
Cassava Nutrition: of Yields, Starch and Cyanide
The nutrition of root crops was hitherto a neglected field of study in Nigeria as
breeding only dominated the scene of early improvement research (Ekandem
1961). There was therefore no official fertilizer recommendation for cassava
production in Nigeria before we took off. My work on cassava unravelled the N
and K needs of currently recommended cassava varieties, identified the fertilizer
responsive (TMS 60506) and non-responsive (TMS 53101) types so that farmers
would save their money on fertilizer input where necessary. I have provided far
reaching and practically useful information on root quality, starch and HCN
content, for industrial processors of food and textile and nutrient removal by
specified cassava cultivars released to National Food Production Programme by
the National Seed Service for large-scale growers. Although it can be cultivated
in impoverished nutrient deficient and marginal soils where other crops will fail
to produce reasonable yields, golden cassava responds very well to generous
doses ofN, K and P even when applied to a preceding crop of maize (Zea mays).
By allowing the crop to grow up to 15-months, the starch yield was more than
doubled and about thrice that at 9 months. The TMS 53101 produced maximum
starch yield with 60 kg N while the improved 60506 type needed 90 kgN/ha. In
co-operation with a renowned plant pathologist, we were able to demonstrate that
adequate K application (90 kgK20/ha) significantly reduces bacterial blight,
Xanthomonas manihotis, a serious and devastating disease of cassava (Adeniji
and Obigbesan 1976) in Nigeria and the tropics.
Nitrogen, an essential nutrient that is most limiting in crop production proves
to be indispensable for high yields. My research has established a salient fact that
when high N level results in high HCN in cassava leaves and roots, but that
thorough processing as is done traditionally reduces the cyanide in the end-
product tgari, lafun, etc.) to negligibly low and tolerable levels (Obigbesan
1983). This fact was demonstrated to the world body of root crop scientists in
Lima, Peru in 1983.
Issues of Cassava Cyanide
The cyanogenic character of cassava is not in doubt; the importance of cassava in
agricultural and economic development and in food security is also indisputable.
However, the literature is replete with reports on health implications of chronic
cyanide toxicity in animals and humans that feed on high cassava rations. These
are attributed to the breakdown products - cyanohydrins and hydrogen cyanide
(Fig. 5).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers:NigerianFarmer's Dilemma 185
(':!,.. C:'::N
eH,o1l J
o O-~ tn, elll011 o ·O-.~- .e. n.I .
• 011 ell, 011 .C,li,
OH . 011 .
~. 011 ~ 011
Linalnlrh {COlllcnt,,',",,)
-t t-
CII,OIl
~'".~" ~", ell,
•. Cz:U • IIC-:N .• t:o •.uc-=k..;!
eIn, IOH ell,
i 011
I'tCctUIK ttytlrfll\.T. "~I!1"n' U~·',Ir"'Jf;I;
Cy:.ni:ic Cyanide
Fig. 5: Structure and Hydrolytic Bye-Products of Cyanogenic glycoside in Cassava
Our National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike and the lITA, Ibadan
with whom I closely collaborate, are concerned with cassava safety and have
produced low cyanide cassava varieties TMS 30001; TMS 4(2) 1425; NR 84175;
NR 84204. When, therefore, in mid-to-late 1989 Nigerian newspapers came out
one after another with screaming horrible headlines such as:
"Boiled cassava is dangerous" (Nigerian Tribune May 29, 1989)
"Killer gari now in the market" (The Vanguard, July 13, 1989) "Four kids die
after a meal, cassava wreaks havoc in family" (The
Daily Champion, October 11, 1989).
It was incumbent on us to inquire:
"Who's givinggari a bad name?" (Vanguard, October, 1989)
In collaboration with Professor O. L. Oke ofObafemi Awolowo University with
sponsorship by lITA, I had the privilege to organize a national workshop
involving all stake-holders - farmers, plant breeders, agronomists, biochemists,
processors, sociologists, toxicologists, medical consultants and journalists. The
workshop examined the long-term and short-term effects of such reports on the
cassava-based industry, the economy of Nigeria and the food security of the
people. Besides the clinical presentation of reported cases of cassava meal
poisoning at Lagos University Teaching Hospital LUTH and Adeoyo State
Hospital, Ibadan, the fresh gari samples I collected from poisoned victims did not
contain intolerable levels of cyanide. The workshop communique concluded that
reported deaths were not due to cyanide and allayed the fears of the populace to
"keep eating your gari but ensure thorough processing of cassava roots".
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
186 c.o. Obigbesan
Use of Local Raw Materials as Fertilizers
The use of organic manure as fertilizer has stood the test of time. Farmers
especially in northern Nigeria commonly use kraal manure and droppings from
roaming animals. Vegetable and flower growers in urban and peri-urban areas
make lucrative business utilizing organic refuse collected from urban wastes. The
highly priced products like vegetables, tomatoes, peppers and flowers adequately
compensate the enormous labour input costs of transportation, sorting, and
application of the large quantity required (10-20 tonnes per ha).
I commend the Oyo State Government for floating its "Pacesetter Fertilizer
Company" at Bodija, Ibadan, which as a deliberate effort at waste disposal and
environmental cleansing, produces composted manure which is sold to farmers
state-wide. This is common in many other West African countries. However, and
here is a real dilemma, the plant nutrient content of the Bodija manure Grades A
& B (see Table 8) is very low, particularly in N & P and would need to be
fortified with mineral fertilizer as already emphasized some twenty years ago by
Agboola and Obigbesan (1975) that crop production can best be sustained by
integrated management of crop residue, organic manure and mineral fertilizers.
Table 8:Nutr!ents Composition of "Pacesetter Company" Organic Fertilizer
N P K Ca Cost of Unit
SOkg cost
bag to per kg
the nu-
farmer trient
(% dry wt*)
GRADE A 1.16 1.48 1.82 3.62
GRADEB 0.94 0.28 1.15 1.19
Kg Nutrient per 50kg Total, .
bag kg .
GRADE A . 0.58 0.74 0.91 1.81 4.04 ~350.00 ~6.6
GRADE B 0.47 0.14 0.58 0.59 1.78 ~300.00 ~168.5
NPK 7.5 7.5 7.5 - 22.50 ~950.00 W42.2
-15-15-15
The Department of Agronomy has collaborated with the Raw Materials Research
Development Council (RMRbC) and NARP to adopt local raw materials for use
as fertilizers. I have been leading a team of Phosphate Research to study the
agronomic efficiency and soil ameliorating potentials of Ogun Rock Phosphate
and Sokoto Rock Phosphate for direct use as fertilizers by resource poor farmers.
Our efforts ate Yielding fruitful rewards in the efficacy of ground phosphate
rocks applied directly to forage grass (for livestock) maize and even polybag oil
palm seedling designated for distribution to farmers of Community-based
Technology Transfer Centre (CTTC) (Figs. 6,7,8,9, and 10).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Fanner's Dilemma 187
Fig 6: Maize responds better to ground rock phosphates than SSP in an acid soil
(Dystric Nitrosol, Benin Fasc, pH4.8/3.8)
Fig 7: Incontrovertible response ofPennisetum species (millet) to Sokoto Rock Phospha e
in an Ayepe soil (Typic Kandiudalf/Ferric Luvissol, pH, 6.8/5/9)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
188 G.o. Obigbesan
Fig 8: In Psdeficient Alfisols, ORP and SRP produce bountiful forage grass yields
Fig. 9: Incontrovertible response of polybag oil palm seddlings to Ogun Rock
Phosphate in an Ultisol
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 189
Fig. 10: Superior performance of oil palm seedlings fed with local rock phosphates
compared imported SSP in an Alfisol
Conclusion
In this lecture, attempt has been made to highlight the development of the science
of plant nutrition as basis for fertilizer use development and soi 1 testing as a
desideratum for fertilizer recommendation to farmers. I have spotlighted the
dilemma facing Nigerian farmers who cultivate increasingly infertile soils to
produce less food for meeting the needs of this nation. My research efforts were
also spotlighted.
It is my submission, that Nigerian farmers in the next millennium would have
no option but to use fertilizers for sustainability and productivity. As rightly
observed by Breman, the Director of IFDC-A (1999), "an improvement in soil
fertility can lead to greater food security, a drop in food prices, an increase in
exports, the control of degradation of resources and desertification, a slowdown
in urbanization and migrations and finally, a reduction in the change of global
climate."
Since the achievement of self-sufficiency and food security depend on
sustained soil productivity, the salvation of this country will depend on the
fertility of our soils and souls. Government is, therefore, enjoined to invest in
basic infrastructure especially transportation and energy systems in the rural
areas. Government should ensure that sufficient price incentives exist to make
fertilizer use profitable for farmers. Farmer education on fertilizer use technology
should be intensified. Since Nigeria possesses basic raw materials needed for
fertilizer production, a more patriotic move should be made to develop and
exploit the available ones such as Tar sand, Ogun phosphate and Sokoto
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
190 G.o. Obigbesan
phosphate rocks, for fertilizer manufacture instead of costly importation from
Togo and Morocco. Investment in Soil Testing as a holistic programme at
established institutions should be embarked upon without further delay for
fertilizer advisory purposes.
REFERENCES
Adegoke, O.S., Ajayi, T.R., Nehikhare, J.1. and Rahama. M.A. 1991). Fertilizer Raw
Material Situation in Nigeria. Proceedings of National Organic Fertilizer Seminar
Kaduna, 26 - 27 March (1991) 17 pages.
Adeniyi, M.O. and Obigbesan, G.O. (1976). The effect of potassium nutrition on the
bacterial wilt of Cassava. Nigerian J Plant Protection. 23, pp 1-3.
Adeniyi, M.O. Obigbesan, G.O.; Asiedu, R. and Bokanga, M. (1998). Influence of
fertilizer on yield, storage and food qualities of yams. Proceeding, 7th Triennial
Symposium International Society for Tropical Root Crops. Africa Branch (ISTRC -
AB), Cotonou, October, 1998.
Agboola, A.A., Obigbesan, G.O. and Fayemi, A.A.A. (1975), Inorganic Materials as
fertilizers. Soils Bulletin, 27 FAO, Rome.
Akinrinde, F.A., Obigbesan, G.O. and Okeke, J.E. (1983). ElectroUltrafiltration
extractable K in relation to crop yields in tropical soils.
Amalu, V.C. and Obigbesan, G.O. (1990). Some characteristics of selected soil profiles
in coconut growing areas of southern Nigeria. Niger Agric. 24;pp. 97-106.
Amon, B.O.E. and Adetunji, S.A. (1970). Review of soil fertility investigations in
Western Nigeria. Research Report No. 55, Research Div. MANR, Western Nigeria.
Chude, V.O. and Obigbesan, G.O. (1982).Copper and Zinc status of tree crop plantation
soils in South Western Nigeria, Niger J. Soil Science 3, pp. I-B.
Chude, V.O. and Obigbesan, G.O. (1983). Safe and toxic application rates of boron for
cacao (Fheobroma cacao) seedlings. Plant and Soil 74, pp. 145-147.
Doyne, H.C., Hartley, K.T., and Watson, K.A. (1938). West African Soil types and
manual experiments in Nigeria. Proceedings Third African Agric. Conference.
Ekandem, M.J. (1970). Cassava Research in Nigeria before 1967. Fed. Agric. Res. Memo
103,p.15.
Falusi, A.O. (1987). Economic and Technical Efficiency of fertilizer Use in Agricultural
Production in Nigeria. Proceeding of National Fertilizer Seminar, Port Harcourt,
October 28 - 30, 1987, pp. 222 238.
Faulkner, O.T. (1934). Some experiments with leguminous crops at Ibadan, Southern
Nigeria. 1925-1933. Emp. J Exp. Agric. 2, pp. 93 - 99.
Federal Department of Agriculture FDA, (1980). Fertilizers and Their Application to
Crops in Nigeria.
Goldsworthy, P.R. (1967). Response of cereals to fertilizer in Northern Nigeria: II Maize.
Institute for Agric. Research.
Hartley, K.T. (1937). An explanation of the effects offarmyard manure in Northern
Nigeria. Emp. J Exp. Agric. 5, pp. 254 - 263.
International Fertilizer Development Centre IFDC (1988). Nigeria Fertilizer Sector:
Present Situation and Future Prospects. Technical Bulletin T 18 IFDC.
Irving, B.S.A. (1951). Fertilizer studies in Eastern Nigeria 19471951, Eastern Nigeria
Technical Bulletin No.1: 34 pages.
Kpeglo, K.D., Obigbesan, G.O., Wilson, J.E. (1981). Yield and shelf life of white yam
(Sioscorea rotundata) as influenced, by fertilizer nutrients. Beitraege trop.
Landwirtsch. Veterinary Med. 19(3), pp. 301 - 308.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Fertilizers: Nigerian Farmer's Dilemma 191
Mann, W.S. (1963). A study in the Economics of Fertilizer Use in Eastern Nigeria.
Technical Bulletin No.5, Min. Agric. Eastern Nigeria, 25 pages.
Nehikhare, J. I. (1987). Raw Material Sourcing for Fertilizer Production in Nigeria
Proceedings of the National Fertilizer Seminar Port Harcourt, Oct. 28 - 30, 1987, pp.
47 - 55.
Nemeth, K. (1979). The availability of Nutrients in the Soil as determined by electro-
ultrafiltration (EUF)., Advances in Agronomy. 31, pp. 155 - 188.
Obi, J.K. (1959). The standard DNPK experiments. Technical Report, No.8, Regional
Research Station, Samaru, Nigeria.
Obigbesan, G. O. (1973). The influences of potassium nutrition on the yield and chemical
composition of some tropical root and tuber crops. In: Potassium in Tropical Crops
and Soils. IPI, Berne, Switzerland, pp. 311 - 322.
Obigbesan, G.O., Adesiyan, S.D. (1981), 'The influence offertilizer nutrients on
population levels Santellonema bradys in three yam Species. Nematologia
Mediterranea 9, pp. 21 - 28.
Obigbesan, G.O. (1981), Nutrient requirements of yams, (Dioscorea species).
Agricultural Research Bulletin Vol. 2, No.1, Ibadan University Press. 20 pages.
Obigbesan, G.O., Agboola, A.A. Fayemi, A.A.A. (1992). Nitrogen and phosphorus
fertilizer needs of cultivated yams, (Dioscorea species. in savannah zone of W.
Nigeria., Niger Agric. J., 17118, pp. 129140.
Obigbesan, G.O. (1991). Issues of cassava cyanide:Nigeria's experience. Proceedings
Ninth Symposium of International Soc. Trap. Root Crops (ISTRC), Accra, Ghana,
pp. 233 - 236.
Obigbesan, G.O. and Amalu, U.C. (1994). Critical Nutrients in the establishment of
coconut plantations in Coastal Plain Soils. Proceedings 21st Annual Conference, Soil
Science Soc. Nigeria, Uyo.
Obigbesan) G.O. and Udosen, N.A. (1995). Suitability of Nigerian phosphate rocks for
direct use as P sources for crop production. African Soils, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 341 -
344
Ogunfowora, O. (1987). Fertilizer Policy and Programmes in Nigeria. Proceedings of the
National Fertilizer Seminar, Port Harcourt, Oct. 28 - 30, 1987, pp. 17 - 28.
Vander Zaag, P., Fox, R.L., Kwakye, P.K. and Obigbesan, G.O. (1980). The phosphorus
requirements of yams (Dioscorea species). Tropical Agric. (Trinidad), 57, pp. 97-106.
Watson, K.A. and Goldsworthy, P.R. (1964). Soil fertility investigations in the Middle
Belt of Nigeria. Emp. J. Exp. Agric., 32, pp. 290 - 302.
UNIV
RSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
10
SAFE FOR ALL: GIVE THE MAN MEAT
David O. Alonge
Department of Veterinary Public Health
and Preventive Medicine
Introduction
Ever since Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit, food has played an
important role in the life of man. Buddha affirms that hunger and love constitute
the generic force of all human history and according to Massayeff (1956),
civilization cannot develop until alimentary needs have been satisfied.
This is the second lecture from the department of Veterinary Public Health
and Preventive Medicine since the department was established in the 1974/75
session. The first lecture was delivered by Professor G.O. Esuruoso who is the
founding father of the department and the first African Dean of the Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine.
As an undergraduate student of this university resident in Independence Hall
in 1967, Peter, one of the porters, often taunted Geology and Veterinary students.
He shouted at a Geology student: "Go siddon, your friend dey study medicine,
you dey study stones". He would quickly turn to a few of us veterinary students
asking if indeed we were doctors because we never went to University College
Hospital, Ibadan to complete our training. Many may still wonder, even as a new
millennium arrives, who a veterinary doctor is and what is the scope of his
functions and services to humanity. He is:
A doctor of animals; trained to produce animal protein directly or
indirectly for the human public. Moreover, according to an
American senator, Will Rogers: "The veterinarian is the best
doctor in the world. He can't ask his patients what is the matter,
he's just got to know".
Those of us who specialize in veterinary public health are dedicated to ensure
a complete physical, mental, and social well-being of humans through the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
194 David 0. A Longe
application of veterinary medical science, resulting in extending life expectancy
and delaying the inevitability of death in man. By our training, veterinary public
health veterinarians are biomedically literate, biostatistically numerate and socio-
economically cost-conscious. We are the windows of veterinary medicine to the
human world.
With the creation of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria has joined
the rest of the world in the fight to save our environment. There is now more
public concern about the implications of animal wastes and animal food
processing wastes being dumped into the environment.
In the USA, 60 million pigs produce an estimated 100 million tons of faeces
and urine a year into the environment (Meadows, 1995). Public Health
Veterinarians are working everywhere to find a balance between producing
livestock and protecting the environment.
The topic of today's inaugural lecture is of interest to all mankind. By the end
of this century, 80% of the world population will be living in Africa and the other
third world countries and a significant number of these will have large food
deficits (FAO 1990). On a worldwide basis, cereals (maize, rice, sorghum, and
millet) supply more than 50% of human requirements for energy. Animal
products, meat,_ milk, eggs and animal fats supply 17% of the energy
requirements and 32% of the protein. However in the countries of Australia, New
Zealand and North America, for example, the amounts of protein available per
head per day is 30-40.0 gm compared with 4.5g in Africa and 4.8g in the Far East
(Bender 1992).
On October 13 1999, the world population reached the 6 billion mark. Out of
these, about 2 billion people are chronically undernourished. About 500 million
of these are famine-starved, with skeletal limbs and swollen bellies, with an
imminent danger of death. About 2.5 billion people are dying slowly, dying
because of ignorance, local taboos and religion rather than by famine. They are
dying of malnutrition rather than starvation. Dying sometimes in the mid of
plenty and according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), dying at
an astonishing rate of 28 children per minute because of malnutrition and
attendant diseases. Many of the world's starved do not only live in the sprawling
urban slums, of Ajegunle and Foko and in other rural areas but also on the
University of Ibadan campus, Bodija estate, Ikoyi, Asokoro-Abuja and other
GRAs of Nigeria. Many lecturers and professors do not earn enough to eat well.
Nutrient deficiencies produce a wide variety of illnesses; in fact, nutritional
deficiency contributes to much of the ill health in Nigeria. The most important
forms of malnutrition in Nigeria are protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM). The two
clinical forms of PCM are nutritional MARASMUS and KWASHIORKOR.
According to Latham (1996) Marasmus is due primarily to an energy (calorie)
deficiency; in kwashiorkor, protein deficiency predominates and leads to a slow
rate of growth, to poor development, to increased susceptibility to infections, and
eventually to permanent physical stunting.
Forty percent of all the malnourished are children and chronic malnutrition is
particularly devastating to the young. Most of the rest of the malnourished are
women. Millions of emaciated mothers are giving birth to emaciated babies,
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Safe For All: Give the Mall Meat 195
many of whom soondie. According to WHO (1984) 19.7% of babies born in
Africa are below 2.5kg. This is a reflection of the devastating consequence of
malnutrition during and after pregnancy. Such babies are three times more likely
to die in infancy than those who were born weighing more than 2.5kg. Even
when they survive, their chances of healthy growth and development are greatly
reduced. Life expectancy which averages 70 years in the developed countries
averages 50-52 years in Nigeria and lower in other developing countries.
There is a problem. The present world population of conventional meat
animals i.e. the cow, sheep, goat, pigs and poultry cannot feed the human
population today. Even by using today's advanced methods of breeding and
feeding and production of livestock, enough meat will not be available tor many
people who would like to eat it (World conference on animal production, 1983).
There is the need therefore to look at other sources of meat and fish.
What is Meat?
In his book on Food Hygiene, Alonge (1992) defined meat as "freshly dressed or
treated tissues, mainly skeletal muscle from warm blooded animals suitable for
use as food". All other types of meat must be so qualified, for example, meat
from snake is snake meat, or from dog is dog meat and from elephant is elephant
meat.
Types of Meat
Edible meat is in four categories and these are:
• Red meat i.e. beef, pork, goat meat, mutton and lamb;
• Poultry - broilers or fryers, turkey and duck meats;
• Seafood - fish, prawns, crayfish, lobsters, crabs and other shellfish;
• Venison or bush meat - deer, antelope;
• Nigerian meat products - Kundi, Kilichi, or Balangu, Tinko, Randa,
Banda or Tsire, meatballs or asun;
• Meat analogs - Today, with the advent of high technology, meat
imitations or meat analogs are manufactured to simulate the flavour and
texture of meat, fish or shellfish. The use of meat imitations will
increase in future, as population grows and conventional sources of
protein become more scarce.
Sources of Animal Protein
Meat comes from a few dozen out of the 3000 mammalian species. The human
diet is diverse. Some tribes, like the traditional Inuit of the Arctic region, the
Masai of East Africa and the Fulani of Nigeria derive most of their foods from
animal sources. The seal and polar bear are important in the diet of the Eskimos;
the Kangaroo is eaten by the Aborigines of Australia and the whale in Norway
and Japan. Mankind eat a wide range of foods of both animal and vegetable
origin. Many are even pure vegetarians.
Conventional sources of meat include the cattle, lambs, sheep, goats, swine,
camels, horses, rabbits, hares, game animals like antelopes, deer, buffalo, also
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196 David 0. Alonge
poultry, ducks, geese and turkeys. Unconventional sources of meat include
guinea pigs, frogs, pigeons, pheasants, crabs, turtle and termites. Others are the
giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus), squirrels, porcupine, snails, bats, rats, mice,
snakes, rainbow lizards, alligators, beetles, palm grubs, locusts, grasshoppers and
birds. Dried caterpillars called monimoni in Ibadan is particularly good in
vegetable soup.
The importance of game meat has erroneously been, focused mainly on large
game such as antelope, deer, buffalo, etc. In fact, in terms of their contribution to
daily diet, the more important are the smaller wildlife species. Across West
Africa, bush meat consumption is high especially in the tsetse fly infested forest
zones where bush meat provides up to 84% of the total meat consumed. In 1979,
Professor Ajayi of the Department of Wildlife, University of Ibadan, confirmed
that the large rodent called grass cutter or cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus) is
a delicacy.
Meat consumption is based on availability, price, religion, and cultural
beliefs. Those rejected for various reasons in one culture are fully accepted in
others. In Nigeria, the amount and type of meat eaten vary with income. Meat is
held in high esteem in most communities. It has prestige-and value and it is often
regarded as the central food around which meals are planned in rich families and
5-star hotels. Various types of meat are often made the basis of festivals and
celebrations. Without ram meat, Ileya festival is not complete. From the popular
as well as the scientific point of view, meat is a food of high nutritional value.
In 1988, when the issue of alternative sources of meat for hungry Nigerians
was first raised, the Nigerian press went to town with sensational headlines and
cartoons. Headlines like "Eat rats and lizards for protein: the new balancing diet
for the masses", "Oba alleged to have been driven from his palace by rats: he has
missed millions of Naira from a lucrative trade", and "Hungry? Have a lizard"
were flashed across newspapers in Nigeria.
These may sound funny but the fact is that the food situation in 1999 is worse
than what it was in 1988 when I made public the idea of alternative sources of
protein. It was not a funny case for that woman in 1988 who had four children
two of whom showed clear manifestations of Kwashiorkor. The poor woman had
only W20.00. Should the woman use her W20.00 to buy liver and kidney for the
children or convince her husbandto go to their village and catch rats or find any
of the alternative sources of protein to save the children? Which option is more
practicable? You need not take any of my suggested alternative sources of
protein, if it is not conducive to your general well-being for any reason
whatsoever especially, if you have enough money to buy cow hide (ponmo).
Flesh that is Toxic or Unsuitable for Man
I will be misleading this audience to give the impression that all meats are
suitable for man as food. Ichthyosarcotoxic fishes are marine organisms
whose flesh, skin or viscera contain naturally occurring poisons which when
eaten will produce biotoxication in man. Biotoxins are present in the fillet and
liver of some, sharks and rays, the gonads and liver of puffer fish contain
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Safe For All: Give the Man Meat 197
tetradotoxin. Murray eels and raffish contain neurotoxins. Outbreaks of
paralytic shellfish' poisoning are common in fish-eating communities.
Shellfish accumulates saxitoxin, a highly potent poison that is not destroyed
by cooking. Community elders and kings in the past would rather commit
hara-kiri by going into their inner chambers and eating a piece of tiger's liver
than face the shame of accusation of any wrongdoing by their people.
Nutritional Value of Meat Products
Give the man meat, the man you see, is the meat he eats!
Protein is a critically important part of diet. Dietary protein is broken down into
amino acids during digestion. Cells build up new proteins from these amino acids
to serve specific functions. Proteins play a role in virtually every cellular
function. For instance, proteins regulate muscle contraction, antibody production,
blood vessel expansion and contraction to maintain normal blood pressure. No
.wonder, the 1999 Nobel Prize for Medicine was won by Dr Guenter Blobel, a
German scientist who discovered how proteins find their rightful places in cells.
The most significant contribution which foods of animal origin make to
human nutrition is in the high quality proteins they supply (table 1). In addition
to providing the essential amino acids, which are the units from which tissues are
synthesized, proteins also serve in the form of nucleoproteins and enzymes.
Proteins are molecules essential to maintaining the structure and function of all
living organisms.
Table 1: Comparative Sources of Protein
Conventional % Unconventional %
Sources of Meat Protein Sources of Meat Protein
Beef 18 Rabbits 20.4
Goat meat 19 Guinea Pigs 22
Pork 16 Hares 22
Lamb 17 Giant Rats 20
Mutton 18 Grasscutter 21
Fresh Fish 19 Snakes 20
Dried Fish 47 Pigeon & Ducks 18
Eggs 12 Crabs 17
Ostrich meat 22 Turtle 16
Guinea fowl 18 Pheasants (aparo) 18
Winged Termites and beetles 20
Dried Caterpillars (Monimoni) 53
There are 23 amino acids 10 of which are classified as essential and 13 semi-
essential or non-essential. Proteins come from both animal and plant origin.
Animal proteins contain more of the essential amino acids and a higher nutritive
value than do the vegetable proteins. A table of comparative biological values of
some animal and vegetable sources of protein shows that beef and chicken have
higher protein efficiency ratio and net protein utilization values than beans and
soyabeans (table 2).
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Table 2: Biological Values of Vegetable and Animal Proteins
Biological Value Net protein
Protein Efficiency (BV) Utilization (NPU)
Ratio (PER)
Soybean 2.0 76 62
Dry Beans 1.4 59 44
Beef 2.3 72 70
Chicken 2.4 75 73
Source: Rao, M.N., FAO World Animal Review, 1973.
Factors which in addition to essential amino acid composition in determining
the quality of proteins, are availability of amino acids and the digestibility of the
proteins. Animal proteins are more digestible and there is a higher degree of
availability of amino acids in animal proteins. Animal proteins possess a
significant supplementary value to vegetable proteins most of which are deficient
in the essential amino acids, Lysine and Methionine.
Increased production and consumption of animal products are the only rapid
and efficient solution to the problem of protein malnutrition in the developing
countries.
Fats are found in meat as deposits under the skin, as in pigs and poultry, and
stored around the organs like the kidneys and intestine. Small amounts of fat are
visible between the bundles of muscle fibers, which give the typical marbling
seen in meat from cattle hump. There is a need to maintain sufficient fat in meat
to ensure good eating quality and a minimum fatness level is often required.
Because of the inter-muscular fat in cattle hump, the meat (Ike malu) is tender,
succulent and very palatable and of course more costly.
The amount of carcass meat obtained from animals varies with the type of
animal. The meat part of a cow is 34%, 16% bones, 16% organs, abdominal and
the intestinal contents 16% and the hide or skin is 6%. The organ meats are liver,
heart, brain, pancreas, tripe, feet, tail, testes, intestines, cheek meat, head meat
and fat - these are collectively called the offal.
The nutrient contents of the offal are richer than lean meat in iron and copper
and Vitamin B complex. The liver is particularly rich in Vitamin A, BJ, B2' B12'
niacin and Vitamin C, while the kidney is a rich source of Vitamin BJ, B2 and
B12. The lungs and the spleen have high contents of Vitamin C. Ears and feet
(Bokoto) have a high protein content but much of this is collagen and of poor
nutritional value.
Medical scientists incriminated meat as one of the sources of low-density
lipoproteins cholesterol (LDLc) which leads to coronary heart disease (CHD) in
man. The dietary goal should be reduction of cholesterol intake by selective
intake of certain meats with low level cholesterol and by decreasing intake of
other types of meat. However, the benefit of eating good meat to man out-weighs
any suggestion of eliminating meat from man's diet. The health hazards are often
due to man's ignorance, gluttony and overeating (A man weighing 68 kg should
not consume any more than 109g of meat per day). While the cholesterol debate
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continues, the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board has concluded that evidence does
not warrant specific recommendations about dietary cholesterol for the healthy
person, who does not need to be concerned about fat intake (Salunke 1996).
The ostrich is really the king of all birds. The family pattern of the ostrich
confirms this. The family pattern of the ostrich is polygyny in which a cock lives
with a "head hen" and two auxiliary hens. The head hen tolerates the other two
hens and all lay their eggs into a common nest before, dismissing the two junior
hens. The cock then sits on the eggs for 42 days. It is the largest living bird, the
tallest at 10 feet (3 meters) and weighs about 330 kg. At the peak of the Roman
Empire, ostrich flesh was the most prized meat of the emperors. Today, in
Europe, USA and South Africa, ostrich meat is the best and the most costly meat
in the world. It is reputed to be cholesterol free.
The best meat in the carcass of a cow is the sirloin steak. It is tender, lean and
palatable when properly prepared.
In the animal body, if you want meat that is fat free, go for the heart muscle,
once the fat on top of the heart is trimmed off, the heart muscle itself has no fat.
The heart muscle had to be fat free, tough with a high quantity of myoglobin (the
muscle O2 carrier) since the heart is expected to work continuously for about 70 -
120 years in man. •
Let every common man eat snail meat. If he has no money to buy, he can at
least pick some snails in the bush near his hut. Snail meat tastes nice and does the
body a lot of good. Snail meat contains a protein content of 88.37 gm/l00 g. It is
low in fat content at 1.64%, and low in cholesterol with only 20.28mg/l00gm.
Snail meat contains high calcium levels (185.7 mg 1l00g), phosphorus (61.24
mg/l00g) and iron (Fe). It is a low energy food at 64 calories per 100g, which is
good for diabetics (Olatokun 1999).
Those who eat cow leg (bokoto) and cow hide (ponmo) should have
consolation in the fact that they do not need to be afraid of over-weight or
cholesterol because they are already on a weight reducing diet. Cow leg [BokotoJ
and ponmo have only 0.7% fat, 99 calories and about 18% low grade protein.
Eat sun-dried or lightly smoke-dried fish, you will have 68.6% protein and
only 3.5% fat. Most fresh fish (except the fatty Clarias - Eja Abori) has only 50-
60mg/100g cholesteroL Fish fillet contains a lot of polyunsaturated fatty acids;
and according to Professor Agbedana in his 1997 inaugural lecture some fish are
rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and eisacopentanoic acid (EPA) which is
therapeutically applied for lowering blood cholesteroL
Fresh marine shrimps and prawns are good with 18.7% protein and only
1.77% fat. However, avoid shrimps caught in Lagos Lagoon because they are
heavily contaminated with Hepatitis A virus. Fresh Hake (Panla) is another good
fish with 29.5% protein and 2.6% fat.
Of the insects, smoke dried palm grubs (itun), (Rhychophorus spp.) give high
energy, 24.3% protein but very high fat of 55%. The protein content is surpassed
by dried caterpillars (monimoni) with 53%. protein and high energy content of
392 kilocalories. .
Data available point to the fact that the total meat available to Nigerians is
very low at an average of 11.2kg per person per annum. If every Nigerian has a
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200 David 0. Alonge
fair share of this, never will there be any fear of cholesterol and coronary heart
disease.
However, since Nigeria is a rooter country, the smart ones loot either the
meat or the money to buy the meat. The result is.that the "big man" eats 10 times
the normal share of meat due to him, he grows rosy cheeks, thick neck, and
comes down with chronic heart disease (CHD) to the bargain. .
The good news is that the average Nigerian who lives at a modest survival
level have no fear of coronary heart disease since in any case he eats, on the
average, less than 5gm of meat per day. At the local bukataria, he orders gari,
vegetable stew and when asked for the number of pieces of meat, he usually
shakes his head - none or at best asks for cow hide (ponmo) or a tiny cut of oku
eko (frozen fish).
What is definitely not healthy as one gets older is sheep brain with
2,200mg/100g cholesterol, so also are sheep and pig kidneys and liver which
have relatively high cholesterol at 400-410mg/100g. If you must eat deep oil-
fried broiler chicken, take the pains to remove the skin.
For the rich ones, eat veal (fillet of calves) - it has 21.1% protein and only
27% fat. Rabbit should be the meat of the people, it is easy and cheap to rear at
home on weeds and table left-over with a guaranteed 22% protein and only 4%
fat. •
Perhaps the best meat around the house is that grandmother's chicken. It is
not big but full of flavour with little or no cholesterol.
Safe and Wholesome Meat
One of the main services of the veterinary public health veterinarian is to ensure
that meat and meat products for the public are free from defects. Veterinary
examination of the carcass and organs to assess whether they are fit for human
consumption is carried out immediately after slaughter and dressing.
Meat inspection is not intended to turn bad meat into a good meat product.
The cattle, sheep and goats at the farm level are the raw materials for the
production of meat. If the raw material is bad, the product cannot be good. On the
farm, animals should be properly fed and housed. All sick animals should be
treated; only healthy animals should be sent for slaughter. Meats from sick and
undernourished animals are watery, gelatinous and of poor quality. Such meats
do not keep well; they shrink and give bad flavour after cooking.
We ensure that inspected and passed meat derived from healthy, properly
slaughtered animals reach the consumer in clean, unspoiled and wholesome state.
Therefore unhygienic transport, exposing the meat to heat, dust and bacterial
contamination nullifies all previous hygienic measures taken from the farm gate
to the abattoir. Never should meat meant for human consumption be carried in
the boot of a taxicab, for example.
Apart from prevention and control of diseases of animals transmissible to
man, public health veterinarians play parts in protecting public health during
wars, disease emergencies, volcanoes and atomic reactor blowouts. In nuclear
accidents, grasses are contaminated by radioactive fallout, the cattle comes along
to eat the grass, and the dangerous radioactive elements on the grass are passed
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into the milk. Veterinarians .determine if such milk is fit for human consumption.
In war situations, refugees always move with their pets and animals, vets play
major roles in such situations.
Meat Preservation
While I advocate tapping other sources of meat, what is available must be
preserved in good condition for future use or must be preserved in the production
areas for sale in distant market locations.
The ingenuity and experience of man have led to a situation today that
provides the means of securing his food supply in a great variety of ways. Highly
significant in this supply system is the ability to prevent deterioration of food so
that it is available at times after production and in places distant from its source.
Post harvest food losses are very high especially in the developing countries
where experts have reported production losses of 40 to 50% in grains, yams,
fruits, dried fish and meats.
As the human population worldwide has drastically increased passing the 6
billion mark 2 weeks ago, foodstuffs especially meat, have become more scarce
and precious. Therefore, it will become more necessary than today to prevent
spoilage of available meat. In this, regard, I have spent most of my research career
working to develop meat preservation technologies that are applicable to the
Nigerian situation. Three of such methods include:
• Smoke-Drying of meat
• Clay meat ball
• Irradiation of dried meat in a controlled environment
Smoke - Drying of Meat
Meat was processed as early as prehistoric times, probably by drying in the sun
and later by smoking and drying over wood fires. Homer, in 850 BC recorded
procedures for smoking and salting of meat. Smoke-dried meats in Nigeria are
known as Kundi (Yoruba) or Banda (Hausa) and Biltong in South Africa. The
early man who was a hunter hung his kill over his fire to keep flies off it. He
soon noticed that smoked meat remained edible a little longer and had a more
agreeable taste and flavour. Today, virtually all types of meat and meat products,
are smoked. Among the traditional meat processors, smoking is particularly
popular because the cost and the technology to maintain energy consuming
preservation methods of refrigeration and freezing are beyond their reach.
The firewood, the basic material for smoke production is made of 50%
Cellulose, 25% hemicellulose and 25% Lignin. Smoke is the result of destructive
anaerobic distillation of wood followed by partial oxidation.
Hamm (1977) and co-workers analysed wood smoke and found that smoke is
a fine mixture of gases, liquid and solid particles originating from thermal
decomposition of wood at temperatures ranging from 200°C to 500°C.
The gases are methane, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The
liquid or colloidal phase contains some 219 compounds including 45 phenols, 70
carbonyls i.e. ketones and aldehydes, 20 acids, 11 furans, 13 alcohols and esters,
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202 David O. Alonge
13 lactones and 27 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Forster and Simpson
1961). The solid or particle phase consists of charcoal, fly ash and condensed
long-chain tars.
Smoking Procedure
Most of the work I am about to describe was carried out at the Federal Meat
Research Institute, Kulmbach, Germany where we analysed the Nigerian Kundi
Small pieces of meat weighing about half-a-kilo were set over a wire net
placed on a locally fabricated half-drum oven (adogan). Pieces of hardwood
were set on fire below the meat. The fIre was allowed to glow red. The
temperatures were taken at two points using a high temperature Nickel-
Chromium thermocouple thermometer. The temperatures of the smoking fire (the
glow temperature) range between 634 and 1160°C. The smoking temperature i.e.
the temperature around the meat during smoking averaged 192°C.
According to Alonge (1987), smoke drying to a level that the meats can be
stored ordinarily for over 6 months took 6-8 hours. Smoke-dried meats were then
stored without refrigeration in paper boxes. The meat pieces were examined and
analysed monthly over 6 months to determine the factors that help extend the
storage life. _ _
What keeps the meat good over the storage period are smoke deposits, the
high smoking temperatures with the resultant microbial killing effects and
dryness leading to a reduced water activity (Aw) value of 0.70 and a slight acidic
environment of pH 6.85 (Alonge 1987).
Taste and Flavour of Meat
Many people love the taste and colour of suya and kebab. The light golden
yellow colour of properly smoked meat is due to carbonyl-amino acid reactions.
The more carbonyls we have in the smoke, the higher the intensity of the colour.
The "smoky" taste of suya is attributed to the phenolic fraction of smoke. The
phenols are formed by pyrolysis of lignin, the two main components of phenol
being guaiacol and syringol. The palatability or sweetness of freshly smoked
kundi and suya was measured by Dipeolu and Alonge (1995) (table 3). Guaiacol
is responsible for the sweet, sharp, and dry taste of smoked meats. The amounts
of total phenols in relation to guaiacol were determined to be between 8.7 and
77.5mg/Kg.
Table 3: Taste of Meat and Components of Phenol
COMPONENT OF PHENOL TASTE OF SMOKED MEAT
Guaiacol Sweet, sharp, dry taste
Syringol Peculiar fresh, smoky flavour
4-Methyiguaiacol Burning but pleasant and sweet
i-Eugenol Sweet, fruity, mild taste
o-cresol Unpleasantly smoky sharp but sweet
Dirnethvphenol Charred sharp sweet and dry
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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH)
As a public health scientist, I was more interested in the carcinogenic polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons in smoke, which are transferred into the meat during
smoking. The types and the average amounts of polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons in Kundi were determined (table 4). The thin-layer
chromatographic method was used for the separation while the quantities were
determined by Spectrophotofluorometry. Twelve polycyclic aromatic hydro-
carbons (PAH) were determined in Kundi including two highly carcinogenic
chemicals - Benzo(a)pyrene and Benzo(c) phenan-threne.
Table 4: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Nigerian Smoke-dried Meats
Amount Carcinogenicity
PAH (1l2/k2) Ratlnz
I Benzo ajpyrene 0.85-66.91 +++
2 Benzo c lphenanthrene 0.80-11.60 +++
3 Benzo c fluoranthene 3.40-21.70 ++
4 Benzo li fluoranthrene 5.30-8.20 ++
5 Ben(a anthracene , 1.10-14.70 +
6 Chrvsene 2.20-30.80 +
7 • Jdeno(cd)pyrene 1.40-5.50 +
8 Benzo(e)pyrene 1.90-10.00 +
9 Cvclopentaf cd)pyrene 0.40-5.50 -
10 Benzo(k fluoranthene 1.90-10.30· -
11 Benzof zhimervlene 1.90-5.20 -
12 Trinhenvlene 0.50-1.10 -
+++ = Highly Carcinogenic
++ Moderately Carcinogenic
+ = Low Carcinogenicity
= No Evidence yet
It is pleasing to note that Kundi meat that is smoked to a light brown. colour
at temperatures below 400°C is free of any polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.
However darkly smoked meats at over 600°C glow temperature have large
deposits of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Alonge 1988).
During storage in the market stalls, Kundi usually absorbs moisture from the
environment thereby allowing spoilage and contaminating zerophilic toxigenic
fungi to grow on them. The fungi that were isolated on stored meats include
Aspergillus fIavus, Aspergillus niger, Eurotium amstelodami, Penicillium and
Fusarium species. All these species usually produce toxins, and other groups of
cancer causing chemicals. Kundi meats growing fungi were screened for the
presence of aflatoxins, all samples were negative (Alonge 1986).
Please permit me to digress a bit on an issue which the Federal government
of Nigeria needs to take an immediate positive action if this country .is ever to
start and maintain any technological development.
I have two postgraduate Ph.D students who have been sweating to find
solutions to some environmental contaminants causing cancer and diseases in
Nigeria. They are finding things very difficult, the government of Nigeria
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204 David 0. Alonge
believes that we should steal other nation's technologies rather than develop
technologies applicable to our own environment and climate.
Those of us who have spent years in various western laboratories have stolen
nothing. We have legally acquired these technologies, sometimes beating the
white boys in their own game. We came back home hoping to set up our own
laboratories and eager to use the knowledge acquired to train young Nigerians to
solve our peculiar problems. We need such laboratory equipment including a
high powered liquid chromatograph (HPLC), a mass spectrometer, reagents and
constant electricity.
Sadly, we are still waiting for the miracle of a visitation panel report to
recommend to government to buy basic research equipment for our laboratories.
Like Fe1a's song, "laboratory equipment nko? E no de". Abi e dey? What an
illusion?
The Clay Meat Ball
I grew up as one of eight children of a peasant farmer and petty trader mother.
After working in our father's farm in the mornings, the afternoons were usually
free for us to conquer our environment until dark. We picked fruits and snails; we
set traps ,to capture rats; and fished in a nearby river; we also poached termite
hills to capture the termite queen, The termite queen is usually completely
enclosed in a round clay case with some perforations for aeration and feeding.
We usually cooked the termite queen in its clay ball in hot ashes below the fire
made to cook the family dinner. That was in the early 1950s.
In 1975, I went to New Zealand, a country where you have more animals
than human beings. I was taught the principle of meat canning. Between 1991
and 1993, I remembered the delicious queen termite we baked in her own clay
shell. What I learnt from the termites is that meat can be preserved in clay balls
combining the principles of canning with the ingenuity of the worker termites
that protect their queen in a clay ball.
As carried out by Alonge (1993) meat pieces were wrapped in fresh banana
leaves and pottery clay was molded round each piece and cooked in hot ashes. In
my folly, I attempted to be modem and started by wrapping the meat in
aluminum foil. The attempt failed and I had to revert to ordinary banana leaves.
This method has now been perfected to cook and dry meats inside clay balls for
long term storage over many years.
It is gratifying to report that this project was one of the projects selected in
Switzerland in 1993 by the Rolex "Spirit of Enterprise" awards committee as a
"science and technology project that seeks to achieve innovative steps forward in
research, experimentation and application".
Use of Ionizing Radiation to Preserve Meat
In 1986, in a continued quest for technologies that can preserve more food for
Nigeria's ever increasing population, a fellowship of the International Atomic
Energy Agency, took me to RIKIL T in Wageningen, Holland. There I learnt the
intricacies of using gamma rays to preserve all types of food, including meat.
Food irradiation is a deliberate treatment of food product by exposing it to
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machine-generated x-rays at a maximum of 5 Mev or 0.8 picojoule, or electrons
at or below 10 Mev or 1.6 picojoule or to gamma-radiation from a radioactive
colbalt-60 or casium-137 with an average 1.25 and 0.66 million electronvolts
(Mev) respectively (WHOIFAO 1988).
In these studies, traditionally smoke-dried beef in Nigeria were air freighted
to Holland within four days of production. On arrival, they were vacuum-packed
in a special plastic foil. The packaging material is an FP 1550 laminate made of
15~m polyester coated with 50~m polyvinylidene chloride and 50~
polypropylene terephthalate. The packs were treated in a 6°Cobalt gamma-
irradiated chamber to a dose of 3kGy. Packs of meats were stored ordinarily for
months at room temperatures.
At this stage of the development of the technology, I wrote an epilogue:
If you can't see it,
If you can't taste it,
If you can't detect it,
You may eat it.
Alonge (1990)
However, it is the right of the consumer to kn'Owand choose to eat any food
item that has been irradiated. Because of this, the WHOIFAO (1988) ruled that
any food item irradiated must be labelled with the radura logo. In 1990, I
therefore set out to develop a microbiological method to identify meats that have
been irradiated.
Investigations were carried out to identify irradiated chicken using the
synergistic killing effects of sodium chloride, heat and irradiation. In a model
study, frozen chicken was treated with 8% NaCI solution plus heating at 55°C for
15 minutes and irradiated to a dose of 4kGy. The cfu reduction by 4 log cycle of
the natural Lactobacilli plantarum load in the chicken was significant enough to
differentiate between irradiated and un-irradiated frozen chicken (Alonge 1990).
Though this technology is one of the peaceful uses of atomic energy,
consumers are concerned about safety. The safety of the technology and the
foods treated have been fully investigated by the joint FAO/IAEAlWHO Expert
Committee on the wholesomeness of irradiated foods. The committee concluded
that "the irradiation of any food commodity up to an overall average dose of
10kGy presents no toxicological hazard; hence toxicological testing of food so
treated is no longer required". (IAEA 1981).
I am happy to announce that using this high technology, I have succeeded in
preserving Nigerian' Kundi for 10 years without refrigeration and without
spoilage.
Conclusion
In my research career, I have maintained an ability to see the horizon as well as
the immediate foreground. I have pursued the new and more difficult
technologies, while some of the age-long traditional methods of meat
presentation and preservation have been polished.
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206 David 0. Alonge
Hunger and malnutrition are still with us. There is a hunger epidemic in
Nigeria today; people are picking dustbins to survive. The President of Nigeria
confirmed this on October 6 1999 when he said that 65% of Nigerians live below
poverty line. The children of Nigeria today and the future development of the
country are at risk. Many Nigerian children who have untreated kwashiorkor
today will surely die from lack of food, even before they attain the age of
coronary heart disease. This is, according to Agbedana (1997). Without food
there is no life, no hope, no society and no future. Those who survive
kwashiorkor today will suffer from mental retardation and will never be the
brilliant scholars that will develop the new technological tools to solve the
problems of Nigeria in the new millennium.
People who are generally malnourished cannot achieve feats, be it physical
fitness, intellectualism, scientific, techno-logical and spiritual development. This
is probably why most Nigerian athletes who won medals at the Olympics and
most of the footballers who score goals in the world cup matches are those based
in Europe and the USA where they are well fed.
Recommendations
The declared policy of the pre~ent government is poverty alleviation. The
following should be the major components of the programme towards the
achievement of a sustainable national nutrition security.
1. Food security, resulting in adequacy and stability offood supplies, and
economic and physical access to food.
2. Drinking water security, resulting in a reduction in intestinal infections
and in the incidence of such diseases as diarrhoea and hepatitis.
3. Minimum income security, giving all Nigerians the requisite purchasing
power for balanced nutrition by making sure that all Nigerians are
gainfully employed.
4. Nutrition intervention, leading to the protection of old and infirm
persons, pre-school age children, pregnant and nursing mothers from
undernutrition and malnutrition.
5.. Nutrition education, culminating in a widespread under-standing that
every family should solve the problems of malnutrition affecting them
through eating what good food and meat that is available.
6. Population stabilization, leading to a proper balance between population
growth and resource availability.
7. Sustainable livelihood security for the poor. The government and the
rich in the society must promote development plans that would benefit
the poorest sections of the Nigerian community.
Faced with these realities, the following practical steps must be taken, and
very fast too. To survive as a nation, let us look inwards. Nigeria is endowed with
abundant human and animal resources. The following constitute some interim
and long-term solutions to some of our food problems.
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Safe For All: Give the Man Meat 207
Oil for Food Exchange
Nigerians are hungry. Worldwide, it is an acceptable practice that famine-
stricken populations must be provided with emergency food assistance to
alleviate their immediate suffering. The government may immediately go into
negotiations with Australia, New Zealand and Argentina who are presently
overproducing meat and milk under an "Oil for Meat" or "Cocoa for Milk"
exchange programme. The valid and durable solution is investment in sustained
agricultural development for local food production. We have had enough of
politics, all we are saying: give us food now!
Keep Personal and Family Small Meat Animals
Livestock for use in developing countries like Nigeria should, like computers, be
getting smaller and becoming more "personal". Mainframes such as cattle cannot
solve the widespread shortage of meat because they require too much space and
expense for the landless and the poor. Miniframes, such as sheep and goats,
should now play increasing roles in providing protein for the people. Tiny, "user-
friendly" species like rabbits, guinea pigs, grasscutters, guinea fowls, pigeons and
snails should now be reared at the family house level.
In 1974, a survey by Sellers et al., of 769 houses in towns and 506
households in villages-in the old Western state, showed that 58.4% of households
- kept goats, 88% had chickens, 9.4% had sheep and 4.32% had pigs. In a similar
survey by Bakare (1992) at Ibadan and environs, the number of households
keeping goats had dropped to 35%, chicken 19%, sheep 14%, and rabbit 8%.
Today, less than 10% of households keep any form of livestock. Apart from
being financial securities on feet, household livestock are ready food and
financial securities in the time of want. People usually fall back to these animals
at the time of festivals to entertain visitors and even sell them to pay their
children's school fees. City dwellers should not be left out. Those who have
fenced yards may raise sheep and goats and a few chickens, those in sky
scrappers may easily raise guinea pigs in their kitchens.
Promotion of Massive Poultry Production
Massive poultry production is the fastest and easiest way of bridging the gap of
our serious nutritional protein deficiency. Poultry are sources of protein with the
shortest gestation period. Broiler meat can now reach your dinning table in as
little as six weeks while a modem hybrid layer is capable of producing 300 eggs
in 52 weeks. According to Agbato (1999), a major poultry farmer in Nigeria, to
achieve rapid and cheap poultry production, the Federal government should fund
a programme of indigenization and acclimatization of pure line poultry breeds.
The result will be superior performance of layers and broilers in our hot and
humid environment. Government should also remove custom duties and other
taxes from imported inputs as a form of subsidy to produce cheap poultry
products.
Flood the Market with Maize
There should be a special programme to produce more maize. In maize lies the
ultimate solution to our hunger and malnutrition. More maize means more food
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208 David 0. Alonge
for man (maize can be converted into more than 80 dishes) and more feed for the
livestock. Overnight the dead poultry industry will rise and new love for pig
rearing will grow and feed supplements to the Fulani cattle herdsmen will supply
us more beef. As an interim measure, the ban on maize, especially yellow maize
should be lifted immediately to make maize available for man and animals. The
good news is that genetically engineered variety of high protein maize called
"QPM"-Quality-Protein Maize may be grown in Nigeria.
Eat What is Available
To outsiders, the idea of eating small animals seems repulsive but we should
realize that shortage of meat is one of the most serious food problems of
developing countries. Small animals that are prolific, tractable, and easy to feed,
house and handle could easily be the solution to the problem. Meanwhile, let us
take our eyes away from the dwindling and highly costly beef, mutton, pork and
fish and look at some cheaper but unconventional sources of meat. At present, in
some African countries, unconventional and game meats account for 70% of
meats eaten in Ghana, 60% in Botswana while in Nigeria it is only 20% of the
total animal intake.
REFERENCES
Agbato, O. O. (1999). The state of poultry industry in Nigeria: main problems and
indication of solution, options and implications for veterinary practice. Proceed.
VARF Continuing Education Workshop for Veterinary Officers. Ibadan, 8-10
September 1999.
Agbedana, E. O. Cholesterol and your health. Lecture. 1997.University of Ibadan
Inaugural
Alonge, D. O. (1986). Isolation of Potentially Toxic Xerophilic Fungi from Smoke-
dried Meats (Kundi/Banda). Zariya Veterinarian, Vol 1, No 2, 65-68.
Alonge, D.O. (1987): Factors affecting the quality of smoke-dried meats in Nigeria. Acta
Alimentaria (Hungary), Vol. 16, No 3, 263-270.
Alonge, D.O. (1988): Carcinogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAR)
determined in Nigerian Kundi (smoke-dried) meat. Journal of Science of Food and
Agriculture, Vol. 43, 167-172.
Alonge, D.O., H. Stegeman, D. Is Langerak, and Th.C. Wolters (1990): Effects of
Irradiation and Packaging on the Shelf life of Kundi, Nigerian's Smoke Dried Meat.
IFFIT Research Report No.86, 22 pages.
Alonge, D. O. (1992): Food Hygiene. Pub!. Farmcoe, Ibadan. 20 chapters. 135 Pages.
Alonge, D.O. (1993): Preserving Meat on the Equator: The Clay Meat Ball IN Spirit Of
Enterprise: 1993 Rolex Awardfor Enterprise. BURl Buri Druck AG, CH-3001, Bern
pI45-147.
Ajayi, S.S (1971). Wildlife as a source of priorities for development. Niger. field 26(3)
115-127. -
Ajayi , S.S (1979). Utilization of forest wildlife in West Africa. Report No. Miscl79/26
prepared for the forestry department, FAO Forestry Paper No 90, Rome. 43-46.
Bakare, A. A (1992). Household Livestock in Ibadan. DVM Dissertation, University of
Ibadan.
Bender, Arnold (1992). Meat and Meat Products in Human Nutrition in Developing
Countries. FAD Food and Nutrition Paper No 53, FAD Rome.
Dipeolu, M and D. 0 Alonge (1995): Determination of the Levels of Phenols and the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Safe For All: Give the Man Meat 209
Importance of Phenols in Nigerian Smoke-dried Meats. Tropical Veterinarian 13,
(3&4) 135 - 144.'
Dufour, Darnah. (1987) Insects as food: A case study from the Western Amazon.
American Anthropologist 89(2),383-397.
Encyclopaedia of Food Science, Food Technology and Nutrition. Macrae, R., R. K.
Robinson and M. 1. Sadler Eds._Academic Press. London. 1993.
Forster, W. W. and T. H. Simpson (1961): Studies of the smoking process for foods. 1.
Sci. Food Agric. 12,363.
Hamm, R (1977): Analysis of smokes and smoked foods. Die Fleischwirtschaft 57,
92-98.
!AEA, (International Atomic Energy Agency). Wholesomeness of the process of food
irradiation. !AEA, Vienna. TECDOC-256 (1981).
Latham, Michael C. Nutritional-deficiency Diseases. Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.
1996.
Massayeff, Rene (1956): La Farm. Publ. University of France, Paris.
Meadows, Robin (1995) Livestock Legacy. Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 103,
No 12 Pages 1096-1100.
Olatokun, Abosede A [1999]). Profitability study of snail farming in selected snail farms
in Ibadan. M.Sc Dissertration, University of Ibadan; pp. 10-11.
Rao, M. N. Proteins in human nutrition. FAD World Animal Review, No.5, 33-42, 1973.
Salunke, D. K. (1996) Human Nutrition. Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Quality Protein Maize. US. National Res. Council, 1988).
WHO/FAO. Food Irradiation - a technique for preserving and improving the safety of
food. WHO, Geneva (1988).
World Conference on Animal Production (1983): New Strategies for improving meat
production for human welfare. Proceed. 5th World Conf. Animal Production, Tokyo,
pp 22-32.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
11
OUR GASPING CITIES
Layi Egunjobi
Centre for Urban and Regional Planning
Introduction
My professional preoccupation is planning. Interestingly, planning is what
everyone does consciously or unconsciously, explicitly or implicitly. The writing
of a letter (a simple activity) to a friend would have been preceded by such
thoughts as why, how, and when, before going into the real act of letter writing.
A trip from Ibadan to Abuja certainly entails such organizational details
regarding timing, resource requirements and choice of accommodation on arrival
at Abuja. Or consider yet another human activity like "establishing a new
university; the prospective proprietor would go into such considerations on the
need for an institution, enrolment possibilities, curriculum development,
manpower requirements, finance, location, physical development, equipment,
etc. All these require thinking ahead. These futuristic tendencies entail giving
rational considerations to the determination of goals to be achieved, the resources
to be expended, what strategies to adopt, what time frame as well as monitoring
and evaluating the proposed actions. This, in essence, is planning.
There are various forms of planning. In broad terms, these may be economic,
physical, corporate, or strategic planning. I belong to the realm of physical
planning which is basically concerned with ordering of structures and activities
in space in a rational and environmentally sustainable manner to achieve health,
convenience, economy, safety, and beauty. Physical planning takes place at
various spatial levels. At the most micro scale may be found a housing
environment or a petrol filling station. At a higher scale may be found a
neighbourhood, or an industrial estate. Yet, at a higher scale is planning at the
settlement level ranging over a village, town, city, metropolis, conurbation and
megalopolis. Of course, physical planning takes place at regional level and even
at the national level.
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212 Layi Egunjobi
As earlier noted, the goal of planning centres on the quality of human life.
Where, therefore, a person cannot lay claim to such human desires as well-being,
peace, security, happiness and satisfaction, it is either an evidence of lack of
planning with its twin brother - management or a manifestation of inefficient
planning where it exists.
Let me make this unsavoury remark to start with. Although physical planning
is an incredibly challenging professional and intellectual pursuit, a planner in this
part of the world requires a lot of courage to be able to raise up his head as
belonging to the planning profession. Or howoften do you entertain such queries
from visitors entering a typical city as Ibadan when they ask: 'Are there no
planners in this country?' A query such as this is borne out of unpleasant
experiences people are faced with including noise, epileptic urban services,
uncollected wastes, inaccessibility, air pollution and insecurity. The issue of
urban planning has always set me wondering why some animals and insects
appear to be better planners than human beings.
I have casually observed termites in one of their cities between Jebba and
Mokwa in the middle-belt of Nigeria. Termites, as we know, belong to the large
order, Isoptera, of social insects that live in highly integrated colonies. The
colonies are multi-storey structures built under, on and over, the land. They are of
various heights and sizes. A distribution of the colonies in space appears to have
exhibited a pattern whereby those of almost .equal heights are found at averagely
equal distances apart. It is amazing to watch the heights and sizes of these
colonies in proportion to the size of those insects. What you might call 'termite
scale' in this instance is many folds higher than the 'human scale' that we
consider marvellously high when human. size is related to a forty-storey building
in the heart of New York. More amazing is the obvious fact that the multi-storey
colonies have no manufactured reinforc.ement materials; yet, they stand the
annual rains and fires. I have watched the king and the queen, the reproductives,
the soldiers, the alates and the workers - all demonstrating a sense of collective
responsibility. The question keeps on ringing why man has not been so
successful living in agglomerations of human heads that are called cities.
Perhaps a comparatively relevant question is why some cities function as
well-oiled machines, while others just struggle to provide basic services? The
title of my lecture is, 'Our Gasping Cities'. My exhortation is specifically on
Nigerian cities. As organic entities, cities have the attributes of existence which
may be lived with or without hindrances, with dignity or indignity, with
happiness or sorrow.
My submission is that our cities are not only ailing, quite a number of them
are on the verge of breathing the last breath. At the same time, I sincerely believe
that given the right physician, our cities will be brought back to consciousness
and could eventual! y survive the new millennium.
In developing this thesis, the second part of the lecture tries to set the
contextual boundaries from a historical perspective. The third part focuses on the
growth and development characteristics of Nigerian cities highlighting their
various yet to be addressed pathological and .physiological problems. The
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Our Gasping Cities 213
concern in section four is proffering explanations to the observed phenomena
regarding Nigerian cities and their people. The last substantive part i.e. section
six, tries to answer the big question, 'will they survive?
The Nature of Cities
Talking about the nature of cities presupposes that we know what a city is or that,
at least, there is agreement on what a city is supposed to be. On the contrary,
there is hardly any such consensus. The problem arises because, one, there are
various sizes of substantial concentrations of population over the earth surface.
Two, settlements vary in the special functions they perform. Three, their forms or
morphologies vary quite markedly; and four, they grow so fast and merge into
other settlements thereby making their boundaries difficult to determine. It is no
surprise therefore that the term 'city' is associated with various meanings,
depending on whether it is defined by demographers, geographers, politicians,
economists, sociologists, or historians. To the student of Greek and Roman
history, for example, it means not only the walled town such as Athens or Rome
but the territory surrounding it, the inhabitants of which enjoyed the privileges of
citizenship - in other words, a city state. (See The Enclyclopedia Americana,
International Edition,_Vol 6, 1974).
Perhaps a somewhat universal definition of a city is a settlement with a
relatively dense aggregation of population of considerable size in which the
conditions of life can be described as 'urban' in contrast with the rural life of the
open country. Here again, the question of what is 'urban' arises. In order to
sharpen the focus on this definition, we may borrow from Whynne-Hamrnond
(1979) who associates 'urban' with 'diversity of function'; that is where all types
of occupations, industries and services are represented. Cities are therefore much
larger than towns and have a greater number of functions including finance,
industry and administrat~. .
The beauty of physica!'flanning in this regard lies in the fact that while it
recognizes the functional relationships between and among cities, it pays
particular attention to the peculiar identities of individual cities. It goes further to
preconceive what the identity of a new city is _expected to be. Every city is
unique. So, we can talk about:
newborn baby cities, doddering old-man cities, cities in a hectic
whirl of youth, poor guttersnipe cities, fat millionnaire cities,
quiet studious cities ...
(adaptedfrom Whynne-Hammond 1979)
How did cities develop over time? The life and achievements of cities are
prominently represented in the earliest pages of recorded history. In the ancient
world, estimates of scholars put the population of Athens at the height of its glory
at a range of 40,000 to 140,000; Jerusalem at 30,000; and Carthage at not more
than 300,000. Following the Barbarian invasions beginning in the 4th century
A.D., cities virtually disappeared from Western Europe for a period of several
hundred years known as the Dark Ages. Constantinople, at the extreme eastern
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214 Layi Egunjobi
limit of Europe, was the only European city to survive the Dark Ages with a
population of 100,000.
There followed an Urban Revival period which saw the rebirth of cities
consequent upon the impetus which trade received in the 10th century. This
period was so remarkable that by the lSth century, there were six European cities
- Constantinople, Paris, Naples, Venice, Milan and Lisbon - with more than
100,000 population.
The era of modem cities, however, appeared to have crowned the
phenomenon of urban development. Transportation and trade are the factors that
explain the urban revolution of this period. The age of exploration and discovery
beginning in the 15th century with far reaching advances in navigation replaced
local trade with world trade. With the development of mechanized means of land
transportation beginning in the 19th century, and later of air transportation, urban
complexes like New York and London witnessed astronomical growth where
workers could live far from work, amusements and shopping, and goods could be
moved to and from cities.
In the 1960s, cities were scattered over the world and, at least, 40 cities
representing all the continents, had populations exceeding 2,000,000. This 'age
of the city' has become the characteristic form of existence for a majority of
people especially in the US and Western Europe. Today, the population sizes of
the world's 100 largest metropolitan areas, according to the Population Crisis
Committee varies between 2,350,000 (Pune, India) to 28,700,000 (Tokyo-
Yokohama, Japan).
Looking through history from the classical era through the medieval and
renaissance periods to modem times as sketched above, it will be seen clearly
that the history of cities is almost as old as history itself. But cities in history did
not come about their locations, functions and forms by accident. They are results
of planning thoughts, ideas and visions. For example, Pslato in his Republic
developed his view of an ideal state. It is his belief that the city should be limited
in size "in order to maintain its integrity and unity" (Mumford 1973). Much more
idealistic in physical description is Plato's ideal city as described in Laws where
he envisaged a self-reliant entity with sufficient land to feed its population.
Plato's ideal city once achieved is not subject to further changes; rather, the
pattern is supposed to be static and maintained by punitive measures.
One other Greek visionary thought is that of Aristotle. In the pages of
Politics, he put forth what he considered as the structure of an ideal city. He saw
the city as an avenue to forge commercial interests as well as ensure adequate
security. In his planning thought, Aristotle was able to relate the institutional
arrangements ofthe state with the ideal physical forms of its cities. However, like
Plato, Aristotle's ideal city could only be sustained by strict social controls -
albeit in disguised forms in what was supposed to be democratic city-states.
These philosophers of ancient Greece may have influenced Sir Thomas More
in 1516 when he first used the word 'utopia' to describe an imaginary, ideal
country. His ideal society was an epitome of the perfect environment. In this
state, all men are equal, prosperous, educated, wise and morally upright. The
location of the island of utopia is in the middle of the ideal country - the
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Our Gasping Cities 215
commonwealth of utopia. There are 54 spacious green cities in the land each
cited at an average distance of about 40 km. from one another. More gives a
detailed description of one of the 54 cities: Amaurote, the capital city of Utopia
lies by the side of a hill, or rather a rising ground. Its almost square figure lies
adjacent to a river called Anider. A bridge built of stone links the city to other
cities within the commonwealth. The city is compassed with a high and thick
wall with towers and forts, as well as a broad and deep dry ditch round the three
landward sides with the river making up the fourth side. The city roads are broad
and well protected from the winds. The houses are uniformly built and they all
have gardens behind them. The gardens are so meticulously kept that they all
produce plentiful fruits and beautiful shrubs.
Looking through the utopian philosophies of the early Greeks and that of the
exponent of the tradition - Thomas More - one is struck by the close bearing
they have with cities and city planning. It has in fact been asserted that "indeed,
the first utopia was the city itself' (Manuel 1973). Put in other words, utopia is
"essentially the apotheosis of the city" (Tillich 1973). This has important
implications for planning as the problems of settlements have in the main been
almost synonymous with the problems of cities.
A characterization of cities over time and in space coupled with the
philosophical and practical attention devoted to them are clear indications of their
importance in the way they affect our lives. Cities are capable of affecting, and
indeed do affect, our lives both positively and negatively. These have been de-
scribed as the "pretty" and the "ugly" faces of cities - a sort of two sides of the
same coin (Egunjobi 1997). The "pretty" face presents cities as centres of
innovation, generators of revenue and formidable markets contributing
significantly to the overall development of countries (see Beauce 1990 and
Harris, 1990). On the other hand, the "ugly" face depicts cities as "parasites" on
the rural environment where deterioration in living environment ushers in
diseconomies, and where ill-health, social disorder originate and predominate.
At the end of the day, we are prompted to conclude that cities are inherently
neither good nor bad. The essence of this neutral school of thought is that cities
are like fire which can be used or misused. This neutral view has been aptly
summarized by Christopher Morley's Where the Blue Begins:
All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant
All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim.
(Quotedfrom Whynne-Hamtnond 1979)
Nigerian Cities at Risk?
The issue at stake is the determination of the extent to which Nigerian cities are
beautiful or mad, pretty or ugly, livable or unlivable? In considering this
question, it is instructive to start by asking individuals in this lecture theatre to
imagine his/her own ideal city. I can see my own ideal city flowing with milk and
honey. In this city, everyone is gainfully employed. Everyone has equal access to
all basic needs. Rights of the individuals are recognized and protected; and there
is cooperation and peace. May we call this "The Global Paradise n.
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216 Layi Egunjobi
In another one moment, imagine another city called 'The Hell on Earth '.
This is a direct opposite to the life I first imagined - something akin to what you
find in the book of Revelations, in The Holy Bible, where all the dwellers of this
city enjoy are pains, suffering and regrets.
If we assume these two cities as representing two extremely conditions, then
there must be, theoretically speaking, one thousand and one varying conditions
lying between the two. The one nut we want to crack is having an understanding
of where Nigerian cities as a group lie along this continuum, left or right, or a
little to, or further away from, the centre?
. But before delving into this, it is important to know a little bit about the
growth, distribution and characteristics of the Nigerian cities. It is an established
historical fact that urbanization in Nigeria predates the British colonial
administration. Estimates of population of towns by the early explorers,
missionaries and merchants, as collated by Mabogunje (1968), indicate the
existence of substantial human settlements in this part of the world during the
nineteenth century (Table 1). During this period, Sokoto in the north, Ibadan and
Abeokuta in the south-west had populations of 100,000 and over. Others with
substantial population sizes include Zaria, Oyo, Kano and Ilorin. These
settlements had developed from commercial and trading activities as well as
administrative centres, religious points, defence posts 'Of combinations of these
functions.
Table 1: Nigerian Towns with Population of over 20,000 in the 19110 Century
Town Population PeriodIY ear
Sokoto 120,000 1825-1827
Ibadan 70 000-100,000 1856-1891
Abeokuta 60 000 - 100 000 1851-1867
Horin 70000 1853-1856
Iwo 20000'- 60,000 . 1856-1890
Osogbo 60000 1890
Zaria 40,000-50,000 1825-1827
Ede 20,000 - 50 000 1856-1890
Kano 30,000 - 40,000 1822-1824
Iiaive 30 000-40 000 1853-1867
Ovo 25 000-40 000 1856-1878
Ogbomoso 25,000 - 40000 1856-1883
Lagos 20 000-40 000 1856-1864
Iieou-Ode 13000-40000 1890-1891
Oke-Odan 24000-30 000 1890-1891
Deegoa 30000 1822-1824
Arzonou 30,000 1822-1824
Baebaezie 20000-25 000 1825-1827
Dikwa 25,000 1851-1855
Iseyin 15,000-24,000 1852-1956
Wawa 18000-20000 1825-1827
Tabra 18000-20000 1825-1827
Ado 20000 1879
Koso 20,000 \ 1825
Epe 20000 1879
Source: Mabogunje 1968.
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Our Gasping Cities 217
•
The colonial administration by the Township Ordinance classified towns
across the country into three categories. Lagos which was the capital, was the
only first class town; eighteen others were classified second class, while another
twelve fell into the third class category. This tended to have influenced colonial
administration's decisions on investment in infrastructural facilities and services.
Thus Lagos, the only first class town, was the first to be served with electricity in
1896, while other second class towns such as Port-Harcourt, Enugu, Kano, and
Abeokuta were served in the early and mid-1900s. An important influence of
colonial administration on urbanization in Nigeria is that it brought about
changes in the structure of cities. It introduced western town planning tradition
through the designation of Government Reservation Areas (GRAs), which
developed side by side with the traditional residential areas. .
Compared to the indigenous urbanization era and the colonial period, the most
dramatic pace of urbanization occurred after independence, from the eat1y 1960s.
Post-colonial administration continued in a more forceful way the policy of
concentrating public investments on the already urbanized and fast-growing
centres especially Lagos (the national capital then), Ibadan, Kaduna, Enugu and
Benin-City (regional capitals then) and a few others including Port-Harcourt and
Kano. Private sector investments also, of course, followed this trend. The post-
colonial administration also pursued the policy of administrative decentralization
which saw the inherited three regions in 1960 increased to 36 states .in 1992 each
with a capital "supporting regional universities, technical colleges, other
institutions of higher education, hospitals, and other services requiring large
population thresholds" (Salau 1979). In addition, the post-colonial period saw the
establishment of a few new towns; some resulting from economic development
projects such as the construction of dams, and others for administrative purpose.
Notable in this regard is the building of Abuja in the middle-belt of the country
as an alternative national capital to Lagos.
Resulting from the public and private investment and other decisions, the
share of urban population increased from 5 percent in 1921 to 33 percent in 1984.
In more specific terms, those centres with populations of 100,000 or more rose in
number from only 2 in 1931 to 62 in 1984. The 500,000 category of cities were
only 2 according to the 1963 population census; by 1984, there were 14 of such
cities.
The conclusion that clearly shows itself is that even though more Nigerians
still live in the rural areas, the pace of urbanization has been dramatic showing
extraordinarily high rates of 5-10 percent per annum. A first visible aspect of this
is the rapid expansion of Nigerian cities' areal extent. For example, Lagos which
had a population of only 7,400 in 1911 and covered an area of no more than 4
square kilometres had grown in population to 665,246 in 1963 and by 1978 had
increased in areal extent to 879 square kilometres incorporating numerous
outlying fishing and farming villages (Aina, Etta and Obi 1994). Thus, "this city
has multiplied itself in area more than two hundred times within a six and a half
decade period. This sprawling tendency is observable in other cities including
Ibadan, Port-Harcourt and Kano.
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218 Layi Egunjobi
,
A crucial aspect of this is that city growth is largely uncontrolled; and like a
carelessly tended or totally neglected yam plot which necessarily does not bring
forth the required yield even with adequate rains and fertile land, the cities are
diseased by such infections as slum housing conditions, limited coverage of
urban services, unreliable service provision, general environmental deterioration,
confused transport systems, incessant flood and fire disasters (Egunjobi 1986b).
This is to say that our cities are not only at risk, they are already manifesting
signs and symptoms of ailments at varying stages of severity. An elaboration of
these and the way they impact on the quality of life of urban dwellers is the
concern of this section of the lecture.
In discussing conditions of human life in the cities, we shall adopt the
approach of viewing the city environment at three levels: these are the housing
environment, the neighbourhood environment and the wider city environment -
borrowing from Hardoy and Satterhwaite (1989).
With respect to housing in Nigerian cities, there are the twin problems of
quantitative and qualitative deficiencies. The rate of housing formation which is
consequent upon movement of rural migrants into the cities is far higher than the
rate of housing construction. A sharp perspective of the problem is provided by
an estimate of urban housing deficit for Nigeria which in 1990 was put at 7.7
million dwelling units (Toure and Fadayomi 1992). The housing crisis is
worsened by' high cost of building materials and inaccessibility to urban land
ownership. The immediate result of this problem is homelessness on the part of
the very poor, and environmental health degrading shelters for the not-too-poor.
This in financial terms implies a huge investment in housing which, of course, is
one out of many sectoral demands.
Since it is difficult to match the supply with the demand for housing, there is
always a qualitative deficiency. To illustrate, the proportion of households in one
room apartments in the cities varies between 41.2 percent in Sokoto to 76.3
percent in Lagos. According to an inter-continental study by the Population
Crisis Committee (1990), which looked into conditions of living in the world's
100 largest metropolitan areas, the average number of persons per room in Lagos
is 5.8. These are clear indications of overcrowding (Fig. 1) which are associated
with such health problems as tuberculosis, meningitis and influenza (WHO
1992). Most of the houses are not provided with essential utilities and services
(Fig. 2). Findings from a study of three sampled cities (lbadan, Kaduna and
Enugu) show that the proportions of households with in-house pipe-borne water
connection varies between 65 percent and 69 percent. However, the proportion
that has water most of the time varies among these cities between 22 percent and
31 percent (Onibokun 1989). For the majority of the sampled urban population,
the taps remain dry most of the time. A significant number of houses in Nigerian
cities are not provided with kitchens. In effect, cooking with firewood, charcoal
or kerosine often takes place in living rooms or passages. This, along with
inadequate ventilation, dusty or damp floor conditions creates indoor pollution
and contribute to respiratory infections with women and children more at risk as
more of them spend more time in and around the home.
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Our Gasping Cities 219
Figure 1: A Sea of Heads
Fig. 2: Epileptic Service
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220 Layi Egunjobi
The situation from the perspective of the neighbourhood environment is
similar to those described with respect to the housing environment except that
neighbourhood problems are viewed from a wider spatial perspective. The first
observation that is made from the neighbourhood level is unhealthy locational
situation of residential apartments in poor neighbourhoods. Illegal structures are
erected along hill slopes as can be seen in Ibadan, Abeokuta and Enugu, or in
marshy areas of Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Warri and Calabar.
The water supply situation and the disposal of waste water constitute another
environmental problem at the neighbourhood level. In Lagos Metropolitan area,
for instance, 60 percent of the pipes run through open drains where some pipes
are burst open. The inhabitants living nearby invariably resort to fetching water
from these burst pipes. This, according to a study, contributes to the
intensification of the occurrence of diarrhoea (Odumosu 1993).
In our cities, a sizeable proportion of the populace defecate along local
streams or drainage areas, or may simply use the open space around dilapidated
or abandoned public latrines. Others use pit latrines. The general picture is that of
inadequacy of sanitation facilities. Sanitary facilities are either not available, or
where available, poorly maintained. In a large part of Ibadan, water is always not
available to flush WCs. Pit latrines are dug without environmental considerations
side by side with shallow hand-dug wells which supply water for domestic
purposes. In this city, typhoid is prevalent. Between 1971 and 1973 when there
was an outbreak of cholera in the city, the most affected part was the traditional
core areas where population density was highest and where water and sanitation
facilities were most inadequate (Adesina 1987).
Another element of the urban environment is wastes disposal. As many
Nigerian cities pass the million mark in population, collection ~d disposal of
wasreshave l5ecomea major urban environmental problem (Egunjobi 1986c). In
Lagos, lbadan, Kano, Port-Harcourt and Enugu, uncollected heaps of solid wastes
which constitute health hazards are observable (Fig. 3). Secondly, the cities'
disposal sites have also become environmental hazards. The wastes are not
treated sanitarily while in some cases the disposal sites have been e~mlfed by
residential and other urban landuses.
Fig. 3: The Waste Invasion
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Our Gasping Cities 221
The wider city environment exhibits such health problems as air pollution and
water pollution on-a wider scale than those observed aj:the neighbourhood scale.
Air pollution and water pollution at the city scale are a product of industrial
establishments that are springing up in the larger cities of Lagos, Fort-Harcourt
and Kano. The increasing rate of car ownership among the middle and high
income classes also contributes to urban air pollution while accident rates are
also increasing sharply in cities.
One other problem that is felt at this scale is noise pollution. The variables
through which pollutants reach us include not only the air we breathe, the water
we drink, the food we eat, but also the sound we hear. In 1966, Peter Enahoro in
his book, How To Be A Nigerian, made a satirical reference to the 'Nigerian
noise' when he wrote:
In the beginning, God created the universe; then He created the
moon, the stars and the wild beasts of the forests. On the sixth
day, He created the Nigerian and there was peace. But on the
seventh day while God rested, the Nigerian invented noise.
Enahoro has certainly got a firm grip of the Nigerian's. behaviour with regard to
noisemaking: but it is fair to point out that this is essentially a city problem. In
fact, it appears the dictum holds that the bigger the city, the bigger the mess. A
pilot study on this urban problem reveals that in the city of Ibadan, deafening
sounds from record-players top the list as the most obnoxious source of noise
(Egunjobi 1986a). This is followed by other sources such as the use of grinding
machines, intra-city traffic, power generating plants and religious worship in a
descending order of intensity Others are the noises generated by activities in open
markets and motor parks.
Excessive noise like excessive heat or cold has many degenerating effects on
human life. Studies on environmental noise show that these effects range from
interference with speech communication and sleep to psycho-social stress and
loss of hearing. Indeed, urban noise pollution has been found to have contributed
to reduced efficiency and bizarre behaviour of workers. In 1984, the head of the
Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Unit in Lagos University Teaching Hospital gave a
warning that more Nigerians might lose their hearing in the next few decades as a
result of continuous exposure to urban noise (The Guardian, 21 March 1984). He
based his warning on the increasing number of his patients who complained of
hearing loss in recent years.
Furthermore, our cities suffer from inadequate intra-connectivity, City
transport which serves as the sinew binding together various land uses has not
only remained inefficient, it has grown over the years to be expensive and
dangerous. Quite a proportion of the people of Lagos have had to cut drastically
their sleeping hours to avoid being caught in traffic hold-up. They typically leave
their homes by 5.00 a.m. and do not return from work until very late in the night.
The rate of car ownership has since the oil boom days increased, whereas the
required urban road space has not increased correspondingly. _0
lbadan provides another example of the chaotic transport situation where an
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222 Layi Egunjobi
estimated 50 percent of houses in the traditional core is not accessible to
vehicular traffic. Yet, half of the limited available road spaces are illegally taken
over by traders bearing in mind that every street in Ibadan is characterized by one
form of trading activity or another.
Although the role of urban transportation is to facilitate the movement of
people and goods comfortably and safely, where they are required, and
recognizing that there is no alternative to mobility, what exists in our cities is a
litany of inconveniences and frustration as evidenced in road congestion,
pollution, accidents - all of which are fatal to the quality of life in cities.
This characterization of living conditions in the wider city environment takes
us to the issue of insecurity from such crimes as burglary, armed robbery and
street fighting. Every other household in the cities has been a victim at one time
or another in residential apartments, on the roads and even in offices. This has
constituted a formidable anxiety-based problem. It has also contributed to a high
cost of living. This is because urban residents have to expend a significant
proportion of their incomes in fencing their homes, in providing burglary
proofing, guard dogs, lighting, metal doors, close-circuit TV and even African
traditional measures - a situation which Agbola (1997) describes as
"Architecture of Fear" (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4: Architecture of Fear
Lack of safety and security in the cities is not limited to crimes and urban
violence. It involves such other physical hazards as fire outbreak, structurally
failing houses and urban floods. These have been increasing in rates, resulting in
personal property and business losses.
Looking at the various indicators we have thus far applied to assess the degree
of livability in our cities, it should be possible to assign a grade of performance to
the cities (see Table 2). Have they passed this simple test? Perhaps a fair
conclusion in this regard is that the cities are on the verge of both physical and
spiritual death. For example, one of our cities - Lagos ranks 98th on the scale of
livability among the world's 100 largest Metropolitan Areas (Population Crisis
Committee 1990). This, if the metaphor is clear enough, is the gasping of
Nigerian city dwellers for shelter, mobility, utilities and services.
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Our Gasping Cities 223
Table 2: Q.uality of Life Indicators in Lagos Metropolitan Area
No. Indicator Score
1. Public Safety (murders per 100,000 people) NA
2. Food Costs (% income spent on food) 58%
3. Living Space (persons per Room) 5.8
4. Housing Standards (% Homes with water/electricity) 50%
5. Communications (Telephone per 100 people) 1
6. Education (% of Children in Secondary School) 31%
7. Public Health (Infants deaths per 1,000 Live births) 8511,000
8. Peace and Quiet (Levels of ambient Noise) (1-10) 7
9. Traffic Flow (Miles per Hour in Rush Hour) 17.4
10. Clean Air (Alternate Pollution Measures) NA
11. Growth Rate of Metropolitan Areas in the 1980's(A verage 5.86
annual rate)
12. Urban Living Standard Score (in rank order among 98th
98th the World's 100 Largest Metropolitan areas)
Source: Population Crisis Committee, 1990.
Governance as a Pre-eminent Factor
An attempt to explain the plethora of problems which our cities are faced with
leads one into a number of disaggregated factors as proffered in planning
literature. These include poor funding of urban development projects, scarcity of
technical and professional skills, disregard for urban development related laws
and ineffective urban planning practices. These and other such factors by
category fall on the laps of the private sector developers whose profit motive
ambitions produce social disbenefits, and the public sector that is concerned with
collective choices of goods and services. Subsumed in these two major categories
are the planning professionals as a class having responsibilities for the
application of laws and regulations that govern urban development functions.
Although there is the apparent conflict of interests between the private operators
and the public sector, there is a logic in the assertion that the latter that are found
in the business of governance take the lion's share of responsibilities for building
the cities and making them function for human benefit. Where this is not
happening or happening lukewarmly, they have to take the blame. This is
because the city is a public good and urban planning as a distinct field in the
public domain seeks to protect public interest through regulatory powers
(Solesbury 1574).
The pre-eminence of governance as a factor explaining the gasping cities will
be illustrated with a few selected cases.
(i) A Big City Without A Master Plan: One is referring to lbadan in the
south-western part of the country. The effect of this is that this city has
over the years been growing in all directions without direction. The
frustration of professional planners in this city, can be imagined in the
absence of a standard zoning arrangement, the frame work of which a
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224 Layi Egunjobi
city plan would have provided. Factories are located within residential
areas. New buildings continuously spring up in the suburbs engulfing
the villages and eating away the farmlands without control. There are
more shops than living rooms. The situation is so much chaotic that
nobody is able yet to determine the exact boundaries of the city. This
confusion makes it an almost impossible task to make projections for
the utilities and service needs of the city. The case being made is that
lack of political will has largely been responsible for these conditions.
(ii) A Planned City Without Planning Discipline: Abuja is Nigeria's
showpiece of a city having been built from the scratch when "money
was not a problem", and which expectedly was to enjoy benefits of the
latest technology and an enlightened vision in city development.
However, an urban planning and development monitoring alarm had to
be raised as early as 1984 when an international meeting on new capital
cities in the developing countries was held in Nigeria. The delegates
noted contraventions in the implementation of Abuja Master Plan -
which contraventions were defended as "necessities of replanning". The
situation in Abuja has remained the same as reported in a Nigerian daily
'of October 1, 1999. Worried by constant abuse of building and
environmental laws in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
Minister was determined to stop all encroachment whereby all open
spaces meant for recreation were turned by people to build illegal
structures (The Guardian, October I, 1999). Senate Committee on FCT
had earlier heard that a former Minister in charge of the Territory was
responsible for distorting the development of the second phase of the
plan by converting open spaces, roads and recreational areas into plots,
and allocating them to people described as "favourites and lackeys"
(The Comet, October 3, 1999).
(iii) Cities With Crippled Land Law: For over two decades (1978-99), the
ineffectiveness of Nigerian Land Use Law has continuously been
highlighted. The law has put all land within Nigeria under public
control. The objective includes equity in access to urban and rural land.
Since 1978 when the law was put in place, it is the consensus of
Nigerians as reflected in research findings (Egunjobi 1991) that
accessing the land through public apparatus has been as difficult as ever.
The paradox in this case is that it was far more difficult for some State
Military Governors to acquire land for public use than to acquire for
themselves. What is more, the Land Use Law hampered the preparation
of layouts which contributed to haphazard pattern of urban development
at the cities' peripheries. Here again, the public sector that promulgated
the law without public participation (an anathema of the military
regime) and demonstrated no capacity for enforcing the law, and
wilfully refused to revoke or amend the law, takes all the blame.
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Our Gasping Cities 225
(iv) Cities Where Management Functions Are Uncoordinated: In 1987,
Egunjobi and Oladoja in one of their studies of Ibadan found that 16
different agencies were responsible for the management functions of the
city. The amazing observation about these agencies is that there was
little or no collaboration among them. The result is that the urban
populations which they all serve are at risk of the ensuing danger,
inconveniences and inefficiencies. Thus, it is not uncommon to see a
newly paved road by an agency, being ripped open by another agency
for the purpose of installing water pipes or underground telephone
cables without consultation, or an urban road rehabilitation work that
unearths some already laid pipes or cables. Yet complaints and counter-
complaints are often lodged as and when the tap is dry and the agency in
charge of water complains about lack of electricity to pump water into
the city, or when the fire fighter is unable to function because the
hydrant to the site of fire incident has no water. Furthermore, it was
discovered that certain provisions of the laws in respect of the agencies
are either at variance with, or duplicative of one another. For example,
an agency in a particular city has power to allocate spaces for erecting
temporary shops whereas another agen,cy in the same city has powers to
demolish illegal structures which turn out to be the same shops.
(v) The City Where Political Power Reigns Supreme: A short story based
on our research on 'Politics and Development Control' suffices in this
case. Consequent upon political pressure, the Commissioner in charge
of Local Governments in Ibadan suspended the then Ibadan
Metropolitan Planning Authority (IMPA) and ordered that a house
under construction that had reached the lintel stage should not be
demolished by the Development Control Departments of the Authority
for contravening planning regulations (Egunjobi 1985). His rationale
was that any contravener ought to have been spotted and dealt with by
the Development Control Officers from the foundation stage. The
ingenious minds of the political party faithfuls harped on this and
erected illegal structures by accelerated process at week-ends when .the
Control Officers were not on duty such that part of the-building would
have reached the lintel level. In this case, they were out of the Control
Officers' nets according to the Commissioner's private law. This
obviously meant a, high rate of contravention of development control
laws and a sustained continuous trend of disorderly mode of urban
development.
(vi) The Law-maker is the Law-breaker in my City: This sound curious, but
that is the case. Our conservative observation shows that between 1997
and 1999, we have-built five times the number of petrol filling stations
that had existed since the importation of the first vehicle into the
country. However, the astronomical rate of increase in the number of
stations is not necessarily, the worrisome aspect of this story, but the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
226 Layi Egunjobi
wanton disregard for the relevant urban planning and environmental
laws. Despite the provisions of these laws that stipulate the minimum
distance between one station and another for safety and health, we have
observed eight petrol filling stations in a row without a single vacant
plot in between any two of the stations. It is our considered opinion that
these potential land mines should not have been that strategically
located if public laws are made to be obeyed for the public benefit.
(vii) The City With Half A Million Local Governments: In this hypothetical
city, and yet typical of our cities, all sense of economies of scale has got
lost. It no longer makes sense to talk of collective responsibility and
cheaper delivery of goods and services communally. The true picture is
that every home especially in the sub-urban areas is a self-catering
entity (a local government?) in terms of provision of day and night-
guards, water, electricity, waste disposal services and road maintenance.
Close to the homes, of course, are proliferated private nursery and
primary schools as well as health centres. This is almost analogous to
the concept of ecological house where the owner may remain in-doors
for months (by choicejwithout necessarily being in want of anything
from outside the home (Egunjobi 1997). Forced ecological housing
situation in this context translates into a shameful indictment of the
public providers of urban utilities and services. The issue that is being
considered in this respect is that there is hardly any more responsibilities
left for the government to shoulder such that questions are raised as to
whether government is established to serve people or vice versa.
Certainly, it is difficult to see if there is any fundamental difference
between what the ruler calls' "community participation" and what the
citizen sees as "governmental irresponsibility".
Will They Survive?
In an attempt to answer this question, we take into consideration the inevitability
of urbanization, the peculiarity of the pace of urbanization in developing
countries, as well as the positive empirical tendency that urbanization is
amenable to planning. Our premise in a more precise form is that urbanization in
itself is not an undesirable phenomenon if anticipated or observed. Undesirability
of urbanization results from planlessness or unserious planning. So, our answer
to the question posed is in the affirmative. Our gasping cities are going to
survive; however, this is with the obvious proviso of the timely intervention of a
qualified physician. This translates into the requirement of political will, which is
a function of responsible leadership.
The intricate relationship between politics and planning has never been
disputed in time or space. This is irrespective of whether planning is considered
under an authoritarian or a democratic political climate.r On -the one hand,
irresponsible political interference can, and does hinder the execution of planning
proposals. On the other hand, people in public affairs can invoke political power
to facilitate urban planning and management. This essentially depends on
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Our Gasping Cities 227
awareness, motivation, commitment and degree of enlightenment on the part of
the leader and those other leaders at various governmental levels down to the
community level. •
The efficacy of urban planning as an instrument for promoting and sustaining
human quality of life has been amply documented. Our study in this instance
shows that the more intensive the planning activities in a neighbourhood, the
higher, the level of environmental sanitation status of the people in the particular
area (Egunjobi, 1995). Yet, health maintenance is just one of the many goals of
urban planning. Others, if we can recall, include safety, economy and aesthetics.
If by general education, or simple logical reasoning or empirical evidences,
the rulers who hold political and bureaucratic powers realize that the survival of
the present and future cities are essentially in their hands, they will develop by
choice that culture of city planning and management that is premised on
discipline and sincerity of purpose. •
To end this discourse, let me quickly proffer some specific recommendations
as planning challenges in the new millennium to those in politics and public
affairs. This is in recognition of the light that appears to be appearing at the end
of the tunnel in recent times:
(i) It is imperative that every city and- indeed all settlements including
villages in the country should be covered by master plans as stipulated
in the Urban and Regional Planning Law of 1992. This will save the
present unpleasant situation where planners do not have reference points
to make land-use decisions which has contributed to disorderly
development.
(ii) A review of Abuja Master Plan and Abuja Regional Plan is, after two
decades, rightly overdue. The necessity for this stems from the need to
collate and analyze those experiences learnt through genuine
professional planning practice as well as through Wilful distortions to
the Plan to derive selfish benefits.
(iii) There is the need for the Nigerian Land Use Law to be revised.
According to our nationwide evaluative study of this law, a sizeable
proportion of 71 percent of the sampled professionals and 47 percent of
the general public wished to see the law amended (Egunjobi 1991).
Citizens were sympathetic to the cause of the law, but were skeptical
about the framing of it and the organization of its implementation. It is
therefore recommended that a broad-based machinery should be set up
for getting the land policy revised to make it achieve the intended
objectives.
(iv) The need for rationalizing conflicting and duplicative functions of
various urban agencies, and effecting coordination to achieve efficiency
has become important at this stage of our city life. More specifically,
every urban region has the requirement for an Urban Planning and
Development Coordinating Committee (UPDCC) to serve as a clearing
house for all urban projects and management functions.
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228 Layi Egunjobi
(v) A national programme of Town Planning Education should be
instituted. The objective will be basically to make Nigerians - the rulers
and the ruled alike - planning literate. This will serve the purpose of
enlightenment that will make those in public affairs more alive to their
responsibilities, while at the same time will ensure that citizens know
their rights and are ready to participate on this ground in city planning
for sustainable deve 1opment.
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Ibadan, Nigeria, 1971 -1974: in Akhtar (ed.) Health and Disease in Tropical Africa;
London, Paris, New York: Harwood Academic Publishers.
Agboola, Tunde (1997) Architecture of Fear; Ibadan; lnstitut Francais de Recherche en
Afrique (IFRA), Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan.
Aina, Tade Akin, Ette, Florence Ebam and Obi, Cyril I. (1994) 'The Search for
Sustainable Urban Development in Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria,' Third World
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Beauce de Thierry (1990) 'Address': in The United Towns Organization (Organizers)
The Mainspring of Economic Development in Developing Countries; The City of
Lille, pp. 33 - 36.
Egunjobi, Layi (1985) 'Politics of Development Control'. Paper Presented at the National
Workshop on 'Development Control and Planning Administration in Nigeria',
Organized Jointly by the Physical Planning Department (NISER~, and the Centre for
Urban and Regional Planning (CURP), University oflbadan; 24 _28th June.
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Egunjobi, Layi (1986b) 'Human Elements in Urban Planning and Development', Ibadan:
Habitat International, Vol. 10, No.4 pp. 147 - 153.
Egunjobi, T.O. (1986c) 'Problems of Solid Waste Management in Nigerian Urban
Centres', in Adeniyi, Eniola O. and Bello-Imam, I.B. (eds) Development and the
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Egunjobi, Layi (1991) 'An Empirical Study of the Implementation of the Nigerian Land-
use Policy; A Research Report Prepared for the Social Science Council of Nigeria in
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Egunjobi, Layi (1997) 'Conceptualization the House as Ecological System, in (ed.)
Housing in Nigeria; Proceedings of a National Conference; Ile-Ife; Obafemi
Awolowo University.
Egunjobi, Layi (1997) 'The Role of City in National Development'; in Nigerian Institute
of Town Planners (NITP) Proceedings of National Workshop on Managing Nigerian
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Physical Planning Practice, University of Ibadau, 10- 11 April 1997.
Hardoy, Jorge E. and Satterhwaite, David (1989) Environmental Problems in Third
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Harris, N. (1990) Urbanization, Economic Development and Policy in Development,
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Our Gasping Cities 229
Mabogunje, Akin L. (1.968) Urbanization in Nigeria; London: University of London
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
12
INVESTMENT IN NIGERIAN EDUCATION:
RELEVANCE, QUALITY AND GOVERNANCE AT THE
EVE OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
RemiLonge
Department of Educational Management
Preamble
This lecture is indeed inaugural, being the very first coming from the Department
of Educational Management, Faculty of Education, in the University ofIbadan.
The Department of Educational Management was established in 1976, as a
result of the tripartite agreement between the Federal Ministry of Education, the
UNESCOIUNDP and the University of Ibadan. The objective of that agreement
is to bring about human resource generation to meet the growing needs of
educational administration and planning in Nigeria.
The project tagged NIRl751103 was the first to be so established in Nigeria
and in fact in Africa South of the Sahara. This is confirmed in the National Policy
on Education (1977), which specifically stressed the point to ensure adequate
supply of manpower for implementing the policy. Consequently, a Department of
Educational Management was established in the University of Ibadan. Ever
since, the department has vigorously pursued the set objectives through various
academic programmes - undergraduate, postgraduate, and in-service training
programmes to administrative and planning officers in the federal, state and the
local governments.
At this juncture, I wish to acknowledge the pioneering work of Dr. T.O.
Ohikhena, who, as the first Head of the department, worked in collaboration with
the UNESCO Technical Team!, to lay a solid foundation for the Department of
Educational Mariagement, University oflbadan between 1976 and 1983.
One of the early research projects of the department was undertaken by
Professor (Mrs.) R.S. Longe (my humble self) in 1979, titled, "Factors
! UNESCO 1ECHNICAL 1EAM in the persons of D.N. Nwaniki. C.N. Cwnming. G.K
Pederson, A Lulsegged., C. Conrad. W.M. Zaki. H.N. Pandit, AS. Patwari and
AAJ. Spee.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
232 Remi Longe
Influencing Current Costs of Secondary Education in Nigeria". The report of the
research was later adapted and published by UNESCOIIIEP in 1982 (IIEP
research report 46). This was followed by Durosaro (1985), a micro planning
research, titled, "Internal Efficiency of Secondary Education" which was
supervised by me. In another research activity in educational administration,
Ogunsanya (1981), looked at "Teacher Job Satisfaction and Productivity as
Correlate of School Goal Achievement". Likewise, Ibukun (1983) conducted a
study on "Leadership and Resource Situation as Contingency Factor for School
Success". Akinwurniju (1986) began a study on "Gaps Between Demand and
Supply in University Education in Nigeria". In more recent times, we have
focused our research on the subject of "Internal Efficiency of the Education
System and Gender Issues". Ajayi (1998) on "Resource Utilization", concluded
that, education managers justify education as investment rather than
consumption. On "Gender and Decision - making", Longe and Babalola (1999a),
found that a large gender gap in Education at the primary and secondary levels in
Nigeria has led to significant welfare losses. In another recent study of the
relationship between women education and household democracy, Longe and
Babalola (1999b), hypothesized that exposure of couples to modernizing
institutions such as schools will facilitate the acceptance of the democratic
system of power sharing at home.
The focus of my research all along has been in the area of Educational
Planning with emphasis on cost analysis, women education and national
development. However, on this unique occasion of the first inaugural lecture of
the department, I am looking beyond this area to present in a broader perspective,
Nigeria's Investment in Education. Consequently, I chose the topic
"Investment in Nigerian Education: Relevance, Quality and Governance on the
Eve of the Third Millennium".
Introduction
The decades of the 1980s and 1990s marked a downturn in Nigeria's educational
system. During these decades, the country, which had hitherto experienced
upward mobility in the 1970s, suffered enormous economic, political and social
crises. While other countries of the world are warming up for the global
challenges of the 21st century, many Nigerians as well as important international
observers are becoming increasingly concerned about how to create the base for a
growth path that would ensure rapid development in Nigeria. In addition to the
traditional question of how the education system contributes to students'
intellectual growth, a new question is being asked: 'How can the educational
system contribute to national competitiveness in the coming millennium?'
According to Lewin (1993) and AASA (1994) stakeholders want to know which
type of education benefits society by.
• providing greater earning power;
• enriching the quality of life;
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Investment in Nigerian Education 233
• promoting equal opportunity;
• maintaining a free market economy;
• enhancing personal fulfilment;
• ensuring world leadership;
• and preserving democracy
The human capital model argues that skills are acquired through investment
in education, which adds to the overall volume of national competitiveness.
However, according to Cappelli and Lannozzi (1993) structural changes in the
economy, changes in policy, and shifts in demographics may adversely affect the
link between education and development. Studies such as that of Cappelli and
Lannozzi have served as a caution to many admirers of the human capital theory.
Holding to the tenets of the human capital theory but without losing sight of the
caution to many admirers of the theory implied in the work of Cappelli and
Lannozzi, this lecture pursues the thesis that investment in education, among
other public supports for human services, is an indispensable part of any realistic
programme for economic and social recovery in Nigeria.
Global Thoughts Concerning Investment in Education
The belief that investment in education boosts economic growth dates back to the
time of Adam Smith. The concept however, gained global attention during the
human capital movement of the 1960s. Schultz (1961) and Denison (1962), in
their pioneering works, showed that education contributes directly to economic
growth by improving skills and productive capacities of the labour force.
Considering the economic needs of African countries following their
independence in the 1960s, most of the nations, including Nigeria, quickly
embraced the human capital concept as basis for defending their huge
investments in education at various levels. Unfortunately, reports from the field
concerning the actual economic value of investment in education in the 1960s
produced ambivalent results. Consequently, in the 1970s, research on educational
investment suffered a great setback.
Nevertheless, in the 1980s, the World Bank demonstrated a renewed interest
in the concept of education for development. Hicks (1980), Wheelers (1980),
Longe (1981), Psacharopoulos (1984 and 1985) and Akangbou (1986), among
others reaffirmed the importance of education in promoting economic growth. In
fact, in the 1990s, there has been overwhelming evidence that education is one of
the keys to social and economic development.
Many studies of farm productivity, family enterprises and wage earners have
demonstrated that an increase of one year in average years of education may lead
to a 3 percent rise in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As shown in the World
Development Report 1990, the results of this research vary from region to region.
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234 Remi Longe
Obstacles to Realization of Investment Benefits in African
Education
For most groups of developing countries, the effect of education on GDP is
clearly positive. This result demonstrates the economic importance of investing
in education. Ironically in Africa, the increase in average years of education,
which in 1985 was 3.25 is expected to have a negligible positive effect on GDP.
Three main reasons can explain this exceptional behaviour of education in
relation to economic growth in Africa. First, Africa might have failed to attain
the educational threshold for economic growth. Studies have shown that the
higher the initial level of education, the greater the benefits from increasing the
average years of schooling. For example, about four years of schooling is needed
to attain functional literacy. Investments in education may yield substantial
returns only when they are big enough to push the economy over such a
threshold. Contrary to this, in the 1980s, many countries in Africa had extremely
low enrolment rates, while in other African countries, enrolment rates either
stagnated or fell (World Bank 1991).
Of more importance than the quantitative threshold are the issues of
relevance and quality of African education as they affect economic growth. The
quality of education, in this context (World Bank report 1995, p. 75) includes the
learning environment and students' outcomes. From the input side, quality of
education can be inferred from:
• . student's capacity and motivation to learn;
• the curriculum or the subjects to be learned;
• teachers who know how to teach and can actually teach;
• time to learning;
• and the requisite tools for teaching and learning.
According to World Bank report, (1990, P. 45), education in many countries
of Africa remains cf poor or mediocre quality, particularly when it comes to the
basic skills upon which countries will depend to meet the needs of the labour
market in the 2151 century. Poor quality of education in Africa is manifested
through absentee teachers, emphasis on rote learning, outdated curricula,
shortages of textbooks and lack of relevant materials. In addition to these, quality
shortfalls in African education systems are also showing up in output indicators
such as the results of internationally comparable tests. All these ills are most
likely to have unfavourable effects on the expected interaction between education
and economic growth in the continent.
The issue of governance cannot be overemphasized as far as the
developmental impacts of education are concerned. One important lesson from
the past is that the economies, which committed themselves to investment in
education may fail to achieve commensurate level of economic growth owing to
bad governance. either at the national/state or at the institutional level. When
economies and institutions of learning are badly governed, investments in
education may not produce optimal result. This was the case in the Philippines
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Investment in Nigerian Education 235
where several years of authoritarian rule, which squandered foreign borrowings,
prevented people from benefiting from their greater skills (World Bank 1991 and
1999 p. 61). Perhaps, it is correct to say that the Nigerian experience of the last
decade is similar to that of the Philippines considering the apppalling state of
education in Nigeria. It is appropriate to quote here, the concern in Akinkugbe
(1994) in the Second Obafemi Awolowo Foundation Dialogue: "today we lament
the glaring inadequacies in our educational industry: primary, secondary, special,
technical, tertiary, in which there is abundant evidence of crippling i@rtia,
criminal neglect and pervasive decay in values and standards". ~.
There is overwhelming evidence that education is a weapon in the fight
against poverty. There can be little doubt that educating the children of the poor
greatly improves their chances of escaping poverty. Since the power of all able-
bodied poor is in their labour, increasing the productivity of this labour is clearly
the most effective way to combat poverty. Infact, the effectiveness of education
as a tool to combat poverty goes beyond productivity in the labour market. One
year of receiving mother's education has been associated with a 9 percent
decrease in under 5 mortality. It has been found that the children of better-
educated mothers, other things being equal, tend to be healthier. Just as the
education of parents has positive effect on child nutrition and of course better
nutrition improves the child's capacity to learn. Studies in Kenya, among other
developing countries, show that protein-energy malnutrition is related to lower
cognitive test scores and worse school performance. Another study from
Indonesia discovered that micro nutrient (Iodine) deficiencies reduce cognitive
performance among nine-to-twelve-year old children. Iron deficiency decreases
the child's alertness, which in turn affects learning (World Bank 1990, Del Roses
and Marek 1996). Vitamin A deficiency has long been associated with blindness
and the severity of measles. A milder vitamin A deficiency affects growth,
including brain development. If the full benefits of education in Africa are to be
realized, pupils must be adequately nourished and good governance, which is
still rare in Africa, is needed to achieve this.
This lecture has hitherto discussed the concept that, education is necessary to
promote social, political and economic growth. It has also dropped a hint that
such education needs to be relevant, qualitative and well governed. Having set
the general conceptual context, the next section specifically deals with Nigerian
investment in education at all levels.
Investment in Nigerian Education
Hypothetically, investments in education are depressed during an economic
recession and rise again as economic growth resumes. This is a recent finding of
Psacharopoulos and others (1996) in a study that uses data from 1984, 1989 and
1992 household surveys to investigate the earnings/education relationship in
Mexico. Table 1 shows data on Nigerian investment in education between 1980
and 1993 to test the Mexico's finding. Using the GDP per capita as the indicator
of economic growth, Nigerian economy was seriously depressed between 1980
and 1988. The table reveals that t~e GDP, which was $650 in 1980 reduced by
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
236 Remi Longe
43.08 percent to $380 in 1985 (that is within 5 'Years). Within 8 years, the
economy has depressed by 56.92 percent from $650 in 1980 to $280 in 1988. In
response to the economic depression, per capita education spending reduced by
55.36 percent between 1981 and 1984 and by 80.36 percent between 1981 and
1988. This implies that education spending reduced faster than national income
during depression in Nigeria (see Fig. 1).
Table 1: Investment Trends in Nigerian Education
Period Year GDPPer Education Education as Education
capita 1987 spending per percentage of spending per
US$ capita in US $ annual budget student In US
$
1 1980 650 3.4 5.2 190.94
1981 530 5.6 7.8 302.55
1982 450 4.5 7.9 82.16
1983 390 3.9 7.4 82.16
1984 370 2.5 8.0 n.a
1985 380 . 2.5 8.0 55.59II 1986 270 2.1 4.8 n.a .
1987 280 1.6 2.7 n.a.
1988 280 2.1 2.0 n.a.
III 1989 310 3.09 7.2 16.66
1990 340 3.06 5.3 15.75
1991 330 2.00 4.1 10.25
1992 320 2.80 6.3 7.10
1993 320 3.90 7.3 6.44
Note:
(i) n.a. = not available.
(ii) Efforts have been made to remove the effects of changes in exchange rate of
Nigerian currency, through its conversion to US dollars.
Sources:
(i) Babalola, Lungwangwa and Adeyinka (1999, (I)
(ii) IBRD/W orld Bank (1995) World Tables (Table II)
(iii) Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN (1992, 1993) (III)
The table reveals that the fall in the share of education in the national budget
did not respond immediately to the corresponding fall in the GDP per capita. In
fact, there was a five-year lag between the fall in the later and the former. On the
other hand, the education spending per population responded after a year. This
shows the demographic effects on education investment. It is interesting to note
that, in spite of the dwindling national income, Nigeria showed an unwanted
commitment to education through a continuous increase in the share of education
in the national budget. Nevertheless, the gains in budget share must have been
eaten up by increase in population within the period. The year 1986 was a bad
one for education in Nigeria. The budget share of education dropped by 40
percent from 8.0 percent in 1985 to 4.8 percent in 1986. This has been shown to
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Investment in Nigerian Education 237
be as a result of the adoption of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). By
1988, the education share has dropped by 75 percent of the 1984 figure.
9
8 pc .I Ill' t'lk--' j.Ala .1\
7 II ,r\ vV
6 V )r-,
5 ---'" 1\ rI
i'\ II
I",
/ ~ j ~ I'-.1I4
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2 """
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" f":'I
~
o
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Year
~ Log GDP per capita - Educ. Spending per population
-.- Educ. As % of budget ~ Log educ. Spending per student
Fig. 1: Investment trends in Nigerian Education
On this table, three economic periods in Nigeria are shown. The first one
spans from 1980 to 1985, which can be referred to as the pre-SAP recession
period. The second one spans from 1986 to 1988, which can be classified as the
SAP period, and the third, the post-SAP recovery period, is 1989 upward. The
post-SAP period is characterized by growth in the economy, in the education
spending per capita and in the education as a percentage of the annual federal
budget. There was a 3.23 percent increase in GDP per capita within this period.
The education spending per capital also increased by 26.21 percent while the
share of education in the budget increased by 1.39 percent within the referenced
period.
These results confirm the Mexican experience, where it has been
demonstrated that investment in education increases during recovery.
Nevertheless, we are quick to add that there is a difference in responses of Nig
erian government during recession and recovery as far as its commitment to
education is concerned. The government was reluctant to reduce education
budget during recession until the adoption of SAP in 1986. Moreover, as soon as
the economy picked up in 1989, the country increased the budget share of
education from 2.0 percent in 1988 to 7.2 percent in 1989. The table reveals that
Nigeria actually struggled between 1989 and 1993 to attain the pre-SAP share.
The story is different as far as expenditure per student in US dollars is
concerned. In figure 1 it is revealed that, in spite of the government's efforts at
increasing the share of education in its budget, the expenditure per student
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
238 Remi Longe
continued to decrease at an alarming rate. The expenditure per student, which
was $302.55 in 1981 reduced to $55.59 in 1985, through $16.66 in 1989 to $6.44
in 1993. One quick explanation to this outrageous cut in public spending per
student is in connection with enrolment increase during the period in question.
Considering the amount of hardship, which the drastic reduction in
expenditure per student must have brought into the education system in Nigeria,
the next section measures the impacts on the quantity, quality and relevance of
the education provided at all levels.
The Relevance of Nigerian Education
Education: Relevant to Who?
This is the type of question, which should agitate the audience's mind. It is this
type of question that has brought into the education circle, the economic concept
of stakeholders. Consumers and suppliers of educational goods are generally
referred to as stakeholders in education. These stakeholders include students,
parents, employers of labour, governments, bilateral and multilateral donors,
publishers, institutions of learning and other individuals/organizations whose
interests are at stake in the process of providing education. ,
The concepts of globalization as it affects the scope of production and
distribution of skilled work force has introduced a new dimension to any modem
discussion on relevance of education. That is why, in this lecture, efforts are
made to revisit the traditional debate on the relevance of Nigerian education in
the context of the recent international interest on globalization of education.
Relevant in What Sense?
By relevance, we refer to the extent to which education can be used by the
society to realize its dreams. Following the independence in 1960, Nigeria
decided to build a free, democratic, united, just and egalitarian society where
there will be bright and full opportunities for all citizens. Economically, the
country's desire is to be a great, strong, dynamic and self-reliant economy. It is
hoped that education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, both inside
and outside the formal school system, would contribute in no small measure, to
the achievement of the social and economic goals of this nation. Relevance to the
society aside, education is supposed to contribute to recipients' aspirations in life.
The extent to which education can assist an individual to live a useful life in the
society will determine the private relevance of such education.
Relevant in What Way?
Education becomes relevant through its following traditional roles: (the National
Policy on Education, 1981):
(a) Attitudinal Role: by which the education system is expected to
inculcate certain attitudes in recipients in Nigeria. This is to create in
them values such as national consciousness, national unity, sense of
national/personal survival, respect for the worth and dignity of the
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Investment in Nigerian Education 239
individuals, respect for dignity of labour, faith in man's ability to make
rational decisions, sense of shared responsibility, and others. These are
relevant values within the country's pluralistic context.
(b) Skilled-development Role: by which, the Nigerian education system is
expected to develop in recipients, certain skills to enable the citizens to
contribute to economic growth of the nation and earn money for
personal living. This is basically what our education at the tertiary
level is doing.
(c) Knowledge or Information Role: Which involves imparting the
appropriate knowledge of Mathematics, English, Economics,
Religious Studies and others to help recipients in understanding the
world around them. This is in fact the most emphasized of the three
roles.
The three roles of education are translated into actions through the curricula
at all levels. In Nigeria, efforts have been made to indigenize the curricula and
therefore, make education more relevant to the community needs.
Conflict of Relevance
In recent times, the Nigerian curricula faced a severe conflict of relevance when
measured against the international expectations. The general belief at the
international level is that education in developing countries, especially Africa,
serves to develop students' intellectual power with little or no emphasis on how
the education can contribute to economic competitiveness required in the 21SI
century. At the international level, two competitive strategies have been
developed. One is to compete, based on low wages. This ironically, is a path the
United States is presently pursuing (Faux 1992). The other strategy is to compete
for higher wages. The success of this strategy lies in a national ability to create
and maintain a high-quality work force. This, in effect, requires a competence-
based, vocational and work-oriented curriculum. The belief is that high quality
work force is the source of adaptability in a market place, which is changing at an
accelerated rate. .
The argument that the Nigerian curriculum is mainly of a general form and
therefore does not contain substantial economic potentials has been found to be
faulty. Findings indicate that the allocation of more inputs to academic education,
as we have it in Nigeria, had a positive effect on economic development.
Kuroda (1995), for instance, observes that countries that allocated more
inputs to academic education in 1980 grew more rapidly throughout the decade
than those countries that allocated fewer inputs. The data further showed that
vocational education had some structural inefficiency. This is pointing to the fact
that our values are right and that our emphasis on academic instead of vocational
curriculum is also right.
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240 Remi Longe
There is a need to be careful of the import mentality in education. The waves
of globalization that are currently blowing across Africa can be dangerous if our
curriculum is not adequately protected from the dominant ideology of the former
colonial masters. We need to respect the principle of self-determination as far as
what Nigeria considers the best values to be taught in our schools, colleges and
universities. A situation where the international donors determine education
priorities for the recipients does not promote real development. There is already
evidence to show that Nigerian scholars are consumers of scientific knowledge
created particularly by the World Bank, to shape the thinking of our people and
therefore import certain cultural arbitrariness closely associated with economic
dominance. Openness to foreign information is a good value but some
information may undermine national sovereignty, values and curriculum. That is
why we should continue to gear Nigerian education towards meeting the needs of
the local communities.
Quality of Nigerian Education
Introduction
In Nigeria today, there is mounting concern about the .state of schooling at all
levels. This is rooted in the realization that literacy levels and academic
achievement will determine individual job attainment and earnings as well as the
general economic well-being of the society. Moreover, the quality of life in the
society will be affected by the level and quality of social skills acquired in
schools. It is wrong however, to attribute the low levels of literacy and school
achievement in Nigeria to the school alone. This is because, other factors such as
the home, the society, the mosque/church, government and personal
characteristics are also important in child development.
Nevertheless, fingers are generally pointed at governments and schools for
the low levels of literacy, academic achievement and social skills in Nigerian
institutions of learning. In fact, there is a general concern about the level of
material inputs allocated by governments to various institutions of learning on a
per student basis, and also the level of efficiency with which fixed amounts of
material inputs are organized and managed to raise student achievement in
Nigerian schools.
Ironically, governments have been exempted from the quality issue in
Nigerian schools on the ground of economic inability. While government is
aware of the fact that technical evidence has consistently shown that school
quality can be improved by increasing expenditure per student, they have argued
that economic reality on ground cannot support immediate implementation of
such findings. Consequently, this lecture has to focus on issues that can help to
improve the quality of education in Nigeria in the short-run. Long-run issues
bordering on increase in public spending on education are considered as pending
ones in this lecture. Overall, seven main issues will be addressed, namely:
\
(i) student's capacity and motivation-to learn;
(ii) subject to be learned;
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Investment in Nigerian Education 241
(iii) teachers who know and can teach;
(iv) time for iearning;
(v) requisite tools and technology;
(vi) acquisition and use of inputs; and
(vii) performance standards.
Quality Problems and Related Issues in Nigerian
Institutions of Learning
The pursuit of quality is the concern of teachers, parents, children, employers,
governments and international communities.
Each of these parties has its own views about what constitutes good
education. Consequently, it has been a difficult task to agree on what should be a
good practice in our schools. This problem is further-compounded by the
heterogeneous nature of Nigeria as a multi-ethnic country. What is considered as
a minimum entry qualification into the University of Ibadan, for instance, may be
different from that of University of Sokoto. This may be as a result of the
prevailing conditions within the communities in which the two universities are
situated. ,
Even when there is a consensus as to what a good education should be, this
standard is expected to be the minimum attainable. It will be foolish to suggest
that schools should stop at the minimum, since it is doubtful if we can ever attain
perfection in education. It is therefore left in the hands of individual institutions
of learning to define what it considers as a qualitative education within the
context of the minimum standards (if available) and subject to its resources,
social conditions and limitations. This implies that quality of education will keep
on changing from place to place and from time to time as schools continue to
make efforts at caring for the stakeholders' needs.
An important indicator of quality of education is the value added to
schooling. This includes the learning gain and the increased probability of
income-earning activity. It also involves research productivity in the case of
higher education. Some of the value added to schooling can be measured
quantitatively (as quantitative indicators) while others can only be measured
qualitatively through experiences, judgement and professional knowledge (that is
qualitative indicators). The quantitative indicators, for example, might include
the attendance rate, dropout rate, repetition rate, passing rate, the number
of years since the school was last painted, or the number of days in service
training undertaken by staff. On the other hand more aspects of the qualitative
indicators could include evidence of good communication with parents, the
existence of appropriate policy documents and the evidence of efficient use of
resources.
Setting Performance Standards
Generally, our assessment of the quality of education in Nigeria is often based
upon qualitative evidences through experience, professional judgement and
knowledge.
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242 Remi Longe
We will combine both quantitative and qualitative indicators to discuss the
quality issue earlier identified in this lecture. A logical starting point for a
discussion of quality of education is the performance standards. Is there any
agreed standard of performance against which we can measure the quality of
education in Nigeria? The answer is "yes" and "no". Yes, because there is the
National Universities Commission's (NUC) Approved Minimum Academic
standards for all Nigerian Universities. The Approved Minimum Standards
specified length of academic year, minimum number of teaching weeks per
session, external examiner, continuous assessment, minimum number of credits
required for graduation and the academic contents expected to be covered by
each department in all disciplines of Nigerian universities. The NUC, in line with
Decree No 49 of 1988, appointed thirteen panels to set the minimum standards.
The panels, made up of between six and twelve senior members of the academic
staff, headed by respected professors, were to produce draft proposals. Each
panel was given a free hand to co-opt other members of the community they felt
would make meaningful contribution to their work. When the drafts were ready,
they were sent to every academic department in all the Nigerian universities for
their critical comments on the documents. The output of this process is known as
the "Approved Minimum Academic Standards for all Nigerian Universities"
published by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1989.
After a decade, the Approved Minimum Academic Standards for All
Nigerian Universities (AMAS) is yet to gain total acceptance in all Nigerian
Universities. The extent of compliance with the AMAS varies between
universities and departments. In most cases, it is reluctantly practised. This
reflects the level of consensus reached during the process of setting the standard.
In order to arrive at generally acceptable standard, there is need to involve the
politicians, the professional educators and the students. The politicians are to
judge what knowledge and skills they wish schools to impart to their children.
The professionals are to supply the effective strategies which could be used to
reach objectives and the students are to judge what skills they consider useful for
them. The NUC seemed to have ignored this process of consensus building while
setting the minimum standards. Consequently, the AMAS is like forcing
something down the throat of a sick individual. The assimilation would then be
gradual, difficult and forceful. In effect, the minimum standards have become the
maximum practices in most of the universities where AMAS is currently adopted
with' some seriQ\\~n~~~,
"In spite of these problems, the" university system is far" ahead of other
education sub-systems in Nigeria as far as standards of performance are
concerned. Right now, various education authorities decide on what standards of
education they consider good for their people within their areas of jurisdiction. In
most cases, the standards are unilaterally set by the politicians with little or no
consideration for the involvement of other stakeholders. .
Nigeria is ripe enough to set standards of performance for education at all '
levels. The process can be through a general conference on educational
development. The conference can involve politicians, professional educators at
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Investment in Nigerian Education 243
the school and ministry levels as well as parents, students and other important
groups in the society. Moreover, we cannot objectively measure the quality of
education where there is no standards of performance against which we can
compare the existing practices. The first thing therefore, is to set a national
minimum standard of performance at all levels of education in Nigeria.
Improving Students' Quality
As important as the existence of performance standards in education is, students'
capacity and motivation to learn can make or mare a good schooling system.
Home and school are the two main socializing agents as far as student's
willingness, ability and readiness to learn are concerned. Studies (Lombard,
1994; Schaeffer, 1987; Bryant and Ramey, 1987) comparing the effects of home
and school influences conclude that more. than 60 percent of difference in student
achievement can be attributed to differences in individual and family
characteristics. Unfortunately however, most Nigerian parents are finding it
increasingly difficult to provide adequate family supports for their children
particularly during the formative age.
There is a high prevalence of poverty that has resulted in acute nutritional
and health problems among Nigerian school children. Temporary hunger (a
situation where a child is made to miss at least one of the meals, a situation
jokingly referred to among students as 0-0-1, 1-0-0, 1-0-1) has become
household norms in Nigeria. The effects of this on the level of attention paid by
school children to learning cannot be overemphasized. Temporary hunger can
affect student's concentration in school, while chronic malnutrition,
micronutrient deficiencies, parasitic infections and physical impairments can lead
to less regular attendance, grade repetition and also to more dropouts.
In recent times, there is a rising concern about child labour, street trading
with children leading to withdrawals from schools. These have combined with
the nutritional and health problems to reduce the ability of some Nigerian
children to achieve any measure of success in schools. Once the foundation is
weak, the superstructure is bound to be weak. As the Bible says "if the
foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3). The quality
of Nigerian education system is closely linked with the level of preparation of
Nigerian children right from the home. It is therefore important to introduce
school-based interventions that will complement the unmet needs of the deficient
children before a permanent cognitive damage is done. Such interventions, could
for instance, be directed toward the physical, emotional and cognitive
development of the rural and poor children, particularly during their formative
ages. Without doubt, educational investments that are geared toward school
health and nutrition programmes have the potential to boost learning and
achievement among the poor. Family support programmes, which focus on
parent's literacy and sensitization can also go a long way to help parents to
endorse schooling and discourage child labour.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
244 Remi Longe :
Improving Teacher's Quality
The quality of teachers is ~s important as the quality of the students when we
refer to quality of education in Nigeria. Longe (1984) pointed out that as a result
of social, political and economic situations, it has gradually become difficult to
find teachers who know and. are motivated to teach their subjects in Nigerian
public schools. Most of the' teachers at all levels of education in Nigeria are
poorly prepared. Those in the service are rarely exposed to new theories,
techniques, demonstrations and practice. This is because oflack of well-designed
continuous in-service traineg. Feedback to teachers through research findings
are absent.
However, there are so~' distance learning outfits, which are meant to
upgrade the teachers on their jobs. These are in form of external degree
programmes, part-time programmes, crash-programmes and others. The quality
of these programmes is still doubtful since little emphasis is often placed on
teaching practice.
Ironically, the students themselves do not complain because they want cheap
certificates. Government is economically handicapped and therefore cannot
condemn proliferation of satellite study centers which are more or less money-
making centers for host institutions in Nigeria.
Improving the Quality of Instructional Time
Availability of knowledge teachers is an essential ingredient of quality. However,
the quality of time available for teaching and learning these subjects is important
with respect to quality of education in Nigeria. Do teachers have quality time to
teach? Do students themselves have sufficient or quality time to learn? What
demand has the present economic situation in Nigeria imposed on teacher's time?
Considering that home-work forms an essential as well as integral part of quality
in education, do students have enough time to attend to assignments? These
questions require answers. Nigerian schools have experie ced incessant closures
in recent times. These closures are as a result of-strike" ctio?s, student crises, fuel
shortages, political disturbances and social upheavals among' others.
Many teachers have been squeezed between devalued income and increasing
private responsibilities. There have been evidences of divided interest and loyalty
among teachers especially in the public schools. Cases of absenteeism have
increased among teachers and students. All these have affected the quality of
education adversely. It is important to point out the effects of lack of public
utilities such as electricity, water, transport system, postal and telecommunication
systems on the quality of time available for teaching. Lack of telephone, for
instance, has serious effects on the commuting time by teachers, students, and
inspectors of education. The commuting time is further wasted as a result of poor
transport system in Nigeria. Time scheduling in Nigeria's schools has been made
very difficult since the enabling environment is generally not predictive.
Generally, the actual time spent is usually less than the expected time allocated to
teaching.
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Investment j. Nigerian Education 245
On a global standard, primary schools are 'expected to spend about 880 days
of teaching per year. It is rare to find public schools that spend such a quality
time on instruction in a single year in Nigeria. It might be wise for us to adopt a
flexible scheduling of school days, weeks and year to ensure that different
schools meet required international specification for time of instruction.
Improving the Quality Control Systems
Quality control has to be emphasized in order to improve the quality of education
in Nigeria. School inspection has to be-improved at the primary and secondary
school levels. Longe (1986) advocated for the return of the colonial type of
s:~~100linspection in Nigeria. This is because studies have shown that the
difference in performance between teachers in public and private schools is as a
result of the differences in the supervisory modes. The system of accreditation,
moderation and external examination at the tertiary education level should be
taken more seriously to enhance the quality of graduates being produced. This is
more so since the quality of higher education is not being controlled through
external examination. Which means, the control of the quality of the higher
education depends on how faithful each institution is in subjecting itself to
accreditation, moderation and external assessments. Having suggested the
. essential ways by which the quality of education can be improved in Nigeria, the
last part of this lecture opens a Pandora box containing an age- long debate on
the type of autonomy accorded institutions of learning.
Governance of Nigerian Education
Introduction
Governance, in this lecture, is restricted to the manner by which. the public
education system in Nigeria is being controlled. This definition is necessary in
order to point out the effects of political structure on the education systems. As
earlier stated in this lecture, the experience of the Philippines, where several
years of authoritarian rule which squandered their foreign borrowings, showed
that, when economies are badly managed, investments in education may go
waste. There is need to exercise caution with respects to the direction of
association between governance at the supra level and that at the institutional
level. It is not an unusual thing to see a democratic government being wasteful
while an authoritarian one is not. It can therefore be spurious to jump to a
conclusion that once Nigeria has experienced several years of authoritarian rule
like that of Philippines, investments in Nigerian education must have gone waste.
The examination of the relationship between the leadership style at the
governmental level and the corporate performance of various institutions of
learning in Nigeria are a topic for future discussions. The focus here is on the
examination of the state control of education with the hope that such critical
appraisal will lead to possible policy changes in Nigerian education.
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246 Remi Longe
Models of Governance
The model of governance of education can be discussed from two extremes. That
is; decentralization and centralization. As far as decentralization and
centralization of education are concerned, Nigeria has exercised various degrees
of authority and responsibility for education since her independence in 1960.
Shifts in patterns of educational governance, particularly at the primary level, are
paradoxically currently a cause of uncertainty and turbulence for many of us in
the education business. In fact, the governance of Nigerian primary education has
been characterized by one step forward and two steps backward. Nevertheless,
this type of confusion is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. In the United States of
America, for example, education was very much a local affair up through the late
nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, school administration became
centralized under the leadership of education professionals in the districts (local)
and states. This was aimed at correcting abuses of the earlier decentralized
system. Now, the centralized system in the United States is coming under attack
as being too bureaucratic and unresponsive to local needs. According to Fiske
(1996), a movement favouring decentralization through vouchers, charter
schools, and school-based management is gaining ground, not only in America,
but also in the developing world.
Governance of education is a political issue. Its discussion requires a
thorough understanding of the concept of decentralization - the meaning, the
type, the dimensions, the advantages and disadvantages. It should be noted that
we should not confuse political decentralization with administrative
decentralization. Political decentralization is concerned with allocating power to
make decisions about education to citizens or to their representatives at lower
levels of government. On the other hand, administrative decentralization involves
assigning responsibility and authority for planning, management, finance and
other activities to lower levels of government without losing the decision-making
power.
Since different amount of power can be decentralized, it is important to
differentiate among de-concentration, delegation and devolution of power (Fiske,
1996). De-concentration is a shift of management responsibilities from the
central to lower levels in such a way that the central ministry remains firmly in
control. On the other hand, delegation involves lending authority to lower levels
of government, or even to semi-autonomous organizations such as churches.
Delegation of power is usually done with the understanding that the delegated
authority can be withdrawn if abused. It should be noted that while de-
concentration involves responsibility without authority, delegation implies
responsibility with revocable authority. Unlike in de-concentration, people with
delegated power are allowed to take decisions and use their discretion where
necessary. Devolution of power concerns a permanent transfer of authority over
financial, administrative and pedagogical matters to lower levels of government.
Many governments are sceptical about devolution of power in education since it
is generally believed that education is a political tool that can be misused by
political opponents.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Investment in Nigerian Education 247
Balancing between Decentralization and Centralization
The choice of the mix of decentralization and centralization is not an easy one.
The governance model adopted in a country can be determined by factors such as
national priorities, international social order, group interests and economic trends
in a country. Central to the model of governance adopted in a country are its
economic strength and political will. Chad, Togo and Uganda are examples of
'weak countries' where government inputs are lacking. In these countries, semi-
autonomous (religious/racial) groups have long operated some schools. Indonesia
is a 'fairly strong country' with military dominance. In Indonesia, various Islamic
religious groups operate substantial numbers of schools. Prohibiting these
schools is a difficult task and the authorities have to tolerate their existence.
However, government grants are used to strengthen the power of the state and to
encourage the schools and their owners to take a positive stance toward the ruling
regime (Bray 1996).
Azerbaijan is a weak state in which the government is trying to maintain
legitimacy despite major religious and ethnic tensions. Encouraging semi-
autonomous groups to operate their own schools could strengthen religious and
ethnic divisions and exacerbate already serious political tensions. Singapore is a
strong country with enormous resources, authority and a robust self-image. In
spite of its strength, Singapore encourages financial decentralization of education
because it recognizes that such activities help generate interest and commitment
to the educational process. This is in spite of its earlier experience when the
country felt threatened by the notion of racially-based community bodies
organizing their own schools.
There is a strong move in support of decentralization of the school system in
Nigeria. Ade-Ajayi (1994) advocated for decentralization in the school system,
with more community involvement and less of the heavy hand of government
bureaucracy. In the same vein, Ogunsanya (1998) suggested the abandonment of
the policies of centralization, regulation, and control for the policies of genuine
privatization and liberalization. Such decentralization, Ade-Ajayi concluded,
should in no way impair the structure of national system of education in making
educational opportunities available to all on the basis of equality and merit.
Nevertheless, there is increasing evidence that households are already
contributing, directly or indirectly, to the costs of education. The debate has now
shifted to household's participation in school management and autonomy of
institutions of learning.
Household ill Governance of Education: A Change to Be
Considered
This section points to a change in the right direction in the governance of
education across the world. Nigeria may want to re-appraise its present practices
and see if lessons can be drawn from the governance gap identified herewith. We
are conversant with household's participation in educational financing in Nigeria.
The country is yet to involve parents and students in the governance of schools
and universities. We are familiar with the concept of Board of Governors of
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
248 Remi Longe
secondary schools in Nigeria, but are they actually governing these schools.
Longe (1984) suggested a participatory planning model that will involve
Nigerian parents, communities and students in the decision-making process and
in the implementation of programmes at the school level.
The involvement of students in the governance of institutions of higher
learning is still seen as inimical to a good tone of a school in Nigeria. It requires
boldness to suggest such student's involvement in university governance
especially in a period when students of higher education are allegedly associated
with violence and occultism.
Nevertheless, schools are communities of truth, made by truth and for the
promotion of truth. What then is the truth about household involvement in
governance in education. The truth is that governments in several countries of the
world are currently making every effort to encourage school-household
partnership in educational development. Mauritius and Jamaica for example have
set up a social mobilization campaign (SMC) to stimulate active
parent/community participation in school governance. In Mauritius,
government's funds are being used to encourage parent-teacher associations
(PTA) in school governance. The case of School Development Boards (SDBs) in
Sri Lanka legislated the establishment of SDBs with the purpose of promoting
community participation in school management. Each SDB consists of
representatives from the school staff, parents, past students, and well wishers.
The Board is chaired by the school Head. The SDB is made up of ten
subcommittees to decide and implement school projects. The ten subcommittees
are:
• Educational development to improve academic curricula and mode of
teaching;
• Co-curricular activities to promote extracurricular activities;
• Moral development to promote cultural, religious and moral activities;
• Physical resources to develop infrastructures such as building and
maintenance of physical resources;
• Library and educational equipment to improve facilities;
• Schoolbooks, midday meals and uniforms to decide on school
requirements;
• Welfare and community relationship to strengthen welfare activities;
• Communications to interact with media and the community;
• Finance to utilize and disburse school funds;
• Student personality development to develop the personality of the pupils
and the school.
This initiative is faced with problems. The main problem is in connection
with the capacity of parents, community members and students to make informed
decisions on educational issues. The common solution adopted in New Zealand,
Jamaica, Botswana and. Uganda, to mention a few, is community training. In
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Investment in Nigerian Education 249
New Zealand for example, parents trustees were trained; in Jamaica, parents were
trained on how to manage schools; in Botswana, trainings were organized to
empower parents, especially in the rural areas to become effective in the school
Boards. In Uganda, Action Aid (AA) was put in place to train PTA and members
of the school management committees.
If these initiatives are adopted in Nigeria, parents and students can be
empowered to become watchdogs to stimulate the right attitude to work among
the teaching and management staff of our schools and universities.
Let teachers at all levels be aware that students, parents and members of the
community are watching them and at the same time reporting their activities to
the authorities through an official procedure. I believe people will work.
Teachers will be regular, punctual and more effective at work. Consequently,
academic achievement will be improved. In a similar vein, a watchdog activity
from the side of parents will cause schools to be on their toes. Fraudulent
practices, ineffectiveness and inefficiencies can therefore be reduced to the
bearable minimum. Moreover, parents who are involved in school management
will be willing to support the school financially .
.
Autonomy of Institutions of Learning: Another Change to
be Considered
Autonomy of institutions of learning is an age-long debate, especially in Nigerian
higher institutions of learning. Government usually frowns at such debates on the
ground of the adage that says "who pays the piper dictates the tune". It is
important for our government to note that school autonomy is not the same as
either local financing or administrative decentralization, although the three are
often confused (World Bank 1995:126). Fully autonomous institutions have
authority to allocate their resources (not necessarily to raise it). This includes the
authority to deploy personnel and to determine such things as the timing of
school day, the duration of the school year, and the language of instruction to fit
local conditions. Moreover, teachers must have authority to determine c;l~~"F,.Q,Q,W-
Q"Cactices wifumfu~\\m\~ 'SIC b)' 'abtoa~ national curriculum. Once a teacher has
been told ahead of time that examination is coming up on a specified date, the
teacher sh?u.ld be left to use flexibility in classroom practices. Though grossly
abused, this IS what we do in Nigerian universities, but it is yet to be extended to
the lower levels of education. Teachers should be monitored and supported by
standards, learning assessments and school inspectors (such as head teachers).
School staff must be accountable to the local community to provide a check and
balance situation in an autonomous institution of learning.
-.=There is a wide gap between the ministry and the schools in Nigeria. It takes(days, months, and years) for schools and ministries to communicate. Many
tunes, schools operate without supervision, without check, and without control.
The autonomy of institutions, we are suggesting here is not the type of
laissez-faire supervisory mode currently being practised in our public schools.
We a~e s~ggesting the type in operation in the international non-governmental
orgamzations such as the UNICEF. In these organizations, staff operate flexible
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
250 Remi Longe
time within the limits of the institutional standards concerning the number of
hours that should be spent per day and the targets of performance that must be
reached at the end of a given period.
We in the Department of Educational Management, University of Ibadan
have consistently channeled our research efforts on issues affecting the education
system in Nigeria. The results of our research projects some of which have been
mentioned in this lecture often point to possible changes in the Nigerian
Education System. However, most of these research reports are left on the
shelves unused. It is not encouraging that research - research-based
recommendations are hardly ever consulted. On this, I use this opportunity to
make a fresh appeal that the government makes a firm commitment for the use of
research reports.
REFERENCES
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Today". The Second Obafemi Awolowo Foundation Dialogue. Ibadan: Spectrum
Books Ltd.
Adedeji, S.O. (1998) "The Relationship between Resource Utilization and Academic
Performance in Vocational Education in Osun State Secondary Schools".
Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Ibadan: University oflbadan.
Ajayi, A.O. (1998) Resource Utilization: The Mandate of Education Managers. Ibadan:
University oflbadan.
Akangbou, Stephen D. (1986) Financing Nigeria University, Faculty of Lecture No.2,
Department of Educational Management, University of Ibadan.
Akinkugbe, 0.0. (1994) "Nigeria and Education". The Challenges Ahead. The Second
Obafemi Awolowo Foundation Dialogue. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd.
Akinwumiju, J.A. (1986) "An Analysis of the Gaps Between Demand and Supply of
University Education in Nigeria (1964 - 1984)" African Journal of Educational
Management, Vol. 1, No.2.
American Association of School Administrators (AASA) (1994) How Our Investment in
Education Pays Off Arlington, Virginia USA.
Babalola, J.B. (1995) " Harmonization of African Curricula: An Institutional
Framework" lfe Journal of Curriculum Studies and Development, Vol. 1, No.2.
Babalola, J.B; Lungwangwa, G. and Adeyinka, A.A. (1999) "Education under Structured
Adjustment in Nigeria and Zambia". Journal of Education, Vol. 34, No.1, pp. 79 -
98. Mc Gill.
Bray, M. (1996) Decentralization of Education: Community Financing. Washington,
D.C.: The World Bank.
Cappelli, P. and Lannozi, M. (1983), Challenge to Develop Incentives for Investment in
Attainment in Order to Produce a More Productive, More Competitive Workforce.
Pennsylvania: Reports-Research.
Dension, E.F. (1962), The Source of Economic Growth in the United States and the
Alternatives Before us. New York: Committee for Economic Development.
Del Rosso, J.M. and Marek, T. (1996), Class Action: Improving School Performance in
the Developing World Through Better Health and Nutrition, Washington, D.C. The
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Durosaro, D.O. "Research Allocation and Internal Efficiency of Secondary Education in
Bendel State, Nigeria" Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University ofIbadan.
Fabunmi, Martins (1996) Differentials AJlocation of Educational Resources and
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Ibadan: University of Ibadan.
Faulx, J. (1991) "Economic Competitiveness and Human Capital Investment Gap".
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Hick, N. (1980) Economic Growth and Human Resource. Washington D.C.: The World
Bank.
Ibukun, W.O. (1983) Principal Leadership and Resource "Situation as Contingency
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Kudora, K. (1995) "Allocating Resources to Academic or Vocational Secondary
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Investment in Education". Buffalo: The Comparative and International Education
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Jaiyeoba, A.O. (1994) The Impact of School Administration Operational Areas on the
Implementation of the two-tier Systems of Secondary Education in Oyo State.
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Longe, R.S. (1982) Factors Influencing Current Cost of Secondary Education in Oyo
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252 Remi Longe
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
13
MYTH IN HISTORY:
A CLASSICIST VIEW
J. A. Ilevbare.
Department of Classics
In June 1966, Professor John Ferguson, wrote in the Foreword to AFRICA IN
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY:
This volume of papers reflects one of the central interests of the
Ibadan University Department of Classics. It is natural that, in
Africa, we should study ancient Africa; the field is fascinating, the
opportunity vast, and work in English scanty.
That book was one of the first fruits of Ibadan efforts in reshaping, perhaps,
rewriting the history of Africa in Classical antiquity. It was also the other side of
the coin to the Renaissance a decade earlier of African and Nigeria history in our
Department of History. Before then, African history, ancient and modern, to
European and North American public, unfortunately including their scholars, was
little more than British, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese Colonial or
Empire History.
Africans were said to be savages, lacking real history and civilization of any
significance. And what was known of their past is said to be shrouded in myths
and irretrievable from the dark past. Hence, Africa was called the dark continent.
With the glorious trail blazed by the Dikes and Ajayis, Esan in his comparative
study of !fa and the Greek oracle at Delphi (1959) brought new relevance of
Classics and the Classical Studies nearer home to Nigeria and at the same time
demystified Africa. The next two years, the wind of autonomy blew over U.c.I.
The academic curriculum of the department was revised to give prominence to
Ancient Greek and Roman Culture. Ancient North Africa came more and more
into focus. The process of re-examining, re-interpreting North African history to
strip it of myth had begun. Ibadan Department of Classics School of African
History was born. The speaker before you is a product of this school.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
254 JA. Ilevbare
The focus of this lecture is not mythology per se. It is not the intention to
trace the history of ancient North Africa and its development from myths nor to
classify the various and varying faces and phases of myths in history. This talk
will be restricted to aspects of, and examples drawn from, the history of North
Africa from 500 Be. to 500 AD., highlighting the interplay of myth and
historical facts in an attempt to strip them of their prejudices, fantasies and
imaginations and bring to bear on them the benefit of our colonial experience.
Like modem Africa, North Africa in antiquity experienced colonization in
the time span of a thousand years; first by the Phoenicians of the homeland (lOOO
- 500 Be.) and then from the beginning of the 5th century, the empire in Africa
and, indeed, western Mediterranean sea, was expanded and consolidated by the
most powerful Phoenician settlement at Carthage built on the site of what was to
become modem Tunis. Greek colonization was mainly centred on Cyrene
(Benghazi in modem Libya). Their cultural influence was felt deep into
Carthaginian domain to the west. The Romans ousted the Carthaginians in 146
BC. and annexed Cynereaica in the next century. The Vandal invaders came in
the fifth century AD., and played a major role in undermining Roman power,
thus paving the way for their mutual downfall, when the Arabs came in the sixth
century. Yet, throughout this millennium neither the government of the Princes
of Africa, nor their culture of farming and normadism, nor their other institutions
were annihilated. From time to time, these bounced back and continued to thrive
to varying degrees until this day (cf Monceaux, Hist. Litt., I, 1901, p.29). It is
against this colonial background, that our discussions will unfold.
Beside this, almost all our primary sources came from the writings of these
colonial masters. These authors themselves constituted the political class that
provided the provincial governors, military leaders who conquered the indigenes.
They were also the men of commerce and industries who exploited and
expropriated North Africans. They were the same men who, at various times,
came into direct contact with the natives of Africa. Though few, they wielded
enormous influence, out of proportion to their numbers. Though enlightened,
they often fed their peoples back home with inaccurate information, some of
which bordered on the marvellous.
For instance, the acclaimed father of history, the Greek, Herodotus (fifth
century BC) told of dog-headed men, apes living in communion with men. The
Roman historian, Livy who wrote in the time of Augustus Caesar (27 BC - AD
14), saw the Carthaginians as men of bad faith (Punica fides) and treacherous to
the core; the native African, the Numidian, they assumed, were fickle weather
cocks; men reckless in falling in love (praeceps in venerem); and their kings,
only too ready to go to war for the sake of a woman (Sophoniba) and, in the
process, destroyed their kingdoms. But when it came to the Roman conqueror of
Hannibal at Zama (202 BC) Publius Cornelius Scopio Africans, Livy suppressed
the great general's weakness in the face of Spanish women while waging war in
that country (Spain). Livy saw nothing wrong with his treachery in breaking off
abruptly negotiations with King Syphax only to attack the prince that very night.
Livy saw this action as the mark of an excellent general. All these and similar
perfidy ancient Graeco-Roman apologists considered absolute virtue and utmost
military skill.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Myth ill History: A Classicist View 255
Such biased attitudes were unfortunately accepted by modem western
scholars of the nineteen and twentieth centuries who wrote Greek and Roman
history for their kiths and kins. Both writers and readers saw themselves as great
colonial masters, treading the glorious paths blazed by the Greeks and the
Romans. Hence, we find in the works of these modem but secondary sources, the
propagation of myths inherited from Graeco-Roman sources. They repeat the
African disregard and disrespect for bonds of marriage; in their view, in a
polygamous situation, true love was non-existent but dissolved among numerous
women, all of them regarded as mere chattels. These claims are nothing more
than echoes from Herodotus, Livy, Sallust and Caesar. However, concrete
evidence shows that Sophoniba was to king Masinissa, the greatest treasure. In
203 BC, a calvary battle was fought at the Tower of Agathocles resulting in the
exchange of Masinissa's mother, a Numidian woman, for a distinguished
Carthaginian general, Hanno. Both examples come from the third century BC
and were located in what is now Tunisia and Algeria where polygamy had been
firmly established. Other women held in high esteem included, Pudentilla,
mother of Apuleius in second century AD; the woman married to a local chief at
Thubursicu Numidarum honoured by the entire city and recorded on an
inscription of AD 100; Monica, the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo; Cyria the
sister of Firmus both in the fourth century AD. And, perhaps, the mother of King
Jugurtha to which we shall return below.
What emerges from the above is that the ancient African historian at Ibadan
of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s had to contend with the same problems as his
counterpart writing on pre-colonial modem Africa. It is this distortion in Ancient
North African history that we endeavoured to demystify and, perhaps, here lies
what we profess. Before giving an outline of our efforts, a few thoughts may be
spared for giving one or two reasons for the bias and myth.
The first that comes readily to mind is sociological, arising from the social
situation of the earliest writers in, and carried over to later, antiquity. The horizon
of the average Greek or Phoenician of 10th to 5th centuries BC was limited to the
immediate boundaries of his Polis (city-state), the population of which hardly
exceeded five thousand. Their outlook was further circumscribed by the sea,
which was never far away from the inhabitants of the islands and numerous
peninsulas and creeks of the mainland on which most cities were built. The sea
was proverbial for its treachery particularly in winter, due to the ignorance of the
ancient mariners. And so, whoever was able to venture beyond the immediate
confines of his city-state (no larger than a village today), came back with stories
about strange (not the perjorative terminology "barbaric" of today) land, padded
with myths and the marvellous, to enhance the exploits of the traveller. A cursory
look at the epics of Homer and Virgil; the book of Apollonius of Rhodes, the
novels of Lucian pleasurably named True Story, the Golden Ass of Apuleius
native of Madaura in Africa, the Satyricon of Petronius, the minister of the
emperor Nero and Herodotus' Histories of Egypt and the Maghrib, to mention a
few, will tell the whole story. Though no malice was harboured, no injury
intended, there was an undertone of superiority complex. The main aim was to
magnify the stature of the traveller and his tale.
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256 J.A. Ilevbare
Between early Greek historiography and travellers" tales, there was only a
thin dividing line. Here oral tradition stands as a cross between history and myth.
And so, in Herodotus, tales of the marvellous and historical facts were hopelessly
jumbled together or placed side by side. The perplexity of the (modem not
ancient) reader is relieved by the innocent protestation of the writer, that, so he
was told (iv. 187)--the Libyans said so; he could not vouch for the truth; that he
or the reader should opt for the most probable. No sinister motive in such
distortions.
But in the hands of imperial writers (Herodotus himself must be numbered
with this group in his account of the Persian invasion of Greece) historiography
was made to serve a definite end: namely, the glorification of the imperial power,
of families of the principal actors in the empire and, in the process, of the
superiority complex of all the above. The other side of the coin, of course, is the
suppression of the culture, achievements of the adversary of' imperialism and
investing them with opprobrium.
In many of our most important modem authorities, the traits/reasons
canvassed above are apparent. So also it is in regard to modem African History.
Therefore, with Thucydides, the greatest and the most objective Greek historian
of the fifth century BC, in whose hand historiograph achieved a height
comparable to modem standards unadulterated, we may assert:
It will be enough for me, however, if these words of mine are
judged useful by those who want to understand clearly the events
which happened in the past and which (human nature being what it
is) will at some time or other and in much the same way, be
repeated in the future. (Transl: Warner)
It has indeed been repeated.
Let me retrace my steps and mention, all-be-it, cursorily some of the myths
found in aspects of Ancient North African -History and the reinterpretation
provided (by this speaker). At this juncture, I must acknowledge my debt to the
monumental work of Stephane Gsell (1903-1929), LA. Thompson, Teutsch,
Monceaux, Gruen, Broughton to mention a few. The rest will be listed in the
references.
Syphax, king of Western Numidia until 203 BC is said to have revolted
against the Carthaginians in the early years of the Second Punic War (218-202
BC), because his Carthaginian wife, Sophoniba, had been taken from him. But
Livy, recording events that took place 12 years later in 206/205, reduplicates this
marriage, saying that Syphax renounced his earlier (216-213) treaty of alliance
with Rome through pressures from his new bride. The assumption in the word,
revolt, is that Syphax was a king subject to Carthage.
The truth is that Syphax was an independent king. He went to war with
Carthage (2171216 BC) to recover some territory Carthage had taken from him.
The territory he obviously got back when the war ended in 212 Be. But Syphax's
treaty with Rome was allowed to linger on until 206 Be. There was only one
marriage between Syphax and Sophoniba. It took place in 206/205 BC to cement
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Myth in History: A Classicist View 257
the alliance between Syphax and Carthage. The alliance was brought about by
common interests of both parties, namely, the partitioning of Masinissa's
Massylian kingdom. The conspiracy by Carthage and Syphax to partition the
Massylian kingdom drove into the arms of the Romans, Masinissa who had,
hitherto, in Spain, fought on the side of the Carthaginians against the Romans.
The acceptance by Rome of the alliance of Masinissa compelled Syphax to
renounce his alliance with Rome. It became impossible for both Numidian kings
to remain Roman allies after one had subverted the kingdom of ·the other.
Therefore, the woman was not the real reason for the change in alliance. The real
cause was the territorial ambition of Syphax.
Similarly, Massinissa was regarded by the Romans, especially Sallust, as a
vassal of Rome. By the help and favour of Rome, according to Sallust, he had
recovered his kingdom from Syphax and Carthage and had annexed that of
Syphax. Therefore, Massinissa held his kingdom in trust for Rome as a provincial
governor. He was a teleguided puppet of Rome. So went the myth. The truth,
gathered from other Roman and non-Roman sources, contradicts this fervent
Roman imperialist picture. It is now known that the strategy for the destruction of
Carthaginian and Syphax's Numidian forces at the camps was mapped out and
executed by Massinissa. While the. Romans were still basking in the euphoria of
the victory on the Great Plains (203 BC) where Massinissa with his own hand
captured Syphax, Massinissa single-handedly overran Syphax's territory. On the
battle field of Zama (202 BC), that final confrontation between Hannibal and
Scipio Africanus, it was the horsemen of, and led by, Massinissa that swung the
battle round in favour of the Romans. Massinissa spent the next 54 years on the
throne, leaving behind him a rich and powerful kingdom. If Massinissa needed
Rome in 204/203, Rome needed him also and more so thereafter.
Whenever the Romans committed aggression and land grabbing against the
indigenes, they paraded themselves as pacifiers, resettlers and civilizers. And this
so-called civilizer role is consistently re-echoed by modem authorities.
(Pacification and civilization were, in similar situation, to become the slogans of
19th and 20th centuries colonial powers). Hence the resistance of such tribes and
nationalists as the Musulami and Garamantes (22-19 BC and AD 6); Tacfarinas
(AD 17 - 24), the Nasamonians (c. AD 70 - 78); the Baquates (AD 118, 168-169,
232-234); the Mazices, the people of Lusius Quietus (98-117 AD) and Firmus,
the king of the lubaleni (AD 372). In the case of Firmus, the war was caused by
Roman attempt to set aside Firmus, the rightful king, in favour of their puppet,
Zammac. The puppet was seen as a traitor by his people and was killed. The
Romans got the pretext they needed for war. A striking repetition of Jugurtha-
Adherbal-Hiempsal episode of 118-105 Be. The imposition of oppressive taxes
fuelled this war. In each of these cases, the resistance spread over very wide areas
across national boundaries embracing the Gaetulians, an umbrella name used for
tribes that ranged the Steppe regions south of the coastal mountains and the
Saharan Atlas down to the desert beyond, stretching from the hinterland of the
Gulf of Sidra and Gabes to the Atlantic ocean. As shall be seen below, the
geographical extent of the revolts could not be an accident: there must be some
well established bonds holding these peoples together.
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My first efforts were directed at myth in the status of women, the family, and
the so called bastardy of the African child, and the succession principle,
especially in regard to the Numidian royal family. Herodotus fifth century Be
and Sallust first century Be, followed by Ammianus Marcellinus fourth century
AD, observed that Ailicans married numerous wives. According to Herodotus,
Nasamonians were promiscuous; Sallust averred that their love was dissipated
among the numerous wives who, one and all, were regarded as mere chattels.
Livy added that the Numidian African was very quick and reckless in falling in
love. Livy, Ammianus Marcellinus and the Greek historian Polybius agreed that
North Africans especially the kings fathered numerous children by wives and
concubines while Polybius and Sallust emphasized that some of such children,
obviously by concubines and women of low births, were illegitimate. All modem
authorities re-echoed these views with only a few (notably S. Gsell) attempting a
rationalization. The assertions of Greek and Roman writers were readily accepted
by modem scholars for, in this regard, the Graeco-Roman and modem European
customs are similar and so they could not see and understand African way of life.
Many wives and children were part and parcel, and at the very root, of the
economy of the people based on unmechanized agriculture and pastoral
nomadism. Just as was to be the cas!! with pre-colonial Nigerian society, wealth
was reckoned not only in the numbers of cattle and acres of land but also in the
number of wives and children. In such a situation, no child was illegitimate.
The history of Numidia (modem Algeria) 105 Be was distorted by factions
of Roman politicians who invoked this mistaken notion of bastardy against
Jugurtha, king of that country at that time (118-105). Inspite of the fact that even
in the second century Be the Romans (Livy xxix.29) had recognized the
Numidian custom that the oldest agnate male, not necessarily the eldest son of
the last king, must succeed to the throne-and this obviously applied at individual
family level-some politicians in Rome conspired to subvert the throne of
Jugurtha first by splitting the kingdom between Jugurtha and his younger cousin
Adherbal; and then, when the latter was killed in battle, by declaring war on
Numidia. Jugurtha was defeated and ultimately deposed. It was alleged that
Jugurtha was a bastard, too ambitious for his situation in life and so not fit to
become king. This point was even stretched beyond all imagination by Sallust
that Masinnissa, his grandfather, had marked him out for his bastardy and
debarred him from the Numidian throne!! It is noteworthy that Masinnissa had
been survived by forty-four sons; three of them were singled out by Polybius as
legitimate, among whom was Jugurtha's father, Mastanabal. It is also worth
noting that Jugurtha was recognized by his uncle and successor of Masinissa,
Micipsa, as heir apparent. Micipsa, according to the confused account of the
Roman historian Sallust, subsequently did him (Jugurtha) the favour of sharing
the throne with Micipsa's sons born much later. All these are active distortions
and myths. The truth is that Numidia was a rich client kingdom whose rich
agricultural and mineral resources the Romans had exploited since the defeat of
Hannibal. The exploitation had mainly been carried out privately by Roman
senators (cf. Nigerian Senators) and business class (equites) on individual basis,
for private pockets, to enhance their political, military and social status. Whoever
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Myth in History: A Classicist View 259
became the patron of the king stood to reap enormous benefits. The best way to
achieve this end was to install a puppet on the throne. And this was what
Jugurtha resisted and which led to his downfall.
Before concluding (this section), I wish to go a little further than anybody
has ever done. If you like, this is my floridula, the little contribution to
knowledge, today.
The myth of Jugurtha's bastardy, as shown above, was hinged on the
allegation that his mother was of low birth! 1! He was said to be the son of a
concubine. It has been demonstrated above that, in North African society,
bastardy did not exist. What then is the true picture? The issue may be examined
from three angles: the political (or governmental), the commercial (or trading)
and the sociological (or marriage practices).
First, the commercial. It is a long established fact that the peoples of North
Africa had, by the fifth century BC, enjoyed trading relations among themselves
for a long time. Herodotus (II; IV) showed clearly that caravan routes from
Lepcis Magna (Lebda) Sabratha and Oea (Tripoli) ran to the Oases of Aujila, the
base of the Nasamonians transhumants and Fezzan, the home of the Garamantes.
These peoples were also in contact with Cyrene and, judging by their mobility,
with the oasis in which was situated the oracle of Ammon, visited by Alexander
the Great in 331/330 BC Ammon was in Western Egypt. The same Nasamonian
piloted Phoenician traders from Carthage through the Saharan desert to what is
generally accepted to be the River Niger port of Timbuctu in modem Mali or by
some to be even Lake Chad (T & F, 1969). It is also known that other groups of
Africans conducted trade by caravans running through the valley of wadi Bei el-
Chebir via Bu Ngem where the Romans were to build a military fort in AD 202.
Another ran from Tunis Tamalleni northward to Lebda and westward south of
Lake Djerid to the Oasis of Zibans, Gemellae and from there to Dimidi. From
Dimidi it hugged the southern foot of Mt. Warsenis, along the river Nahr Wassel
to Tiaret plateau, River Mina, Altava (Lamoriciene), River Siga basin, to River
Moulouya (Sallust's Muluccha) and beyond to Volubilis in modem Morocco
terminating at Sala (modem Rabat). At various points, the route branched ofIinto
the coastal mountains to the north and Saharan Atlas and the desert to the south.
By the reign of Jugurtha at the end of the second century BC, the routes had been
firmly established and were to provide the Romans the main lines of military
forts down to the third century AD when Roman Empire in the Maghrib attained
its greatest extent. Jugurtha himself controlled several big cities fortified all over
his large kingdom such as Capsa (Gafsa) in the extreme south-east oasis, Vaga
(Beja) to the North-west, Cirta (Constantine) further north, Thala in the desert
and another on the river Moulouya in the far west to mention a few. These forts
served a triple purpose: as trading (market) centres, sites of royal palaces and so
seats of provincial administration equipped with treasuries and military bases.
They also controlled the various caravan routes mentioned above.
Through these cities and emporia, Jugurtha exercised political and economic
control backed by strong monetary system. King Bocchus of what is now
northern and eastern Morocco acknowledged the overwhelming influence and
popularity of Jugurtha, not only in Jugurtha's Numidia, but also in his (Bocchus'):
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260 J.A. flevbare
Moorish kingdom. For, when called upon by the Roman general Sulla to betray
Jugurtha, Bocchus asserted that his subjects might revolt because of the
popularity of Jugurtha among them.
The mention of Bocchus brings us to the third and last point: marriage ties
and kinship group. From time immemorial (a thing which literary and
archaeological evidence confirms), the institution of marriage had been used to
build kinship groups to reinforce political, economic and military ties. In
Classical Greece, among Athens/Corinth/Sicyon, in Rome, between Julius Caesar
and Pompey; the Claudian and the Julian families resulting in the Julio-Claudian
dynasty of 27 BC -AD 68. Such marriage alliances are evident in the betrothal
and marriage of the Carthaginian Sophoniba first to Masinissa, then to Syphax
and back to Masinissa. It is clear from the examples cited above that the practice
cut across tribal and national boundaries. Bocchus married the daughter of
Jugurtha himself. To the hypocritical Romans, who, pretending to be
monogamous, but indeed having numerous concubines that included slaves, the
numerous wives of Africans must also be slaves. And like Roman offspring by
slaves, the children of African polygamy must in their eyes be illegitimate and of
inferior civic status. This is Roman myth. In fact, the strength and stability of
African society, political, economic and military, was greatly enhanced by trans-
national ties of marriage resulting in interlacing and interlocking networks of
kinship groups which the Graeco-Roman imperialist could not see or, if they
understood, swept under the carpet to boost their imperial ego and majesty.
Wheataker (1994) in his recent study of land exploitation in this geographical
area has shown that kinship groups all over the Maghrib were still built on such
economic and military considerations during French colonial era and the people
remained nomadic.
From all indications, Jugurtha's mother was neither a concubine nor of
servile origin. Jugurtha's mother must have been a Gaetulian. The Gaetulians
were' a warlike transhumant (semi-nomadic) people, of consumate military
prowess, at once mobile and guerilla in nature; whom the Roman imperial power
found extremely difficult to pin down or subjugate. For to the Gaetulians
Jugurtha (and indeed other princes before and after) often retreated in defeat to
regroup and fight again. To repeat myself, through commerce, military suzerainty
and kinship, Jugurtha exercised far reaching control over the Gaetulians, who,
like the Hausa/Fulani across the Savannah belt of West Africa today, grazed their
cattle east to west, west to east across ancient Maghrib. Therefore, North Africa
in antiquity enjoyed more cohesion and cooperation than has hitherto been
allowed. Here lies the strength of Jugurtha, of Tacfarinas, of Firmus and more
recently of Ben Bella as well as Ben Kedda of Algerian war of independence.
In sum, concubinage, bastardy, the worthless status of women in polygamy,
contradicting reckless abandon with which the African fell in love, the fickleness
of the African and his perfidy, all these are myths in history. All have been
coloured by prejudice, misunderstanding and the paraphernalia of travellers' tales
and must be seen as such.
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Myth in History: A Classicist View 261
Bibliography
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Albertini, E. (1955), L 'Afrique Romaine, Alger.
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Appian, Libyca, ed. H. White, Loeb, Heinemann, 1956.
Apuleius, Apologia, ed. H. E. Butler and A. S. Owen, Oxford, 1914.
Apuleius, Metamorphosis, ed., Loeb, Heinemann.
Augustine, Opera Omnia, ed. J. P. Migne, Patrologia, Latina, Paris, 1841-1842.
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Badian, E. (1971). Roman Imperialism in the Late Republic, Itheca, New York.
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II'. Journal of Roman Studies, 39 and 40.
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14
NATURAL AND 'UNNATURAL' PRODUCTS:
THE FASCINATING SPICE TO LIFE
D. A. Okorie
Department of Chemistry h
Introduction
If this lecture had been given over ten years ago, the title would have been
completely different and the scope narrower. The intervening years had therefore
been used in further consolidating the platform which propelled me to
professorship and in reaching out to other areas at a more relaxed pace. It is in
consonance with these that I have chosen the broader title; Natural and 'Un-
Natural Products': the Fascinating Spice to Life. As a Professor of Organic
Chemistry, I would naturally be expected to treat the title from a Chemist's point
of view. This I will set out to do.
The Oxford Universal Dictionary Illustrated (1969) defines chemistry as
"that branch of science which deals with several elemental substances, or forms
of matter, of which all bodies are composed; the laws that regulate the
combination of these elements in the formation of compound bodies and the
phenomena that accompany their exposure to diverse physical conditions".
Briefly put, chemistry can be described as that branch of science which is
concerned with the composition and properties of substances and the changes
which they undergo. Chemistry touches almost every facet of the world that God
created and the world that man has made. There is an aspect of chemistry in
almost all branches of science. Hence you hear of Biological Chemistry,
Medicinal Chemistry, Agricultural Chemistry, to mention just a few. Even in
everyday life in Nigeria, chemistry is mentioned. Currently, in Nigeria when a
man and a woman agree to move together it is said that their body chemistries
agree.
Organic chemistry is the area of chemistry involved with the study of carbon
compounds. The carbon atom, because of its peculiar properties, is very unique
amongst all the atoms so far known. Carbon atoms can join with one another to
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264 D.A.Okorie
form compounds having long chains or short chains, or numerous rings and then
join with other kinds of atoms as well. The increased knowledge of the structures
of these organic compounds, as we shall see later, has led to a better life for all of
us.
A spice, according to the New Collins Compact English Dictionary could be
anything that adds flavour, relish, piquancy, "interest etc, for purposes of this
discourse, to life. As a verb, the Oxford Universal Dictionary defines spice thus:
"to season, to affect the character or quality of, by means of some addition or
modification" .
Let us now return to the title of this lecture. Natural products are not products
that occur freely or combined in nature, like coal which occurs in and around
Enugu; crude oil present in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria or even the bitumen
deposits in Ondo. These are more aptly referred to as natural resources. Natural
products are compounds that can be obtained or extracted from plants, animals or
organisms that inhabit the land or waters. A very good and well known example
is sugar, which can only be obtained from the appropriate sugar cane or sugar
beet. Sugar does not occur as sugar deposits or sugar mines. With the above
comparison between say, crude oil and sugar, I believe we now can distinguish
between natural products and natural resources. It therefore follows that what is
not a natural product, for purposes of this discussion, is an 'unnatural' product."
Natural Products from Plants
As mentioned earlier, natural products are extracted from plants, animals or
organisms. The discussion will be limited mainly to the products from plants,
because of time constraint. Many higher plants produce economically important
groups of organic compounds such as oils, dyes, resins, tannins, gums, waxes,
flavours, pesticides and pharmaceuticals (Balandrin 1985). These groups of
compounds are well known to all of us. They all, in their respective ways, add
some value to the quality of life. I will now start with medicinal plants.
Medicinal Plants
Right from the beginning of time, man has relied on plants for the cure of many
diseases and treatment of many ailments and for sustenance of life. There are a
number of references to this in the Holy Bible. In the beginning of creation, God
said in Genesis Chapter 1, Verse 29 and I quote:
And look! I have given you the seed bearing plants throughout the
earth and all the fruit trees for your food.
In the book of the Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 38 Verse 21, the healing power of the
plants was highlighted and I quote:
For Isaiah had told Hezekiah's servants, Make an ointment of figs
and spread it over the boil, and he will be well again.
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Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 265
All the quotations are from the Living Bible Version of the Holy Bible. There
have been stories and myths about how the ancient man came to recognize what
plants to use and for what diseases. In some cases, it is believed, it was by trial
and error and by observing animals in the field. African folklore has it that as a
traditional medical practitioner (herbalist) walks through any forest, especially
those around his area, most plants reveal their medicinal uses to him. Whatever
might have been the source of information, the important thing is that the
knowledge has been passed down in most cases to generations after. The body of
knowledge is now fully documented all over the world. Chemists,
pharmacognoscists, biologists and other scientists have waded into the field, to
attempt to establish scientific bases for the use of these medicinal plants and
obtain other scientific information. Many people in Africa, Asia and South
America still patronize traditional medicine. The main reason being that the
conventional Western type of health care facilities are not enough to meet the
health needs of the population in practically every country in those areas, as the
few facilities that are available are unevenly distributed. As Professor Salako put
it in 1982, in a workshop in this University of Ibadan and I quote:
The short fall between the needs of the population and what can be
provided by the hospitalsand similar institutions is provided by the
traditional healers who therefore occupy a very important place in
the health care of West African countries. Apart from traditional
healers being the providers of all levels of health care to a large
group in the population who just have no alternative, these
practitioners are also consulted by people in all walks of life for a
variety of other reasons. To some, these healers are practitioners of
last resort when all else have failed. There is also a widespread
belief in many African cultures that certain diseases cannot be safely
handled by Western type of medical institutions.
You might be wondering what an Organic Chemist is doing with these medicinal
plants. The medicinal plant chemist and his collaborators are the scientists that
work on these medicinal plants in a scientific way, with the following aims:
(1) to confirm the medicinal uses of the plants by carrying out bio-assays
of the crude extracts;
(2) to isolate, chemically identify and characterize the active principles i.e.
the compounds responsible for the reported healing action;
(3) to, where possible, undertake a synthesis of the isolated active
principles with a view to making the compounds more easily available.
It is not possible to discuss in the time allocated, all the ethnomedicinal
plants and their bioactive principles. However, attempts will be made to highlight
how these secondary metabolites from the plants have assisted the health care
delivery system and therefore helped to add spice to life, thus lengthening life
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266 D.A. Okorie
span. The groups that will be dealt with here are anti-malarials, antifungal,
antibacterial and anticancer com-pounds.
Antimalarial Compounds
Malaria being one of the greatest killer diseases in the continents of Africa, Asia
and South America, has been very rigorously tackled in these places with the use
of medicinal plants, (Oliver-Bever, 1986;. Perry 1980; Morton 1981). Recent
reports indicate that over 800 plant species from over 200 genera have been
documented as being used in folklore for the treatment of malaria in the three
continents.
In Nigeria, many plants have been used, either alone or in combination with
others, by traditional medicine practitioners and their adherents. Some of the
plants are Picralima nitida_(Apocyynaceae); Carica papaya (pawpaw)
(Caricacae); Morinda lucida (Rubiaceae), Alchornea cordifolia (christmas bush,
in Sierra Leone) (Euphorbiaceae); Newbouldia laevis (Bignoniaceae), Mangifera
indica (mango) (Anacardiaceae); Ocimum canum (Labiatae); Azadirachta indica
(dongoyaro) (Meliaceae); Cinchona officianilis (Rubiaceae). Azadirachta indica
(dongoyaro) has been the most investigated in Nigeria for anti-malarial activity
(Ekanem 1978; Okpanyi et al. 1981; Ade-Serrano 198~). Although the research
has confirmed the use of the leaves and stem bark of the plant in traditional
medicine for treatment of malaria, the active principle responsible has not been
identified.
Cinchonna species are well known worldwide for the treatment of malaria in
traditional practice. Chemical investigations of extracts from the bark of the tree
led to the isolation of the alkaloid quinine (fig. la) as an active principle
(Schwyzer 1927). Quinine remained for many years, the major anti-malaria drug,
but was later on gradually replaced in the 1940s upwards by a series of synthetic
drugs, 'unnatural products'. However, the new problem of resistance of certain
strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria causing parasites, to chloroquine
and other unnatural anti-malarial products, has brought back the c1amour for
quinine and for re-introduction of quinine and other Cinchonna alkaloids (Annon
1983).
A stereoisomer of quinine, quinidine (fig. 1b) isolated from the Cinchona
species, was found to be more potent as an antimalarial than quinine (White
1985). Quinidine was however found to have cardiac depressant properties and
was therefore dropped as an antimalarial.
One other very exciting development in the field of anti-malaria drugs from
local medicinal plants was the result of the chemical characterization of extracts
of the medicinal plant, Qin ghao, Artemisia annua (Compositae) which the
Chinese had used for over 2000 years in traditional treatment of malaria. The
active principle, Artemisinin (qinghosu) was chemically characterized as the
sesquiterpene lactone endoepoxide (fig. l c) (Liu et at. 1979). It has a higher
chemotherapeutic index than chloroquine and possesses antimalarial properties
against strains of Plasmodium which are sensitive or resistant to all the known
and available antimalarial drugs (Warhust 1985). Some derivatives of
artemisinin, like sodium artesunate (melthyl-dihydro artemisinin hemisuccinate)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 267
(fig. l d) artemether (melthyl-dihydro artemisinin) are used clinically for the
treatment of cerebral malaria with a cure rate of 90% (Li et al. 1982).
The search for antimalarials from medicinal plants will continue a'S long as
malaria parasites continue to be, chloroquine .resistant. S'o far the resistance seems
to be towards the synthetic drugs, the 'unnatural products'.
, 1 2
H.CH:3";- .
o
3 4
Fig. 1: Antimalarial Compounds
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
268 D.A. Okorie
In our laboratories, we had chemically examined some plants which are used
traditionally for treating malaria and other fevers (Dalziel 1937; Bep-OLivier
1960). They include Trichilia heudelottii (Meliaceae), (Okorie et al. 1967, 1968
and 1972); Anthocleista djalonensis and A. vogelli (Loganiaceae) (Okorie 1976
and Okorie and Onocha 1995); Uvaria chamae_(Annonaceae) (Okorie 1977) and
Polvathia suaveolens_(Annonaceae) (Okorie 1980 and 1981). Although many
new compounds' structures (figs. 2a-h) and some known ones have been isolated
and characterized, the actual active principles have not been identified.
Heudelorrtn C. R'::: H. R2"" BuS CH(OAcl' CO; R3 =Pri CH(OH)· CO.
HeudeJottin E~ R' •• CHO, R2;:rSusCH(OH1'CO', R3 ==Pr1 CHIOHI· CO~
HeudeJot.tin F; Rb CHO,R2;::BuSCH{OAC}· CO, R3== PriCH(OH1'CO
1
DJALONENOL
CHO
R2V0'~~POR 3
. R,.
~ ATANISATIN
f CLAUSANITIN R1 = >=\..., Hz =H. R3 =CH3
R,,,,H. R2 :'/-L,R3=H
HO
OH 0
OH O·
10 11 OR
CHAMl-lVARIN
CHAMUVARITIN 12
POLYAVOL ENSIN, R =Ac
POLYVOLENSNOL, R =OH
Fig. 2: New Characterized Compounds
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 269
Antifungal and Antibacterial Compounds .
A number of plants have been used in traditional medicine in tropical Africa for
the treatment of skin disorders, gastro intestinal diseases such as dysentery and
those caused by worms, respiratory tract infections like bronchitis and the
ailment generally referred to as cough. In most of the cases, the traditional
medicine practitioners have claimed success. Correspondingly, the active
ingredients in these plants have been extracted and have been shown in the
laboratories to be responsible for the activities. Some of the plants are given
below.
Garcina spp are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various
diseases in different parts of the world. In the Democratic Republic of Congo,
aqueous extracts of the stem bark of G. huillensis are used to treat bronchitis,
pneumonia, skin diseases, dermatitis, venereal diseases etc. (Bakana 1984,
Vlietinck 1987). The 80% ethanolic extract was found to exhibit significant
antibacterial and antifungal activities. Garcinol (fig. 3a), a highly prenylated
benzophenone was extracted from the plant and found to be responsible for the
antibacterial .and anti-microbial properties. Garcinol exhibited antibacterial
properties against gram-positive cocci and antifungal activity against all fungi
and dermatophytes tested (Vlietnck 1987).
From the fruit pulp and seeds' of G. kola, (bitter kola), a benzophenone,
kolanone, with antibacterial properties was isolated. G. kola is used to prevent or
relieve cough and is said to be particularly effective against bronchitis and throat
troubles, while the root sap is used to cure parasitic skin diseases (Dalziel 1937).
A pyranoxanthone (fig. 3b), which has fungicidal activity, was isolated from the
root bark of G. gerrardii, while xanthochymol, with antibacterial activity, was
present in different African and Asian Garcina spp.
Disopyros usambarensis (Ebenaceae) is a plant whose twigs are used in
Malawi as chewing sticks for the cleaning of teeth. It was therefore generally
assumed that the plant would contain antibacterial and antimicrobial substances.
One of the com-pounds, the naphthoquinone, 7-methyljuglone, extracted from
the plant turned out to be one of the most active compounds in the fungus
Clasdosporium cucumerinum bioassay (Marston 1987). It was antifungal even at
0.025 ug (Marston et al. 1984).
Piper auineense is a plant used in West Africa in foods as a spice and in
many traditional medicinal preparations for the treatment of gastro-intestinal
disorders, cold, cough, venereal diseases and bronchitis (Dalziel 1937; Irvine
1961). Piperine (fig. 3c); dihydro piperine (fig. 3d) and guineensine (fig. 3e) have
been isolated from the plant. The first two compounds showed antimicrobial
activities against Mycobacterum smegmatis, while the third compound,
guineensine, exhibited insecticidal properties. We have carried out a total
synthesis of insecticidal guineensine to confirm the structure (Okorie et al. 1979).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
270 D.A. Okorie
OH .'.rH
• HO~O
o OH OH
13
<~~r-i-C=HIr-CHI HI· 0-V O-N .H H H
16
17
Fig. 3: Antifungal and Antibacterial Compounds
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 271
Berlina grandiflora (Leguminosae) is a medicinal plant whose bark and
leaves are used for treating intestinal problems and as a purgative amongst others
in Congo Brazaville (Asuzu 1993). In Enugu State, Nigeria, it is used in
combination with another plant Piliostigma thonningii for treating intestinal
worms (Asuzu 1994). One of my former students, now Dr. Nkechi Enwerem, in
her Ph.D work carried out a phytochemical and anthelmintic activity
investigation of the plant. She confirmed that the extracts of the stem bark
demonstrated significant anthelmintic activity in the in vivo and in vitro studies.
The active compound was identified as betulinic acid (fig. 4a). She went further
to show that other fractions had anti fungal and antibacterial activities. The
compounds responsible for the activities were found to be Lupeol (fig. 4b) and
Apigenin (fig. 4c) respectively (Enwerem 1999).
HO
20
Fig. 4: Anthelmintic Compounds
Uvaria chamae (Annonacea). The ethanolic extracts of U_chamae
demonstrated inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis
and Mycobacterium smegmatis when tested for antimicrobial activity. The major
oil obtained from extraction of the roots, is benzyl benzoate (Okorie 1977). It is
used in the treatment of scabies as an acaricide.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
272 D.A. Okorie
•
We have also examined a number of medicinal plants which are used for the
treatment of dysentery amongst other diseases, from which we isolated and
completely characterized some new compounds. The plants include Clausena
anisata (Rutaceae) (Okorie 1975), Uvaria chamae (Annonaceae) (Okorie 1977),
Myrianthus arboreus (Urticeae) (Okorie et al. 1984b) and Schumanniophytum
magnificum (Okorie et al. 1983).
Anti-Cancer Compounds
Uvaria spp are medicinal plants used for the treatment of various ailments in
traditional medicine. The roots of Uvaria chamae are used for the cure of fever,
severe abdominal pains and as a purgative. The crude ethanol extracts of the stem
bark of Uvaria chamae and the roots of Uvaria acuminata were found to show
activity in vivo against p-388 leukemia in the mouse and in vitro against cells
derived from human carcinoma of the nasopharynx (KB) (Cole et al. 1976). In
short, they exhibited tumour-inhibitory activity. The activity was traced to the
compounds - flavonoids and dihydrochalcones. Two new compounds,
benzyldihydrochalcones named chamuvarin(10) and chamuvaritin(ll) were
isolated from the roots of Uvaria chamae (Okorie 1977). The mutagenic effects
of chamuvaritin were investigated using Salmonela typhbimurium tester strains
by Uwaifo, Bababunmi and Okorie (1979). They found that the compound was
mutagenic in tester strains TA98 and TAl 00 and require activation by the hepatic
S-9 micromal enzyme preparation. On the other hand, uvaretin, which is
structurally similar to chamuvaritin, isolated from Uvaria acuminata, has been
shown to be an anti-tumour agent (Cole 1976).
The stem bark of the plant Taxus brevifolia yielded a very important anti-
cancer drug, taxol (Taylor et al. 1971). Taxol showed significant activity against
various cancers and leukemias; sarcoma 180, Lewis lung tumour, Walker 256
carcinosarcoma (Vanek 1997). According to Schiff et al. (1979), taxol has a very
unusual mechanism of action in that it stabilizes microtubule instead of inhibiting
its formation. In this, it is quite unlike other anti-cancer agents like vinca
alkaloids and maytansine.
It is not being stated here that only drugs ensure better health. There are other
contributors which are also natural products. Things like vitamins, which help to
spice our lives. It is known throughout the history of mankind that deficiency of
some vitamins has led to death. Deficiency of Vitamin C, which occurs in citrus
fruit leads to scurvy; Vitamin B 12 is required to prevent a fatal form of blood
disorder called anaemia, Vitamin K is required as co-enzyme for the production
of three or four proteins that help the blood to clot.
Agrochemicals from Plants
Improvement of methods of combating diseases has meant longer life for all of
us. With increasing world population and decreasing arable land, starvation and
severe malnourishment will be the natural end result. In Africa, where the
population has been growing at an alarming rate, the food supply has to be
increased for us to survive. To increase world food supply, there must be
improvements in food production and methods of food preservation amongst
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 273
other factors. Food production can be increased also by adopting new methods of
farming and by growing hybrid crops.
Pesticides
The food that is produced is depleted by our other neighbours and in some cases,
co-tenants, the pests. These pests affect not only crops and stored grains but also
transmit or harbour the organisms that cause dreadful diseases in man and
livestock.
There are a number of insecticides of plant origin. The three well known
plants that yield insecticidal compounds are Tobacco, Berries and
Chrysanthemum. From tobacco leaves, the class of insecticides known as
nicotinoids was extracted, the active ingredient being nicotine (fig. 5(a). The
rotenoids were found in the roots of leguminous plants, the active ingredient is
rotenone (fig. 5(b). From the flower heads of the genus Chrysanthemum, the
class known as pyrethroids was isolated, the active ingredients are pyrethrin I and
II (fig. 5c) and cinerin I and II (fig. 5d). The pyrethroids are the most active of
the three groups against a broad spectrum of insect pests. All the natural
insecticides are non-persistent, degradable and therefore environmentally
friendly. Their short lifetime in the environment greatly reduces the probability
of insects developing resistance to them by minimizing the contact time between
the chemical and the insect. The main drawback of using natural insecticides is
their relatively high cost.
CH30~;H3 0
22
I o I " ROTENONE
) = CH2
CH3
.D
NICOTrNE
CH~3CH30 ~CH ,
~ _ 0 -.;: CH2 CH = CHCH = C·t'!2 '
CH'" C:::R a PYRETHRII<I " •R=cH3PYRE t HRIN '110, 'R = COOOH
CH3 3
Fig. 5: Natural Organic Pesticides
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
274 D.A. Okorie
As was mentioned earlier under medicinal plants, we had in our laboratories
carried out a total synthesis of one of the compounds, guineensine{l7)
responsible for the insecticidal properties of Piper guineensis (Okorie et al.
1979).
Antifeedants
Plants usually manufacture and store a. number of chemical substances which
they use to defend themselves against insects, bacteria, fungi and viruses. One
such group of defence chemicals interferes with feeding and the members are
known as antifeedants. The most potent antifeedant so far isolated is azadirachtin
(fig. 6a) from the seed of neem tree, Azadirachta indica. It is said that only
2ng/cm (2 x 1O-9g/cm2) is enough to stop the desert locust from eating (Pimentel
et al. 1987).
Another notable antifeedant is warbuganal (fig. 6b) which, with two others,
polygodial and ugandensidiol, occurs in the bark of the plants Warburgial
stuhlmanii and W. ugandensis which are used in folk medicine and as spices in
East Africa (Kubo 1976). Warburganal is particularly very active against army
worms Spodoptera littoralis and Siexempta.
C'\H.3 ••••C••H3
,/C = C-,
H coq
;
o
23
~--.J~CHO CHO
24-
Fig. 6: Antifeedants
Allelochemics
It is common knowledge that weed problem is one of the oldest and most
difficult constraints in Agriculture. Association of weeds with crops in the field
results in reduced yield and quality of farm produce. Furthermore, weeds harbour
and serve as alternate hosts to insect pests and pathogens that affect agricultural
produce. One of the three mechanisms by which plants interfere with each other
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 275
is allelopathy. Allelopathy is a biochemical interaction among plants. It involves
the production and release of chemicals known as allelochemics by living or
decaying plant tissues (or donor plant) which interfere with the growth. of a
neighbouring or receptive plant. One of the former students of Professor Fawusi
of Department of Agronomy and myself, now a Senior Lecturer in the
Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Dr. Hassan Tijani-Eniola,
looked at this problem of allelopathy. In his Ph.D work, he studied allelochemics
from six of the worst weeds in arable crop production in Nigeria viz: Euphorbia
heterophylla (wild poinsettia); Chromolaena odorata (siam weed), Imperata
cylindrica (speagrass), Cyperus tuberosus. L. (nuts edge) and. Rottboellia
coinchinchinensis (itch grass) and their roles on crop growth and development.
The following crops were used: Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato); Capsicon
fruitescens (pepper); Zea mays (maize) and Vigna unguilata (cowpea). He not
only found that the root and shoot extracts of most of these weeds significantly
inhibited the seed germination and development of the crops to different extents,
he was also able to isolate the compounds with the observed phytotoxic effects .
on tomato from siam weed. The compounds were identified by spectroscopic
means to be a trimethoxy cinnamic acid and its isomer (Tijani-Eniola 1987).
'Unnatural Products'
The 'unnatural products' had earlier been defined as those products which cannot
be obtained or extracted from plants, animals or organisms. There are very many
of them and they are of various types. Using the same format as was adopted for
natural products, only a few of those which constitute a fascinating spice to life
will be discussed.
Pharmaceuticals
The common source of drugs, apart from natural products is by synthesis or
semi-synthesis. Most drugs from natural product sources which have proved to
be effective in the treatment of diseases, have been synthesized, where possible.
The synthetic source ensures that the drugs will be more readily available and in
a lot of instances, less costly. Virtually every pharmcological class of drugs
includes a natural product prototype. The synthesis also enables a number of
derivatives of the original compound to be produced. It is well known that in a
large number of cases some of the synthetic derivatives have turned out to be
more potent than the original compound, while in some cases the derivatives
showed no activities.
Quinine, as stated earlier, had been replaced by a series of synthetic drugs
like the very popular chloroquine, amodiaquine (camoquin), which belong to the
group of 4-aminoquinolines and primaquine, one of the 8-amino quinolines.
There are also derivatives of these which go by different trade names. The
problem' of resistance and, in addition in Nigeria, fake drugs, has led to multi-
drug treatment.
Many penicillins have been synthesized by derivatizing the original penicillin
thereby making available many more antibiotics. One of the problems plaguing
antibiotic research is that of bacterial resistance. This has led to attempts to
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
276 D.A.Okorie
synthesize new structural types. There is no doubt at all that antibiotic research
has had a major impact in decreasing disease in both humans and animals.
There is hardly any known disease whose treatment has not been tackled
with synthetic drugs. Even in those areas where medical scientists have not
recorded complete success, synthetic drugs have not been lacking.
Agriculture
The 'unnatural' products input into agriculture that helps to increase food
production includes synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, plant nutrients and plant
growth regulators. The subgroups of pesticides which are directly linked to
improve food production, food preservation and to the control of insect-
transmitted diseases in humans and livestock are insecticides, herbicides and.
fungicides. Many of these have been synthesized. Insecticides constitute seventy
five percent of all pesticides imported into Nigeria, while synthetic organic
insecticides form about ninety percent of insecticides in use in Nigeria as at 1990
(Okorie, 1990). Synthetic insecticides include organo chlorines e.g. DDT,
organophosphorous and carbamates. The most potent ones are those that are
modelled on insecticides of natural products origin such as rotenoids and
pyrethroids. They act on the nervous systems of insects. Herbicides work to
control weed pests. A very 'Useful and important group are the phenoxy
compounds e.g. 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Fungicides are used to
control plant diseases. Quite a number of inorganics, especially copper
compounds, are herbicides. Some organic herbicides have been synthesized and
are in use. Also plant growth regulators, patterned after the natural ones, have
been made. As their name implies, they are chemical compounds which in small
concentrations regulate the size, shape and appearance of plants.
In an attempt to understand how herbicides behave in relation to the weeds
they are supposed to control and the food crops they are expected to protect a
study was carried out. One of the post graduate students of Dr. Akobundu
formerly of lITA, Ibadan and Okorie, now Dr. Ngozi Onyia, studied the
movement and persistence of Imazapyr, a well known herbicide, in soils of the
moist savannah agroecological zone in Nigeria in relation to the control of the
weed, Imperata cylindrical L. (spear grass). This weed is an extremely
aggressive perennial grass which constitutes a very serious problem to all tropical
crops grown in the savannah agro-ecological zone. It is ranked as the seventh
worst weed in the world (Holm et al. 1977). The crop chosen for the study was
rice and the presence of the herbicide imazapyr was assessed by a bioassay
technique. The results showed that imazapyr, at the recommended field rate,
persisted in the soil only for 8 weeks after treatment. This implies that crops
sensitive to it can be safely grown if they are planted at least 8 weeks after
imazapyr has been applied (Onyia 1999).
Food additives
There are a number of chemical substances, most of them synthetic products,
which are added to foods especially processed foods in very smallquantities,
They are known as food additives and can be generally divided into groups: the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 277
preservatives, which will be dealt with later, and the others that are used to
improve the appearance, texture and flavour of food. Most of these chemical
substances add little or no nutritive value to the foods, but some are used as
dietary supplements. The flavourings help to stimulate our taste buds and our
sense of smell and therefore enhance the pleasures of eating. Examples include
the controversial monosodium glutamate (MSG), vanillin and geraniol. The
colourings render the food more attractive to the eye. Artificial sweeteners are
added to food to make the bland and tasteless ones, more palatable e.g. glycerol,
saccharin and sodium cyclamate. Chemical food preservatives are added to keep
the foods from getting bad. Such compounds include sodium benzoate, lactic
acid, calcium sorbate etc.
Polymers: Plastics, Fibers and Rubbers
The discussion will now shift to a series of materials, all 'unnatural products'
from the chemists laboratories, which have contributed in no small way to spice
our lives and every day living in a fascinating way. The repeated combination of
small organic molecules of relatively low mass to form very large molecules of
relatively high mass is known as polymerization. The products of the process are
called polymers. The particular structural unit can be repeated thousands of times
to form polymers which may be long chain or sometimes a complex network
with cross linkages. Some notable polymers which occur in nature are starch and
cellulose, but only synthetic ones will be discussed. The more important
synthetic polymeric materials which we encounter in every day life are plastics,
fibers and synthetic rubbers.
Let us now, for the first and only time, discuss a little chemistry - polymer
chemistry for that matter. Most of the polymers that are commercially important
are addition polymers formed from one unsaturated starting compound called a
monomer. For example, when the gas, ethylene, C2H4, which has a double bond
is used as the monomer and polymerized, the double bond vanishes, new single
bonds are formed between adjacent molecules to form polyethylene. The
polymerization involves free radical mechanism using an organic peroxide or
traces of oxygen as catalyst, or using the Ziegler process. The -CHz-CHz- is the
repeating unit and could have been repeated thousands of times. Polyethylene is
flexible, begins to soften at 80°C, melts near 115°C, and it is a very good
electrical insulator.
Polyethylene is the basis for many plastics having a wide variety of uses.
Such plastics are used as packaging films and sheets, containers, _coatings, toys,
waste paper baskets, bags, house wares etc. Other important addition polymers
include polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used in making pipes, raincoats; and
polystyrene, used in foams and synthetic rubbers (see figs. 7a-e).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
278 D. A. Okorie
33
. H tjHHHH
Iatmas pr~surel700 )I -·Ctl-lCl·-"C.C-C-C- OR -(CH CH I __.
Algt'3/TiCI4 I II I I J . 2 2n
HHHHHH
Ethylene (r~ododcca"e 50lventl Polye t-h.yte ne
.~~-- Ct CI Ct
, I I
" ••••C•H ,; CH /CH
CH2 'CH2 'CH2. "
. V;"'-Ii
Poly ~ CMorlde (pve I
Q,QQ
CH cH CH,
\/\/\/
. CH2 . Cff2 CH2
St" yrene Polystyrene
Tet"r.af'luor9ethylene
I Polytetrafluoroethylene '(Teflon I
l
Fig. 7: Polymerization (by addition) Reactions
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 279
Apart from addition polymerization, polymers of a different type can be
obtained by a condensation reaction. In a condensation reaction, two molecules
are joined together and another smaller molecule, usually water, is eliminated.
For example, methanol CH30H reacts with ethanoic acid (acetic acid) to form the
ester, methylethanoate (methyl acetate).
Condensation of a molecule containing two amino groups (diamine) with a
molecule possessing two carboxylic acid groups (di-acids) gives an amide
polymer, polyamide, commonly called nylon. For example, the dibasic acid,
adipic acid condenses with the diamine, hexamethylene diamine to form nylon
66.
Nylons are used mainly as synthetic fibers to make such materials as nylon
clothing, stockings and parachutes, They have a very high tensile strength, are
tough, flexible and resistant to abrasion.
If the condenzation reaction is between a dicarboxylic acid and a dihydroxy
compound (diol), the product is a polymer, polyester. A very popular polyester,
commonly called Dacron, is formed from terepthalic acid and glycol. The fiber;
Dacron, possesses the characteristics needed in wash and wear fabrics, like low
moisture absorption and being crease-resistant.
To complete the tripod of the materials from polymers, we will now briefly
talk about synthetic rubbers. Natural rubber is formed by the polymerization of
cis-isoprene, (2-methyl-l, 3-butadiene). The compound that has proved most
useful in the preparation of synthetic rubber is 1,3-butadiene, Others are
isobutyl ene, chloroprene, acrylontrile (see figs 8a-d).
Styrene-butadiene rubbers (SBRs) formed by co-poly-merization of styrene
and butadiene, are the most common general purpose rubbers, Butyl rubber,
formed by polymerizing isobutylene, is used for making the inner tubes of tyres
and for the linings of tubeless tyres,
Environment
Having discussed 'the unnatural products' like drugs, food additives and polymers
from which it is possible to make many kinds of materials with different
properties for different purposes, all of which contribute to making life a bit more
pleasurable, it is only fair and proper to look at our environment. The state of the
environment in which we live, work and operate in, also adds quality or, if you
prefer, spices our life. By the environment, we mean our surroundings, air, land
and water. If the rivers are polluted, there is the risk of an outbreak of waterborne
diseases, apart from the effect of such pollution on the aquatic life that supplies
us our fishes etc. To monitor the environment is a multi-disciplinary affair.
Chemists have a very important role of helping to analyse the pollutants in the
air, in the soil, on surface water and ground water. To do this job, the chemists
will need chemicals and reagents as well as some equipments. The chemicals,
reagents, solvents and indicators used whether organic or inorganic, are synthetic
compounds and, therefore, are unnatural products. For a better understanding of
environmental pollution, let us discuss water pollution.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
r----,O 0
C +' I I " IIH3 -O H H-O+-C-CH'3 ----+ H3 c-O-c-CH3 + HZ 0 32
,LI .~ -•'
Methanol Ethanoil; cc: d Me thyleth-artOate if.§
(J
~ 2BO<l 'u"
HOOC(CH2l4COOH + H N(CH216NH2 ) Heat") IL.NH- ~ (C' H2 }4 oI to11 :>:::, , 25psi CNH(CH2l5NH ,C 33Reduced s
pressure 12
~
()
adipic' acid Hexurnernylene diamme Nylon 56 -g
o
u
>.
.D
c:
o
.~'"
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and' Unnatural' Products 281
Water pollution has been deliberately chosen for several reasons. Part of my
state of origin belongs to the geographical Niger Delta while the whole state is in
the political Niger Delta. The whole of the Niger Delta has many more
waterways than highways. Most of the environmental work I have done, or I
have been involved in, is in the Niger Delta area or on water. Water pollution is
perhaps the most complex and difficult type of environmental pollution to
understand and deal with (Dobbs 1976), because a very large number of different
sources and pollutants exist. Moreover, water pollution is an international
problem, since water has no boundaries. Water pollution may be described as the
addition of some substances or materials or the alteration of some physical,
chemical or biological properties of water which permanently or temporarily
renders that water less suitable for the particular purpose for which it is intended
viz: industrial, domestic, municipal, agricultural or recreational purposes. The
water quality standards for these various activities differ.
Natural water has as dissolved impurities, mainly the cation salts of three
metals - calcium, magnesium and sodium. There are also trace amounts of iron
and manganese and at times a good quantity of potassium salts. The three anions
present are bicarbonate, sulphate and chloride. Other natural contaminants of
water include silica (sand, S02) and alumina, ~lz03' which are constituents of
clay and some amount of nitrates. There are also contaminants from industrial
and municipal wastes, where there are waterways close to such establishments.
Industries use water to dispose of waste products of processing. The
indiscriminate use of waterways as dumping grounds has led to intolerable levels
of pollution, thereby upsetting the delicate balance among insects, plants and fish
and posing problems regarding quality of water for human consumption. While
talking about surface water, let us not forget ground water on which many
communities depend for their domestic water supply. Underground water can be
very badly polluted by seepage of pollutants into the aquifer with time.
In monitoring water pollution, chemists and other relevant scientists measure
some internationally accepted parameters such as pH, turbidity, total dissolved
solids (TDS); total suspended solids (TSS), BOD, COD, dissolved oxygen (DO),
Nitrates (NOr), Phosphate (SOl-), total organic carbon (TOC), oil and grease,
heavy metals like Hg, Pb, total coliform, hydrocarbon utilizing bacteria (HUB)
and fungi (HUF), total beterotrophs etc.). The results are compared with
standards laid down by Ministry of Environment, Department of Petroleum
Resources (DPR) and World Health Organization (WHO) for the particular use
the water is to be put to.
In our laboratories, a few postgraduate students have looked at some of these
water pollution parameters. Asuquo (1986) studied the levels of phosphates in
Awba Dam river, which is still one of the main sources of water supply for
domestic purposes in this University of Ibadan. The results of the analysis of
Awba Dam water for inorganic and organic phosphates over a six-month period
showed that the concentrations were comparatively low (Okorie and Asuquo
1987). There should really be little or no phosphates in natural-water. Most ofthe
phosphates in water come from household detergents, for detergent
manufacturers use phosphates as builders. Other contributors to water pollution
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
282 D.A.Okorie
due to phosphates are domestic wastes, agricultural and industrial effluents.
Phosphorous and nitrates fertilize the growth of algae and aquatic weeds in
freshwater rivers. These then develop in large quantities because of the surplus
phosphates and nitrates. When these algae die and decay, they use up a lot of the
dissolved oxygen in the water and the process of eutrophication sets in and
aquatic life is endangered. However, it is known for now that phosphate toxicity
to humans is low.
I believe that it is only proper for me, before I end this brief discourse on the
environment, to alert all industrialists and would-be industrialists in our midst
today, that there are laws and regulations enacted by the Federal Government,
governing environmental issues. The regulatory agencies are the former Federal
Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), now Ministry of the Environment,
and in matters of oil and gas, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in
collaboration with the Ministry of Environment. One of the most important laws
is FEPA, EIA Decree No. 86 of 1992, which makes it mandatory for any person
or companies wishing to establish any type of business or embark on certain
projects in Nigeria to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment, (EIA), and
obtain the go-ahead from the Ministry of Environment and/or DPR before
starting the projects. The purpose of the EIA is primarily to identify, quantify and
qualify, the potential impacts of the proposed activities. The environmental
assessment is to cover the activities connected with or envisaged in the project,
from the site preparation, through the construction stage, to the abandonment or
de-commissioning stage. The EIA will therefore enable planning, modifying,
designing and adoption of appropriate mitigation measures. The scope of a full
EIA includes the following: Biodiversity assessment; Health risk assessment,
Community and Socio-economic study, air quality assessment, water quality
assessment (surface and underground), Soil assessment, Land use pattern,
Vegetation study, Waste and Environmental management.
I have for many years .now been involved in EIA, as a member or project
leader of multi-disciplinary teams acting as consultants to Environmental Study
Companies who won contracts from oil companies. In all the EIA projects
undertaken, the environmental scoping and terms of reference were set out by the
oil companies or others who owned the projects.
I had the priviledge of looking at the EIA from the opposite side. This was
for a period of nearly one and a half years as a member of staff of the
Environmental Affairs Department of Shell Petroleum Development Company of
Nigeria (SPDC-East) based in Port Harcourt. In this job, I»ad between seven and
twelve EIA projects to supervise at any particular time. The projects ranged from
road construction, through field development projects (FDP) involving either
upgrading of existing facilities to brand new FDPs. About four of the projects
were inherited while the others were new. For the new projects, you, as the
supervisor have to prepare all the technical details, including the scoping, the
Terms of Reference (TOR) and the environmental parameters to be covered. All
these were packaged for the Contract Department to award the contract to an
environmental study company. After the award of the contract, it became your
responsibility to supervise the project, interact with the contractors and all their
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Natural and 'Unnatural' Products 283
consultants, the regulatory agencies, the Line Departments that owned the
projects and your own head of department. The EIA remained your baby until the
report was submitted and approved by the Ministry of Environment or DPR. I
was able to successfully deliver some of the EIA reports by the time I had to
return to the University.
Summary and Recommendations
In this short lecture, we have looked at how Natural Products Chemistry has
revealed, and is continuing to reveal, that out there in our environment, there is a
forest full of drugs which could be useful in improving the quality of life by
fighting diseases ranging from malaria to cancer. The synthetic drugs, which I
have termed' unnatural' products, have helped to further prolong our life span.
We have also looked at the ongoing race between increasing population and
decreasing food supply. Since man must win this race, we saw how natural
products, which are pesticides, antifeedants and allelochemics, have all been put
on deck. Their synthetic analogues, have played prominent roles in improving the
quality of life through increased food production and nourishment. Furthermore,
since a healthy environment is of utmost importance in spicing this life, we noted
the important contributions of synthetic products in this regard, We also talked
about polymers, another set of unnatural products, whose over-riding presence is
in the things we use, wear, sit upon, ride in, eat from and otherwise find In our
every day environment. All these things constitute spices to our lives in
fascinating ways.
It is customary at inaugural lectures like this, to make some
recommendations and call on the Government to do this or set up that. My
observation, which is a sad one, is that the Government has not responded
positively to any such calls or recommendations. I will therefore not waste your
time by making such fruitless calls. All I can ask for is the proper funding of the
Universities, so that, natural products chemists and other scientists can play their
part in the struggle to uplift the economic fortunes of this country Nigeria. Let
the Governments stop paying lip service to science and technology. It is a well
known fact, all over the world, that science and technology have direct impacts
on society which do translate directly into economic growth.
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1, 13-(2,4-methylene diozy-phenyl)-tridec-2,4, 12-trienamide: A report of its total
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
15
FROM WOMB TO TOMB: PROTECTING THE GATE
FROM THE,CRAB
r LF. Adewole '
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• p
,
Introduction
I felt highly honoured to stand before you today to deliver the 4th in the series of
inaugural lectures for the 2000/2001 academic session from the Faculty of
Clinical' Sciences, and Dentistry in the College of Medicine of our great
University. This is the second inaugural lecture from the Department of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology in twenty years. Professor O.A.Ladipo, a fine
gentleman and an internationally acclaimed Reproductive Health specialist,
delivered the last lecture in 1981. The title of-his lecture was REPRODUCTIVE
FAILURE. I give gratitude to God who made it possible for me to be an active
participant at this 'celebration and swearing-in ceremony' as a Professor of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology,
History of Obstetrics and Gynaecoiogy
The speciality of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is an ancient one whose
development possibly started in the Indus valley where civilization was
flourishing about 5,000 years ago. Jacques von Siebold pointed out that the origin
of Obstetrics differs from that of Medicine or Gynaecology. Gynaecology deals
with abnormality. It is the scientific study and treatment of diseases of the female
genital tract. In present day use, we have enlarged our speciality to-embrace
disorders of women. Obstetrics started as midwiferyand is as 019 as humanity. It
is derived from the Latin word obstare, which is translated tomean I stand by or
opstare, meaning to render aid and obstetrix, meaning the woman who stands by.
We do more than this .We not only stand beside our-women, we also stand-in
front and behind them. Our women also stand around us. '
My presentation today is an account of how well I have fulfilled my
obligation .of STANDING BY, TO PROTECT WOMEN'S lfEALlli. While our
counterparts in the developed world would like to 'bother !hemselves about in-
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
288 I.F. Adewole
vitro fertilization, cloning, developing new generation contraceptives, intra-
uterine monitors, perfecting laser techniques and pinhole surgery, we in the
developing world have the real agenda of safeguarding the lives of our women. It
is a privilege to be a male obstetrician and gynaecologist. I thank God for making
me a recent creation, as in old texts there is no mention of male obstetricians
although there were references to midwives. In ancient mythology, the goddesses
were present at deliveries, but not the gods. In the ancient Middle East, older
women were recruited from outside to help with deliveries in the harem as most
of the women in them were young.
No matter how bad things were, no man was ever called. In the Bible,
references were made to midwives and none to mid or full husbands! . "And it
came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear
not; thou shalt have this son also" (Genesis 35 verse 17). Even when there arose a
new king in Egypt, who knew not Joseph: The king who wanted to enforce a
population control policy for the Jews was still dealing with midwives. It was
only at about AD325-403 that history recorded Oribasius as a male obstetrician
in Byzantium.
The title of my Inaugural lecture is "FROM WOMB TO TOMB:
PRQTECTING THE GATE FROM THE CRAB". I wish to pay great tribute to
Shirish S.Sheth, current President of the International Federation of Gynaecology
and Obstetrics (FIGO). He said, "From the Womb to the Tomb, women are made
to pay dearly for their womanhood" . The title is partly coined from this caption.
In the beginning, "God said, Let us make man in our image" and "so God created
man in his own image". "And God saw every thing that he had made, and
,behold, it was very good (Genesis 1 verses 26,27 and 31). In performing the first
surgical operation (Thoracoplasty) under general anaesthesia, God the Surgeon
and Anaesthetist created a woman but He did not indicate that the woman was
very good. The source of the imperfection, I believe, is the womb or the female
genital tract.
Although primarily designed for procreation of the race, the womb can be a
"source of woe particularly in many developing countries where about one
million women die every year simply because they have wombs. For every
minute that I spend on this podium, two fellow humans will be sentenced to their
tombs. This will translate to about one million women annually or better
described graphically, a jumbo jet carrying 250 passengers crashing every 2
hours!
Life is formed at fertilization and the sex is genetically determined at this
stage. The judgment is earned at fertilization but execution takes place at variable
times during life from Womb to Tomb. Their major offence is that they have
WOMBS. Our women lack one of the most important freedoms we can have :the
freedom from avoidable ill-health and mortality simply because they are women.
Our concern is : why should the womb send a woman to the tomb. Our mission is
to stop this avoidable journey.
Even in countries where the dead are honoured, the womb is religiously
policed and very rarely causes death. Deaths from pregnancy and related events
have attracted international attention since Allan Rosenfield and Deborah Maine
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Womb to Tomb: Protecting the Gatefrom the Crab 289
published their payer titled Where is the 'M'in Maternal and Child Health? in
1985. The Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI) was launched two years later in
Nairobi, Kenya in 1987. Then it was estimated that 500,000 women die every
year from pregnancy and related events. The goal of the SMI was to reduce by
50% women's death attributable to pregnancy and related events by year 2000. In
a recent review of estimates of women's death from pregnancy and related events
by WHOIUNICEF at a technical consultation in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1997,
the figures had gone up to 585,000. A modest increase of 20 %! We know why
they die. They die from Obstructed Labour/ Ruptured Uterus, Haemorrhage,
Infection, Hypertension! Eclampsia and Abortion. Outside pregnancy, Cancer of
the Reproductive Tract and HIV-AIDS are major causes of death.
My colleagues and I have looked at causes of women's death in Nigeria. We
have concentrated on three of the important causes in our environment. These
are: Abortion, Eclampsia ( the occurrence of non-epileptiform convulsion in a
pregnant woman who has hypertension) and Genital Cancer.
In the early part of my career I was interested in induced abortion and studied
the trend between 1980 and 1989. The findings were shocking. There was a
sustained rise over the 10-year period despite increasing availability of family
planning services and the va~t amount of money infused into the services.
Abortion was the commonest cause of death in the gynaecology service during
the period of study and constituted 36.6% of the fatality (Adewole 1992).
Majority (76.2%) of patients did not accept contraceptives and 29.8 % of
terminations were performed by physicians. The rest were performed by non-
trained providers (42.8%), Nurses (6.4%) and Chemists (21.0%) .The inherent
contradiction in the results led us to probe further. We organized a Media
Sensitization Campaign, Law Review Meeting and Abortion Methodology
Workshop. My colleagues and I conducted a multi-layered prospective pilot
study in South-Western Nigeria. The pilot study comprised of:
• Community based study of 3,743 respondents
• A survey of 140 health institutions
• A study of 1,947 abortion seekers
• Focus group discussion sessions with 17 groups of 10 participants each.
There was a need to answer the big question: What is the size of the abortion
problem in Nigeria? We followed these with a nation-wide study conducted with
the Alan Guttmacher Institute of New York. We were able to determine for the
first time in the history of Nigeria the size of the abortion problem. Our studies
revealed that 610,000 pregnancy terminations occur annually in Nigeria.
(Henshaw S.K. et al. 1998). The cost to the nation is at least 2.6 billion Naira
annually (Adewole et al. 1998). This is apart from the lives lost and numerous
organs damaged. The cost of which we cannot accurately determine.
Other highlights of our findings are:
• 60 % of pregnancy terminations are performed by non-physicians
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
290 I.F. Adewole
• 32.6% of abortion seekers are students
• 63.2% of abortion seekers were never married
• Abortion seekers have had about 2 previous terminations
• Dilatation and Curettage was the most common method used for
pregnancy termination (59.7%)
The studies afforded us the opportunity to understand the problem of Induced
Abortion and why our women fail to use family planning methods as only 28%
of abortion seekers ever used a family planning method. We are currently
addressing the training of providers, review of curriculum of medical schools and
the obnoxious law on abortion that is unenforceable as it penalizes the offended
as well as the offender.
We constituted a study group on eclampsia. We conducted an audit of all
cases of eclampsia seen over a lO-year period. The information obtained was
revealing. Eighty seven percent of our patients were pre-delivery cases. The
incidence of eclampsia was high among primigravidae, young women under the
age of 25 and unbooked patients. We introduced Magnesium Sulphate into the
management of this condition in University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
We were able to document that Magnesium Sulphate is safe and effective in the
management of eclampsia (Adewole et al. 2000). We facilitated its local
production by the Pharmacy Department at the University College Hospital,
Ibadan and from there supplied sister hospitals in Maiduguri, Sokoto and
Adeoyo. We are currently participating in an international multi-centered study
designed to evaluate the effect of Magnesium Sulphate on the health of the
woman and her baby. We shall have the largest databank on pre-eclampsia in
Nigeria at the end of the study. In the early part of my career, I fell in love with
cancer of the female genital tract.
I was fortunate as a medical student to attend the 1977 International
conference of the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SaGaN) in
Ibadan. In attendance was the one and only Professor K.D.Bagshawe. I became
his disciple and was in his laboratory eight years later. I worked on Germ Cell
Tumours (GCT) and Gestational Trophoblastic Diseases (GTD). GTD arises
from error of fertilization and originate from early mesodermal cells to
differentiate from the growing embryo in the womb. Hertig described GTD as
God's first cancer. It became the first cancer to be successfully cured using drugs
in 1956 and has been described as man's first cure. At the Cancer Campaign
Research Laboratory, we worked on chemotherapy of gynaecological cancers.
We were able to show that: .
• Etoposide, called VP 1623 during phases 1 and 2 trials, did not affect
fertility in treated patients (Adewole et aJ. 1986).
• Metastatic Germ cell tumour can be successfully cured (Adewole et al.
1987).
• A combined approach using fertility regulation and health education
would reduce fatality in GTD by 62.8% (Adewole and Ade1eye 1991).
• A sensitive ELISA for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG) is
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Womb to Tomb: Protecting the Gatefrom the Crab 291
feasible and practicable in Nigeria (Adewole, 1991). It is cheaper and
safer than radioimmunoassay.
• Oral Contraceptive Pill (OCP) and Intra Uterine Contraceptive Device
(IDCD) are equally beneficial as a method of fertility regulation in
women with Hydatidiform Mole (Adewole et al. 2000).
The Womb and the Gate
The womb has been a subject offascination for thousands of years. Anatomically
distinct, it is shaped like a pear with muscular structures beautifully arranged in
three layers to allow for expansion in pregnancy to accommodate the growing
fetus or fetuses. Functionally robust, it is the most efficient incubator available
.The womb is spiritual and the ancient Greeks believed in the concept of a
wondering uterus. The Womb consists of five distinct parts: The Fundus, Cornu,
Body or Corpus, Isthmus and Cervix or Neck.
Cervix
The Cervix is the lowermost part of the womb in the human female. A beauty of
architecture, the cervix is a fusiform canal that opens into the body of the womb
superiorly at the internal Os, and the cavity of the vagina inferiorly at the 'external
Os. Structurally, the cervix feels like the tip of the nose, but with a little dimple
on it. The cervix varies considerably in length depending on age and parity. It
measures about 3 em long and 2.5 em in diameter, and forms the inverted dome
on top of the vagina. Of course, it is not visible in normal life. The woman is
even unaware of its existence. The doctor can feel it easily during an internal
examination and can visualize it by gently passing a visual aid [speculum] in to
the vagina. Extremely accessible, no part of the human genital tract has been
studied extensively as the cervix.
Layers of microscopic bodybuilding blocks called cells line practically all
surfaces of structures and organs in the human body. Cell types vary from organ
to organ, and even on the same surface of one organ .The two cell types which
line the cervix are the squamous cells and the columnar cells. They exist in
clearly demarcated areas and only meet at a hypothetical sector referred to as the
Squamo-Columnar Junction [SCJ]. The Squamo-Columnar Junction is at the
external as in a nulliparous woman. Cells are continuously produced and undergo
constant shedding from the cervix throughout the human lifespan.
Although other mammals and viviparous creatures of God also have wombs
with clearly defined cervix, that of the woman seems more remarkable. It is the
super multipurpose GATE. It plays a major role in the reproductive career of the
woman:
1. It is the narrow channel through which menses passes from the womb to
the vagina.
2. It allows semen into the womb prior to fertilization.
3. It holds the pregnancy in place against pressure and gravity until it is
generally safe for the baby to be born into the world.
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292 IF Adewole
4. It plays a dynamic role during labour and gently gives way, to allow the
descent of the baby's head or buttocks.
5. It is claimed by many women, that the presence or absence of the cervix
makes the difference between pleasurable and painful sexual
intercourse.
I have being fascinated by the dynamic role of the cervix before and during
labour. We recognized the value of the gate in facilitating smooth and problem-
free labour. We evaluated at various times, inert substances, like silicon,
hygroscopic dilators and gentle nipple stimulation.(Adewole et al. 1993; abed
and Adewole 1994; Adewole et al. 1994). We were able to show that gentle
unilateral nipple stimulation is effective in initiating labour and opening this gate.
The Gate is also spiritual. It could be locked in an infertile woman. In the
Bible, opening the gate leads to restoration of fertility. "And God remembered
Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived,
and bare a son. "(Genesis 30 verses 22-23). It is however a matter of great irony
that the GATE cominonly becomes afflicted by the CRAB during the course of
its day to day activity. The Crab is synonymous with cancer, as the word Cancer
is derived from the Greek terminology for Crab. Its first description was based on
the similarity of the external surface of advanced Breast Cancer to the Crab's
shell.
Cancer Burden in Women
Currently, the annual global cancer incidence is 10 million, with 6 million deaths.
By the year 2020, there will be 20 million new cancer patients each year, and 12
million deaths: 70% of tomorrow's cancer patients will live in countries that
between them will have less than 5% of global resources. (Karol Sikora, IARC
1999).
Cancer in Nigeria
Data from the National Headquarters of Cancer registries in Nigeria indicate that:
• 100,000 new cases of cancer are currently diagnosed annually.
• One out of every six Nigerians will develop cancer.
• It is estimated that by the year 2010, 500,000 new cases will be
diagnosed annually.
Cervical Cancer in Nlgerla
In the field of Oncology, Cervical cancer was the commonest cancer in women at
the beginning of this century. Worldwide, cervical cancer comprises
approximately 12% of all cancers in women. Today, cervical cancer is a non-
issue in developed countries. Unfortunately in developing countries, it is the
commonest cancer in women where it affects about half a million women
annually translating to one case every minute. In Nigeria, the ranking changed in
1995 when Breast Cancer overtook it.
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From Womb to Tomb: Protecting the Gatefrom the Crab 293
As of today, one out of every three cancers in women is a genital
(gynaecological) cancer and cervical cancer constitutes about 63 % of our
gynaecological cancers (Babarinsa, Akang and Adewole 1998).
The highest incidence of cervical cancer currently recorded worldwide is
67.2/100,000 in Zimbabwe. In Nigeria data from the Cancer registries report an
incidence of 251100,000. Cervical cancer has been one of the most studied of all
human malignancies and the literature available on its epidemiology, aetiology,
clinical presentation and management is vast.
Causes of Cervical Cancer
In the middle of the 19th Century, Italian scholar, Demenco Rigoni-Stem
reported the extreme rarity of cervical cancer among nuns. Probably no
epidemiologic parameter has being scrutinized as much as sexual activity. Data
from our center and all over the world have demonstrated a clear association
between a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer and the number of her
sexual partners. Sexual activity was identified as a major risk factor. The
incidence of cervical cancer is related to
• age at first intercourse
• number of sexual partners
• parity
• the male factor
• marital pattern.
We were able to ,show that the other wives in polygamous unions were at
. high risk of developing.cervical cancer .(Adewole, Babarinsa and Ayinde 1996).
, The only personwho is immune from cervical cancer in this audience is that lady
who has never had sexual intercourse. . .
The Viral Connection ' ". 0 " '. 0
That genital viral infection is the primary causative agent of cervical' cancer has
been a matter of intense study over the last 30 'years. Several workers studied the
role of infective agents, particularly viruses. Initially, the searchlight was, :on
Cytomegalo Virus (CMV). Later in the 70's and early 80's, Herpes' Simplex
Virus (HSV)was suspected. Since the mid '80s there is accumulating evidence
that genital infection with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the primary
aetiologic agent. Numerous reports implicate mainly the subtypes 16 and 18
which act on immature epithelial cells and transform them to potentially
malignant cells. Cervical Cancer is now regarded as a sexually transmitted
disease caused by a virus called Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
The virus elaborates proteins E6 and E7 bind and inactivate the host's tumour
suppressor proteins p53 and RB intracellularlyand promote immortality of the
dysplastic cells. Other concurrent factors like immuno-suppression, smoking,
long term use of oral contraceptives, metabolites associated with chronic cervical
infection have been implicated as co-factors in the development of invasive
cancer.
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294 I.F. Adewole
Pathogenesis
I remember my childhood days in Ilesa when the then "Lagos been-to" came
back with stories that fuelled our imagination .One of those stories was about
how there was a deceptive, invisible turbulence at the point where the Atlantic
ocean and the Lagos lagoon met. What can best be described as a similar
turbulence occurs as well in the human cervix, particularly at the SCJ-where two
different cell types meet! It is not clear exactly how the "invisible turbulence"
comes about, but a number of risk factors are known to initiate, promote and
accelerate it in addition to the infection by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). They
include:
• Smoking [active or passive]
• Race [Negroid race is 2X at risk above the White American]
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus
• Diet low in fruits and vegetables.
The effect of the above mentioned risk factors is not immediate: it could take
from 1.5 years to 10 years before the first signs of "turbulence" are noticeable.
Such signs are invisible to the naked eye-but visible (at microscopic
examination) to the trained eye, looking at an appropriately stained slide of a
smear or scrape of the cells of the cervix [Pap smear]. The "turbulence" results in .
the development of abnormal (pre-cancer) cells at the SQJ. As more and more of
the cervix is taken over by these pre-cancer cells, the results of the Pap smear is
progressively reported as mild (CIN 1), moderate (CIN 2), or severe dysplasia
(CIN 3).
These conditions do not progress in a linear manner. But a CIN 3 condition is'
most likely to progress to frank [or invasive] cancer of the cervix. Most women
with CIN 1 are likely to resolve even without treatment. Those with CIN 2
require careful follow-up, although some form of treatment is offered. All
women with CIN 3 require prompt, if not aggressive treatment. Again, I must
point out that, there is no way that we can know if a woman has CIN 1 or CIN 3,
unless she has a Pap smear. It does not show on facial appearance, and it is no
respecter of persons. Once you have had sexual intercourse, you are simply at
risk.
I must also say that what I have described so simply in this section is a gross
over-simplification of a complex subject that spans the disciplines of anatomy,
biology, social medicine, physiology and pathology.
Clinical Presentation
While pre-cancerous and pre-clinical cervical cancer lesions are asymptomatic,'
the clinical presentation of invasive cervical cancer is uniformly predictable. The'
earliest symptom is contact (post-coital) bleeding. However, many of our women
rather than report in the hospital abandon sexual intercourse and blame the
husband for the bleeding. The symptom naturally 'disappears' but the disease
progresses. The problem recurs as spontaneous vaginal bleeding and foul
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From Womb to Tomb: Protecting the Gatefrom the Crab 295
smelling discharge follows within a year or two. Only 10.8% of our patients
present early with contact bleeding, the vast majority present with advanced
cancer (table 1).
Table 1: Cervical Cancer in Ibadan: Clinical Presentation
Symptoms No. %
Post-menopausal Bleeding 276 46.5
,
Vaginal Discharge 213 35.9
Weight Loss 195 32.9
Pelvic Pain 190 32.0
Inter-menstrual Bleeding 133 22.4
Constipation 89 11.5
Dysuria 68 11.5
Post-coital 64 10.8
Haematuria . 45 7.6
Frequency of micturition 40 6.7
Urinary Incontinence 30 5.1
Peripheral Oedema 30 5.1
Diarrhoea 11 1.9
Faecal Incontinence 1 0.2
Trends in Nigeria
Fifty years of 'education' has done very little to change the outlook of this
disease. Eighty percent of our patients presented with stages (lIB,III&IV)
advanced disease in 1953-62.This remained 77.5% between 1962-72 and 74.5%
between 1980-89 (Edozien and Adewole 1993). In Zaria, 86.7% presented with
advanced disease (Emembolu and Ekwempu 1988). In 1980,83.8% of cases seen
at the Mayo Clinic in USA presented with early stage diseases (Stages 1 and 11
A). The verdict even today, is that not much has changed in Nigeria. A sharp
increase in frequency that began in 1981 has not shown any appreciable fall. Age
specific incidences have recently showed a fall for the older age groups, but a
rise in younger groups (Babarinsa, Akang andAdewole 1998). ,
Management
The management of cervical cancer is standard. This is surgery for early stage
disease and radiotherapy for all stages. Chemotherapy is useful for selected
cases. When I carne back. from the Cancer Campaign Research Laboratory, I
started my patients on Platinum based multiple chemotherapy. I lost three of
them in rapid succession. These were due to:
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296 1.F.Adewole
• Poor health status
• Poor response as they were either .post radiotherapy or post
hysterectomy.
The last patient was particularly disturbing. She was a business woman and
the husband a top civil servant. The husband failed to provide the needed
encouragement for follow-up on the initial histological diagnosis of carcinoma-
in-situ. One of my teachers came and said sarcastically: "Mr. Oncologist, Is this
worth it?" I took a break for a long, long time.
It was only this year that I was able to find my courage and introduced
concomitant cherno-radiotherapy in carefully selected patients. We administered
chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the same time up front and monitored using
ultrasound to confirm complete response. This was confirmed at surgery. I was
fortunate to attend a training course in radical surgery in Hungary in 1994 but
since then, I have not seen a single case of stage 1 or llA suitable for surgery.
There is however a disturbing trend where doctors perform sub-optimal surgical
treatment like sub total or total hysterectomies for patients.
Who is Next? ,
Many of you seated here probably believe that cervical cancer only affects
"other" women: the women who are "immoral"; women who do not fast or go to
church or to the mosque. Some will even reject it. Not even the young is immune.
A clinico-pathologic study of invasive and in-situ carcinoma revealed that young
Nigerian women are susceptible. Our youngest patient was 17 years old
(Adewole et al 1997)
Let me tell you three short stories and I assure you that every sentence is
~. .
• The first story is about a 23 year old tall and well-nourished lady sent
from Jos University teaching hospital because she was found with
invasive cervical cancer. She arrived in Ibadan at about the time an
American Professor of Gynaecologic Oncology was visiting. It was
thought that, because of her age, and presumed early stage of her
invasive cancer, she would benefit more from a surgical management
[radical hysterectomy]. The American Professor accepted to perform the
operation: think of the saved cost of a return air-ticket, hospital bill and
insurance in USAlUK. The first problem that reared its head was that, at
surgery, the cancer was found to be more advanced than was initially
thought. This is our experience in practically all the cases we took to
theatre (Adewole et aI1996). The operation went ahead anyway, seen as
a challenge. The second problem was that she eventually developed
ALL the known complications of surgery for cervical cancer. The final
disaster was: the cancer returned within one year of this heroic surgery:
I am not sure if I should be referring to her in the past or present tense.
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• Mrs. X is a highly trained nurse who had the privilege of going abroad
for international conferences, meetings and seminars. She never felt that
she needed any cervical smear whilst in Nigeria. But on one of her
journeys to the United Kingdom, she was encouraged to have one "just
in case" ...And 10 and behold! She was found to have the early signs just
preceding cervical cancer [eIN 2]. She rushed back to Nigeria had her
womb and "trouble-promising cervix" surgically removed - and today
lives happily ever after. This particular nurse will never tell you or her
Pastor this story, because it was a close shave. I only was privileged to
know because at some point, my opinion was sought. This story teaches
us that it is good to look out for trouble before trouble looks out for you!
But I dare say that, if she had developed cervical cancer, and any of you
here got to know, you would have asked aloud: "Ah? Ah? Is she not a
nurse ...she MUST have known how to prevent it." But the gap between
knowledge and practice, especially in health matters remains a mystery
even in developed societies.
In a survey of knowledge and attitude to utilization of cervical cytology
screening services by female workers in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital, 92.4%
never had a Pap smear test done despite the fact that 81.4 % of them had heard of
the test (Babarinsa and Adewole 1996). It appeared that the problem of
utilization may be more psychosocial than financial. The nurse screening patients
as well as the head of the nursing services division in one of the major teaching
hospitals never availed themselves of the opportunity available to have a test
done.
The situation was much worse among women in the lower socio-economic
class. In another survey of254 GOP attendants, while 90% of women have heard
of cancer at one time or the other, only 15% of the women studied have heard of
cervical cancer. Breast cancer was commonly heard of. Less than 4% have heard
of pap smear test and only 1.2% had knowledge of a test to detect cervical
cancer. Only 5% of 215 patients who expressed a willingness to do a pap smear
actually did it (Ajayi and Adewole 1998).
• Finally, there was this young woman of 32 who was a middle-level
executive in the financial sector. She was referred to me because the
neck of her womb "looked suspicious", and she was bleeding from the
private part for no clear reason. When I had a look, I did not like what I
saw. The result of the biopsy confirmed our fears. I still recall the
woman asking me: " Doctor, how can I have cancer? I have not lived a
carefree life ...Most of my friends have gone to bed with dozens of men,
but I have had only two men in my life. The first one jilted me, and I am
just preparing for my wedding to the second!" Of course, I had no
answer. But the worse was yet to come. Despite prompt and efficient
radiotherapy [money was no problem], the cancer simply got out of
hand and killed the poor lady within six months of diagnosis. It was one
of the clinical encounters in my professional life, which really upset me
for a long, long time.
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298 I.F. Adewole
The lessons from these three stories are:
• once cervical cancer becomes invasive, treatment becomes difficult and
• death is invariably the outcome. .
This is in agreement with what Tait said in 1889 that: "Cancer of the Cervix
is the most painful and terrible disease inflicted on humanity because thereis no
way to cure or even relieve it". I am not trying to scare you, but I would want to
believe that the prevention and pre-emptive measures are better than the
treatment of invasive cervical cancer. If you still don't believe me, I invite you to
come and speak to our patients, who are suffering from cervical cancer. We
attempted to conduct a study on the quality of life of our patients after diagnosis
and treatment with radiotherapy. It was easier to find water in the desert than to
find a patient with cervical cancer alive after five years. The time interval
between diagnosis and demise was less than three years.
Ray of Hope
Cervical cancer is both preventable and curable, especially if detected early.
Widespread comprehensive cervical cancer control programmes have helped
some developed countries to achieve up to 80% reduction in incidence and
mortality from cervical cancer. In most developing countries where cervical
cancer accounts for 80% of gynaecological cancers, 80% of the cancers are
incurable at the time of diagnosis. In these countries, cytological screening is not
currently available for population based screening programmes. Our salvation
lies in PREVENTION which is cheaper, safer and more certain. The escape route
is the PAP smear. The pap smear is of immeasurable value. Although not
subjected to randomized controlled trial, it has resulted in a significant decrease
in mortality in developed countries.
Prevention
Kesler stated that the prevention and control of a disease such as cervical cancer
requires intervention at the level of one or more elements in its natural history:
• Aetiologic agent
• The host at risk
• The disease itself
• The environment
Primary and Secondary Prevention
Improvement in the status of women as well as a positive change in sexual
behaviour have been recognized as viable strategy for reducing the burden of
cervical cancer in any population. Factors such as socio-economic status and
educational attainment of women act by altering known risk factors such as age
at marriage and parity.
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From Womb to Tomb: Protecting the Gatefrom the Crab 299
The objective of secondary prevention is to detect early, the pre-invasive and
invasive stages and provide appropriate treatment. The effectiveness of organized
screening services in preventing cervical cancer is well-established in developed
countries. One of the cardinal principles of cancer management is that the earlier
the detection the higher the chance of cure. The accessibility of the cervix and the
abundance of exfoliated cells available for study made regular routine cervical
smear of significant value in the study of the cervix and cervical abnormalities. It
is estimated that some 40-50 % of women in developed countries have been
screened for cervical dysplasia by 1988 compared with 5% of women in
developing countries. Our main 'problem is the paucity of the services in addition
to poor utilization even where it exists (Ayinde,Adewole and Babarinsa 1998).
Though the incidence of abnormal cervical smears cases were on the increase,
the size of the 'population screened declined.
We thereafter designed health education packages and commenced a pilot
project in four local government areas of Oyo State. The outcome of our pilot
work titled "Impact of Health Education on Cervical Cancer control
Programme" won a fellowship at the 16th World Congress of the International
Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Washington, 3-9, September, 2000.
We demonstrated that SUSTAINED HEALTH EDUCATION IS REQUIRED
TO PROMOTE CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING'(Oladokun, Babarinsa and
Adewole 2000).
Management of Abnormal Smears
Diagnosis of an abnormal smear requires a colposcopic procedure. The
colposcope is an inverted binocular microscope designed to examine the cervix
at a magnification of 6-40. It was introduced in our service in 1994. Prior to its
introduction, we have utilized application of Lugol's iodine before taking cervical
punch biopsies (Omigbodun et al. 1993). This was better than the four quadrant
punch biopsy (64.7%Vs38.9%)
The introduction of the colposcope revolutionized our practice. We
abandoned the bloody Cold Knife cone biopsy and started cryotherapy which we
documented to be cheaper, easier, and with little or no complication.(Adewole,
Babarinsa and Odeniyi 1998). We assessed the existing facility in the country
and documented a need for capacity building if we are to successfully protect this
gate from crab. In 1999, at the beautiful city of Tunis we fashioned out a
document titled "REPORT ON CONSENSUS CONFERENCE ON CERVICAL
CANCER SCREENING AND MANAGEMENT". It is the gold standard for
comprehensive protection for the GATE.
We recommended:
• Rational National Screening with in-built education programmes and
mechanism for capacity building.
• Screening for women between ages 30-60
• At least, once in a lifetime screening / 10 yearly with a target of 4
normal smears
• Later age at first marriage
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300 /.F. Adewole
• Men having fewer sexual partners
• Women having control over their sexual behaviour, particularly their
ability to have sex when they want to and with whom they want to.
• Effective STDIHIV -AIDS control programme.
• Women empowerment.
In April 2000, we successfully organized the first African Regional/-
Technical Workshop on Cervical Cancer control in collaboration with WHO
under the auspices of the International Network for the Control of
Gynaecological Cancers (INCGC).Ten Nigerians were among the 40 participants
(Gynaecologists, Radiotherapists ands Pathologists) trained in the essentials of
cervical cancer control activities. These include Pap smear taking, processing and
treatment, especially the use of loop electrosurgical
excision procedure (LEEP).
Programmatic Issues
The success of Cervical Cancer Screening will depend on the programme being
acceptable to women themselves. Methods and activities have to respect the
dignity, privacy and autonomy of women. This is more likely if women's rights
and women's health advocates are involved in the development of the
programme.
The greatest burden of disease occurs in poor countries with economies in
transition. Thus, minimal requirements are proposed as a priority for reducing the
number of women dying from cervical cancer internationally. The primary
operational aim of the programme must focus on achieving the highest possible
coverage rate. The aim should be to set up a nationally organized screening
programme. It is more costly, less effective, to operate opportunistic screening
than to choose a population based approach. A well run, comprehensive
demonstration programme is advocated as a good method of starting. This will
facilitate lobbying for national implementation and enable the organizers to learn
from mistakes.
Conclusion
It appears that the journey from womb to tomb was not ordained by God but by
man or woman. A woman may choose life or death. The choice is simple.
Cervical Cytology is still the standard by which all other approaches are judged,
as it is the only one that has been shown to reduce cervical cancer incidence and
mortality. This is the surest way today to keep the crab away from the gate.
Tomorrow we might have the vaccine against the human papilloma virus.
However, all programmes will fail unless there is good patronage. We must
create the facilities and it is possible to persuade women with abnormal smears to
attend for diagnosis and treatment .A stitch in time saves ALL.
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From Womb to Tomb: Protecting the Gatefrom the Crab 301
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
16
BENEATH THE RIPPLES AND SUSTAINABLE FISH
PRODUCTION
E. O. Faturoti
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Management
Introduction
I feel highly esteemed and honoured to stand before this noble audience to
present the fifth in the series of 2000/2001 inaugural lecture. It is also my
pleasure that the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Management of the
Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry has the opportunity again to contribute to this
academic discourse. The only opportunity so far came to the Department in 1986
when Professor S.S. Ajayi x-rayed the crisis permeating the wildlife sector. The
Lecture then brought into focus the relevance of wildlife conservation. Indeed,
that lecture established the need to conserve at all levels not only our wildlife
resources but all other resources that are beneficial to mankind.
The science of wildlife management and also that of fisheries management
are of relatively recent origin. In fact, fisheries study was initially perceived as
the study of the biology of various fish species. Today, the story is quite different
as fish is now seen as a commodity of trade. The practice of fisheries has grown
from hunting to actual culturing fish in captivity. Relevant technologies have
been developed to derive more benefit from the fisheries resources of the world
and indeed that of Nigeria in particular.
I salute the courage of the founding fathers of the Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries Management who in 1981 brought into focus the ideals of good
visionary leaders and created the Department which today has grown across the
various tertiary institutions in Nigeria and Africa.
About two and a half decades ago, I was posted to serve as an NYSC
member in the Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF), Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Research Unit of FDF absorbed me into a programme of post harvest
Development of fish and fisheries resources. As part of my assignment, I had to
undertake sea trips on research fishing vessel code-named KIAIA, invariably to
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collect research biomaterials - Big Eye, Brachydilerus auritus a bony fish which
was to be processed into more edible fish products.
My first sea trip in 1975 was quite thrilling and challenging in so many ways.
The second trip provided other forms of challenges as the sea was quite rough
and there were gastronomic disturbances and ripples that led to frequent
vomiting. The first casualty on that sea trip was a colleague who was knocked off
under 15 minutes of our take off.
At sea on that same trip, my thoughts reflected on the Biblical records of
creation in Genesis Chapter 1 verses 2-21. "God's spirit was moving over the
water" (as in Genesis 1:2) "Let the water be filled with living things large sea
animals and every living things". Obviously the plankton, fishes and other
aquatic animals are being referred to. In Genesis -I :21 "They produce more of .
their kind" was the command of God.
Finally, on the sixth day, "God created human beings in the image and
likeness of God". From the foregoing it can be inferred that God empowered man
to rule over the fish in the sea for the benefit of mankind. The empowerment
given to man has led to increased intensity of procreation and the resultant
population boom. There is, also the over bearing capability of man to over-crop
fishes and aquatic life leading to inability of fishes .i.e, those aquatic life to
produce more of their kind and meet man's propensity to consume in a bid to
satisfy his nutritional needs.
The interest of man to develop economically through the exploitation of
various resources which God provided has set man on collision course with the
perfect arrangement which God had put in place to sustain man and better his lot.
The present day happenings in all facets of life are by no means causing ripples
of various magnitudes. Simply perceived, ripple is a little wave on the surface of
water. Wave in itself connotes an up and down movement or to and fro' situation.
It is also seen as a rising motion on the surface of water. In short, it can be
perceived as a scenario, which portends a dangerous dimension. After creation,
all man's various activities have created ripples.
For decades, the Nigerian political arena has remained highly unstable with
ripples of various magnitudes. Presently, the ethnic and religious clashes,
vehem.ent rhetorics on marginalization, conflicts between legislative and
executive arms of government are all pointers to unstable political environment.
In the absence of a conducive political environment, it becomes difficult to
develop all facets of our economy.
Fo.r th?se of us who believe in the powers of prayer, there is no gainsaying
that Nlg~na has c~me thus far because God as a perfect manager of all resources
has continuously Intervened. Our brothers in some African countries have not
been s? favoured and the consequences abound in the refugee status of most of
the ~atlOn~ls.ofthese countries. Fo~ the purpose of this discourse, my perception
of ?pple IS In the realm of aquatic re_source management. Today, I intend to
enhghten on the causes and consequences of ripples in aquatic environment and
proffer rational solution in the management of our endowed renewable natural
aquatic resources as they relate to fisheries resources.
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 305
Causes of Ripples
The relevance of aquatic resources to man's livelihood is incontrovertible as J.W.
Yon Goethe, an environmentalist, stated that "Everything originated in water,
everything is sustained by water". Air, water and food, strictly in that order are
the basic essentials of life. Human beings can live for over sixty days without
food. They can rarely survive for more than three days without water. They will
die within a few minutes if deprived of air. About 70% of the human body, by
weight, consists of water and many of the body functions depend on it. Thus
regular intake of this precious gift of nature is essential for our survival.
It is also necessary to point out that whatever abuses that are passed on to
water tend to manifest on contiguous resources such as land, atmosphere,
vegetation, wildlife, fisheries and numerous other renewable natural resources
which assist in the sustenance of man's livelihood. The quality of life can be
greatly improved or disrupted depending on our interaction with aquatic
environment.
Among all the natural renewable resources, fisheries present perhaps the
greatest challenge for effective management. The problems are the most difficult
under tropical conditions. There are many interacting factors: a greater variety of
fish. species, change in climatic and oceanographic conditions (including massive
seasonal outflows or rainfall from land), the level of exploitation by fishermen,
the impact of other industrial activities and the social, political and economic
pressures on the market system. These factors all tend to create ripples of varying
magnitude which need complex mechanism to manage for sustainability of man's
livelihood.
What are the causes of ripples that affect the ability of water to sustain
renewable aquatic resources? In answering this question, man stands out as a
major cause of ripples. Man's activities have created untold hardship and ripples
(Fig.I) and to settle these ripples, it will take the invention of perfect
understanding of a balance between our demand for resources, unregulated or
regulated entries and good rational and delicate exploration and exploitation and
the need to monitor the biological effort occasioned by overbearing capacity of
our population on the resources. It is after all these that the aquatic medium can
be still. The perfect manager who brought calmness to the sea was Jesus Christ
when he commanded the sea to be calm and it came to pass.
Basically, when a water body is loaded with waste materials or heat such that
its natural ability can no longer cope with the situation we say that it is polluted.
The water body is then seen to be suffering from the burden of unpleasant
interference. Physically, ripples are generated when a serene water body is
attacked by foreign bodies. The extent of ripples generated is usually related to
the magnitude of attack by the foreign bodies, or better presented by the
magnitude of abuse by various pollutants. I will now take time to look into some
major causes of water pollution in general.
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Fig. I: Causes of Water Pollution
Major Groups of Water Pollutants
Oxygen-demanding wastes
These include domestic sewage, human and animal wastes, and biodegradable
industrial wastes (such as cannaries and wood pulp mills). The noticeable
practice at present is for these wastes to be thrown, dumped or discharged
directly into streams and rivers or into gutters, drains and waste dumps from
where they may get washed by run-off water into water bodies.
Under normal conditions, these organic wastes arc decomposed by
microorganisms called decomposers. These decomposers require oxygen from
the water and they compete with fish and other aquatic organisms, which need
oxygen for respiration.· Thus, in heavily polluted water bodies, the dissolved
oxygen is used up leading to the death of aquatic organisms. Consequently, the
water is turned into a putrid, turbid, decaying mess from which foul smelling
bubbles of gases (methane, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide) rise to the surface.
Streams and rivers which flow through our towns and villages or into which
these built-up areas drain are characteristically heavily polluted in this way. The
Ogunpa river in Ibadan is a good example. Nevertheless, fishing activities still go
on but invariably, the catches are relatively non-significant. The Lagos Lagoon
which is adjacent to heavily populated areas tells the same story as orchestrated
in the "Oku-Eko" fish production syndrome.
I wish to also share a documentation on urban streams and rivers being
heavily polluted. The Samaru stream in Kaduna State drains much of the small
university town of Samaru. It also drains some heavily fertilized agricultural as
well as some uncultivated land. It receives effluent from an abbatoir as well as
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 307
kitchen waste and septic tanks overflow from student hostels. In some places, it
is used as a "natural lavatory" so that there are high concentrations of human
excrement. Livestock are regularly watered in it. Therefore, animal feaces are a
common feature. The stream is clearly heavily polluted from various sources.
The ripples occasioned by the various pollutants are encapsulated in the
submission of Vei. F. Smith that "there can be no doubt that Samaru stream
presents a considerable health hazard to certain sections of the local community.
Although the author has not observed people drinking the stream water, food is
washed in the water and people washing in the stream must sometimes
accidentally swallow some of the water. The water is contaminated with faecal
material and there must therefore be a considerable risk of contacting water-
borne diseases, such as 'schistosomiasis'. Unless my colleagues in Veterinary
Sciences need to certify the scanty fish from the stream, the health status of such
fish is suspect for human consumption.
Infectious Disease Agents
Domestic sewage, human and animal waste also pollute water by introducing into
it viruses, bacteria and protozoa. Again the ripples of such occurrence are
demonstrated in the major cholera epidemic which hit 'West Africa in 1970.
-Starting from the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Senegal in September of
that year, it moved eastwards reaching Nigeria in December when the first three
eases were recorded in the small fishing village of Ajegunle-Owode in Lagos
State. The cases in northern Nigeria were recorded in Kano and Zaria. The
dreaded typhoid fever is also common throughout the country. Typhoid
outbreaks are a real danger in many of our cities, particularly at the onset of the
dry season.
Plant Nutrients
Nitrates, phosphates and other plant nutrients which come from fertilized
farmlands, from ashes, and from detergents, are an important group of water
pollutants. When they are washed into water bodies, they encourage the growth
of algae and phytoplankton. These aquatic plants may become so abundant that
their decomposition drastically cuts down the amount of dissolved oxygen in the
water. As a result, aquatic animals, including decay organisms, die off. .
In 1976, the then Federal Military Government launched an accelerated food
production programme tagged "Operation Feed the Nation". Successive
governments have continued the drive under different names. The drives have
created ripples and aggravated the problem of water pollution through its
encouragement, all over the country, of the unregulated use of fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides. It is believed that the ripple created by the increased
use of these agricultural inputs in the Lagoons of Ogun, Lagos and Ondo States
and other various water bodies in the country have had their fair share of this
ripple. •
Pesticides
Organic chemicals in the form of many types of pesticides get washed into water
bodies where they may kill aquatic life or be absorbed by them and passed up the
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food chain until they become toxic to man. A good example of organic chemical
toxicity to man is DOT, which was once widely used but its use has now been
banned or severely restricted in many countries with Nigeria being a notable and
unfortunate exception. As pollutants, these chemicals are particularly dangerous
for two reasons. First, unlike sewage and animal wastes, they cannot be removed
effectively with normal water treatment procedures. Second, scientists are still
ignorant of the harm which some of them can do to humans and other animals
especially in the long term.
A wide range of agro-chemicals have been introduced into Nigeria. Some of
the best known being Gammalin 20 (for the spraying of cocoa trees), Aldrin dust
(for seed preservation), and DOT (for tsetse fly control). In addition to normal
use of the chemicals, some of our people have out of ignorance, developed the
very dangerous habit of fishing and even hunting with them by applying them to
water bodies and spraying them along animal tracts. The threat to our health
which the legal and illegal use of organic chemicals represents is at present quite
frightening.
Industrial Effluents
Perhaps the most serious risks from industrial production in Nigeria today come
from water pollution. Almost all our industries discharge their effluents, without
prior treatment, into rivers, estuaries, lagoons or the sea. Many of these effluents
are toxic as they include DOT, dyes, mercury and cadmium, which pollute water
and kill aquatic life. Some of the dyes which are in use in many of our textile
factories are believed to be carcinogenic. Other industrial establishments such as
distilleries, pulp and paper mills, fertilizer plants, and breweries, contribute their
own types of effluent pollution to water bodies. A study of the effects of the thick
black effluents from two breweries on Ikpoba River in Benin City, for example,
shows an increase in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and an equally massi,:e
increase in total suspended solids, all of which had adverse effects on aquatic
life'In the 19605 Rivers lya Alaro and Shasha which drain the Jkeja In~ustrial
Estate, were used as recreation spots and as so~rces .of water for dO~e~~tI~o~~
Toda industrial effluent, especially from textile mills .has turn~d t a hi h
y, t1 bluish-green. The waters are also charactenzed by high pH, ~
rgm:a~n;sn :%~. m~cofm~pou:n~ds ;anId~a~highOlea:daco\nt~ent.e~T=he~sef.cht~ang~es,;:t~'~:'ge~:r~er ~:a~
f~r d~:nestic use. As well, there is no trace of fish life for some 3km downstream
from the effluent discharge pointh· 1 b en reported from around Aladja SteelThermal pollutIon of water as a so ~ . A high rate of
Rolling Mill, where cooling waters are dIbscharged ~t~ s~e;:~f the fish have
mortality of fish in these streams have een ~epo e .
migrated downstream, far away from the steel mill.
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 309
agricultural practices leave the soil bare at the rainy season. i~S well, the
introduction of mechanized farming, especially in the middle belt without due
regard to the nature of the environment, is aggravating the erosion and sediment
problem.
High river water turbidity, well above permissible level, has been reported
from many parts of the country. The FAO has estimated that almost 80% of the
volume of a reservoir proposed at Zurmi, in Sokoto State, will be filled up with
sediments in fifty years. Sediment pollution of water creates several problems;
easily silting up of reservoirs; low transparency in rivers and reservoirs which
adversely affect fish population; and high water treatment cost; reduced
navigability, increased flooding; and blockage of irrigation canals.
In Oyo and Ondo States, several reservoirs which were created for water
supply purposes, have been virtually silted up and eutrophicated. These include
the ones near Ede, Owo, Iwo, Efon Alaye, Ilesha and Ado Ekiti. The Asejire
Reservoir which supplies Ibadan with water has lost at least 25% of its capacity
in the last 20 years or so.
Lake and reservoirs siltation often results in accelerated weed infestation.
Thus in Lake Chad, the weeds Aeschynomene elaphroxyvlon, Phragmites karka
and Cyperos papyros have formed a great underwater ridge known as the Grand
Barrier. The ridge is so thick and tight that it has effectively separated the lake
into two parts with the waters on one side unable to mix with those on the other.
These weeds waste water because of high transpiration. They also militate
against algae productivity, thus reducing fish productivity.
Petroleum Products
Petroleum exploration, exploitation and refinery as well as transportation,
storage, marketing and use of petroleum products have all created pollution
problems in various parts of the country. Their seriousness varies from place to
place. During exploration and exploitation, drill cuttings, drilling and (fluids used
to stimulate the production processes ),and accidental discharge of crude
petroleum constitute serious water pollutants in the oil-producing areas of the
Niger Delta. The refineries produce refinery effluents which include oil and
grease, phenol, cyanide, sulphide, suspended solids, chromium and biological
oxygen-demanding organic matter which may pollute water bodies.
During transportation, storage, marketing, and use of petroleum products,
accidental spills of petrol, lubricating oil as well as sludges and bitumen slops
from tank-cleaning operations are commonly discharged onto the landscape.
These wastes which have a high BOD and COD, often find their way through
run-off and erosion of contaminated soil into water bodies, thus polluting them.
In the Niger Delta area, where oil pollution of water is most serious, the
effects have often been catastrophic. The formation of a film of oil on water
bodies effectively prevents natural aeration, leading to the death of organisms
trapped below. Fish may also ingest spilled oil directly or indirectly, becoming
unpalatable or even poisonous. .
I have taken time to transverse the ripples as occasioned by man's lack of
concern for aquatic environment. This trend is likely going to be aggravated for
several reasons. There is the rapid rate of urbanization as a result of the '
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movement into towns by the rural populace along with lack of enforcement of
land use control. The growth of industrial empires is bound to create more
ripples.
The reflection of my mind on the sea and the ripples of 1975 propelled my
interest in knowing more about what goes on beneath the ripples. The deep
thoughts of what kind of life exists under the sea and how can the available
aquatic resources support man's existence. If at all, there are potentials for a life
support system from the aquatic life, of what magnitude? What are the rational
means of exploiting the aquatic resources? Are the aquatic resources sustainable?
All these questions are monumental in charting my course of developing fisheries
through education of mind and purposeful research agenda.
An opportunity knocked at my door when I applied for a scholarship to
enable me pursue postgraduate studies in Wildlife Fisheries Management.
Though I succeeded in bagging the scholarship, fate had it that I had to truncate
my focus for a period of five years when I took the period to work on the nutrient
requirements of the African Giant rat for a Ph.D. programme. My appointment in
the Department of Animal Science as a lecturer II in 1980 refocused my attention
in fisheries research. The then Head of Department Professor A. U. Mba of
blessed memory provided me with the opportunity to re-focus my interest in
fisheries by procuring my first six sets of aquaria. Coincidentally, my interaction
with Professor S.S. Ajayi and Professor 0.0. Tewe during my Ph.D. programme
had created a bridge between Animal Science programmes and Wildlife and
Fisheries programmes. These eminent scholars have pioneered highly
resourceful, aggressive and impactful multidisciplinary research agenda. Their
vision, which I shared, propelled me further to draw on the inspiration of a broad-
based research agenda within renewable resources terrain.
My research plain in Fisheries within Animal Science Department was barely
incubated for twelve months when I had to join the then newly created
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Management. The inceptional Head of
Department, Professor S.S. Ajayi gave me the mandate to develop the Fisheries
programme of Wildlife and Fisheries Management Department. I must say that in
a bid to fashion out a realistic fisheries programme, there was the need to look
into the nature of fisheries activities and education pervading the terrain of the
Nigerian economy. The development activities and overview of Nigeria's
fisheries industry will be relevant at this juncture.
Overview of Fisheries Development in Nigeria
Fisheries development dates back to 1914 when a fisheries branch headed by a
Senior Agricultural Officer, was established in Agricultural Department of the
Colonial Office. The present development oriented Federal Department of
Fisheries took-off in 1976 as an offshoot of the research-oriented, Federal
Fisheries Service established in the early 40s by the colonial officers. The
mandate then was solely Fisheries research for which it had two centres at
Victoria Island in Lagos and Malam Factori in present Borno State. The
Department was split into two in 1976 to form the Nigerian Institute for
Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) and the current Federal
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 311
Department of Fisheries. At that time, I was a serving youth corper who moved
with NIOMR because of my interest to concentrate on research, the mandate of
NIOMR, to unravel part of the ripples of aquatic ecosystem. The Federal
Department of Fisheries is charged with the responsibility of developing Nigerian
fisheries for the achievement of sustainable self-sufficiency in fish production,
utilization and fisheries resource conservation.
Nigeria is a Coastal State with 850km coastline and 200 nautical miles
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of marine waters with an area of 21O,900km2•
Nigeria has numerous inland water bodies estimated at 12 million hectares,
which are fairly rich in fresh water fishes. The marine waters, though poor in fin
fish resources, have been found to be rich in shrimp and tuna resources.
There are two main sub-sectors that contribute to the Nigeria's fish
production. They are capture and culture fisheries. Despite high fisheries
potential occasioned by large aquatic recourses, at the exit of the colonial masters
in 1960, the Nigerian Fisheries Economy was still at its infancy with practically
undeveloped public and private sectors. The other sectors of agriculture
responsible for cash crops (cocoa, groundnut etc) and forest products were more
focused in view of the fact that they satisfied the interest of the industrial sector
of the colonial masters. In the public sector, Fisheries was ,:;eenas an unimportant
appendage of Agriculture. The poor concept of the importance of Fisheries by
Government led to the confusion as to whether Fisheries should be placed under
the Ministry of Commerce and Industry while some State Governments believed
it should be part of the Department of Forestry.
This state of confusion permeated educational organs particularly at the
tertiary level, taking over 20 years after independence before Fisheries was
properly realigned within University's Faculties and Colleges of Agriculture.
This present arrangement cannot be said to be perfect in view of the large scope
of the fisheries activities and need for its development. This scenario set a weak
foundation for the development of Fisheries in Nigeria.
Fisheries activities were initially capture-oriented and were purely artisanal,
exploiting the rivers, lakes, the estuaries and a few nautical kilometers off-shore.
The industrial fisheries sector was yet to develop, as very little was known of the
fish resources of the marine environment. Fisheries research was done by rickety
fishing vessels, while research activities were badly implemented.
Fish Demand and Supply
Sources of fish to the world are the natural waters compnsmg the oceans,
lagoons, lakes and rivers. Aquaculture (Freshwater and Mariculture) is presently
making significant contribution as well. World food fish production is around 72
million metric tonnes in the early nineties. Based on a current world per caput
fish consumption of about 13.0kg per year; approximately 91 million metric
tonnes would be required by the year 2010 (FAO 1995). The per caput demand is
a function of increase in income, population and relative substitution of fish for
meat and by-products. Nigeria based on 1991 population census of 88.5 million
and projected population of 107.l0m in year 2001 would require 1392300 mt of
fish (Table 1).
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Table 1: Domestic fish production/supply and annual deficit in supply
Year Projected Per Projected Total Deficit
Popu- caput Fish domestic (mt)
lation Con- demand fish
(million) sumpti (mt) production
on (kg)
1985 77.34 11.0 850740 304229 546511
1986 79.20 11.0 871200 372301 498899
1987 81.06 11.0 891660 498150 393510
1988 82.92 11.0 912120 463540 448580
1989 84.78 11.0 932580 676739 255841
1990 86.64 11.0 953040 434579 518461
1991 88.50 11.0 973500 596630 376870
1992 90.36 11.0 993960 721492 272468
1993 92.22 11.0 1014420 619211 395209
1994 94.08 11.0 1034880 515135 519745
1995 95.94 11.0 1055340 - -
1996 97.80 11.0 1075800 - -
1997 99.66 11.0 1096260 - -
1998 101.52 11.0 1116720 - -
1999 103.38 11.0 1137180 - -
2000 105.24 13.0 1368120 - -
2001 107.10 13.0 1392300 - -
2002- 108.96 13.0 1416480 - -
2003 110.82 13.0 1440660 - -
2004 112.68 13.0 1464840 - -
2005 114.54 13.0 1489020 (500000)* (989020)*
*estimated average over ten-year period (1985-1994).
Sources: Faturoti (1999) Population based on 1991 census, FDF (1994 Statistics).
With the FDF (1994) statistics for the period 1985-1994, the average yearly
total fish supply including those from distant waters is about 500,000 tonnes. The
deficit of about one million tonnes by year 2005 would have to be met by
increased production through management of our resources at all segments of
fish production activities.
This scenario and the magnitude of envisaged deficit can be seen as a first
pointer to what challenges await all fisheries stakeholders. It also points to the
fact that would be investors are guaranteed good and stable market judging by
the continued deficit in fish supply over the years if fisheries is made to have
business cardinals.
Refocusing Fisheries Development - A Pioneer Approach
A new mandate was given in 1981 at the inception of the Department of Wildlife
and Fisheries Management by the then Head of Department, Professor S.S.
Ajayi, after reviewing the past and the then present situation of fisheries
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 313
development activities. My assignment could be seen as one fashioning routes in
the forest terrain or wild aquatic and oceanic landscape to map out the future of
fisheries developmental activities. I also have a conviction, that the success of a
fisheries development programme particularly on a sustainable level should be
pivoted on a very strong academic beacon, ushering an articulated knowledge of
the fisheries resources.
Coincidentally, I was lucky to have a Head of Department who himself
believes in the strong empowerment of man's knowledge before maximizing
through effective management the gains occasioned by endowed fisheries
resources. In the inaugural lecture delivered by Professor S.S. Ajayi in 1986, he
traced the evolution of non-cellulose renewable resources education at the
University of Ibadan to the involvement of Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) which initiated in 1968/69 academic sessions by commissioning a
biologist, Dr. W.N. Holsworth, to introduce wildlife conservation course into the
curriculum of the Part I students in the then Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and
Veterinary Science. By 1974/75 academic session, the restructuring of the
curriculum of Department of Forestry gave more prominence to Wildlife and
Fisheries. Eventually, the name of the Department was also changed to the
Department of Forest Resources Management giving credence to the fact that the
Department was engaged in activities other than tree planting.
It is also of note that the onset of the four-year degree programme in the
Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry in the 1977/78 academic session provided
additional opportunity to give Wildlife and Fisheries Management the
prominence they deserve in the curriculum of the Department of Forest
Management. As a result of this programme, undergraduate degree training was
extended over four years with the opportunity of specializing in any of the
following three areas in the final year:
• Inland Fisheries Management
• Wildlife and Range Management
• Forestry
With the creation of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Management
in 1981, my perception of what fisheries education should be got an inspiration
from my thoughts of ripples during the sea trip about two and half decades ago
on the Atlantic ocean. I also reflected on some linkages during my sojourn at
both FDF and NIOMR. All these resulted in drawing a list of renowned
individuals who shared the ideals of fisheries development of my vision.
Consequently, the fisheries curricula were drawn and indeed these curricula re-
orientated the fisheries landscape in manpower development.
All fisheries stakeholders in the country have benefitted from the graduates
of these curricula. Our programme bas also permeated the development of
fisheries programme for many tertiary institutions across the country. It is
important to mention that the curricula focused on trained manpower that should
be able to create jobs and produce fish for all and sundry.
The crusade of bringing Fisheries to the forefront engaged my thoughts in
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314 E.O. Faturoti
1986 when I was in the University College of North Wales, UK, on a British
Council award. Another sea trip embarked upon as part of my research activities
presented me with an opportunity to witness the enormity of aquatic fauna as
dolphin and other aquatic animals were in abundance and demonstrated an
aquatic ecosystem in a state of equilibrium. This time, the ripples were created
more by the somersaulting of fish and other aquatic animals. A scene of abundant
and stable aquatic resources was presented. This is a product of rational
management for sustainable development of fisheries resources of British waters.
Sustainability and Capture Fisheries
As late as the early 19th century, fisheries resources were viewed as the gift of
nature and therefore considered the heritage of mankind. Consequently, people
engaged in various fishing activities without any caution or restriction. Towards
the end of the Second World War in 1945, attention was drawn to the rate of
depletion of fisheries resources in the high seas when warfare vessels were
converted into fishing fleets. This invariably led to the convening of the United
Nations Conference on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1970.
However, it was reported that there were obvious signs of over fishing
showed by the depleting fish stocks, damages caused to ecosystems, economic
losses as well as problems affecting international trade. All these threaten in the
long run fisheries sustainability and consequently, their contribution to food
·supply. This worrisome situation led fisheries authorities to express their
concern, at various international fora, for a new framework, focused at a better
management of fisheries resources. The concerted efforts in this regard, led to the
evolution of national fisheries edicts and conversation measure such as the Sea
Fisheries Decree of 1971 updated in 1992 and Inland Fisheries Decree of 1992.
The United Nations Organization (UNO) through its FAO Fisheries Department
also came up with conservation measures including Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries and Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS)
programmes.
The implications of all these programmes and efforts were to put in place
sustainable fisheries management cardinals with the perceived aim of following a
systematic procedure of rational exploitation of fisheries resources in such a way
that the sustainable economic and social benefits accruing to man are conserved
and maintained.
In 1986, during my visit as a British Council Scholar to University College
of North Wales, UK, my study on the management of global fisheries resources
revealed that a lot of work had been done on management of the fisheries
resources of most lakes in Africa particularly those in West Africa, Nigeria's
Kanji Lake though popular was not seriously considered for assessment of its
fisheries potentials.
My focus shifted to how I can put Nigeria's Lake fisheries into global
reckoning. I invariably proposed a research work to focus on the assessment of
Asejire and Eleiyele man-made lake fisheries in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. I
stimulated the interest of Dr. T.J. Pitcher and A. Maguran who have both
acquired tremendous information on mainly the management of African Lakes in
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 315
Southern Africa (Malawi, Kariba, etc.) as collaborators in my singular effort.
Consequently, the study was supported with the funds provided by the British
Council.
The Study Area and Fishery of Asejire and Eleiyele Lakes
Asejire and Eleiyele are man-made lakes which were constructed in 1970 and
1942 respectively. They were both to supply water for domestic uses but they
became relevant in fisheries activities as fishermen settled around these lakes to
earn their living.
The morphometry of Asejire and Eleiyele lakes is presented in Table 2.
Table 2: Morphometry of Asejire and Eleiyele lakes
Lakes
Eleiyele Asejire
Location (Latitude and Longtitude) 07°25'N 07v21 'N
03v55'E 04v05'E
Altitude (above sea level) 125m 135m
Main source of water River GIla RiverOshun
Catchment area 323.7km" 7175km"
Length across dam 240m 840m
Total storage capacity (reservoir) 5.46km' 32.9km'
Maximum water elevation (at dam) 9.0m 153.9m
Length of lake 2.4km 11.2km
Water surface area 162ha 526ha
Average depth 6.Om 11. Om
Total dissolved solid (TDS) 174.7mgll 154.2mg/l
Morpho Edaphic Index (MEI) 29.1 14.0
Flooded area O.5km£ 6km£
The Asejire and Eleiyele lakes were formed by damming the Oshun and ana
rivers which are part of the dense network of inland water courses that flow
southwards into the Lagos creeks (Figures 2,3,4).
From its source of the dam, the river covers a distance of about 62 kilometres
across thickly forested zones. The Eleiyele lake lies northwest of the city of
Ibadan at an altitude of 125m above sea level. It has an area of 5.46 sq. km with a
storage capacity of 1550 million gallons (70,460 x IO'Titres). The basin is long
and narrow and divided into two main arms (Figure 3). At its widest, it is over
250m and at its narrowest just over 20m. The bottom profile is rather irregular
and non-uniform in character being hard with gravel in some parts as well as soft
with mud and decaying organic matters in others.
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316 £.0. Faturoti
+
'_-,_ ......•• ~, -_.
-',CJf'"f!.o..,r.o •• ,
',p~ ~
h:.:. 2. "L·I\\"r~ ,,( Rivers in the South-Western Region of Nigeria
(Arrow indicates location of Iharlan
Fig. 3: Map ofEleiyele Lake
Fig. 4: Map of Asejirc Lake
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 317
On the other hand, the Asejire lake was constructed in 1970 to supply
additional water to the/city of Ibadan after the realization that the requirement for
water was fast exceeding the supply by the Eleiyele lake. The Asejire lake is
located along latitude 07° 21'N and longitude 04° 05'E. It has a water surface
area of 526 hectares and an average depth of 110m. The total dissolved solids is
lower than that of Eleiyele, while the total flooded areas is larger (Figure 4). The
Oshun River was dammed to create Asejire lake. The fishery activities of the
lakes are under the jurisdiction of Fisheries Division of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Natural Resources.
On the fisheries of both lakes, (Table 3) shows the list of resident fish species
specifying the commercially important families. The nature of the fishery is
multi species and it is typical for tropical fisheries. Gill nets of varying sizes
ranging from 2.5" to 4.6" were predominantly used for the Asejire and Eleiyele
lakes.
Table 3: List of resident fish species in Asejire and Eleiyele lakes
I. CICHLIDAE * (**)
Saothemdon galilaeus *
Tilapia zilli *
Tilapia mariae *
Hemichromis fasciatus *
Pelmatochromis guentheri *
2. CHARACIDAE (*)
3. BAGRIDAE * (**)
Bargrus docmac *
Achenoglanis occidentalis *
4. CLARIIDAE * (**)
Clarias lazera *
5. MOMYRIDAE
6. SCHILBEIDAE
7. .HEPSETIDAE * (**)
Hepsetus odoe *
8. ICHTHYBORIDAE
9. CENTROPOMIDAE *
Lates niloticus *
10. MOCIIOKIDAE
II. CHANNIDAE *
Chana obscura *
12. ANABANTIDAE *
Ctenopoma kineslavae *
13. CITHARINIDAE
14. CYPRINIDAE *
Barbus occidtalis *
15. SHRIMP
In our study on the assessment of these lakes, catch and effort data were
used. The data were obtained from the annual statistical reports complied from
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318 £.0. Faturoti
the monthly catch and boat-days statistics on man-made lakes of Fisheries
Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (1977-1986). The
methods used to assess the lakes are variations in the Surplus Yield Model. This
model is one of the two major types of fishery management models used to
predict maximum sustainable yield (MSY) (This model fundamentally holds
biomass regeneration as a single process and does not consider other effects that
occur within the population. It also adopts the principle that modelling is
basically concerned only with inputs and outputs to the biomass of the
population, despite the fact that biomass regeneration subsumes a great many real
population processes such as tissue growth, mortality and increase in number
through reproduction).
Our study predicted MSY for Asejire and Eleiyele lake fisheries using the
variation in Surplus Yield Mode (see figures 5, 6, 7 and 8).
,.0" '_ - 156 tcIn_.-------------;..,- --""'1---.. •....
•iI
• •IIf '':.~ I.. :I' II
I·I
•• . 400 - . 600 800 JGO!! 1zoo 14[10 l~OO
I,pt" 760 _, Bt _
Fig. 5: Yieldlbiomass curve for Asejire Lake Fisheries using the Catchability (q) = 0.00198
obtained from Schnute's method. MSY was 156 tonnes with optimal biomass of 760 tonnes.
:.._'.160 .•.... -,r,--1_56 to~,..,
120
40
400 80& 1200 1'90 2OGO 1.00 2800 ltOO
Sopt" 1552 toMeS 11_5s
Fig. 6: Yieldlbiomass curve for Asejire Lake Fishery using the Catchability (q) = 0.00097 from
Multiple Regression (Standard) method.
MSY was 156 tonnes with optimal biomass of 1552 tonnes.
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 319
.•...., ..•..
100 ZCO 300 4Jll
8opt- 141 tGnnt, 8io...n
Fig. 7: Yieldlbiomass curve for Asejire Lake Fishery using the Catchability (q) = 0.00407 from
Schnute's method.
MSY was 67 tonnes with optimal biomass of 141 tonnes.
' •• x. • 61 tonlWS
10 --_._-- -~.
so
..•.
;: XI
tc
o 100 100 JOO 400 see 600
BOPI •. '98 tOIl"f" liOlfliU
Fig. 8: Yieldlbiomass curve for Asejire Lake Fishery using the Catchability (q) = 0.00289 from
Multiple Regression (Standard) method.
MSY was 67 tonnes with optimal biomass of 198 tonnes.
To further elucidate on the state of the two lake fisheries Figures 9 and 10
reported the superimposition of actual yield data points on the equilibrium
yield/effort curve. The highest fishing efforts were in 1982. Though there was
increased fishing effort in 1982, our study revealed that the catches were not the
highest for the ten-year period studied. This increase in fishing effort was traced
to the introduction of Green Revolution programme of the then Federal and State
Governments of Nigeria which made available more fishing boats and nets,
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consequently leading to request for higher productivity in the fishery sector of the
country. Furthermore, the insurgence of economic pressure could also have
impressed upon the fishing community a need for increased productivity through
intensification of fishing in the fishery sector.
200
1985
1984 ~
J160 •
1981 htCJn:tH ..oI y:eld
... 1979 &11980 '.81120 • _1983 A(t~",1 )'hdd~ &
80 197 U ( l.{I11n
O.Uu'.,
40
97)
2. ., .6o 00 100 llu 140
Fig. 9: Yield/Effort Curve for Asejire Lake Fishery
110
70
60
50
I40
-;
>= 30
:0
b- -.- C.J~
10
-so 100 15(1 1:'00 250 ).,.., I
tfforc. (~t-6&)'(
Fig. 10: YieldlEffort Curve for Eleiyele Lake Fishery
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 321
As earlier pointed out, though there was increased fishing effort in 1982s the
catches were not the highest. However, biological processes such as random
pulses in recruitment of particular year classes and natural productivity as shown
by the Morpho-Edaphic Index (MEI) and total dissolved solid could have great
effect. It is worth noting that the Eleiyele lake though has a smaller area, its
productivity was higher than that of Asejire (Table 2). The location within the
city and the influence of runoff of network of rivers could provide higher
nutrification and consequently higher productivity.
For the Asejire case, the actual yield in 1979, 1982, 1984 and 1985 were
outside the yield against effort curve. However, for the Eleiyele case, the actual
yield in 1979, 1982, 1985 and 1986 were equally outside. While it seems that the
Asejire lake fishery was operating in 1986 within a safe zone, that of Eleiyele
seems to be clearly demonstrating a case of overexploitation as most of the later
years were clearly out of the equilibrium yield effort zone.
Lastiy, our study employed the use of Walter (1986) graphical method to
assess the changing state of the Asejire and Eleiyele lake fisheries (Figures 11
and 12). Basically, Walter (1986) attempted to reduce the noise amplification
where catch per unit effort against effort have been used, recommended the use
, of catch against effort. With Walter's recommendation and observation, the range
of estimate is lower compared with other method estimates. For Asejire, Walter's
method gave the total allowable catch (TAC) between a range of 65 tonnes and
147 tonnes while the effort is correspondingly within a range of97 boat-days and
196 boat days. Thus, the Asejire fishery should be managed between the stated
figures.
O.75aY
I
AI. ~
160
1'0
120
i 100
S
~. 0.2511~~ ~".,
60
40
20
0 20 40 ~ 80 100 120 140 1~0 180 200 220 Z40
[(fort (_today.)
Fig. 11: Catch Versus Effort Data for Eleiyele Lake Fishery (Water graphical method)
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322 E.O. Faturoti
"'.
100
80
J 60
£.. .lAY
~ co
ze
0 Z(, 40 ~~ SO lOll 120 UO 16t' 180 200 zee
r/fort (~o.t-d.,..)
Fig. 12: Catch Versus Effort Data for Eleyeile Lake Fishery (Water graphical method)
The Eleiyele fishery, using the Walter's method gave between 30 and 70
tonnes of catch from a recommended efforr'of 126 to 198 boat days. The lesson
learnt is that capture fisheries has been traumatized by ripples of various
dimensions. Its predictability has been a matter of concern worldwide. It is
therefore not surprising that what has been a major source of fish supply to the
teeming population who relish fish is fast declining. Consequently, the trend in
increased productivity of fisheries resources has shifted to culture fisheries. This
is discussed hereunder.
Sustainability and Culture Fisheries
"If you give a man a fish, you feed him one day, but if you teach him how to
farm fish, you give him food for life. "
This ancient Chinese proverb succinctly captures the great importance placed
on aquaculture development in the near and far eastern civilization of China and
South-east Asia where aquaculture has an illustrious and ancient tradition. With
the desperate desire to increase food production. culture systems become quite
relevant. As it is the case in Agricultuie, fisheries have a synonymous practice
which is aquaculture. Aquaculture is the farming of all aquatic organisms
including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. This practice has been
recognized as a viable option to supplement natural aquatic productivity and
hence provided a key to local food fish security, particularly in low-income food
deficit countries (LIFDC).
Globally, there has been a steady increase in total world fish production from
99 million tonnes in 1990 to 122 million tonnes in 1997 (FAO 1999a) (Table 4).
The bulk of the increase has come from aquaculture whose output has more than
doubled over the periods, whereas the capture fisheries saw only a marginal
increase. Indeed (FAO-NAGA 1997) it has been revealed that in the developing
countries output volume from aquaculture grew at a rate of approximately 11% a
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 323
year during the period 1985-1995, this compared with a rate of only 2% in the
developed countries.
Table 4: Global Increase of Aquaculture Production
World fish production Nigeria
1997 · 122r'" 25,000 tonnesi
1990 ---"'~~99 tonnes 18,000 tonnes
Growth rate of Aquaculture Developing Developed
(1985-1995) countries countries
11%' 2%
Source: FAO 1984 Africa Aquaculture Situation
Nigeria's aquaculture production at 15,000 tonnes is second in Africa after Egypt. 84% of total
aquaculture production in Africa from Nigeria and Egypt. 16% from other countries in Africa.
World aquaculture production of fish and shell fish (Table 5) totalled 30.8
million tonnes in 1998 and had an estimated value of US $47 billion with China
topping the league tables by producing 20.8m tonnes. With the 1998 estimated
production of seaweed and other aquatic plants, the total world aquaculture
harvest amounted to nearly 39.4m tonnes.
Table 5: Production offish, crustaceans and moll uses by principal producers in
1998 (tonnes - metric value - USS '000)
1990 1991 1992 1997 1998, ..
World total- 13,084,267 15,470,000 28,824,238 30,863,067
tonnes
Volume 24,652,574 25,000,000 45,812,563 47,081,116
World total +
sea
Weed and
aquatic
Plants - tonnes 39,400,000
China - tonnes 6,482,402 19,315,623 20.795,367
Volume 8,217,342 20,509,594 21,715,957
Norway- 150,028 367,298 408,862
tonnes
Volume 773.205 1,081,823 1,133,580
China + aquatic 26000,000
Plants
India - tonnes 1,012,121 1,862,250 2,029,619
Volume 1,600,285 2,141,902 2,222,789
India + aquatic
Plants 2,290,000
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Volume 2,200,000
Japan - tonnes 804,293 806,534 766,812
Volume 2,885,463 3,525,432 3,061,798
Indonesia- 499,824 662,547 696,880
tonnes
Volume 1,477,269 2,051,972 2,137,787
NIGERIA- 28,000
tonnes
ASIAN COUNTRIES = 27m tonnes VALUE = $38
billion
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 2m tonnes
NORTH AMERICA 656,288 tonnes
SOUTH AMERICA 601,027 tounes
AFRICA 185,817 tonnes
Comparing figures since 1990, there has been a year by year rise in farmed
fish and shell fish production. Between 1990 and 1991 the volume rise was
almost the same but from 1992 the harvest soared from 15.47m tonnes to 30.86m
in 1998.
World farm production is much less evenly spread than the world catch. The
latest figures show that it continues to be dominated by the Asian countries -
27m tonnes valued at US $38 billion. European farms follow far behind
producing a total of almost 2m tonnes with Norway topping the scale at 408,862
tonnes. North America comes third with 656,288 tonnes followed by South
America at 601,027 tonnes. Africa produced at a total of 185,817 tonnes.
If China's 6m tonnes of aquatic plants are included, China produced 26m
tonnes, well over 50% of world production. India came in second place with
2.29m tonnes, but its estimated $2.2 billion value was less than the $3 billion
from Japan's 766,000 tonnes and was about the same as Indonesian farmers
earned from their 696,000 tonnes.
In 1981, I met the state of aquaculture in Nigeria quite appalling. In my
submission on Nigerian aquaculture during the International Seminar on
Aquaculture organized by Department of Aquaculture and Allied Fisheries of
Auburn University, Alabama, USA to the international participants of the
Aquaculture Training Programme held in 1982. I observed the following features
of Nigerian aquaculture.
• Expansion of warm water fish culture on the African Continent involving
the use of techniques of fertilization and feeding began rather late by
early 1950s when compared with Asiatic aquaculture.
• In Nigeria, the art of fish culture was just over 25 years old then; now,
about fifty years old.
• Noticeable achievement and documentation had practically been mostly
a government affair.
• Early private initiatives for the adoption of: unworkable government
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model fish farm were defeated inspire of the fact that the natural
conditions for rapid aquaculture development in Nigeria are favourable.
• No single law and regulation for aquaculture in Nigeria
• Lack of adequately trained manpower in aquaculture.
• Public sector initiatives were demonstrated in building of six model fish
farms in a country as big as Nigeria.
• Standardized inputs (feeds, fingerlings, fertilizer and lime etc) and usage
practices were undeveloped.
• Fish being cultured were fed with table waste and roughages that do not
meet the nutrient requirement of such species.
• Statistics on aquaculture were practically unavailable.
I also observed that the major constraint to Fisheries development in Nigeria
and aquaculture in particular derived from Nigeria's wrong concept of the status
of Fisheries at independence. Fisheries was believed to be synonymous with
Zoology of aquatic species. Whereas, Fisheries is an economic terminology
encompassing the state of commercially important aquatic resources, their
exploitation and their utilization. Therefore the emphasis in fisheries is
quantitative with qualitative undertone. By this definition, investors are not
interested in the anatomy and physiology of fish species, neither are they
interested in the biomaterial properties of fish. Investors would like to know of
the quantities of fish harvestable, how to harvest them and how lucrative the fish
market is. As far as they are concerned, fish is a commodity of trade like cement,
yam, rice etc. and their major interest is the magnitude of return on their
investment relative to other competing products therefore, the pre-occupation of
the fisheries workers should have been to encourage capital formation and
increase fish production in a bid to enhance fish consumption by Nigerians for
proper growth (physically and economically) and good health.
As in agriculture, aquaculture also recognizes the interplay of all relevant
experts in all fields of human endeavour. In trying to chart the course of
aquaculture programme within our Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Management, I recognize the need to have animal fish nutritionist, aquaculture
engineers, economist, fish diseases expert, fish breeders/geneticists, limnologist
extentionists, soil scientists, among others all working in consonance to develop
aquaculture sector of our economy.
For the aquaculture industry to thrive, apart from development of adequate
manpower, there is also the need to research and develop various inputs of
production such as feed, fish seeds (fingerlings), inorganic and organic fertilizer
and economics of production. Consequently, in the last two decades, I have
focused my research activities on some of these areas. In my research pursuit, I
observed that the nature of Nigerian multispecies fisheries provides a diversity of
species that have potential for aquaculture in the nation's natural waters. Table 6
shows culturable fmfish and shellfish in Nigeria.
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Table 6: Culturable Finfish and Sliellfish in Nigeria
Local Species Availability of seed for Known feeding habit
stocklnz
Tilapia melanopleura Year round and adequate Algae, Phytplankton, Detritus various
suonlementarv feed
Orocharomis niloticus " "
Sarotherodon gahlae
Tilapia zilli
Chrisichthys nigrodigitatus (cat Bivalves-supplementary feed-groundnut cake
fish) and palm kernel cake essential
Liza fa/cipinis Year round and adequate Detritus, phytoplankton, algae, supplementary
feed
Mugil bananensi " "
Liza gradisauanmis " "
L. dumeri/i " "
Mueil curema " "
C/arias lazera/Clarias gariepinus " Omnivorous, supplementary feed
Heterotis niloticus Seasonal and inadequate Phyto and zoo plankton
Ethma/osa fimbriata (Bonea) Seasonal (?) Phvtonlankton
Panaeus duorarum (pink shrimp) Seasonal Detritus of both animal and plant origin
Machrobrachium sop. Seasonal Detritus of both animal and vegetable origin
Lates ni/oticus (Nile Perch) Scarce Predatory
Hemichromis [asciatus Adequate Predatory
Latjanus apodus (Snapper) Inadequate Predatory
Lutiianus aeenes Inadequate Predatory
Gvmnarchus niloticus Inadequate Predatory
E/ops /acerta Inadequate Predatory
Crassostere gasor (Oysters) Almost through the year Phytoplankton
and adequate
H bidrsa/is Seasonal Omnivorous
D. engvcephalus Seasonal Herbivorous
Distichodus rostratus Seasonal Herbivorous
Malaplerurus e/ectricus Seasonal Predatory
Megalops at/anticus (Tarpon) Seasonal Predatory
Pomasdasys jube/ini (Grunter) Seasonal Predatory
Exotic
Species alreadv introduced
C. carpio (Common carp) Year round and adequate Omnivorous
M sa/moides (Large mouth bass) " Predatory
L. macrochirus (Blue gills) " Omnivorous
C. cat/a inadequate Herbivorous
C. mrigala Inadequate Herbivorous
L. rohita Inadequate Herbivorous
Exotic species worth introducinl!
C. ideUa (Grass carp) Nil Feeds on grass and weeds
H. molitrix (Silver earn) Nil. Phytoplankton
Source: Faturoti, 2000
As in other forms of agricultural and livestock production, there is the need
to understand the environmental requirement as well as feeding regime before
any meaningful aquaculture practice could be undertaken. Furthermore a fish
species should be able to breed in captivity. There is therefore the need to
stimulate all natural factors for fish to grow and reproduce under confined
artificial facilities such as ponds, raceways, and aquaria.
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 327
Fish Feed Development
In 1983, I approached Pfizer Livestock Feeds requesting the organization through
a proposal to support the development of fish feeds for some culturable fish
species in Nigeria. The company is reputed for producing feeds for all categories
of domestic livestock such as poultry, pigs, rabbits etc. All these livestock had
well-developed feeds that meet their requirement for production. As of that time,
Nigerian aquaculture had no reliable fish feeds formulation.
Consequently, my proposal was to work out the nutrient requirement of some
culturable fish species using the requirements to develop practical fish feed
formulations for various species. I worked with other scientists to lay a
foundation for what is now seen as a dependable fish feed industry in Nigeria. In
the last two decades, in over forty publications, our team of scientists comprising
Faturoti, Balogun and Ugwu (1986); Ayinla (1988); Bamimore (1990, 1993);
Aransiola (1991); Lawal (1991); Omitoyin (1995); Ipinjolu (1998); Obasa (1998)
and Akande (2000) have contributed progressively and severally to the
development of fish feed, seeds and other various inputs in aquaculture
development and practices. Fish feeds were developed for popularly cultured fish
species in Nigeria such as Clarias gariepinus - aro; Heterobranchus spp - aro
eJese; Chrysiochthys nigrodigitatus - eja obokun; Tilapia ~pp - epiya and
Heterotis niloticus - alapa. From our results on feed and protein utilization
(Tables 7a, 7b and 7c) a range of 37% and 40% was optimum protein content of
diets for juvenile Clarias ganepinus.
Table 7a: Gross composition of experimental diets
DIETS
Percent Protein 31% 34% 37% 40% (M)
+
Yellow maize 36.70 30.30 29.92 17.54
Groundnut cake 32.97 37.23 41.49 45.74
Fishmeal 9.89 11.17 12.45 13.72
Blood meal 6.59 7.47 8.30 9.12
Oil 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00
Brewer's waste 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00
Bone meal 2.50 2.50 2.50 2.50
Oyster shell 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
Ad-Vit 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.60
Salt 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
+Microencapsulated egg diet (48.8% crude protein).
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Table 7b: Proximate composition of experiment diet
DIETS
Percent Protein
31% 34% 37% 40% (M)+
Determined
Dry matter (%) 87.54 89.70 88.30 88.39
Crude protein (%) 30.96 34.03 36.79 39.72 48.8
Ether extract (%) 10.22 10.43 10.61 10.80 43.2
Crude fibre (%) 3.54 3.66 3.75 3.86
Ash(%) 13.12 15.53 10.56 10.65
Calculated
Calcium (%) 1.53 1.58 1.62 1.67
Available
Phosphorus (%) 0.78 0.82 0.86 0.90
Lysine (%) 1.49 1.65 11.65 1.97
Methionine (%) 0.57 0.63 0.68 1.73
Methionine + Cystie (%) 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40
Metabolizable energy (ME)
Kcal/kg) 3106.01 3081.45 3040.7 3008.45 4810.00
Total digestible 80.33 80.72 4 80.84
nutrient(TDN) 75.55 75.69 80.67 75.36
Starch equivalent (SE) 10.03 9.06 75.42 7.57 9.86
Me: Protein ratio 8.27
+Microencapsulated egg diet (48.8% crude protein)
Table 7c: Growth and nutrient utilization of young Clarias lazera fed different
dietary protein levels
DIETS
Percent 31% 34% 37% 40% (M) (SE+)
Protein
Initial 1.04 1.06 1.03 1.07 1.01 0.02N"
weight (g)
Final 1.82c 1.81c 1.67b 2.93b 1.40a 0.59++
weight (g)
Weight 77.23c 70.75c 52.03b 89.85d 32.23a 12.59+
gain (%)
FCRl 20.17c 12.08b 15.91b 7.22a 26.80d 3.51++
PERL 0.16b 0.32c 0.17b 0.35c 0.08a 0.02+
SGRJ 1.13a 1.73b 1.66b 2.29c LOla 0.51+
(WID)
PPV4 10.55b 21.44c 11.22b 49.73d 5.02a 1.86+
Nrn" 5.99b 5.77b 4.92b 14.30c 3.00a 1.36+
NPUo 1.23c 1.08c 0.85b 2.29d 0.39a 0.12++
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 329
In a more detailed work on feed development for Clarias gariepinus, six
experimental diets with varying protein contents between 25% and 40% were
studied. Furthermore, their interplay of feeding on heteroplastic and homoplastic
hypohysed products of Clarias ganepinus were also studied. A range of 31 % to
40% was responsible for the various performances of fingerlings, juvenile and
adult CIarias. (Tables 8a, 8b, 9, and 10). Survival was best for the products of
broodstock raised on 40% for both heteroplastic and homoplastic hypohysed
Clarias.
Table 8a: The Gross Composition of Experimental Diets
Ingredients I 2 3 4 5 6
Yellow 49.45% 43.08% 36.70% 30.30% 23.92% 17.54%
Maize
Groundnut 24.47% 28.72% 32.97% 37.23% 41.49% 45.74%
Cake
Fish Meal 7.34%. 8.62%. 9.89% 11.l7% 12.45% 13.72%
Blood 4.89% 5.74% 6.59% 7.47% 8.30% 9.15.%
Meal
Oil 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00%
Brewer's 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00% 5.00%
Waste
Bone Meal 2.50% 2.50% 2.50% 2.50% 2.50% 2.50".
Oyster 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% 0.50%
Shell
Vitamin 0.60% 0.60% 0.60% 0.60% 0.60% 0.60%
Premix
Sodium 0.25% 0.25% 0.25% 0.25% 0.25% 0.25%
Chloride
Calculated 25% 28% 31% 34% 37% 40%
Crude
Protein
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Table 8b: Proximate composition of the Experimental Diets
Diet Crude Protein Fibre Moistu Ash NF Me Calorie
re
% % % % % Kea1/kg Protein
ratio
1 25.26 3.33 13.53 10.64 37.39 3169.74 125.48
2 28.19 3.45 13.45 8.93 35.93 3137.45 111.29
3 30.96 3.54 13.42 9.71 32.39 3106.00 100.32
4 34.03 3.66 13.34 12.27 26.27 3081.45 90.55
5 36.79 3.75 12.39 14.47 21.00 3040.74 82.65
6. 39.72 3.86 14.06 14.4 17.16 3008.45 75.74
NIC 31.73 2.62 9.8 5.18 46.98 2990.00 94.24
OMR
Table 9: Heteroplastic Hypophysation of C. gariepnus using Cyprinus Carpio Pituitary and
response of the Hatchings
Diet 1 Diet 2 Diet 3 Diet 4 DietS Diet 6 NIOMR
Feed
Average FI.Okg FO.9kg FI.Okg FO.85kg FO.90kg FO.75kg FO.8kg
Broad stock 46cm 4'4cm 40cm 43cm 41cm 41cm ,
Weight M500g M550g M520g M600g M450g M48g M460g
30cm Ilcm 32cm 35cm 29cm 32cm 32cm
Standard M500g M500g M5330 M500g M500g M450g M500g
length 31cm 31cm g32cm 30cm 30cm 30cm 31cm
Average No 4,500 4,100 4,300 3,850 4,200 3,700 3,800
of eggs
Average 4,100 3,600 3,400 3,100 3,700 3,100 3,000
No. of
Hatching
Average % 91 87.8 79 81 88 83 79
Hatching
Average 800 750 1,200 900 3,200 2,800 550
No. of
Surviving
fry
Average % 19.5 20.83 38.71 29.03 86.46 90.32 18.33
Survival
M=Male
F= Female
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Table 10: Homoplastic'Hypophysation ofC. gariep;,us ~nd response ofih~ Hatching
'Experimental Diets
Diet I -Diet'f Diet 3 ' Diet 4 Diet 5 Diet 6 NIOMR
" Feed
Average F1.5kg FO.9kg Fl.Okg FO.80kg Fl.Okg FO.80kgc FO.8kg
Broad stock 44cm' 46cm' 47cm 36cm 46cm m 41cm
Weight,' Ml.Okg Ml.Okg M1.3kg MO.8g MO.7kg ,. MO.5kg MO.6kg
53cm ' 46cm, 53cm 40cm 36cm 35cm 37cm,
Standard. Ml.Okg, Ml.Okg, Ml.Okg MO.8kg' MO.8kg MO.6kg .. MO.6kg
length 53cm 47cm '48cm 38cm 38cI11 36cm 36cm
Average No 6,500, 4;500 4,600 ,4,000 ,,4,200 4,360 3,900
of eazs . '.
Average 5,200 3,300 3,200 3,000 3,600 3,700 3,100
No. of (
Hatching
Average 0/0 80.00 73.3 69.57 75.0 85.7 86.05 79.49
Hatching 1~ ,i ' ',' "
Average 1,100 ' 60 850 1,600 3,000 3,200 840
No. of ,
, ,
Surviving "
fry
Average % 2L10 ' 26.06' ' "26..56 53.3 ' ,."-; 83.3 ' 86.49 27.10Survival
"':", ' ,', ' ,
M=Male
F= Female
In a bid to improve on' survival of early life forms of Clarias gariepinus
under culture conditions through in depth study of nutrient requirements' within
the first 28 days of egg to hatchlings (unfertilized eggs to advanced fry), series of
experiments were undertaken. Our findings revealed that· the chemical
composition of the early life forms were widely varied within the first 28 days
(Table 11). Furthermore, the early feeding stages (fryjwere subjected to varying
experimental diets~C~O%, 40% and 50% r,rotein content) (Table 12), varying
stocking densities (5.0fry/m2, and 80fry/m) and varying feeding levels ,(10%,
20% and 30% body.weight). '
At 50fry/m2 (Table 13) the highest survival rates were recorded. Mean
weight of the fry also varied with the stocking density and feeding regime. The
weekly mean weight distribution is presented in Figure 13. As the fry ages, the
weight variation within the population varies. This situation is crucial to the
performance of hatchery operation in Catfish fanning.
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Table 11: Proximate Composition of the Early Life Forms of the Experimental
ClarUIs gariepinus
S/lNo. Early life form %CP %EE %Moistu %Ash %NFE
re
I. Unfertilized eggs 34.29<t I. 769b 62.574D 1.l75b 0.14'f
±O.014 ±O.OOI ±O.103 ±O.OOI ±O.OOO
2. Fertilized water 27.24<r" 1.086aD 70.614aD 0.954D O.I06a
hardened eggs ±O.063 ±O.003 ±O.055 0.013 0.000
3. Swim-up fry 16.081D O.406D 82.945a 0.56D 0.005D
±O.OOI ±O.007 ±O.005 ±O.OO4 ±O.OOO
4. Advanced fry 16.907" 0.816D 79.947a 2.25~ O.07la
±2.143 ±O.739 ±2.061 ±O.812 ±O.OOO
Significance "'''' '" '" "'''' '"
a,ab,b means without superscripts in vertical columns are significantly different
("'P<0.05, or "''''P<O.OI).
Key: CP-Crude protein; EE - Ether extract; NFE - Nitrogen free extract.
Table 12: Proximate ComposltiC!n of the Experimental Diets
Diet C' DietCZ DletC'
1~l1Ia& orofein JI.l~7 ~9.785 49.176
% Ether extract 6.199 5.875 6.189
% Moisture 8.019 7.896 7.413
% Ash 13.448 12.848 12.498
% Crude fibre 4.914 4.403 4.294
% Nitrogen free extract 36.253 29.193 20.430
Estimated Energy
Content (Kcal/kg)
(i) Gross (GE) 3764.667 3919.713 4105.509
(ii) Digestible (DE) 3078.049 3210.923 3343.795
(iii) Metabolizable (ME) 2436.494 2605.475 2821.584
DE/protein ratio 9.880 8.071 6.700
ME/protein ratio 7.820 6.550 5.740
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 333
Table 13: Final Survival Rates (%SR), Population Mean Weight (MWP), and Total Biomass (TBM)
of First Feeding Larval Clarias garleplnus
Ck (%CP)
.
C1-30% C2-40% C3-50% 0% (Critical)
B\ (FL) 8\ (FL) 81 (FI)
B\IO% ' B220% 8330% B\ 10% B220% B330%' B\ 10% 8220% B330% (CtrIO%
.(50) Trt I Trt4 Trt 7 Trt 2 Trt 5 Trt 8 Trt 3 Trt 6 Trt 9 Trt 28
YoSR 98 100 100 .100 100 ' 98 93 62 91 74
MWP 0.46 0.47 0.65 : 0.60 1.00 1.07 0.52 0.82 1.12 0.23
TBM 38.43 40.31 54.80 50.91 85.37 89.12 40.93 43.30 86.35 14.43
65) Trtl0 Trt 13 Trt 16 . Trtll Trt 14 Trt 17 Trt12 Trt15 Trt 18 Trt 29
Yo.SR 93 95 96 93 91 95 95 75 60 49
MWP 0.56 0.72 082 0.64' .1.29 1.51 0.57 1.24 1.20 0.37
TBM 57.21 75.31 88.14 66:24' 128.80 159.70 59.67 102.80 80.66 20.11
80) Trtl9 Trt 22 Trt25 Trt20 Trt23 Trt.26. Trt 21 Trt24 Trt27 Trt 30
YoSR 54 54 77 54 33 . '71 77 74 71 28
MWP 0.86 0.98 0.79 0.78 130 1.00 0.80 0.80 1.04 0.53
rr8M 63.53 71.25 . 82.73 57.41 58.51 95.84 83.33 80.30 99.70 20.04
Key:
Ai(SD) Stocking density (Number of fry/m2);
Bj - (FL) Feeding level (% body weight per day);
Ck - (%CP) Crude protein level of supplementary feed (%).
Trt - Treatment;.
Ctrl- Control Treatment
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".'~ h,....~.~o· •••••.•••~p.~:__\I'".:.-~ •.:;.e.~ ,,-~ •••••.•
~.
.. "r\ !\/~v\
.~ ':--1\-./ .. '.. ' . \./.c..
• ~ •••••• ~ •••~• ~~'~=-l:all:~".': '!!\r.., _nu
.-/~_f\--/\./\\J'
I
t -"--., •...•=:.•..~~
I
I•I i+.--::::======::::::::::==========:::::::::::::::~" "-~ . ....&.- :.III.! O\ •.•..:~wu.••• t aU=I:''I1'
"~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 J J • J , , • t 10 1~ !-: 1; ; •. a 1"' l.~ :1 I~ ~~ :'~ :: ~~ ;.:~ H ., ;. ;, ~o
~ lit I ••• ,. s • ':' I
Fig. 13: Larval Clarias gariepinus Weekly Mean Weight Distribution at First.
In the course of promoting 'aquacultre in Nigeria through development of fish
feeds that meet the requirement of Clarias .gariepinus and other culturable fish
species, it was observed that lack of cheap nutritive feed due to the rising cost of
fish meal is a major constraint to intensification and expansion of aquaculture.
Our research effort focused on development of alternative and unconventional
feed stuffs to alleviate this problem.
With the emergence of large-scale poultry industries in Nigeria, there is the
availability of enormous poultry waste that can be recycled to reduce cost of fish
feed. Among the wastes identified were chicken feather and offals. Our major
objective was to study the performance and utilization of these wastes in the diets
of catfish. Feather with its natural keratinous structure is resistant to digestive
enzymes. It is therefore imperative that some of these wastes may need further
treatment to transform them to valuable protein. Consequently, in our studies
feathers were treated by autoclaving, cooking with potash and the use of reducing
agent such as sodium sulphide. All the treated feather products were incorporated
into experimental diets with a range of 0% to 100% replacement levels.
Valuable deductions from the study are as follows: Yield of feather meal (fig.
14) from different processing methods are for autoclaved feather 55.8%, potash
treated feather 52.8% and sodium sulphide treated feather 53.07%. Growth
responses of Clarias gariepinus for autoclaved, potash and sodium sulphide
treated diets are shown in figs. 15, 16, and 17.
Another study also evaluated the usefulness of chicken offal as direct food
both in the raw and cooked form for Clarias gariepinus. A comparative analysis
of fishmeal, raw offal and cooked offal is presented in table 14. The protein
contents of fishmeal was 72.16%, raw offal 47.48%, while cooked offal was
6l.58%. Growth responses of Clarias gariepinus fed differently processed
chicken offal are presented in fig. 18. Cooked chicken offal gave the best growth
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 335
over and above the raw offal and control diet for Clarias gariepinus. In economic
terms, Table 15 gave indices of return on investment in a catfish production
based on the use of offals. The cooked offal still gave the best result.
/
~s&0:. o.u
-",.-
-$-.;: . ..;
,
:,;; 3~
10
O~/~-A-~-~-;-~-'~~---~~~P~~.~-'-h--~~--7/~~~,u-m-~-~--~~
Fig. 14: Yield of Feathermeal from Different Processing Methods
f • 8 10 " 12 13 I. 'I'" .:r". 'IS. at 2P" 24
TiftI.{ ••••••
Fig. 15: Growth Response of Claria gariepinus Fingerlings Fed Differently Levels of Autoclaved
Featherrneal.
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~- ..
21 ..
I -
ojoLI;~~2~-:a-4--Ii--• --., -•--•-1-.--"--••-••-• -,~------------------....•...M 15 1e.U· ,. IV 20 21 22 2J ~
Fig. 16: Growth Response of Clarias gariepinus Fingerlings Fed Different Levels of
Potash-treated Feathenneal.
Fig. 17: Growth Response of Clarias gariepinus Fingerlings Fed Different Levels of Sodium
Sulfide-treated Feathermeal.
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production> 337
Table 14: Proximate, Gross Energy and Mineral Composition
Parameters Fish Meal Raw Offal Cooked Offal SEM ANOVA
SIG.
Moisture (%) 6.3r 8.58- 8.27- 0.37 ***
Crude Protein (%) 72.16- 47.48c 61.58b 3.58 ***
Crude Fat (%) 7.50c 22.82- 16.45b 2.23 ***
Ash (%) 13.19- 1O.85b 8.96c 0.63 ***
Crude Fibre (%) 0.34c 4.95- 3.46b 0.68 ***
NFE(%) 0.34b 6.09- 2.20b 0.91 ***
Gross Energy
Kcal/kg 3012.14c 5278.14c 5060.38b 361.02 ***
Calcium (%) 4.82- 0.42b 0.23b 0.75 ***
Iron 0.347- O.OOb O.OOb 0.01 ***
Potassium (%) 0.38b 1.13- 1.10- 0.12 ***
Magnesium (%) 0.37- {US- O.27b 0.02 ***
Sodium (%) 0.18c 3.11- 2.57b 0.46 ***
Phosphorus (%) 3.14- 0.71b 0.38c 0.44 ***
250
'00
50
o~---------------------------------
0' 2345 &'·789101,,213141516171819202122
Time (weaks)
Fig. 18: Growth Response oi Clarias gariepinus Fed Different Level of Chicken Offal Meal.
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Table 15: Economic Analysis of Cgariepinus fed differently processed offal
Parameters Control Diet Raw Offal Cooked SIG
offal
Production period (days) 147 147 147
Stocking densitylha 40,000 40:000 40,000
Surface area of pond 0.002b 0.002a 0.002b
Pond Depth (em) 0.78ab 0.74b 0.82a ***
Net production (kg/pond) 11.38b 21.02a 22.83a *
Survival rate (%) 91.80b 94.12ab 98.36a ***
Feed input 22.22< 85.31 a 76.65b *
Cost of feedlkg(3) 1O.37a 2.50< 2.85b ***
Total cost offeed (3) 230.46a 213.28a 218.45" *
Total value offish 569.09b 1050.80" 1141.71" NS
Profit Index 2.47< 4.93" 5.23" ***
Incidence of cost 20.25" 10.15b 9.57< ***
Gross profit (3) 338.63< 837.52b 923.26" ***
Means followed by the superscript on the same horizontal row are not significantly
different (*p> 0.05 or *** P> 0.001). NS =Not significant
In pursuit of better utilization of chicken offal, chicken offal was processed
into meal following the procedure used in the production of commercial
fishmeal. The chicken offal meal was used to substitute fishmeal in the diets of
Clarias gariepinus within a range of 0% to 100% with 25% intervals (Table 16).
The growth responses in Fig. 19 indicated that 75% substitution level chicken
offal meal for fishmeal was best, a pointer to drastic reduction in cost of
production of catfish diet when chicken offal meal is engaged. Efforts were also
made in this study to x-ray the economic performance of fed chicken offal meal.
Indicators on the profitability of this approach of feeding is demonstrated in
Table 17. Again, the 75% substitution level of chicken offal meal for fishmeal,
conferred the best advantage for the catfish production system.
Table 16: Gross Composition of Experimental Diets
Ingredient Control 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Fish meal 20.45 15.34 10.23 5.11 -
Chicken offal meal - 5.61 11.22 16.82 22.43
Soyabean meal 20.45 20.45 20.45 20.45 20.45
Groundnut cake 24.53 24.53 24.53 24.53 24.53
Yellow maize 29.47 29.47 29.47 29.47 29.47
Bone meal 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50
Oyster shell 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50
Palm oil 2.25 1.75 1.25 0.77 0.27
UtJPremix 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.60
Salt 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
% of crude protein 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00
VitaminlPremix: Anglican Nutrition Products Company (ANUMPCO).
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 339
..-.~.':,f7'3:::~_ 'l "~ IIi)
3.C
. 2 ~:.;. :':.3i
r.:;
~ ~.~.:F·:. fi"
-: '::': ~
!;=:-
, '3,9 l46 -~ .' -".;
IS / I :.~" r- r-r-- ~. :?:S
I~ (- -?' I ...~! i.~ r-r- :.07
: I;
1,0 I
I ~ 1 ir ,,--I' .1 I i: i\ i
i II ·I1' II; !I 11 I'j I nil I il I;1 II I' I I ,I I~, u I j G i j u I i: ~
,. '.' _._-
Fig. 19: Monthly Variations in Progestrone (ng/ml)
Table 17: Economic Analysis of C. gariepinus fed varying levels of COM
Parameters Diet 1 Diet 2 Diet 3 Diet 4 SIG
10% 25% 50% 75% 100010
Production period (days) 147 147 147 147 147
Stocking density/ha 40.000 40.000 40.000 40.000 40.000
Surface area of pond (ha) 0.002a 0.002a 0.002a 0.002a 0.002a NS
Pond depth (ern) 0.78a 0.78a 0.78a 0.78a 0.78a NS
Net production (kg/pond) 11.38" 12.47ab 12.22ab 13.35a ll.406ab *
Survival rate (%) 91.80" 95.08a 90.16a 90.16a 93.44a NS
Feed input (kg) 22.22" 22.7a 22.14a 22.98a 20.75a NS
Cost of feed (kg) 10.37 9.49b 8.61c 7.72d 6.8c ***
Total cost of feed 230.46" 215.88a 190.60b 177.28b 141.75c ***
Total value offish 569.09b 623.70ab 61O.8ab 667.53 570.34b *
Profit index 2.41' 2.89d 3.21c 3.77b 4.03a ***
Incidence of cost 20.25" 17.30b 15.9c 13.28d 12.42c ***
Gross profit 338.63 407.82 420.24 490.24 428.60
Means followed by the same superscripts in the horizontal row are not significantly
different (*P>O.05 or *** P>O.OOl); NS: Not Significant
In 1996, a proposal was submitted to the Research Grant Scheme of the
World Bank: Assisted National Agricultural Research Project (NARP). The
overall objective of our project was to further develop fish feeds suitable for
indigenous fish species. The only grant given to Fisheries nationwide under the
Research Grant Scheme was to our team of scientists under my leadership.
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Arising from this grant, we were able to develop over 60 fish feed
formulations that considered the interplay of least cost feedstuffs for more
effective and economical production of fish feeds through aquaculture. In
addition a FAT-NARP computer software programme ammenable to rapid
formulation of fish and robust enough to interact with 80 fish feed parameters
relating to quality, quantity and economics of aquaculture production was
developed. •
Fish Seed Multiplication
Our contribution to aquaculture development will not be complete without a
submission of what has been done to make available through our research
another important input (fish seeds/fingerlings) to fish farmers. The successful
large scale cultivation of any organism for human consumption demands that the
living resource be easily renewable. Removal of standing crop in agriculture for
instance is followed by re-seeding and the reproduction of cattle can be assured
either through natural means or by artificial insemination. It is clearly
disadvantageous to cultivate any organism when the supply of the young cannot
easily be replenished. This problem is even more acute in Nigeria where only a
few species of fish are cultured. There are two solutions to this problem which
are either collecting fish from natural sources' or breeding fish in captivity. The
latter opjion has received more attention in our research agenda in view of the
rapid growth which aquaculture is experiencing in the country.
Reproductive processes are by no means fully impaired in captivity. The
progressive development of gonads remains in general inhibited up till the final
stages of gamete maturation, and it is only at the point of gamete release that the
sequence is arrested. Both gonadal maturation and spawning behaviour have long
been known to start in responses to environmental stimuli such as temperature,
photo period and the amount of rainfall etc. In aquaculture, it has proved possible
to intervene successfully at the stage where the needed environmental cues are
lacking and to push the process to an artificial completion. This has been
accomplished through the technique of induced breeding through hormonal
manipulation. However, a knowledge of the gonadal hormones associated with
reproduction is necessary for a successful manipulation externally. It is
noteworthy that our earlier work on Clarias gariepinus succeeded in the more
rapid dissemination of methods of artificial propagation which presently has
made it possible for most hatchery operators and fish farmers to produce in
massive quantity fmgerlings/seeds for grow out ponds.
Effort was also initiated on another aquaculture fish species which is highly
relished. The species is Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, also a catfish but with the
local name Obokun. This fish commands high consumer's acceptability that it is
implicated in its ability to hook lovers by its occultic potency. It has been
reported that estranged wives have resulted to this "Obokun" fish to win back the
hearts of their husbands. Our baseline study was to determine the gonadal
steroids of Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus (progesteron, testoteron, and oestradiol)
and also determine the seasonal and environmental influences on these hormonal
parameters (figs. 20, and 21). Radioimmunoassay (RIA) procedure was
employed to determine the effects of season on the three steroids.
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 341
Fig. 20: Monthly Variations in Oestradiol (nglml)
rt I
p
"I
21 I 139~ !' 0,7'2 . X--" ,','\ 076 '
_0_"7,,U, II) r,," - o.~~!> I! ~6 ('11 F=j] O~,H 0;37 J: -1:; 'I! r - -'1 i /l [ 1'1 ..=-':'\ 0 IF f' -:l ' 0,tz
O •• , ,'I I I ), • IJr--::;? J-~r:l
!...j.. f.t"'j~ ,-;.. ··~··t, . .1.... JI~:·I.~ •..._••~,?; .c.:::",;
Fig. 21: Monthly Variations in Testosterone
Progesterone
Mean progesterone concentration was 1.76mgjml in April, dropped to the lowest
concentration in August and rose to a maximum concentration of 2.32mglml in
September.
Oestradiol
The plasma concentration of 17b oestradiol was lowest in May 129.62pglml and
highest in November, 318. 77pglml. The progesterone and oestradiol peaked
during the spawning period ..
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Testosterone
Mean testosterone concentration was lowest in October (O.07mglml) and highest
in February 4.52mglml. The testosterone level peaked in the hot late dry season
month thereby indicating an indirect influence of ambient temperature on the
level of the male gonadal hormone.
I like to conclude this discourse by recognizing how far our studies have
impacted on the concept of aquaculture as an aqua-business or commerce. As
recognized by FAO, the concept of sustainable commercial aquaculture is the
rearing of aquatic organisms with the goal of maximizing profit and mainly by
the private sector \Wthout financial assistance either by a donor or government.
By generating its own funds, commercial aquaculture offers the prospect of
financial self-sufficiency. Sustainable commercial aquaculture can in the medium
and long term contribute to increasing food security, hunger and poverty
alleviation, economic growth and employment generation. Development of
sustainable commercial aquaculture requires suitable physical, technical,
economic, market conditions, legal and policy environment.
I have been able to capture the concept of aquaculture and its potential in
Nigeria and Africa. For the past one year, I have been involved through Food and
Agriculture Qrganization of United Nations (FAO) in a survey of Commercial
Aquaculture in sub- Saharan Africa. Through my contributions, the prospects for
sustainable commercial aquaculture development particularly in Nigeria and
Africa in general have become brightened.
For commercial aquaculture to be sustainable:
• Farms must offer the prospects of competitive profits. Our survey has
revealed that all the commercial fish farms are quite impressed about the
future of aquaculture. This is as a result of the present encouraging
performance by the farms studied.
• Unfortunately, I am not in a position to disclose profits declared by such
farms. However, the message is clear - aquaculture is profitable.
• The level of returns must also be stable. The level of demand for fish
and the deficit position of our fish supply guarantees returns on
investment. It also requires more entries and intensification of
production systems for higher yield.
• The fish farmed and the farming processes must be acceptable and meet
general, cultural, gender and social norms, especially when the output is
intended for domestic consumption. The fish from aquaculture are quite
acceptable. The demand at present cannot be met.
• Aquaculture operations must also be environmentally friendly, in part
because sustainable development requires intergenerational equity.
Therefore aquaculture's contribution to the potential well-being of
future generations should be expected to be at least as high as the
present, which implies that both natural and man-made assets be at least
maintained over time.
Our studies further revealed the advantages of commercial aquaculture to
include the following:
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 343
• Contribution to food security, directly by producing fish for food, and
indirectly by generating employment income for the purchase of food.
• Contribution to the government revenues.
• Contribution to source of hard currency through exports; even if
consumed domestically, the output from commercial aquaculture may
replace imported fish and this saves foreign exchange.
• When located in isolated rural areas, commercial aquaculture can
generate positive externalities by pressuring for improved infrastructure,
promoting the development of small communities and discouraging
youths from migrating to cities.
• Commercial aquaculture can generate jobs in secondary (processing,
marketing, transportation ... ) industries.
• Commercial aquaculture can stimulate research and technological
development and some of it can be funded by the industry itself.
The situation as presented is one that brightens hope for sustainable
aquaculture and fish self-sufficiency in Nigeria and Africa. However, it is not
time for our team of aquaculturists to rest on our -oars. It is however,
recommended that actions should be identified to re-quantify the potential of
commercial aquaculture in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
The government should tackle the problem of low private investment in the
sector as well as inadequate and the need for increased feed and seed in quantity
and quality. This calls for an advanced pragmatic research agenda.
Action should be taken to consolidate and promote the gains of commercial
aquaculture in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. There is need to enhance the
transfer of appropriate technology in the promotion of commercial aquaculture.
It is by addressing these developmental issues that the ripples that still
permeate the fish production sector of our economy can be settled for
sustainability, improved living conditions, poverty alleviation, food security and
indeed the well-being of entire human race. "Nobody fights water·and wins",
water is a precious gift of nature, a vehicle for fish production to better the lot of
mankind. I like to call on all and sundry to support in every little way the
sustenance of our fish production and settle the ripples of our life.
Ripples and Development of the University System
The management of ripples in the fish industry gives some useful insight into
ways of handling the ripples in our educational system and the socio-political
system of our country. It is my personal observation over the years as a
researcher, teacher and administrator in the University system that the lack of
sustainability of many potentially viable projects has been largely due to the
culture of personalizing and narrowing the frontiers of knowledge by limiting
such projects to the ability and absolute control of the Chief executor. I am
referring to the carving and grabbing of empires by individual scientists.
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344 E.O. Faturoti
There is a need to start seeing the University as a corporate body where
interdisciplinary research can be nurtured to bave bearing on the development of
our society. Any viable organization exists because of a felt need in the society.
This need might be obvious, unexpressed or unappreciated. It is therefore the
responsibility of the University to make its impact felt through development of
such research projects that bear direct relevance to solving the needs of different
facets of our society. As the sustainability of the fish industry can only be
guaranteed through the recognition of the need to develop all facets of that
industry. So, it is that the talents of all must be recognized within the system and
these should be judiciously harnessed for the improvement of our community and
the larger society.
The nation is presently nurturing a nascent democracy. The concern is that
kleptocracy, sycophancy, and hippocrisy keep dominating our polity. The way
out of this, is to build the culture of self reliance particularly in our youths. It is
only as we recognize and develop the talents of each individual rather than
encouraging them through our examples of reaping where we do not sow and
chanelling their energies to be job creators rather than job seekers, that we can
redress these issues and move towards a new social order. The Faculty of
Agriculture and Forestry has over the years tried to inculcate this into its
students; it is our intention in the immediate future to bring our impact to bear
more on our society through increased production of food, meat, fish and other
agricultural produce through staff and students whose talents would be harnessed
for this purpose.
We also have our research agenda which in essence will be market-oriented,
farm-gate targeted, and private-sector driven to ensure the sustainability of our
training and research programmes. It is our conviction that by harnessing the
talents of all in executing this agenda, we will be contributing our quota not only
in meeting the nutritional needs of our society but also building a group of virile,
energetic, curious and responsible youths in our graduates who will be fired by
seed of self-reliance to find fulfilment in selfless and responsible service to the
community. It is my humble submission that all stakeholders should be allowed
to find their usefulness in our community and the larger society. Through this, we
will be better positioned to manage the ripples in different facets of our
community and thereby restore Ibadan to its place of leadership and excellence
nationally and in the global academic community.
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Beneath the Ripples and Sustainable Fish Production 345
REFERENCES
Akande, G.R. (2000)"Post-harvest preservation and utrlization of Bonga (Ethmalosa
fimbriata). Ph.D. thesis, University ofIbadan, Nigeria. 335 pp.
Aransiola, M.O. (1991) Some aspects of the biology, nutrition and reproductive
physiology of the African Catfish, Chrysichthy nigrodigitatus (Laccpede). Ph.D.
thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. 293 pp.
Ayinla, O.A (1988) Nutrition and reproductive performance of Clarias gariepinus
(Burchell 1822). Ph.D. thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. 433 pp.
Bamimore, M.A (1990) Performance of African Catfish - fry (Clarias garieoinus) raised
on natural and artificial diets in a hatchery. M.Phii thesis, University of Ibadan,
Nigeria.
Bamimore, M.A (1994) Performance of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings raised under
varying culture conditions. Ph.D. thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. 226 pp.
FAO (1995) World Agriculture Towards 2010. (Alexandratos, N.ed) England: John
Wiley and Sons.
FAO (1999a) The State of World Fisheries and Aquacultural1998. Rome: FAO
112 pp.
Faturoti, EO., AM. Balogun and L.L.C. Ugwu (1986) Nutrient utilization and growth
responses of Clarias (Clarias lazera) fed different dietary protein levels. Nigerian
Journal of Applied Fisheries and Hydrobiology 1: 41-45.
FDF (1994) Fisheries Statistics of Nigeria, 3rd Edition 1985-1994.
Ipinjolu, J.K. (1998) Utilization of some Carotenoid precursors in the diets of juvenile
orange Koi Carp (Cyprinus carpio, Linneans). Ph.D. thesis, University of Ibadan,
Nigeria 301 pp.
lawai, L.A. (1991) Ecology of the African Bony Tongue (Heterotis Niloticus Cuvier in
the Badagry Creek of Nigeria). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Obasa, S.D. (1998) Utilization of Soyabean meal in the nutrition of Chrysichthys walkeri
(Gunther), Ph.D. thesis, University ofIbadan, Nigeria. 207 pp.
Omitoyin, B.D. (1995) Utilization of Poultry by-product (Feather and Offals) in the diets
of African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus_(Burchell). Ph.D. thesis, University oflbadan,
Nigeria. 249 pp.
Walter, G.G. (1986) A robust approach to equilibrium yield curves. Can J. Fish Aquat
Sci, 43: 1332-1339 ..
UNIVERSITY OF IBADA
 LIBRARY
17
ELEMENTS, METALS, CATIONS AND HUMAN
DISEASES: A COMING OF AGE
F.A.A. Adeniyi
Department of Chemical Pathology
Introduction
I feel extremely honoured this evening standing before this august assemblage of
eminent scholars, committed academics, selfless patriots and thoughtful friends
in order to render an account of what, I have, along with others, been able to
structure together over a period of about two and a half decades or more
concerning my speciality area within the discipline of Chemical Pathology. This
lecture is the third in the series for the 2000/01 academic session and indeed the
fourth from our Department of Chemical Pathology. The first was delivered by
Professor David Olatunbosun, someone I referred to a short while ago as my
mentor and I am repeating it for emphasis. He was a previous Head of
Department and he is currently the Provost, College of Health Sciences, Ladoke
Akintola University of Technology. The second was by Professor Babatunde
Osotimehin, also a previous Head of Department and more importantly a former
Provost of our dear College and the third was by Professor Oluyemi Agbedana,
the present Head of our Department. Our Department is constituted into nine
speciality areas under six units. The first lecture came from the Trace Elements
Unit, the second from the Endocrinology Unit, the third from the Lipid Unit and
this present one is again coming from the Trace Elements Unit.
Over the years until today, society has been sending the same message to us,
professional scientists; what they say to us is this: tell us about the end points of
science and technology, and not the basic science underlying them! Such a call
from the lay public, to my mind is unfair and unjustifiable to science itself. It is
in response to this kind of request from basically unscientific minds that I have
decided, in this humble presentation, to review the interactive roles of some basic
entities of science in the pathogenesis of certain human diseases.
An inspection of the Periodic Table of Elements will reveal that as of today
106 elements have been allotted slots in the table (fig. 1). In order to maintain the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
348 F.A.A. Adeniyi
structural and functional integrity of its cells, the human body needs only 21 of
these elements. The human body needs C, Hand 0 to make up water, simple
lipids and carbohydrates; water constitutes about 70% of the total body weight in
an adult male and about 60% in the adult female. Lipids serve many important
structural and biochemical roles in the human body in addition to providing a
concentrated source of energy. Carbohydrates provide about 50% of our energy
needs. The human body also needs Nand S to make proteins and other
nitrogenous substances; proteins serve to maintain body structure, to regulate
body functions and to allow for body growth.
The human body also requires Ca and P for various vital physiologic and
biochemical processes. For example, the ionized calcium fraction i.e. the divalent
cations of Ca has six principal functions in the human body. It is required for
skeletal mineralization, for blood coagulation, for neuromuscular conduction, for
the maintenance of normal tone and excitability of skeletal and cardiac muscle,
for stimulus secretion coupling in various exocrine glands and for the
preservation of cell membrane integrity particularly in terms of Na+ and K+
exchange. It is also mandatory for the human body to have adequate supplies of
K, Na and Cl. These three elements maintain in part, the electrolyte composition
of tissue cells and circulating fluids. Electrolytes are of extreme importance to
the human body. All metabolic events in man are effected to some reasonable
degree by the relative and absolute concentrations of the electrolytes. Electrolytes
are important determinants of osmolality, state of hydration of the body and pH
(i.e. H+ concn) of both the intracellular (ICF) fluid and the extracellular fluid
(ECF). In addition, membrane potentials and normal functioning of nervous and
muscle tissue are closely regulated by the concentration differences between ICF
and ECF electrolytes.
These 10 elements that I have mentioned are among the group we commonly
refer to as bulk or macronutrient elements. Chemists refer to them simply as
macroelements (fig. 2). There are 13 other elements which are either concerned
with the activation of many enzymes systems or are integral parts of some of the
enzymes themselves. They are referred to as trace or micronutrient elements.
Again, chemists refer to them simply as microelements. Most of these
microelements function in the body as metalloenzymes, as co-enzymes, as
enzyme activators or as component atoms in other biologically active
macromolecules such as I in thyroid hormones, Fe in hemoglobin and Cr in
glucose tolerance factor. These elements (fig. 3) are further sub-classified as
essential trace elements to distinguish them from nineteen other elements which
also satisfy the criteria for classification as trace elements but which
unfortunately are either toxic or inert to the human body. Those nineteen
elements are referred to as non-essential toxic elements (fig. 4).
In man, a trace element is defined as one that makes up <0.01 % of the total
body mass. Of the 13 essential trace elements, 11 of them are vital for the life and
health of humans. These are Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn, Mo, Co, Cr, I, F and Se. Bo
and V are required essentially by plants and animals. A summary of these
essential trace elements of man indicating their sources, RDAs, RNls, ESSADls,
major functions, deficiency, groups at risk and toxicity is shown (fig. 5).
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Elements, Metals. Cations and Human Diseases: A Coming of Age 349
During these past twenty-five years or more, I have, in collaboration with
some of my teachers, some of my colleagues and with all my PG students looked
more closely into various aspects of these essential trace elements of man. We
have carried out some comprehensive relevant investigations on all of them. We
have also studied two of the non-essential toxic elements viz: Pb and Cd. We
have done this because the toxic elements are adventitious as far as the human
body is concerned. They all can gain entrance into the human body via food,
water, external environment and by physical contact.
However, because of the limitation of time for an inaugural lecture, a
limitation which must again not be a reason for compromising or sacrificing
quality, I have decided in this humble presentation to discuss some of our major
findings for three essential trace elements (Copper, Zinc and Magnesium) and
one non-essential toxic element (Lead).
Copper
Copper is an excellent catalyst for many oxidation - reduction reaction systems.
The element shows great versatility for an impressive variety of oxidation -
reduction reactions including the formation of water from Hand 0 at body
temperatures. Such a reaction will be highly explosive without the catalytic cover
of copper. A good number of important diagnostic and investigative enzymes
have been shown to be copper metalloenzymes. These include cytochrome-c-
oxidase, superoxide dismutase, ceruloplasmin, tyrosinase, uricase, dopamine-Be
hydroxylase, lysyl oxidase, spermine oxidase, benzyl amine oxidase, diamine
oxidase and histaminase to mention a few. The element functions in the synthesis
of Fe and protoporphyrin to form heme. Among the most significant clinical
features of a copper deficiency state is a microcytic hypochromic anaemia.
While working in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of
Lancaster, Lancashire in England between 1976-78, we were particularly
inquisitive about the form of anaemia that results from a Cu-deficiency state.
This is the same form of anemia that is associated with Fe- deficiency. Our
experimental efforts using the Wistar albino rats as an animal model were quite
rewarding. We conclusively established that for ionic Fe, the divalent cation of
the metal i.e. the Fe'" ions to be transported out of the intestinal mucosal cells,
there must be adequate amounts of the copper transport protein, an a2 globulin,
ceruloplasmin. So, as it is, even when Fe was sufficient in the diets of our Cu-
deficient animals, a microcytic hypochromic anemia characteristic of Fe
deficiency still resulted. These early observations by Heaton, Loveless, Alfaro,
Nehlawi and Adeniyi':' have since been confirmed in human by many others'",
The most current consensus of opinion on this subject today can be summarised
thus (fig. 6). Certainly, this kind of information must be important and valuable
to the clinician who is confronted with a patient who may not be responding to
the direct conventional treatment for iron deficiency anaemia.
Still treading in the terrain of the hematologist; in one of our earliest
investigations published in the "Lancet" in 1973, we established a direct
correlation between hypocupremia and the degree of irreversible sickling that
might have taken place in a sickle cell anemia patient. This observation was
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
350 F.A.A. Adeniyi
made by Olatunbosun, Isaac-Sodeye, Adeniyi and Adadevoh", The observation
emphasizes the cooperative role of divalent cations of Cu ++ with other
monovalent and divalent cations of other essential micronutrients in the
maintenance of the structural integrity of the red cell membrane.
On the other side of the coin are situations associated with hypercupremia
and problems associated with excessive accumulation of copper in the human
body. In two separate studies we established hypercupremia in pregnancy and in
women using oral contraceptives. We suggested that the hypercupremia was
being determined by estrogen levels. This is particularly so as plasma Cu rose
with increasing age of normal uncomplicated pregnancy and levels did not
change with increasing age of abnormal complicated pregnancies. Additionally,
plasma Cu levels rose in women using oral contraceptives that contain high
levels of derivatives of estradiol, while levels did not change in women fitted
with intra-uterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs). The sum total of these various
observations made by Olatunbosun, Adeniyi and Adadevoh" emphasize the fact
that Cu is necessary for the healthy development and maintenance of all products
of conception.
All essential trace elements of man are toxic if taken in sufficient excess.
However, Cu toxicity is rare from dietary sources. Nevertheless, severe Cu-
toxicity may result from an inborn error of Cu metabolism. This is Wilson's
disease (hepato-lenticular degeneration). The disease is characterized by
compensatory physiologic and biochemical processes in the liver and brain. The
disorder is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait usually in the second or third
decade of life. The inheritance of the disorder requires consanguinity of parents.
The abnormality is coded on chrosomone 13. It may be present at any age, even
in the seventh decade. The fundamental defect in this disease appears to be an
inadequate synthesis of the copper binding protein ceruloplamin. Consequently,
plasma ceruloplasmin is significantly decreased while loosely albumin-bound
copper is significantly increased and so copper is easily dislodged from these
weak complexes and deposited in many structures of the body. The most
vulnerable sites are the liver, basal ganglia, cornea, kidney and cerebral cortex,
causing damages in those locations. The true incidence of the disease is still
largely unknown probably because the diagnosis is often overlooked.
Estimated incidences in the developed world vary between 1 in 200,000 to 1
in 20,000. Because of these problems associated with an accurate diagnosis of the
disease in its early stages, we tried a pilot study.
While on a prolonged intermittent attachment as visiting Lecturer in the
Department of Chemical Pathology at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
between 1983-90, we selected at random, 48 apparently healthy young men who
.were most likely, from a well-guided oral interview, to be offsprings or products
of consanguinous marriages. In one of these individuals, we established a
significant hypocupremia, significant hypoceruloplasminemia and significant
hyper-cupriuria (fig. 7). From available evidence in the literature, this is indeed
the classic biochemical picture in Wilson's disease. One year later, we were lucky
to be able to bring back to Ibadan a needle biopsy of the liver of the same subject
who was then undergoing a hepato-portal enterestomy. The histologic features of
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_Elements, Metals, Cations and Human Diseases: A Coming of Age 351
the liver that were later confirmed to us include a nonspecific hepatocellular
degeneration with glycogen deposition, pleomorphic mitochondria, ballooning
nuclei, steatosis, piece-meal necrosis, diffuse fibrosis and micronodular cirrhosis.
Our suggestion, Adeniyi; Bot and Johnson," from this study was that since
the clinical features of Wilson's disease are so non-specific, laboratory
measurements and investigations may offer the best means of establishing an
early diagnosis. _ '
We commend this to clinicians as one of the avenues to explore when
-confronted with liver disorders which appear insidious in onset and in
characteristic behaviour.
Zinc
Zinc is needed for growth and repair of tissues. Its essentiality in the human diet
was first recognized in -1963 when a syndrome of growth depression and delayed
sexual development seen in a group of Iranian and Egyptian men consuming
diets based on vegetable protein was alleviated by supplements of zinc. Although
the diets were not low in zinc per se, they were high in grains containing phytates
which interfered With zinc absorption thereby causing a deficiency.
Because of the diverse roles that zinc plays in cellular metabolism, the
symptoms of zinc deficiency are non-specific and can resemble the symptoms of
deficiencies of other essential nutrients. However, some of the most important
features of severe zinc deficiency are dwarfism (impaired growth), anaemia,
hypogonadism, hepatos-plenomegaly, idiopathic hypogeusia (loss of taste),
dysgeusia (abnormal taste), hyposmia (loss of smell), dysosmia (abnormal smell),
malabsorption, depressed immunity, cirrhosis, and acrodermatitis enteropathica.
Zinc is involved in the proper functioning of at least seventy enzymes. These
include alkaline phosphatase, aldolase, carboxypeptidases A, B and C, carbonic
anhydrase, glutamic dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, leucine
aminopeptidase, pyruvate carboxylase and reverse transcptase.
Since pregnancy-can also be considered as a form of disease (after all, in
some people, it is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting) and since it is
associated with cellular growth, we examined the implications of hypozincemia
in human pregnancy. We also found it worthwhile and useful to study the
suitability of assessment of zinc status in the differential diagnosis of hepatic
disorders. -
In the first set of preliminary experiments; we confirmed the previous
observations of others, firstly that in human pregnancy, estrogens are strongly
bound to plasma proteins" and secondly that zinc exists in two forms in the
human plasma!', some firmly bound to the globulins and a greater percentage
loosely bound to albumin. From our various observations and those of others, we
deduced that there is -active competition between estrogens and most of the
loosely bound zinc for binding sites on the plasma proteins. Overall, our various
data led to the suggestion that during pregnancy when zinc is lost from the
plasma, an increased population of unbound zinc results leading to substantial
zinc influx into' the. leucocytes and into the products of conception. Such an
hypothesis is in agreement with previous reports of in vitro and in vivo studies
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
352 F.A.A. Adeniyi
which suggested that zinc influx into the leucocytes was directly dependent on
extracellular zinc concentration'"!', Consequently, we went further from the
position of properly corroborated data that our observation of significantly lower
.'concentration of zinc in cord plasma of infants with reduced birthweights and
reduced plasma estrogens in their mothers indicated the positive roles of zinc and
estrogens in the course and eventual outcome of human pregnancy". These
various observations were made by Adeniyi in 1987.
In the second set of experiments, we looked more closely at the blood levels
of zinc in liver disorders since hypozincemia has been shown by us (Adeniyi and
Meluduj' and by others" as a consistent finding in hepatic diseases. For a proper
and an accurate evaluation of our data, we limited our investigations to four types
of hepatic pathology viz: hepatitis, extrahepatic cholestasis, cirrhosis and primary
liver cell carcinoma. Plasma zinc levels in hepatitis and in extrahepatic
cholestasis were significantly lower than in cirrhosis and PLCC. Differential
diagnosis of liver disorders can therefore be made using the plasma zinc in
patients with hepatitis and extrahepatic cholestasis on the one hand and patients
wish cirrhosis and PLCC on the other.
Hepatitis can be differently separated from extra hepatic cholestasis by a
negative correlation that we found present in hepatitis between plasma zinc and
plasma albumin. PLCC can also be differential separated from cirrhosis by a
negative correlation which we also established between plasma zinc and total
bilirubin in PLCC.
Our suggestion from this study is that this diagnostic approach if used in
conjuction with:
. (a) standard liver function tests based on the excretory, clearance,
conjugating and synthetic capabilities of the liver.
(b) standard measurements of enzyme activities such as those of ALT,
OCT, L.Ds, lCD, 5'N the patient may be spared from the rigors of
extensive invasive clinical exploratory procedures.
Magnesium
By our criteria for classification, Mg does not strictly belong to the group we
commonly refer to as trace elements, nevertheless, it performs so many functions
in intermediary metabolism that it sometimes can stand in for divalent trace
metals like Mn and Zn. .
In the Kreb's cycle. for example, Mil ++ activates the enzyme ICD in the
oxidative decarboxylation of isocitric acid to Q- ketoglutaric acid. That reaction
cannot proceed without the metal activator Mn++.Mg++stands in for Mn++in that
reaction.
Also, the enzyme ALP has four zinc atoms in its molecular structure. Two of
the atoms are necessary for the maintenance of the quarternary structure of the
.enzyme proteiri while the other two are required for enzymatic activity. It has
been shown that the two zinc atoms necessary for enzymatic activity can be
replaced by magnesium without change in the overall activity of the enzyme. For
these two reasons, we conventionally and conveniently group Mg with the
essential trace elements.
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Elements, Metals, Cations and Hilma" Diseases: A Coming of Age "353
Magnesium deficiency is rare in the normal population. However, in clinical'
medicine, causes for"hypomagnesemia may be viewed under seven categories
viz: Gastro- intestinal, nutritional, renal, endocrine, metabolic, neo-natal and
childhood. Between 30-40010 of Mg in the diet is absorbed. 1,25(OH)2D3 one of
the ten hormones involved in Ca and P metabolism is also a major factor in Mg
absorption and as Ca in the diet increases Mg absorption decreases. Mg is
necessary for the utilization of ATP and it is therefore an important activator of
enzymatic reactions involving ATP. Such reactions are extremely important in
the metabolism of CHO, lipid and proteins and in the synthesis of DNA. It is
against this background that hypomagnesemia has been vaguely cited in the
pathogenesis of Diabetes Mellitus.
Early in 1991, I assembled a group of medical scientists, physicians and two
of my postgraduate students so that we could 1001.( into the prospects of
magnesium supplementation in Diabetes Mellitus. I explained to the members of
this group how weImy VG students and I) arrived at the decision to initiate that
kind of study. I laid out the aims and objectives before the members and solicited
for their cooperation in terms of laboratory space, laboratory reagents,
accessibility of my PG students and other ancillary staff to clinics, petty funds
and -consumables for use in the clinic and most importantly a completely (Tee
hand in the selection of patients and control subjects. The cooperation that I
.received from the members of this group was wonderful and encouraging. We
started on the selection of subjects and collection of biological samples and we
embarked on the preliminary investigations and measurements. As luck would
nave it, two years into the project, one of my PG students who was involved in it
(in actual fact the study encompasses his Ph.D work) secured a World Bank
study' fellowship through his "home university, the University of Maiduguri. I
quickly made arrangements for him with the Division of Diabetes, Nutrition and
Metabolic Disorders, Department of Medicine at the University of Liege in
Belgium, a suitable place for the tenure of the fellowship. Professor P J Lefebvre,
the Director of jhe Center kindly and thoughtfully approved our request. The
arrival of Mr. Meludu (now Dr. Meludu) at Liege, coincided with the arrival of
Dr. Castillo from the University of Granada, Spain. Dr. Castillo's interest was
along the same line as ours and the study became more interesting.
At Liege and at Granada, our preliminary experiments at Ibadan were
repeated for confirmation of results. New experiments were designed and
successfully executed and what finally came out of all these efforts was the
manufacture of ampoules of magnesium salt supplements. Successful clinical
trials were conducted both at Liege and at Granada. It is clear that such clinical
trials on patients cannot and must not be the last. Trials will have to continue in
many parts of the world including Nigeria and appropriate approval from
government regulating bodies has to be given before such approach for treatment
can be considered conventional.
At the risk of complete oversight, let me quickly highlight the summary of
the results of some of the investigations that we made which led to the clinical
trials with magnesium supplements:· c .
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354 F.A.A, Adeniyi
(a) We established that magnesium depletion is a consistent feature of OM
and that magnesium administration enhances glucose oxidation by
increasing insulin sensitivity. ' ';
(b) We showed a remarkable difference between Africans and Caucasians
in the handling of extracellular and intracellular magnesium following
an oral glucose load. The findings further re-emphasize the significance
of magnesium in the adequate utilization of glucose. ,
(c) We' observed that glucose infusion increases plasma magnesium
concentration while it decreases erythrocyte' magnesium concentration:
In the diabetic state' therefore, hyperglycemia will probably aggravate
these effects thereby leading tointracellular, magnesium depletion and
magnesuria.
(d): We provided evidence that insulin administration consistently decreases
plasma magnesium concentration while it has a tendency to increase
erythrocyte magnesium concentration; We therefore suggested that
depletion of intracellular magnesium in the diabetic state may be a
consequence of insulin resistance. "
All these represent some of the, observations 'of Meludu, Akinlade, Castillo,
Scheen, Adeniyi.r Taylon-Lefebvreend us on this subject matter which were
reported in six different publications between 1995-97. Let me now round up the
body of this story by reviewing some of the major findings that we made in our
study of a classic non-essential toxic-element, lead. ' '
Lead ' ' ,
Lead, (Pb) is a toxic trace element, that has no useful function in the human body
and technically, its ideal blood level should be .considered as zero. However,
because of its excellent physico-chemical properties, the element has been found:
to be useful in a wide, variety of occupations that are extremely beneficial to man.
The largest single use of lead is for.themanufacture of storage batteries. Lead
salts also form the basis of many paints and pigments. In its arsenate compound;
it enjoys wide applicability in the insecticide industry. The sulphate and acetate'
compounds have important uses in rubber compounding while lead naphtenate is
used extensively as a dryer, ,.Tetra-ethyl lead, one of the most important
compounds of lead, is used as an anti-knock additive in gasoline. ,
In view of the diverse roles, of lead in the industries, painstaking attention
should always .be paid to those precautionary measures that are capable of
protecting against undue exposure of workmen, artisans and the general populace
to lead. This is because lead is .a poison in all its forms. Excessive exposure of
humans to lead in the air, food,' and water has been known to have significant
adverse effects on the renal, nervous,hemopoietic, immune and endocrine
systems. '. , '. '
In the 'light of these ev idences, we designed and successfully executed two
studies on lead between 1994-98. In the first, we explored the magnitude of lead
poisoning in two distant states of Nigeria and in the second, W€! examined ways
whereby individuals in lead-based occupations whomay develop.lead poisoning
can quickly be identified and appropriate intervention made. .
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Elements, Metals, Cations and Human Diseases: A Coming of Age 355
For the interpretation of our results, in both cases, we categorized two levels
of lead poisoning. Metabolic poisoning, we defined as existing when it is
possible to detect alterations in metabolism that result from the lead absorption
and clinical poisoning as a stage when the absorbed lead starts to produce signs
and symptoms which are obvious to the patient or to the attending physician.
Consequently, metabolic poisoning may exist without clinical poisoning but not
the converse.
In the first study, we established that blood lead levels are significantly
higher in individuals occupationally exposed than in normal control unexposed
subjects and in such individuals, one or more deleterious signs or symptoms may
be evident. These include anemia, anorexia, nausea and vomiting, dizziness,
dulling sensation, insomnia, irritability, gout, weight loss, memory loss and
metallic taste. An even more worrisome discovery was that among our
supposedly control subjects, over 80% of them had values falling outside the
commonly acceptable blood levels. This implicitly indicates the severity of the
problem in the states where the study was conducted and by extension, in the
whole country as a whole. This is more so as contributory factors for exposure
that we discovered included excessive use of alcohol and tobacco, undue
exposure to exhaust from vehicles using lead gasoline, exclusive use of wells as
sources of drinking water and increasing consumption of the Nigerian table salt.
It .has been well established that the Nigerian table salt contains higher
concentrations of lead than salt from many other parts of the world. Also, lead in
gasoline is commonly considered to be one of the most important contributors to
environmental lead which determines lead levels in occupationally unexposed
subjects. Petroleum products that contain high lead levels are major factors in
atmospheric lead pollution in countries using such energy sources.
Overall, our data in this phase of the study suggest that lead poisoning arising
from occupational and environmental factors is of a high magnitude.
Precautionary measures appear sensible and desirable by all who are
occupationally and/or environmentally exposed.
In the second study, we investigated a wide range of biochemical indices
including blood lead, total and ionized calcium, inorganic phosphate, total
protein and albumin, uric acid and 1,25(OH)203' Serum total and ionized Ca
levels and 1,25(00)2 03 levels were significantly lower in lead workers than in
control population: Uric acid was also positively correlated with blood lead. The
biochemical abnormalities that were established· in our report clearly reflect
metabolic poisoning and we suggest that they may be helpful in its early
detection before the onset of clinical poisoning particularly in nutritionally
disadvantaged communities like ours.
Conclusion
This is an overview or a summary of some of our observations on three of the
essential trace elements and one toxic element. The approach to our studies on
these four elements is representative of the approach we took in viewing all the
others. .'
Let me quickly observe that scientists carry out experiments for a number of ~,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
356 F.A.A. Adeniyi
reasons, amongst which is a desire to promote some particular application of
science either by advancing basic understanding or by developing an appropriate
technology. Technology is the application of Science to solve the various
problems of the human being. It is used to accelerate development and to
improve the health, economic and social well-being of the populace. Needless to
say that scientific research is a cultural activity, a means of training and refining
the mind, tastes and manners and a means of training in the discipline of
objective enquiry just as the study of history for example. It follows from this
that much of fundamental basic research has no apparent application at the time it
is done. Indeed, basic researches may be done with no application in mind. It is
very often only with hindsight that we can see their importance.
It is this point that non-scientists and science - related professionals who do
not have the benefit of relevant research - oriented training often find difficult to
grasp. So, as it is, experiments at the time they are done may appear to have no
relevance to the conquest of disease because that cannot be foreseen. They do,
however contribute to the body of knowledge in a subject out of which
knowledge application may come. Every serious and committed scientist or a
practitioner of science - related vocation depends on this body of knowledge, a
point aptly exemplified by Sir Isaac Newton in 1675 when he wrote to Robert
Hooke: "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants". "
During the past two and a half decades or more, we have carefully identified
the giants in our area of speciality and from their shoulders, we have been
usefully and meaningfully interacting with the consumers of our research
findings. We have been telling them many things and they have been happy
listening to us. Among these are:
(i) that when chelators are being administered to a patient with Wilson's
disease, due attention must be paid to the copper status in such a
patient;
(ii) that although a patient with hemochromatosis may come to clinical
attention with one of four symptom complexes, only a knowledge of
the iron status in such a patient can bring out the correct diagnosis
clearly and unequivocally;
(iii) that because magnesium is extremely necessary for the utilization of
ATP, it is an important activator of all enzymatic reactions involving
ATP and it will play significant roles in carbohydrate, lipid and protein
metabolism. It is therefore necessary to assess its status in many
metabolic disorders;
(iv) that because zinc is needed for growth and repair of tissues, it is
necessary to assess its status in pregnancy, liver disorders, leg ulcers,
abnormalities of taste and smell and in sterility among others;
(v) that in handling complications that may arise as a result of oxidative
cellular damage, the interactive roles of manganese and selenium
should be well appreciated;
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Elements, Metals, Cations and Human Diseases: A Coming of Age 357
(vi) that treatment of a patient with gout may not be effective if the patient
is from a region with high environmental molybdenum and if nothing
is done about the probable high content of molybdenum in the patient's
diet;
(vii) that presenting complaints such as weakness, numbness, tirtgling in the
extremities, -difficulty in walking, loss of vibratory sense, in-
coordination of movements and disturbed mentation by a patient may
ultimately require the assessment of cobalt status;
(viii) that excessive consumption of excessively refined foods will rid the
body of chromium and chromium is extremely important for the
utilization of insulin in glucose metabolism;
(ix) that in managing a patient with hypothyroidism, it must always be
remembered that Iodine has only one role in the human body. It is
required to complete the formation of the hormone, thyroxine;
(x) that the relationship of Fluorine with dental caries and with motted
enamel should be well understood.
,
When through our contributions in research we continue to disseminate such
information, and our consumers are paying desired and deserved attention to
them, the situation can only be summed up just in one direction and one direction
alone, it is indeed a coming of age for the essential trace elements of man.
Recommendations
Included in this presentation, are some of the contributions that we have made
over the years and as humble as they may be, they are not without their
frustrations and lamentations. On some occasions, we had to throwaway
expensive materials for experiments mid-way owing to inexplainable and
embarrassing prolonged power outages. On other occasions, we had to delay the
investigations for weeks because of erratic supply of pipe-borne water. At other
times we had to wait helplessly and watch labour union leaders prosecuting what,
in some cases, we regard as unnecessary and thoughtless strike actions. On many
occasions in the -past, some of those actions appeared to have political
undertones. They were probably being arranged, financed and fuelled by an
irresponsible and an unelected government that could only rule by dividing the
people. As soon as there were periods of respite from such ungodly acts, we
usually rushed into our laboratories to re-assemble our thoughts and ideas.
Indeed, our golden rule in those days and even today, the dictum that has enabled
me today to pronounce my "Ebenezer" in my career this evening, is the dictum
that you also know too well, and which every member of this community can
attest to its efficacy today, it is "try, try and try again".
In our University today, there are a few issues the corrections of which
require urgent attention:
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
358 F.A.A. Adeniyi
(a) Our research efforts are being greatly detracted from because of lack of
facilities; facilities, which in other societies are freely provided simple
facilities such as basic amenities of life
(b) Our interest in meaningful scientific research is being dampened by
extreme shortage of funds; a single law maker of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria today wants to continue breaking the law by insisting on
basic allowances which are many times the amount of funds required
by a serious and committed scientist researcher to develop projects that
will eventually promote the health, economic and social well-being of
the populace
(c) Lawlessness in our various campuses pervades the air; there are union
leaders who periodically call out their members on total strike over the
flimsiest excuse and irrespective of the essentiality of their jobs; they
go further in encouraging their henchmen to even disrupt, disorganize
and disturb services that they know nothing about and which they are
not capable to provide; they then sit back and roll out demands to their
employers; some of those demands on close analysis are similar to
demands usually being made to psychiatrists by their patients!
It is my hope that your new administration, which is evidently clear that it
has the input of God in its positioning, will competently address all these issues
and will be able to put a seal of finality on their solution.
One of the surest ways to eradicate this kind of irresponsibility among
members of staff is good and exemplary leadership and working out of schemes
and measures that are capable of fostering unity and genuine friendship among
members of different unions within the University. We have to develop an
attitude of being our brothers' keepers and we have to show our mutual respect. A
professor who has no such expressions as "Thank you", "I am sorry", "Well
done" for even a cleaner in his office cannot be a dependable leader. For those of
us that have interacted with you for a long period of time, we know that such
expressions are very close to your lips.
In the body of this presentation I described a joint study between Ibadan,
Liege and Granada. Among the factors that facilitated the success of that study
was a direct telephone line which I personally installed in my office since 1986.
There are many of us here today who have no telephone culture. We have to be
on the road most of the time carrying out assignments which can simply be
accomplished over the telephone. It is not enough for principal officers of the
University and members of council to have unhindered access to telephone in
their homes and offices while professors will have to queue in front of telephone
kiosks in the Maintenance Department to make calls. It is my advice that you
should see it as a matter of extreme urgency that every Department in this
University has at least one direct telephone line within the next one year. In like
manner, every member of the academic staff should have an unlimited access to a
computer in the nearest future.
The question of regularity of payments of salaries and adequacy of
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Elements, Metals, Cations and Human Diseases: A Coming of Age 359
remunerations also have to be addressed. Whatever factors that are responsible
for delay in the payment of salaries should be looked into urgently and
appropriate actions should be taken. It is also important that members of staff
should not be exposed to unfair temptations. A research team leader who is
administering fat grants but whose salary cannot take him home will probably
develop funny ways of balancing his research account.
At this point let me quickly acknowledge the tremendous efforts of the
present Federal Government in promoting and enhancing the welfare of workers
in our country today. In whatever direction and angle that we may look at it, this
is a government that is most unlike any other that we have had in this country
before - a humane and listening government indeed.
On Thursday October 05, 2000, on page 6 of the "Punch" newspaper I read
and I proudly quote "for the first time after many years, we have a leader and a
government whose mind is in the right direction". This was said by Professor
Jerry Gana, a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, one who is evidently
competent to spot the difference between a good government and a bad one,
having previously served in two or three other governments that were widely
accepted to be bad ones.
Finally the administration of an academic community must be carried on in a
way so as to motivate all members of staff. A chief executive of a University who
vacates his seat regularly and willingly allows himself to be conscripted into
attending meetings similar to those of the notorious Vision 2010 (a poor and
blurred vision) and those of apparently thieving foundations will surely loose
focus and will surely end up destroying all that a University should stand for.
I want to observe that this community by accepting you without question as
its leader for the next five years has given to you its highest accolade and it hopes
to receive from you in turn the lustre of your achievements. For those of us who
had interacted with you in the past we know that the lustre is truly brilliant and
we hope you will bear us out in the years ahead.
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18
FROM VIBRATIONS TO FRACTALS: EXCITEMENT
AT THE FRONTIERS OF KNOWLEDGE
Babatunde Alabi
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Without any iota of exaggeration, one can say there is hardly any branch of
science, in which vibration does not play an important role. For the engineers,
vibration is essentially a practical matter which they have to contend with
routinely. The study and understanding of the nature and features of vibrations
have received considerable attention over a number of centuries. One can not but
take a bow when confronted with the landmark contributions of many great
mathematicians, physicists and engineers to the excitement at this frontier of
knowledge. These giant contributors include:
• Sir Isaac NEWTON (1642-1727)
• Compte de Joseph Louis LAGRANGE (1736-1813)
• Marquis de Pierre Simon LAPLACE (1749-1827)
• Sir William Rowan IIAIVIILTON (1805-1865)
• Lord John William RAYLEIGH (1842-1919)
• Emeritus Professor S. TIMOSHENKO (1879-1972)
In the world of vibrations, they are still revered as superstars. All of them
have foiled relentlessly at the frontiers. They doggedly explored for the best
ways and the most appropriate probing tools, to unravel the deepest secrets of the
nature of vibrations, and the effects of vibrations on matter and structures. Each
one of them, has several laws and theories accredited to him. They cumu-
latively and progressively amassed sure knowledge, in the subject matter and,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
362 Babatunde A/abi
have helped in their own ways, to push further the frontiers of knowledge
significantl y.
The most obvious reason why a body should vibrate is simply that it is
shaken by some external agent. However, the two basic properties required by a
body to vibrate Freely are:
(1) mass or inertia, which is an indication of its capability of possessing
kinetic energy by virtue of its motion; and
(2) the ability to store potential energy by virtue of its distortion from its
position of rest.
A very common example of the second property is the restoring forces
induced by elasticity. Incidentally, all the materials used by engineers, ranging
from steel to concrete, as well as the human body, possess both mass and
elasticity. Therefore, for the engineers there is no place to hide and there is no
running away From vibrations. Understandably, engineers devote a lot of interest
and energy to vibration control problems and solutions.
In the past few decades, economic and design trends favouring progressive
increase in power and velocity in modern machines, have constrained the
emergence of vibration analysis, as the pre-eminent focal point ill
mechanical engineering design problems. It is seemingly self-evident that
problems of great practical significance, such as the vibrations of turbine blades,
the vibrations of railway tracks, the vibration of foundations, the vibrations of
electricity power transmission lines and the behaviour of ships in waves, can be
thoroughly understood only on the basis of the fundamental concepts and
theories of vibration. It is no secret that increase in the power and speed of
machines implies that there will be correspondingly more energy to cause
vibrations, which in turn implies that there will be a corresponding increment in
the dynamic response of mechanical systems and structures. Some of this
undesirable features) there from, include malfunctioning of equipment loss
in reliability of machines, fatigue of materials, wear fretting of machine
components, noise nuisance and human discomfort.
Vibrations control is no stranger to excitement or innovation, primarily due
to the combination of the numerous advantageous applications of vibrations, and
the attendant severity of some of the unwanted side-effects of vibrations. This is
why there is never a dull moment at this particular frontier of knowledge.
Noise Control
Sound may be described simply as a physical phenomenon that stimulates
the sense of hearing, whenever vibrations of certain frequency range reach the
inner ear. Sound is vital for communicating, but when it becomes noise, it is, a
nuisance, capable of killing communication altogether. Noise is basically a
subjective term, referring to an unwanted blend of sounds. Noise is also widely
recognized as the de-facto running-mate of vibration. Its frequency, which is the
number of vibrations per second, is calibrated in hertz (Hz). The human ear
perceives sounds in the frequency range, 20Hz to 20,OOOHz,while elephants are
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 363
sensitive to low-frequency sounds, known as infrasounds (below 20Hz), whereas
dolphins and bats though virtually blind, move about thanks to ultrasounds which
they emit at greater than 20,OOOHz. The ear is a marvellous instrument with a
tremendous sensitivity, which is usually expressed in decibels (dB) - a
logarithmic scale. The audible threshold is set at zero dB, 85dB is the risk level,
90dB the danger level and 130dB the pain threshold, i.e, a range of sensitivity
which is 1013 times more than the audible threshold. Beyond this point the ear-
drum may rupture. This extremely wide sensitivity range and the stereophonic
ability of the human ear to distinguish sounds from a general background, makes
effective noise control rather difficult and complicated. Interestingly, researchers
are not used to hoisting a white flag of surrender. Any wonder then that the noise
control frontiers continue to attract the attention of many talented researchers and
investigators, who are contributing immensely to the excitement at this sector of
the frontiers of knowledge.
The noise of public-work machinery, such as pneumatic drills and concrete
mixers, is highly irritating and unpleasant for both the operatives and anyone else
who happens to be nearby. Similarly, traffic and low flying aircraft are major
causes of noise pollution in cities, and as such, noise pollution ranks among the
foremost environmental problems in the industrially developed countries. In jhe
case of Nigeria, a typical developing country, major sources of noise pollution
include the religious worship-centres, the open markets, road traffic and the
countless internal-combustion electricity generators, in both the industrial and
residential areas. However, Nigerians don't really talk much about noise
pollution, largely because it is completely overshadowed by the demands of the
struggle for day-to-day survival, or it has become part of the day-to-day
experiences that it has been relegated to the sub-conscious.
Most people don't need much persuasion to agree that too much noise can
damage the ears. An explosion of 140dB can cause permanent deafness, for it
destroys certain cells in the inner ear that are not capable of regeneration. On the
other hand, permanent deafness can also occur gradually due to long duration
exposure to sound-level of about 85dB. However, what they don't know is that
the human body is also affected in other ways too. There are immediate effects,
such as, cardio-vascular problems with an accelerated heartbeat and high blood
pressure, gastric-intestinal problems, a decrease in alertness and ability to
memorize, nervousness, pupil dilation and a decrease in the visual Field. These
effects may be temporary; others are long lasting, such as insomnia, bulimia,
anxiety, depression and even sexual malfunctions!
The persistent trend to higher speeds of machines and means of
transportation by road, rail and air, coupled with an increased reliance on
automation and miniaturization, have resulted in vibrations at higher
Frequencies. Incidentally, the level of sound power produced by a vibrating
machine component is approximately proportional to the square of the velocity of
vibration. By the time the vibration control engineer would have succeeded in
reducing the vibration level to a half, the effective reduction in sound power level
is a mere 6dB; and when there are many machines contributing to a noisy
environment, then treating only one will have a minimal reduction effect.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
364 Babatunde Alabi
Vibration Induced Discomfort
The human body has many suspended organs, 'Such as the brain, heart, eyes and
the lungs, as shown in Fig. 1. Moreover, the body shivers when it is cold, heart
beats, lungs oscillate, larynges vibrate, etc. Any wonder then that exposure of
the human body to vibration can cause a change of comfort-level, a change in
performance or a reduction in health and safety-level (1). The sensitivity of
human beings to vibration is remarkably high. The range of sensitivity depends
largely on the vibration level, vibration frequency, vibration axis or direction, and
vibration duration. However, there are often many additional extrinsic variables
including physical factors such as the sitting and task dynamics, age, sex, height,
weight and miscellaneous psychological variables.
Stiffn"~ ~ 01
-- - bnck bon •.
RIIht '.9 -- ..••.,•• _I. •"• '"II
1 t
L- Vlbratlnll .olld platform or ground ~
Fig. 1: Mass-spring-dashpot model of a human body exposed to whole-body vioration in
the standing position
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From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 365
The problem is further complicated by the inherent ability of the human body
to sense vibrations even at very low levels. Thus making it rather difficult for the
engineers to guarantee a certain level of comfort. A case in point is the sudden
ground-borne vibration from an unseen source, such as a high-speed train, which
can be very annoying and destabilizing. In dealing with this problem, engineers
have introduced a distinction between "whole-body vibrations ", which is
generally considered to be that due to vibration from a platform which is the
main supporting surface for the body (e.g. a tractor-seat) and "Iocal vibrations"
due to, for example, hand-held tools. It is, therefore, understandable why a lot of
attention is focused by aircraft manufacturers, railway/train designers and
automobile companies on finding cost-effective solutions to vibration isolation
and vibration transmission problems; especially in the areas of suspension and
seat designs. Expectedly, this frontier continues to arrest the attention of great
minds and brilliant researchers worldwide. The sheer magnitude of innovative
solutions being introduced regularly, constitute a monumental testament
to the great excitement at this frontier.
Vibration Induced Loss of Reliability
Reliability may be described simply as a measure of the ability or capability of an
item (e.g. a product, an equipment, etc.) to perform a required function
consistently, under stated conditions and designated environment, for a specified
minimum period of time or minimum number of cycles or events. Reliability is,
therefore, of great concern to the engineers. The functional "availability" of any
equipment depends critically both on reliability and on maintainability.
The overall system reliability, R, depends on the total number of
components, n, and the individual component reliability, r, such that
R=rR
The power law governing R, effectively constrains the design engineers to go for
a high degree of individual component reliability, in order to ensure a reasonable
value for the system reliability. For instance, with r = 99.9%, Table I shows that
system reliability decreases sharply with doubling the number of components:
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
366 Babatunde Alabi
Table 1 : System reliability sensitivity to number of components
SIN Number of Components System Reliability (R)
(n) %
1 25 97.5
2 50 95.1
3 100 90.5
4 200 81.9
5 400 67.1
6 800 44.9
7 1600 20.2
8 3200 4.1
'. -.
Therefore, in designing machines, it seems advantageous to keep the number
of components very low, which incidentally is contrary to the demands of full
automatic control and self-adjusting systems. These conflicting demands have
constrained the need for very high standard of engineering and quality control.
Effective and efficient performance of many machines depends on the
accurate geometric profile of their working parts (2); for example, the accuracy
of gear tooth profiles is critical to the correct performance of gear wheels. If
vibration occurs between machine parts, it may degrade the quality of the surface
finish through substantial increment in the rate at which parts become worn,
eventually causing a deterioration in the performance of the machine concerned.
Ironically, small errors in the geometry of rotating parts and gear wheels, may
also on its own cause vibration. In the case of scanning photocopiers, the scanned
image of a stationary original is formed onto a moving photoconductor.
Imperfections on the moving parts, their assembly or interconnections, introduce
vibrations which inevitably degrade the quality of the copy.
Vibration is also associated with alternating stresses, hence the ever present
danger of failure of systems and components by fatigue. In the case of lathes and
other machine tools, the possible onset of fatigue is a more important reason than
the reduction of machining accuracy, for making strenuous effort to prevent
vibration of such machines. Modem cutters and precision tools are capable of
removing metal rapidly, but their hardness and wear resistance have been
achieved only at the expense of resistance to fatigue.
When a machine component is exposed to shock and vibration, a condition of
resonance can greatly magnify the imposed motion, by a factor of 50 to 100,
especially when the environmental conditions in service arc such that the
damping is reduced. In which case, there is an obvious need for vibration
endurance testing under extreme conditions expected to occur during service. For
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 367
example, resonant vibration is one of the causes of blade failure in turbo-
machinery, because during steady motion, any given blade passes any given
point at accurately Fixed intervals. If, for instance, a water turbine blade receives
a splash, then it will do so at regular intervals and may break as a result of
resonance. Nevertheless, just like most other things in life, there are also many
ways in which resonance may be put to good use. For instance, to shake a sieve
mechanically, it is natural to mount it on springs, and to obtain the assistance of a
resonant condition. Other examples include the pneumatic drill and the concrete-
mixer.
Sophisticated electronic equipment and on-board computers which are
installed in helicopters, aircrafts and guided-missiles are normally supported on
resilient "anti-vibration" mountings to ensure that the vibration of their
environment do not affect them adversely, or impair then-accuracy, or cause the
malfunction of a control system whilst in service, after passing a quality control
test in a stationary position. Similarly, many sensitive equipment used in optics
and metrology require input vibration to be limited to less than O.Olm/i
acceleration, and displacement amplitudes to be limited to less than 25nm.
Typical machinery and building vibration occurs at 10 to 100Hz with
displacement amplitude ofless than 100 urn. Consequently, effective isolation of
sensitive equipment from vibrations, requires an isolation system with a
transmissibility of about 0.001 or below, and a fundamental frequency of the
order of 2 Hz or less.
Modern engineering relics heavily on exploring the boundaries of ideas
and expertise. This prompted the adventure into Fractals and Chaos to be
discussed next.
Fractals
Many of my colleagues often ask me, "What is this fractal stuff that you are
now working on", some have jokingly inquired whether fractal is a new fancy
word for fracas or fraction. Well, the term "fractal" is relatively new. The
Polish-born French mathematician, Benoit Mandelbrot, coined the word and
introduced it to the English speaking scientific community in 1977, in his famous
landmark hook entitled "Fractals: Form, Chance and Dimensions", (3).
He had observed that many important spatial patterns of nature, are either
irregular or fragmented to such an extreme degree, that the well-known classical
geometry (comprising of regular shapes, curves and surfaces such as circles,
cones, spheres, etc.) is hardly of any help in describing their form. For instance,
mountains are not cones, and the coastline of a typical oceanic is/and is neither
straight, nor circular, nor any of the familiar classical curves. Similarly, no
surface in the traditional classical geometry can adequately represent the
boundaries of clouds. In general, many patterns of nature, which are of interest 10
mankind, involve a higher level of complexity, well beyond the scope of classical
geometry (4,5). Fractals may be described simply as a family of shapes or fractal
sets, which can be used advantageously to facilitate adequate representation of
many seemingly complex forms and patterns encountered daily in nature, science
and art. Some sets are curves, others arc surfaces, still others arc clouds of
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
368 Babatunde Alabi
disconnected points, while others arc so oddly shaped that there are no good
terms for them in either the sciences or the 'arts. The most useful among them
involve chance, and their irregularities are statistical in nature. The term
"fractal" emanated from the Latin adjective "fructus", which has the same root
as ''fraction'' and "fragment" and means "irregular or fragmented". It is related
to "frangere" which means "to break".
Fractal is indeed the ultimate multi-disciplinary tool. If there was a medal to
be awarded for excitement at the frontiers, it must go to fractals. Things that
fractals can model include:
• Weather • Human body rhythms
• Stock market and other e.conomic • Machine breakdown pattern in a
Systems Factory
• Fluid flow • Plants
• Geologic activities • Planetary orbits
• Animal group behaviour • Socio-economic patterns
• Cancer cells growth pattern • Celestial mechanics
The elegance and visual beauty of fractal art is one of the reasons for the
excitement amongst the general public over the invention of fractal geometry.
Fractal designs arc now common feature on greeting cards, posters, calendars and
T-shirts
Fractal Geometry
Fractal geometry is often referred to as the language of nature. Its structures are
what gave orders to chaos. Elements of this new language are very simple
algorithms (i.e. mathematical rules or recipes), which can be readily transformed
into intricate geometric slopes and forms through iteration. A well-known
iterative process in nature is the process of cell division, which is 1 into 2, 2 into
4, 4 into 8, etc. The development and supply of algorithms is infinitely large. But
once this new language is mastered, one can easily and precisely describe the
forms of clouds, or any natural object or any pattern for that matter, just as easily
as an architect describes a building, using the language of traditional classical
geometry with lines, circles, ellipses, spheres, etc.
The power of fractal geometry lies in its simplicity, which pivots on the idea
that instead of a complex shape, just think of the simple rule that generates it. fig.
2, illustrates the simple rule that generates the famous Koch snowflake curve. The
rule states that anytime that a simple line is encountered, divide it into three equal
parts and replace the middle segment by two equal segments forming part of an
equilateral triangle. Thereafter, iterate by repeating the line replacement
procedure over and over. At each stage of the iteration, each of the four line
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 369
replaced by
Fig. 2: The replacement procedure for generating Koch snowflake curve
segments (ie. the generator) is replaced by four new line segments with length
one-third of their parent line (i.e. the initiator) fig. 3 shows the first five stages in
the construction of the Koch snowflake curve. Similarly, fig. 4 shows the
iterative procedure for generating a variation of the Koch snowflake curve.
5(h stage
4th slagc
2nd sf:l~e
1st stage
G('IICnl/O/'
Fig. 3: First five stages in the iterative procedure for generating the Koch snowflakes
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
370 Babatunde Alabi
replaced by
Fig. 4: The replacement procedures for generating a variation of Koch snowflake curve
Michael Barnsley, an English-born mathematician invented the Fractal
Transform, which automatically detects fractal codes in real-world images (i.e.
pictures) 161. The discovery led to fractal image compression, whereby it is only
necessary to store the fractal code of a digitised photograph. The original picture
can then be easily reproduced at will through iteration. Fractal image
compression is now a multibillion naira business, because it can be used for the
efficient and reliable storage of high-quality images on compact disks, and it can
also be used to increase the number of television channels carried by a
communication satellite.
Fractal Dimension
A central role is played in the study and application of fractals by the concept of
"fractal dimension". In many ways, the fractal dimension of an object is
comparable to the artificial description of the average family size in a country,
which for population description purposes may be assigned values such as 4.7 in
the case of Nigeria. Clearly, no one attempts to visualize what a 0.7 person looks
like. it is simply a convenient and useful mathematically concise description of
the average family size, for planning purposes and to aid comparison with the
average family size in other countries. If the average family size in U.S.A, U.K,
and Ghana are given as 2.1,2.3 and 5.6 respectively, one can easily see that there
is an intuitive link between the average family size and the level of development
of a country. Similarly, the fractal dimensions associated with a set of five lines,
with varying degree of ruggedness, are shown in fig. 5. It is clear and self-evident
that there is an intuitive link between the fractal dimension allocated to each
curve and its apparent structure in two-dimensional space. Clearly, one can easily
figure out what a curve with a fractal dimension of 1.68 will look like.
Furthermore, one can logically deduce that a curve of 1.78 fractal dimension
would occupy space more efficiently and have a longer length than a curve of
1.69 fractal dimension. In which case, fractal dimension can be used readily and
advantageously, to summarize data concisely. With minimal effort, one can learn
to associate a fractal dimension with a visible level of ruggedness or smoothness,
and that experience becomes the basis of intuitive interpretation of fractal
dimension for various natural systems. Similarly, a rugged surface can be given a
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers a/Knowledge 371
number between two and three which indicates how the structure fills the space it
occupies. Predictably, the concept of fractal dimension has inspired researchers
in all disciplines to a host of exciting new works and fascinating speculations.
Topological F.·actal
Dime.f'n..,s~io>L!.!n,-- "!"D~iLO.en!nLJlsioll
1 LOO
1 LOH
1 1.31
1 1.38
1 1.56
Fig. 5: Fractal dimensions oftive rugged lines
Chaos
A close relative of fractals is chaos, which also first came to public attention in
the mid-seventies. Fractals and chaos are perhaps the most exciting current areas
of research [7]. Their powerful combination has radically questioned our
understanding of equilibrium, stability, harmony and order. Consequently, it is
becoming increasingly clear that no physical phenomenon is really random. In
reality, a phenomenon appears random only through the incompleteness of our
knowledge of the system involved.
The term "chaos" does not imply random disorder, rather it refers to
apparent disorder with hidden patterns. For instance, the apparent randomness of
daily weather forecast and the predictability of the seasons. Incidentally, our
feeling of beauty is inspired by the harmonious arrangement of order and
disorder as it occurs in natural objects. Some of us can already see that chaos is,
indeed, a form of order. We tend to acknowledge this, even in some of the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
372 Babatunde A lobi
phrases we occasionally employ, a popular one being: "chaos is the order of the
day".
Chaos theory seeks to show how seemingly trivial factors affect larger
systems. For example, behavioural scientists suspect that the causes of traffic
congestion are often remote and very complex. The suspicion is that a traffic
wave starts long before the journey, maybe at home with one driver's domestic
row over housekeeping allowance. This intricate and infinitively complex web of
chain reactions echoes the famous "butterfly wings causing a storm" hypothesis
beloved by chaos theory researchers. Chaos theory is particularly useful in the
study of dynamical systems (i.e. systems which change with time). One is often
interested in the study of the pattern of the temporal evolution of these systems.
This is very useful and advantageous for decision-making and prediction,
examples of dynamical systems include:
• Weather conditions in a city;
• Parts of the human body and their functioning,
• Diseases and their behaviour with time;
• A market and its response to certain economic stimuli,
• Machines health condition in an industrial plant,
• Chemical compounds and their reactions;
• Population profiles with time of animal/plant species;
• Military targets and the strategies needed to overcome them;
• Workers remunerations and productivity profile with time;
• Elementary particles and their interactions;
• Creation, motions and annihilation of stars and then-configurations;
• Electrical systems and their interactions;
• Food production, preservation and storage.
Chaos experiments to show how randomness can create deterministic
shapes and forms akin to those found in nature have always been of great
excitement and fascination to the general public. This is exemplified by the
popular "chaos game". To play the game, simply draw an equilateral triangle and
label the vertices 1,2, and 3 as shown in fig. 6, this is the game board. One also
needs a device to generate the numbers 1,2 and 3 randomly. An ordinary die that
is used for a "Ludo game" generates the number 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 randomly. The
ordinary die can also be used for the chaos game, simply by identifying the faces
6 with 1,5 with 2, and 4 with 3, by re-labeling. The die will now be the generator
of random numbers from the reservoir of 1,2, and 3. By throwing this die
repeatedly, the random numbers which appear, for instance, 3, 1, 1,3,2,
1,2,2,2,3,2, l.. will drive a process. The rules of the game are very simple.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 373
2
L- ~ ~
Fig. 6: This is the game board for the chaos experiment
(1) Start the game by picking an arbitrary point on the board and mark its
location by a tiny dot. This is the current "game point" and for easy
referencing may be designated by Xo.
(2) Now, throw the die. If, for example number 3 appears, we now generate
the new "game point" x), which is located at the mid-point between the
current game-point Xo and the vertice with label 3, on the game board.
This completes the first cycle of the game.
(3) Now repeat the cycle by rolling the die again, and depending on the
number that conies up, mark the location of the new game-point which
is halfway between the last game point and the randomly chosen base
(i.e. the labeled vertice on the board). Fig. 7 shows the chaos game
board after (i) 100 steps, (ii) 500 steps, (iii) 1000 steps and (iv) 10,000
steps. Predictably, the distribution of the point is random but curiously
the picture that is generated by the dots is absolutely deterministic. It is
the famous Sierpinski gasket, which is shown in fig. 8.·Perhaps any
seemingly random process has its own characteristic signature (i,e. a
distinctive imprint),
/1'1 ,·f .•. ,.'.:', ~-.
,' .
. '
. " .
Fig. 7: The game board after 10 000 steps
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
374 Babatunde Alabi
Fig. 8: The Sierpinski gasket
Scientists, ever so eager to crack the mysteries of nature, were predictably
excited by the discovery of fractals and chaos theory. Sensing the possibility of a
quantum leap at the frontiers of knowledge, the study of the nature and features,
of the interplay between order and chaos, is inducing useful collaborations
among researchers, in a wide range of disciplines. Enormous time, effort and
talent are being invested at these frontiers, with the belief that, all forms of,
nature must ultimately surrender their intrinsic codes that drive forms and
processes (i.e. their recipes and numerical secrets) and draw themselves through
numbers alone; using iterated algorithms as the facilitator, while computer
graphics remains the effort amplifier and a reliable pointer to the index of
possibilities.
The Journey So Far - An Overview
An inaugural lecture offers the opportunity for every Professor to show the world
in general, and to his peers in particular, his contribution to the extension of
knowledge in his chosen field of specialisation, and to submit himself to both
public and peer appraisal, and simultaneously prove his worthiness to the
prestigious professorial chair. This is the tradition worldwide. In this great
institution, inaugural lectures constitute an enduring academic tradition, in
fulfillment of the ultimate level in academic obligation.
So far, I have presented what is essentially an outline of the long journey
from vibrations to fractals, and have signposted the general areas of excitement
along the frontiers of knowledge. However, an inaugural lecture, being a debt
owed by every professor appointed in this University, is essentially a personal
affair. Therefore, I shall now proceed and describe a few of the developments
and research undertaken by me as a scholar and a consultant. No attempt will be
made to review a topic and most of the references will be to work with which I
have been involved. .
Power Transmission Line Vibration
One of the major problems confronting the power transmission engineer is the
fatigue failure of overhead power lines; this is usually caused by aeolian
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From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 375
vibration which is excited by the periodic forces generated when alternating
vortex shedding by the conductor occurs in a cross wind. It usually has an
amplitude less than the diameter of the conductor and a frequency between 5Hz
and 60Hz. Because of the damaging effects of these vibrations and the attendant
disruption of electricity power transmission, damping devices are fitted to most
conductors. There arc many damping devices available, of which the most
popular is probably the Stockbridge damper, shown in fig. 9. The efficiency of
the damping action depends on the system parameter such as damper location,
conductor span and tension. In 1984, Alabi (8), developed a method for
determining the best location of vibration dampers on a conductor for optimum
vibration attenuation over the aeolian frequency range. Only by correctly locating
the damper on a conductor can the maximum damping of conductor vibration be
achieved. Therefore, correct location can lead to economics in the size of
damper, or allow longer conductor spans to be used, since the dynamic stress
levels are bound to be reduced. The method was successfully applied to a short
span cable in a series of laboratory tests conducted at Imperial College, London.
Fig. 10 shows the test arrangement.
1
Centre of gravity Counter weight
of the countenvcight
IArrows on sectioned IJaff indicate modes of vibr:ttion of the d:ull PCI
Fig. 9: An illustration of the Stockbridge dumper
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
376 Babatunde Alabi
C"BU: L
OMAPfJl
Fig. 10: Laboratory test atrangement for the cable-damper system
The effectiveness of a vibration-damper is essentially a function of its natural
frequencies, mass, location and the conductor parameters such as span length,
tension and the mass per unit length. A vibration-damper design may be basically
more efficient than another design, if both were examined in isolation, detached
from the conductor. But the important criterion for determining the relative
effectiveness of the two vibration dampers when fitted to a conductor, is the
dynamic response of the conductor-damper systems within the frequency band in
which they are supposed to operate. In 1989, Alabi (9), developed a simple
analytical method for comparing the effectiveness of aeolian vibration-dampers
when fitted to a conductor. In addition, I was able to demonstrate that an ideal
vibration-damper must be capable of introducing a large in-phase deformation
force along with a large energy dissipation over a wide frequency range.
Elastic Vibration Problems involving Infinite Media
A variety of dynamic boundary-value problems in plane elasticity are considered
as wave propagation problems in an infinite medium. The idea of infinity is
mathematically convenient, when the aim is to find closed form analytic
solutions to problems involving simple homogeneous systems. However, for
most practical engineering problems, the configuration of the domain is
complicated and irregular, so that it is not possible to find closed form solutions,
and recourse is made to numerical methods of solution, such as the traditional
finite difference, lumped parameter, finite element and the boundary element
methods. Unfortunately, these methods pose serious difficulties when they are
implemented directly for cases involving infinite systems, for two main reasons:
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From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 377
(1) only a finite number of elements or nodal points can be considered; and (2)
the difficulty of simulating the radiation condition at infinity in a finite model.
In 1979, Alabi (10) developed a general mapping finite model for the
solution of elastic vibration problems involving infinite media. In this method,
the original infinite problem domain is condensed by mapping into a
considerably smaller, finite, rectangular domain by implementing a suitable
orthogonal curvilinear coordinate transformation, as can be seen in fig. 11(a) and
11(b). The radiation condition at infinity is satisfied through a change of the
dependent variables. The model generated a lot of interest and excitement all
over, because of the attendant huge savings in computer resources (11,12,13).
The model is of particular interest to naval forces with fleet of submarines, and
having a permanent need to operate quietly to avoid detection by enemy acoustic
listening devices. When implemented to investigate the acoustic field of a
submarine inside the belly of the ocean, the savings is enormous and may run
into millions of dollars.
c;; ++00
~
Fig. 11(a): The Elastic half-space
x'\
Fig. 11(b): Mapping of the region ABCDEFGH of Fig. I I(a) into the region abcdefgh of the XI X2
curvilinear coordiantes
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
378 Babatunde Alabi
Another set of problems of considerable interest is that of a reservoir
embedded in an elastic medium, often encountered in the investigation of surface
deformation associated with volcanism, detonation of buried charges during oil
exploration and many other areas of seismology. In examining this problem, it is
often assumed that the source of dilatation is a spherical reservoir, while the
matrix is an elastic medium of infinite extent (14). In 1985, Alabi (151),
developed and introduced an advantageous numerical method, for the evaluation
of the displacement field generated inside the soil, by time-harmonic tractions
applied to the surface of an embedded cylindrical reservoir, whose cross-section
has an arbitrary shape. In this case, I also used mapping primarily to condense the
physical problem domain (16).
Vibration of Foundations
Foundations constitute a prominent feature of many engineering structures such
as forging machines, high-rise buildings and retaining-wall of dams. At the
design stage, it is often necessary to obtain a reliable estimate of the dynamic
response of a foundation which is supported by an elastic soil. The vibratory
disturbance may be from a source within the machinery to be supported on the
foundation or from adjacent plants, rail/road traffic and blasting of rocks with
explosives, or due to an earthquake. •
Forging machines, in particular, are vital to the manufacturing industries,
ranging from toy-factories to giant automobile plants. However, forging
machines constitute a notable source of intense vibration, which is of great
concern to the engineers designing the foundations. The shock load produced by
forging machines in their operational processes, generate powerful dynamic
effects, that are quite short in duration and can be characterized as pulses.
However, only a fraction of the shock energy is used in the forging process,
while the rest is dissipated in the foundation causing intense vibration. Such
intense vibration results in settlement and cracking of the foundation, and may be
sufficient to cause structural damage to the factory building (17). In the case, of
heavy-duty forging machines, the ensuing vibration may also be transmitted over
surprisingly large distances, and may impair the efficiency of other machines in
the vicinity, or even to produce workers discomfort, culminating in reduced
productivity (1).
The main components of a forging machine foundation system, are the
hammer, anvil and foundation/inertia block, as can be seen in fig. 12. In 1991,
Alabi (18), developed a dynamic analysis technique for determining the vibration
transmitted to the soil by a forging machine foundation system. The underlying
principle is that in order to absorb a force it must be allowed to move an
inertia. I also showed that if vibration transmission is of primary concern in the
design of the foundation for a drop forge, the best result is obtained, when the
natural frequency of the foundation is approximately equal to the natural
frequency of the anvil on its pad.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers a/Knowledge 37CJ
" I
..•• ._... _- r,ctmif-
h•.ill"l of '1IIIn", e r
m, (j •• -Anvil
"'1T '---.......---,rJ
~
2
...'... . '. ..... .•.. ," ~ •.
• • : •••• ~ It ". • '.
• • (t . ~. . foundnUOfI bloc k
• ~ ',... '. ~ •• .", .t)' (J) : «.
" '
" . mZ ' - ..•• ' ,.
~ '0'" " -
•. • I .,. ', _. .'. ... '... ,'.~ .
RIOld b05~
Fig. 12: Sketch of the forging m~chine foundation system
---'-
An equally challenging problem is that of determining the dynamic
behaviour of a machine accelerating through resonance. A widely accepted
simple method of controlling vibration is to avoid resonance either by designing
for low speeds well below resonance, or for high speeds well above twice the
natural frequency of the system. Nowadays, the trend in engineering is for high
speed machines, which is true of many reciprocating engines, turbines and a
variety of machines with rotating parts. However, these machines will necessarily
need to be started and shut down during their operation. hi which case, mounting
system resonant frequencies will inevitably be excited, albeit momentarily,
during this starting/stopping sequence. A problem of great interest to the
engineers, in this connection, is the relationship between the magnitude of
vibration and the rate at which the machine is accelerated or decelerated through
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
380 Babatunde Alabi
resonance. Using an elegant analytical technique, Alabi (19) was able to obtain
an estimate of the vibration amplitude and frequency as a function of the machine
acceleration.
A more formidable challenge arises when dealing with the dynamic
behaviour of a rigid body on an elastic half-space. This is essentially an
idealized model for studying the dynamic response of the foundations of high-
integrity structures such as nuclear plants and dams. The analysis the soil-
structure interaction system is beset with difficulties, in that the stress distribution
at the free surface is different from that under the rigid body, and particularly the
latter differs from the static stress distribution. Energy losses are due mainly to
dispersion into the half-space and damping. The discontinuity at the edges of the
rigid body gives rise to a set of dual integral equations, which are quite difficult
to solve, even for a simple shape of the rigid body, such as circular, or an
infinitely long rectangular cross-section, shown in fig. 13; most rectangular
foundations with large length-to-width ratio are treated as being infinitely
long, thus effectively reducing the problem to two-dimensions.
Fig. 13: An infinite long rigid body on an elastic half-space
In 1964, the mixed boundary-value problem was ingeniously formulated
in terms of a set of dual-integral equations by Awojobi 1201. He had to take a
recourse to numerical integration approximations in his search for a solution to
the problem. Eventually, he was able to establish solutions for the vertical and
rocking modes of vibration (21), although there was some controversy about the
vertical mode for an infinitely long rectangular body (22). Thereafter, in 1979,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 381
.
Alabi (10), developed a novel and elegant digital simulation method for solving
the problem, by introducing a finite model based on coordinate transformation
technique as a substitute for the elastic half-space. In this model, the semi-infinite
physical domain of the problem is condensed by mapping into a fixed finite
rectangular domain, by implementing an exponential-polar orthogonal
coordinate transformation. I was able to show that my own model, avoided some
of the simplifications and approximations of previous models, and readily
satisfied radiation boundary conditions. Subsequently, I presented a mapping
finite-difference method for investigating the dynamic response of foundations,
with the capability of accommodating various configurations of embedded
foundations (23).
Railway Induced Vibrations
The worldwide resurgence of trains as an econoniical, safe and convenient mode
of transport for large number of people and goods, has created a renewed concern
about trains, and their effects on our living and working environment.
Consequently, a lot of attention is now being given to the ground vibrations,
induced and transmitted by trains will) flanged wheels running on steel rails. A
sketch of the physical system is shown in fig. 14. The current trend of increasing
loads and speeds, particularly for freight trains, causes increasingly severe
ground vibrations, which might often be sufficient to cause structural damage to
buildings close to railway lines and even produce human discomfort.
Fig. 14: Schematic diagram on the physical system
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
382 Babatunde Alabi
The problem of predicting the ~ssociated ground motions is complicated by
the variability and in-homogeneity of the soil. Even if uniform soil properties are
assumed, the mathematical formulation of the problem is still quite complex and
formidable. However, a simplified three-dimensional model of the earth as an
elastic half-space, with the train as a moving load on the surface, may be
employed to gain useful insight into the complex vibration problem (24). When a
railway track has not yet been constructed, or when it is possible to re-align it,
then the best solution is to vibration isolate the track. A basic rule in vibration
isolation is that in order to absorb a force, it must be allowed to move a mass and,
similarly, in order to absorb a couple, it must be allowed to move an inertia. In
which case, the suspended mass under the railway track and above the resilient
isolators should, therefore, be as large as practicable.
An opportunity arose in 1986, to join in the search effort for a solution to the
excessive ground vibrations being transmitted by a particular stretch of railway
track in South East, England. Based on a parametric study of the physical
problem, I developed a method of solution, using Lame's potentials and a
systematic integral transformation approach; which led to a mapping of the
complex inverse integral transformations, to give the spatial distribution of the
ground displacements due to. forces transmitted to the ground from the wheels of
a moving surface train through the track 125, 26,271. A representation of the
forces acting on the physical system is shown in fig. 15.
f}!!ffI ~9 Wogon I CarrIage
-I--I-------f·- ·I-l ..-~-~-~-::-:·-.1··-. ... J ..
-t-f----. -+.+ -I' + .14 t·····++ ++ ..-
Pn (
Fig. 15: Representation of the forces acting on the physical system
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From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 383
Vibration of Bladed Disks
Catastrophic theory is a relatively new branch of mathematics. It is closely
related to bifurcation theory, and is sometimes known as singularity theory. It is
very useful in the study of a physical system that exhibits unexpected and
drastic changes when only small and smooth changes in excitation are
impressed externally. Some of the underlying mathematical techniques have
found applications in civil engineering and physics.
A complex vibrating system, such as a bladed disc assembly, is often
analysed in terms of its constituent sub-systems. Thus, one analysis is made for
the disc only and another one for the uncoupled blade (28). Subsequent to the
separate analyses, the dynamic behaviour of the complete system is predicted by
accounting for the influence of coupling (29).
Knowing fully well that modern engineering relics heavily on exploring the
boundaries of ideas and expertise, in 1992 Afolabi and Alabi (30) used
catastrophe theory for the first time to furnish a clear insight into the occurrence
of unequal vibration amplitudes which has been observed in the past, in both
theoretical and experimental studies of bladed disc assemblies in turbine engines
(31).
Engineering Applications of Fuzzy Logic
The well-known binary logic is a two-dimensional scheme based on the
assumption that for an event, there arc only two possible outcomes. In the binary
logic scheme, an event occurs or it does not; current is either flowing or not
flowing through an electric circuit; a switch is either on or off; a man is either
dead or alive; a machine part is either defective or perfect; etc. In which case, the
binary logic admits the step function as its base structure, and imposes explicit
distinguishing factor between aperfect state (1) and a defect state (0), as
illustrated in fig. 16. Whereas, fuzzy logic is a multi-valued logic, whereby the
interval (0,1) of binary logic is sub-divided into many small segments to reflect
the extent 10 which the independent variable ( e.g. time t) belongs to the
dependent variable (e.g. event e(t», as shown in fig. 17.
--------.---~----
o Time (I)
Fig. 16: Schematic illustration of the binary logic scheme
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
384 Babatunde Alabi
.-- .•.. - ....•...•...--- - -- - - -'...::::...:;:::...-.----- ..
·0.
Time (1)
Fig. 17: Schematic illustration of the fuzzy logic scheme
Zadeh (32), introduced the concept of fuzzy logic about four decades ago.
Since then. Fuzzy logic has developed immensely in theory and applications,
thus earning recognition and acceptance by many researchers, and being put into
practice by many engineers and managers. The fuzzy boom has generated many
successful consumer products, ranging from cameras to tunnel-digging machines.
In 1996, Alabi and Adedeji [33], developed and presented some aspects of fuzzy
logic which could be applied advantageously in machine failure diagnosis.
Unlike binary logic, fuzzy logic takes into account useful pieces of information,
about the transitional stage between the perfect state and the defect state of a
machine.
Engineering Applications of Fractals and Chaos Theory
Beams are used extensively in engineering structures, cranes, trucks, factories,
etc. These beams are sometimes subjected to combined moving and
oscillatory loads. Invariably, the response of such beams is complex and prone
to exhibiting chaotic behaviour. The first stage of this research has been
completed and a publication on-titled "Chaotic Response of Buckled Beams to
Excitation", is being processed.
Application of vibration-absorbers for the control of excessive machine
vibrations is common in the manufacturing industries. I am presently
investigating the possibility of adapting the vibration-absorber for the control of
chaotic oscillations.
. Fractal dimensions arc very useful as summaries of data. For instance, the
tread of a tyre can be indexed on a scale ranging from smooth (long in service) to
rugged (new). In general, as a tyre wears, the tread becomes smoother (i.e .
.reduced ruggedness). Fractal dimension is essentially an index of the ruggedness
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
From Vibrations to Fractals: Excitement at the Frontiers of Knowledge 385
of a boundary. Presently, I am supervising a Ph.D. student, who is investigating
whether fractal dimension can be used advantageously for the characterization of
various branded tyre tread patterns, tyre wear and tyre wear rate.
REFERENCES
Alabi, B. and Adedeji, W.O; (1996): "Fuzzy Logic and Plant Maintenance". Nigerian
Journal of Science. Vol. 30, No.2,pp 171-178.
Alabi, B. (1991): "Effects of vibration on people and job performance". Proc. 8th NIlE
Conf Prod. & Indig. Tech., pp 17-24
Alabi, B. (1989): "On the problem of unbalanced rotating industrial machines". Proc. 6th
NIlE Conf Prod. & Indust., pp lO2-104.
Mandelbrot, B. B. (1977): Fractals: form, chance and dimension. Freeman, San
Francisco
Peitgen, H. and Saupe, D. (1988): The science of fractal images. Springer-Verlag, New
York
Kaye, B. H. (1994): A random walk through fractal dimensions. VCII, New York
Barttsicy, IVI. (1988): Fractals everywhere. Academic Press, New York
Peitgen, II., Jurgens, II and Saupe, 1). (1992): Introduction to fractals and chaos.
Springer-Verlag, New York
Alabi, B. (1984): "The effect of damper location on transmission line vibration". NSE,
Journal ofthe Nigerian Society of Engineers, Vol. 19, No.1, 25-35.
Alabi, B. (1989): "On the effectiveness of aeolian vibration dampers" West Indian
Journal of Engineering, Vol. 14, No.2,pp 60-70.
Alabi, B. (1979): A conformal mapping solution to elasto-dynamic boundary value
problems. Ph.D Thesis, Imperial College, University of London.
Berger, B. S. and Alabi, B. (1978): "Solution of Navier's equation in cylindrical
curvilinear co-ordinates". ASME, Journal of Applied Mechanics, Vo1.45, No.4, 812-
816.
Berger, B.S. and Alabi, B. (1980): "Steady-states solution of Navier's equation in
cylindrical curvilinear co-ordinates". ASME, Journal of Applied Mechanics,
Vol.47, No.3, 682-684.
Alabi, B. (1985): "A mapping finite-difference model for infinite elastic media". Applied
Mathematical Modelling, Vol. 9,62-68.
Alabi, B. (1987): "A digital simulation method for an infinite elastic medium with an
embedded spherical source of dilatation". Nigerian Journal of Engineering, Vol.4,
No. I, pp 47-51.
Alabi, B. (1985): "The displacement Field generated by tractions applied to the surface
of a cylindrical cavity in an elastic medium". West Indian Journal of Engineering,
Vol. 10,No.2, pp 66-79.
Alabi, B. (1994): "On the numerical solution of problems using co-ordinate
transformation technique", Ife Journal of Technology. Vol. 4, No. I ,pp 29-36.
Novak, M. and Hifnawy, L. E. (1983): "Vibration of hammer foundation ". Soil
Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering. Vol. 2, No. I, pp 43-53.
Alabi, B. (1991): "Vibration of forging machine foundation system". Proc. 8th NIlE
Con! Prod. & Indig. Tech., pp 59-69.
Alabi, B. (1990): "'the dynamic behaviour of a heavy machine under uniform
acceleration". Proc. 7th NIlE Con! Prod. & Stand., pp 86-88.
Awojobi, A. O. (1964): Vibration of rigid bodies on clastic media. Ph.D Thesis,
Imperial College, University of London
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
386 Babatunde Alabi
Awojobi, A. O. and Grootenhuis, P. (1965): "Vibration of rigid bodies on semi-infinite
elastic media". Proc. Royal Soc., Vol. 287, Series A, pp 27-43.
Grootenhuis, P. (1970): "The dynamics of foundation blocks". Proc. IntI.. Conf.
Dynamic Waves in Civil Engrg., Inst. Civil Engrg, Swansea, pp 77-82.
Alabi, B. (1985): "Harmonic vertical motion of a rigid strip - a finite difference model
for the elastic half-space". ANSTI, African Journal of Science and Technology,
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Alabi, B. (1988): Ground vibration excited by surface trains". NSE, Journal of the
Nigerian Society of Engineers, VoI.23,No.4,ppMO.
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Modal Analy. Con! Italy. pp 78-83.
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10th IMAC Inti. Modal Analy. Conf., U.S.A. pp 1438-1444.
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
19
DEMOCRACY WITIDN AND OUTSIDE
THE IVORY TOWER
J. D. Ojo
faculty of Law
When the Faculty of Law finally came into being in 1984 August 1, it had existed
3 years before that time under the umbrella of the Faculty of the Social Sciences
that first brought it into being. This is why it is necessary to pay special tribute to
the founding fathers, many of whom are still here with us like Professor Tekena
Tamuno, when he was Vice-Chancellor conceived the plan, and sold the idea to
Prof. Reuben Udo, the Dean of the Faculty of the Socia} Sciences. The members
of the Committee that was saddled with making a case for the establishment of a
Department of Law under the Faculty of the Social Sciences, included the then
Sub-Dean of the Faculty of the Social Sciences late Dr. William A. Ajibola,
(people's Ajib) who sustained a fatal accident on the way to his home town after
the last meeting, the very day the Committee completed its assignment on Friday,
July 15, 1977, and died 5 days later on Wednesday, 20 July, 1977, Lastly, but not
the least, the great colossus late Prof. S.O. Olayide, the Vice-Chancellor who
steam rolled the plan to make law a reality in this University. But for the men of
vision, may be "Law" would still be existing in the minds of many of us today.
Before these activities the necessity to have a Law Faculty here at then
University College, Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) was appreciated by the
Colonial government of Nigeria. In 1959, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the
Nigerian Prime Minister offered Ibadan a Faculty of Law with the full support
and weight of his government strangely, Ibadan rejected the offer on the
ostensible ground that "Law was not its priority". May be, the then principal of
the College, late Prof. Kenneth Dike, at the time, that lawyers "are trouble
makers" and he did not want to compound his problems with having people who
would see "white and call it black".
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388 J.D.Oja
By the time, this University embarked on having the discipline of law within
its fold in 1981, the Federal Government had lost all interest in the Premier
University that refused to champion the teaching of law and the course of justice
within the Nigerian University system. It had found new allies that were flexible
and more amenable to the sound of the times.
From inception until 1995, all we had as buildings were two residential
quarters converted into offices and classrooms nd the Adeola Odutola Library
which was meant to be a two storey building, but which due to lack of immediate
use, ended up as a bungalow. What a tragedy!!! Late 1995, we had another
residential quarter converted into a large lecture room and another boy's quarters
converted into staff rooms. The threat of closure by the Council of Legal
Education forced the University to start on a large Lecture theatre, under the
tenure of Prof. Adewoye, as Vice-Chancellor. The work was still at the
foundation level when he left. But with greater zeal and commitment by Prof.
Olorunsogo as acting Vice-Chancellor, and the new dynamic group under Prof.
Falase as Vice-Chancellor, the work has been completed. Today, we now have a
good edifice in Law which is the pride of staff and students. We are indeed,
ladies and gentlemen, grateful to the University for coming to the rescue at last.
We hope that the Faculty would not be allowed to suffer any neglect again.
With the new structures, the Faculty was emboldened to recruit more
teachers and to embark on our postgraduate programme, which, by God's grace,
will be starting in October, 2001.
The Journey So Far
In this lecture, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, I shall narrate my involvement with the Law
Faculty at lbadan sharing with you. the highlights of the events at the various
milestones reached in my journey so far in the Ivory Tower of the University of
lbadan. When I was looking for a topic on Criminology for my Ph.D thesis, I had
a chat with Prof. A. K. R. Kiralfy, of King's College, London, who advised that I
should consider a topic on Constitutional Law which, he felt, would be more
useful to us in Nigeria than one in Criminology. On further discussion, he was
frank that Nigerians needed more research on Constitutional Law and
Constitutionalism to find out why our Constitutions were breaking down. It was
agreed that my research should focus on a comparative study and analysis of the
Executive in a number of Countries.
My first paper, after my Ph.D., was an examination of "The Future of
Parliamentary Democracy in Nigeria" where I was able to say (in Ojo; 1975:
161) that
"African rulers, unlike some of their opposite numbers in
Europe, tend to hold on to the reins of power regardless of the
climate of opinion. The average African still finds it difficult to
accept a situation in which he should surrender power
voluntarily and execute rather than give orders. For that reason,
many governments in Africa have gone to extremes to maintain
themselves in power. Many have suppressed the rule of law and
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Democracy within and outside the Ivory Tower 389
inflicted severe infringements on the democratic system. They
have, in so many cases, rigged elections, bribed voters and
victimised political opponents for the sole purpose of staying in
power. It is difficult to imagine that the European concept of the
rule oflaw can ever take root in Africa".
This article had the misfortune of being published in Germany when no Nigerian
Journal was willing to consider it for publication for fear of government reprisals
or the incarceration of its editors. What a tragedy that people were not prepared
to fight injustice and bad government. All we were prepared to do was to
grumble in beer parlours, and in the sheltered comers of our rooms. In quick
succession, I made attempt in further papers to examine the tools that could make
democracy realisable: freedom of the press (Ojo; 1976), the doctrine of the
separation of powers (Ojo: 1977), the role of traditional rulers in the changing
political set-up (Ojo 1976) and how trade and commerce could be harnessed to
sustain a democratic culture (Ojo: 1981).
With the promised return by the millitary government of General Murtala
Muhammed in 1975 to return to a civilian set-up in 1979. I shifted my attention
to the University system. Education and the Law where there was far less
attention than Constitutional Law I discovered, most disappointingly, that there
were very few reported decided cases in that virgin field. It was frightening that
when the University of Ibadan Vice-Chancellorship became vacant in 1971, the
oldest University in the country, there was a prolonged interregnum as the
Premier University could not fill the vacuum for months. Personal and inter
group rivalries dominated debates and when the Gowon government realised that
lbadan would not produce a Vice-pressure or interference, decided to on impose
the University of Ibadan (Amendment) Decree. 1972 which now prescribed
among others the procedure for the appointment of the Institution's Vice-
Chancellor. Thus, by inaction or a reckless disregard of its duties under the
University of Ibadan Act, 1962, Council lost the power to appoint its own Vice-
Chancellor to the government. All attempts by the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) to wrest this power from government since then and
reinvest it in the Universities has been a lost battle.
With this and the way many members of staff in the Universities were
subsequently sacked in 1975 by the Visitor without reference to the University
Governing Councils or the contracts of appointment of the affected staff it
became imperative to study the various University Acts and find out why the
Nigerian Visitor has suddenly become a hydra-headed monster that could easily
devour the men in the Ivory Tower without weighing the cosequences of such
slaughter. Not only this, the way our students were killed or maimed during
student demonstrations while students in other developed countries hardly
sustained injuries, during their demonstrations, made it necessary to conduct
research into student crises in the Universities.
Early attempts to do meaningful research in this area ran into problems, as
Nigerian journals were afraid to publish any incisive criticisms of government.
Even editors who I felt should brave it chickened out on the pretext that they
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
390 J.D.Ojo
would not like to be made scapegoats. An examination of the Criminal aspects of
April 1978 students demonstration in Nigerian Universities was published in
Germany (Ojo: 1980) while that on the Constitutional aspects of the 1978 April
students Crisis was published in the Phillipine Political Science Journal (Ojo:
1980). These articles tried to show that, not minding the excesses and the
nuisance value of these demonstrations, killing or maiming students was not the
solution. Rather, a more acceptable and humane approach like using tear gas,
water hose rather than live bullets, was better
With the spate of removals and killing of students unabated, a comprehensive
work became necessary and this resulted in a book entitled Law and University
Administration in Nigeria (Ojo: 1990) It attempted a critical examination of the
power of the Vice-Chancellor, the University Administrator, academic freedom,
University autonomy, students and the law within the Nigerian University
system, tuition, quota system, admission freedom of expression, right to private
life, etc, personnel issues in administration and the role of the University
Counsel.
The work has also shown that there is a need to revisit the place of the visitor
within the Nigerian University system. It showed that, rather than have Head of
State as visitor to all the Federal Universities and the Governor as visitor to all
the State Universities, it is now time to allow the Chancellors, whose roles -are
purely honorific in the Universities to take over the functions of the visitor since
the Chancellors are the nominees of the Head of State or the Governor as the case
may be (Ojo, 1990; 79-87).
Secondly, the visitor should be made to confine himself to the traditional role
of the visitor in a British University. A situation where the Nigerian Visitor
dabbles into every minor crisis in the University leaves much to be desived. Prof.
J. F. Ade Ajayi and Yemi Akinseye George in a book which is being published
by Spectrum on Kayode Eso: The Making of a Judge hold the tenacious views
that "nothing has undermined the autonomy as much since the visitor in Nigeria
was not a highly placed individual as in the United Kingdom" (Ajayi and
akinseye-George, forthcoming, 2001:248)
Harvey, for saw this in his Freedom. University and the Law: The Legal
Status of Academic Freedom in the University of Black Africa that
My concern, which possibly many will share, related to the
creation of governance mechanisms allocating broad
discretionary powers over the University to those who may not
only be insensitive to its special ethos and needs, but also
vulnerable to the temptation to deal with it as only one aspect of
the general political and governmental matrix (Harvey: 1978 :
49).
With the increased ferocity in institutional killing of students by fellow students,
all in the dreaded name of cubism further work was embarked upon on
institutional violence. With a small research grant by the Senate Research Grant's
Committee of this University in 1990. I was able to visit most universities in
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Democracy within and outside the Ivory Tower 391
Nigeria to find out their problems and the reason why students started to kill
other students in the name of cults. The research became so fascinating that
almost my whole salary went into it every month. When it became unbearable,
Prof. and Chief (Mrs.) J. F. Ade Ajayi decided to assist with financial the work
entitled "Students Unrest in Nigerian University: A Legal and Historical
Approach published by Spectrum Books. At last in 1995, the work surfaced (Ojo:
1995). This showed that, not minding the serious criticisms of students, most
students were well behaved and that only a microscopic minority was involved in
frivolities that tended to damage the good name of the students' populace and the
University in general.
It was shown that, with more forbearance by students and staff, creating
more avenues for sporting activities, more literary and debating activities and the
involvement of Parents, Teachers and Students' Association, in the management,
of students, this menace that was eating deep into the body politic of student
unionism could be curbed and tamed if not completely eliminated. I also showed
that, rather than an outright ban on students' secret societies, an attempt should
be made to unban them and let all student cults, fraternities and confraternities
register with University authorities. That was the situation in the seventies and
eighties. By that time, the identities of the students in the various organisations
were known and those who flouted University rules and/or regulations could
easily be detected, and punished. The present system, which tends to drive secret
societies underground is not the best for the country. After all, students are to be
trained in both character an learning. How can we perform these creditably well
when the identities of those to be trained are unknown?
With the return of democratic government in 1979, one felt that one should
count one's blessings and thank God for driving the Khaki men into the barracks
and bringing back the agbada men. Unfortunately, we forgot to realise, in time,
that having an old wine in an old bottle would eventually break the bottle. Most
of the men who returned in ,1979 were those who brought about the fall of the
first Republic. We forgot that :it was not the, Constitution that made good
government but the calibre and jhe cOInmltrnerit ofthose' who were chosen to run
the government. ,. "
Dr. Ambedkar, the father ot.tne Indian-Constitution warned during the Indian
Constituent Assembly Debates ip '194~that ,'. ,.
However good Constitution .may be, it is sure to turn out bad
because (sic) those who are called to work it happen to be a bad
lot. However bad a constitution may be, it may turn out to be
good if those who are called to work it happen to be good lot.
The working of the Constitution does not wholly depend upon
the nature of the Constitution" (Ambedkar: CADX-99.5-).
Similarly, Wheare emphasised in his Federal Government the importance of
leadership and he felt that a great deal would depend on the leadership or
statesmanship at any given time - (Wheare: 963.39). Within two months of the
take-off of the Second Republic, cracks were already appearing. The government
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
392 J.D.Oja
had started to lose a sense of direction. They achieved a near miracle in that,
within the space of four years, the people who showed such hatred of the military
in 1979 began to yearn for them and danced for joy at their return on New Years
Day January 1, 1984.
In January 1980, Shugaba, the leader of the GNPP in the Borno State
Assmebly was, one morning whisked off by security agents on the orders of the
then Minister of Internal Affairs on the grounds that he was a State Security risk
and that he was not a Nigerian. He was deposited at the Chadian border. The
problem here was that neither his Governor nor his family was informed of this
deportation. He managed to smuggle himself back into the country and in
Shugaba v. Minister of Internal Affairs et al., 1981 the Court ruled that Shugaba
was a Nigerian and that the deportation was illegal, null and void. The Court
awarded damages against the Government but the Government refused to pay the
damages.
Just as the dust was settling on at case, the impeachment of Alhaji Balarabe
Musa on trumped up charges by the Kaduna State House of Assembly (NPN
controlled house) was hatched and executed with such venom that in comparison,
Hitler's execution of the Jews at the gas chamber during the second world war
could as well be regarded '!.s a friendly act. His absolute faith that the courts
would save him fell hollow. Adenekan Ademola JCA delivering the judgement
of the Court in Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa V. Auta Hamza & Ors. On 16
July, 1981, about a month after his removal, held that S.170 (10) Nigerian
Constitution, 1979 was inserted in order that "no court can entertain any
proceeding or question the determination of the House of the Committee" (Ibid at
p. 245). By this decision, the hope of Alhaji Balarabe Musa of ever getting
justice in his case was dashed to pieces.
With the political situation as it was, it then dawned on me to complete the
work which I started in Philadelphia when I was a Visiting Fellow at Temple
University School of Law on the Development of the Executive under the
Nigerian Constitutions 1960-81. The work was completed in 1983 with this
frustrating comment which is at the introduction of the work that
Whether the 1979 Nigerian Constitution would provide a
permanent cure to constitutional instability in Nigeria is too early
to say. The discussion in this book shows that we are not out of
the woods yet. Whether we begin to find our way out of the
depth of disaster or sink deeper in the complicated labyrinth of
government will be determined to a large extent by the conduct
and consequences of the 1983 elections". (Ojo 1985: xiii)
At the end, I came to the conclusion that, with the way our leaders were carrying
on the functions of government, it was certain that Constitutional Government
would certainly collapseand that the consequences of that catastrophe would be
difficult to imagine. The work was accepted for publication with some
trepidation by University Press Ltd. in August 1983 which warned me that there
could be reprisals from the NPN Controlled Federal Government. By December
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Democracy within and outside the Ivory Tower 393
31, 1983, while the work was still in press, the Constitution had broken down and
the prediction in this work came true. The publishers wanted me to write a
postscript, but I turned down the request as unnecessary.
From that time to now. I have been busy examining issues in local
government as a third tier of government. I examined the provisions of the 1989
Local Government Decree, the various amendments and the impact on national
development (Ojo; 1978 1-42). Legal Issues Promoting Conflict in our societies,
(Ojo: 2000:58) and the role of the police under the various Constitutions. (Ojo:
1992: 13).
One can see from the above that most of my work has dealt with the
leadership role of those at the helm of affairs in both Government and the
Universities and what effect such roles, have in steering the ship of state aright.
This shows that the success or failure of any administration depends to a large
extent on the way the executiveconducts the primary business of government.
Definition of Democracy
In 1986. Prof. FolarinShyllon gave the first inaugural lecture for the, Faculty of
Law onFreedom. Justice and the Due Process. 15 years later I am now standing
before you to give this as the second inaugural. This shows something our
situation the Faculty of Law. For several years, the Faculty had only one
Professor with the remaining staff as junior Lecturers, only one being Lecturer I.
With such staffing, it was impossible to project into the future. Now the Faculty
of Law has arrived. We have 3 Professors, one Reader with others in the pipeline.
It is hoped that from now on the Faculty of Law would be able to maintain its
slot in the schedule of inaugural lectures and keep its place in the comity of
scholars in this university Community.
What.then is democracy? The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
define democracy as:
"(I) Government of the people, by the people and for the the
people, (2) government by elected representatives of the people
(3) a country governed by its people or their representatives (4)
and the right to take part in decision making".
But the most popular definition is that by President Lincoln in his Gettysburg
address on November 19, 1863, during the American civil war, that "this nation
under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people,
by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth" This shows that
however popular or benevolent a military government may be, it is still a
dictatorship and that democracy has gone by the board when a group of officers
seizes the govern-ment, pushes, the constitution aside, and abolishes or suspends
political parties and elections. Since the basic concept of democracy is rule by
consent, where ever a government depends on popular support, it is by definition
a democracy. (R. Emerson: 1962: 283) Rupert Emerson, criticizing this statement
said that
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
394 J.D.Oja
,,
•This is-a claim to be rejected. A government controlled by the
military may be doing an admirable and necessary job, as in
attacking corruption, undertaking land reform in West Pakistan,
or cleaning up Rangoon, but it is debasing the currency of
political terminology to call it a democracy even though it has
the honest intention of creating conditions under which
democratic. institutions can be restored" (Emerson 1962284).
Therefore, for democracy to reign in any country or society, the following are the
necessary concomitants as stated by Robert Dahl (1998:38) effective
participation, equality in voting, gaining enlightened understanding (4)
Exercising final control over the agenda and inclusion of adults and that such
democracy is likely to produce the following desirable consequences (a) avoiding
tyranny (b) up holding essential rights (c) sustaining a feeling of general freedom
(d) self determination (e) and the moral autonomy of individual citizens.
Can we boldly say that in Nigeria today there is a democracy? One may give
a qualified affirmative answer. Our elected representatives came in through the
ballot box. There is uninhibited freedom of expression. No one dictates to the
members of the Houses what to do and how to go about their business. ,
Hiving said this, can one really say that a society which is largely illiterate,
where most of the people cannot read and write can exercise the vote wisely and
without hindrance? Can't such people be swayed by the extravagant promises of
irresponsible charismatic leaders? Pylee, commenting on the situation in India,
said that
One of the most serious weaknesses of democracy in India is the
widespread illiteracy and ignorance of the masses. The
introduction of adult franchise at one stroke among a
predominantly illiterate people has its own inherent dangers. So
long as they are unable to exercise the franchise in an intelligent
manner, after analysing the political issues in a rational way,
democracy isnot safe (Pylee: 1965773).
Of course, there is the argument that a visit to motor parks and markets in this
country will several the level of political consciousness in our people and that
with or without western education, they know their rights and how to demand
,for these when necessary. One cannot but agree with these. But with abit of
education. Sqch.political consciousness will be heightened and the people would
be able to make more intelligent contributions to political debates. de Smith was
of a similar opinion'when he said that
In recent years western commentator have probably tended to
underestimate the importance of illiteracy and ignorance in the
political process, particularly in unsophisti-cated rural
societies. We have observed clear demonstrations in India and
elsewhere that illiterate persons are quite capable of, exercising a
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Democracy within and outside the Ivory Tower 395
reasonable choice at an election - at least a choice that may be as
rational as the exercised by voters in western countries.
Nevertheless, in between elections it becomes extremely difficult
to explain a government immediate problems to people who can
have no adequate conception of the larger context in which those
problems have arisen. (de Smith, 1964 : 237)
How can we honestly talk of democracy in Nigeria when most of the goodies of
life are denied the general citizenry who lack the right to education, health
facilities and even the right to work?
If the resources are well harnessed, and all squandennania eliminated, this
country has the wherewithal to fund free education up to the secondary school
level. But the problem with us is that, most of our leaders, are living above their
means and corruption has engulfed the fabric of the society. The money that
should have been used to develop the people and make life better and easier for
the masses is now being looted by some of these leaders and invested illegally in
foreign banks. Today, some of our leaders are richer than the country while most
of the citizens are wallowing in misery and abject poverty: What 3 paradox! '!
Claude Ake believed that, for democracy-to be meaningful in Nigeria, the
people have to
Be transformed by a programme of upliftrnent, a programme
which gives them access for health education, wealth, leisure and
most importantly power" (Ake,: 1996; 10)
This is what our Government should strive for and accomplish. We should shelve
white elephant projects and grandiose schemes, which does not benefit the
masses.
The Executive
As stated earlier on in this lecture, it was emphasized that the Executive must
provide the leadership and perform the tasks that could weld the various units,
within the country together. (Ojo, 1985: 9). A similar view was held by Lord
Eustace in his Democracy on Trial (Eustace, 1951:29) that the focusing ftinction
of government must be discharged not by a representative legislature but by the
executive that can blend, with the strong light of national power, all the various
colours of national life.
This is why it is necessary to vote in leaders who would rise above partisan
politics and give good leadership in government. Chief Afe Babalola, in his
Work on Leadership and Good Governance was also of the view that "There is a
consensus of opinion that it is only good leadership that can bring about good
governance". (Afe Babalola (SAN.) 2000:8). He said further that a study of world
leaders shows that good leadership is characterised by among others, wisdom,
learning, charisma, vision, courage, integrity, honesty, probity of character,
transparency and accountability (Afe Babalola Ibid: 9). All these help to show
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
396 J.D.Ojo
that Nigeria now needs statesmen not politicians. The problem the country has
been facing for some time, is to have several small mem in big or giant boots.
Moreover, how can we make saints out of ill equipped representatives? Many
of our representatives in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly
are products of the era when "might was right". Many of them were born during
the political crisis or the Nigerian civil war. Many of these people did not know
peace and what makes for peace. The younger ones are now products of cults in
the secondary schools and in the universities. How easy is it for anyone to tame
such representatives? This is difficult. No wonder, during hot arguments in the
Houses, "Honourable members" descend so low as to engage in physical combat
to settle scores"
What good can one expect of such gladiators? One strongly suggests that all
representatives must be properly screened by the leaders of the political parties
and anyone with a shady past must be disqualified. Similarly, anyone who
misbehaves or does not live up to expectations should be disqualified, in addition
to the disqualifications listed in ss.66 (1) and 107(1) of the Nigerian Constitution,
1999. It should also be enacted that any member of Parliament or a House of
Assembly who misbehaves during the sitting of any House must be made to lose
his seat iQ.the House and a bye-election immediately held to fill such a vacancy.
Information Flow
One of the ways by which democracy can be sustained is through a ready flow of
information. The Nigerian Constitutions are written in English. Most Acts of
Parliament and Laws are in English. In a society where most citizens are not
literate in English but knowledgeable in their indigenous languages, efforts
should be made to translate the constitution and many important Acts and Laws
into the indigenous languages. Attempts should also be made to hold seminars
and workshops to enlighten the people on these documents. Such seminars,
workshops and the use of jingles may help to simplify difficult translations or
ambiguities.
In addition to the above, members of the National Assembly, Houses of
Assembly and Local Governments must be made to disclose their salaries and
remunerations, and other salient issues affecting their jobs as representatives of
the people. A situation where salaries and allowances of representatives of the
people are classified as "secret" does not augur well for democracy. How can we
challenge a member of Parliament who recklessly exhibits his ill-gotteTi wealth
to dazzle the less privileged ones when people do not know the source of such
wealth? How can we accuse such a person of corruption under the Anti
Corruption Act when his source of affluence is not laiown or is shielded from the
people? In other developed countries; the Gazette would carry the salaries,
allowances and other entitlements of public officers, why is this not so in
Nigeria? We should insist on this as a right. We have a right to know.
The Nigerian Government and the University Systems
Just as there are National;' State and Local Governments with specified powers,
under exclusive, legislative and concurrent legislative lists, are there powers
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Democracy within and outside the Ivory Tower 397
vested in the constituent authorities within the University system like Council,
Senate, Faculties and in the various Committees and boards handling institutional
governance at the lower levels. There is no over concentration of power in any
person or body and the principle of separation of powers as enunciated by
Monstesquieu that if there is too much concentration of power in a particular
person or in the same body of magistrates there would be tyranny. (Montesquieu:
1748) This principle is greatly respected in the universities. But the impractical
nature of full separation of powers has been vividly brought out by Woodrow
Wilson, who maintained that "the trouble with the theory is that government is
not a machine but a living thing. No living thing can have its organs offset
against each other as checks and live. Government is not a body of blind forces.
It is a body of men with highly differential functions. Their cooperation is
indispensable, their warfare fatal". (Woodrow Wilson: 1909:56). It is clear from
the above that this doctrine has substantial relevance to the University system as
Ojo said elsewhere that no university ever concentrates too much power in any of
its organs of government so that they can work in collaboration to foster the
objective of the University (Ojo: 1999: 17)
Just as there are representatives to run the affairs of government, so are there
people elected or selected to run the university system, even though the idea of
government by the people and for the people is alien to the culture of the
University system. A University, is strictly speaking a meritocracy not a
democracy.
Prof. Idris Abdulkadir. a one time Executive Secretary of the N.U.C.,
examining the democratisation of student campus life which meant the full
participation of students in all aspects of University administration, agreed that
this-was a legitimate demand but felt that there were limits. He strongly believed
that the representation of students in the University Senate or University
Councils which consist mainly of government appointees charged with the
formulation of policy for the administration of the campuses. could not be a
legitimate request. (Abdulkadir: 1987) He however supported student
representation on all other committees. 1. D. Ojo however disagreed with the
views of Prof. Abdulkadir on this issue. He believed that efforts should be made
to reform the University system so that all the bodies and units in the I 'niversity
are full) represented and that there should not be u feeling of being left out. He
strongly felt that students should be allowed representation on Council and
Senate but when sensitive issues like examinations that affect students directly
are being considered, they should be asked to withdraw temporarily until such
issues are disposed of (Ojo: 1985; 94).
The same view holds for the non-teaching staff that they too should be
allowed representation on all boards and Committees of Council and senate
where their interests are affected (Ojo: 1981;51). But to insist on having
congregation split its representatives on council by conceding one out of the two
representatives to the non-teaching may be difficult now that there seems an
intense rivalry between the teaching and the non teaching staff. In fact. Prof.
Babs Fafunwa once said that some senate members are of the view that the entire
administrative function of a University should be brought under Senate control,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
398 JD.Oja
"since, they argue that a University is an academic enterprise and not a trading or
manufacturing company where top management (administration) reign supreme"
(Babs Fafunwa: 1971 :216). .
One is not surprised at the views of Prof. Babs Fafunwa. He was here
expressing his views as a thorough bred academic. Some years later, when he
became the Federal Minister for Education, most of his decisions were in favour
of the academics, the sector he very much believes in and loves.
Dr. Kenneth Mellanby, the first principal of the then University College,
Ibadan had this to say on University administration, that "Administration is
inevitable. It should try to be efficient; it should make sure it is unobtrusive. Its
job should be to see that the academic work of the college goes on as smoothly as
possible, remembering that the College cannot live without the academic
members however much their habits may irritate the administration, whereas the
academic staff at least imagine they will get on quite well with no
administrators." (Mellanby: 1958: 130)'
In similar vein, Charles Carter, one time Lancaster's Vice-Chancellor, in his
comments on this issue says that "Many academic persons .... believe themselves
to be wiser. more intelligent and more honest than their colleagues" (Carter:
1957:257-258). While one agrees that the universities are m6re oJ an academic
enterprise, yet one cannot ignore the feelings of the other members in the group
who help to make the venture a realistic one. Having seen both sides of the
divide, I can bodly say that such a group deserves some say in the system.
From the above discussion, it is clear that the idea of a democratic
governance is difficult to apply in its totality in the Universities and that this
should be applied with much greater care if it should be applied at all (Moodie
and Eustace: 1974:224).
May be, it is better to describe the university system rather as an oligarchy
i.e. rule by a few who are mostly professors which shows that a few people are
more politically active and hence more influential than the others and that such as
identifiable small group exercises despotic power over a mass of people (Moodie
and Eustace: 1974 : 224) This may be unfair to categorise all the professors as
despots since we know that many of them assume their positions by virtue of
their administrative positions ahd they do not exercise absolute powers but act
after wide consultations. Is it not safe to say then that what applies in the
universities is the principle of "meritocracy"
Concise Oxford Dictionary; has defined "meritocracy" as government by
persons selected competitively according to merit (2) a group of persons selected
in this way" while Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines it as "a
social system which gives the highest positions to those with the most ability (2)
the people who rule in such a system" Even the two Dictionary definitions are
defective for whatever merit you may have, if you do not belong to the class that
rules, your views would only be taken as advisory.
.Having said this, universities are nor as segmented as all that. Once a person
can propagate his views convincingly, no matter the class he belongs to, people
would consider them. As Eustace and Moodie (Eustace and Moodie, 1974:219)
emphasize "To draw no governmental distinction between teacher and taught,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Democracy within and outside the Ivory Tower 399
between intellectual and non academic worker or between student and employees
is, in turn, to assume either that the purposes of an organisation are irrelevant to
its form or that the professional authority hitherto claimed by and for academics
is irrelevant to the decision making process".
The universities are not closed shops. They are open to new ideas and
embrace new thinking. There have been members of the non-teaching staff like
Mr. Olufemi Eperokun then of the University of Ibadan and Mr. Adegboro also
of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, who had at one time or the other
become members of their councils through being members of Congregation. This
shows that dynamic and trusted members of the non teaching staff can still win
election to Council without the imposition of a quota system. In the above cases,
the people elected won their seats purely by merit. Their position as non-teaching
members was not allowed to frustrate their ambitions. But democracy of one man
one vote by adults cannot work in the Ivory Tower. What operates is
meritocracy.
Prof. 1. F. Ade Ajayi, in his First Foundation Day Lecture at the then
Obafemi Awolowo University now University of Ado Ekiti on 25 March, 1983
said that for a good university to emerge "The principal officers of the University
must be carefully selected, as people capable of understanding that sense of
destiny and offering necessary leadership to fulfill it." (Ajayi. 1983:11 )
Unless the leadership forges this sense of unity through tact, understanding
and diplomacy, where necessary, universities may be difficult to run. A situation
where the non-teaching staff are regarded as under dogs may not be in the best
interest of the University system.
Prof. Ajayi in his concluding remarks in his lecture on "The University as an
integrated system." quoted the prayer of an Indian Philosopher. Rabindranath
Tagore (Ajayi in Ojo and Fadupin: 1983:22).
"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where
knowledge is free:
Where the world has not beeh broken up into fragments by narrow domestic
walls;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, Where the clear
stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead
habit:
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and
action ..
Into that haven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!!"
All I have said so far comes to this that there is no way we can talk of
democracy within the larger society without examining what democracy is within
the Ivory Tower. That our failure to inculcate decent behaviour into our students
has led them to become thugs in the Houses of Parliament where free for all fight
is the norm over minor disagreements. Let us inwards and reform our products.
Let us deliver to the Nigerian society cultured and well behaved products that can
redeem our battered image. Let the Government and the people embark on those
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
400 J.D.Oja
programmes that make for a viable democratic system. Let me end this inaugural
with what Cassius told Brutus in William Shakespeare. The Tragedy of Julius
Caesar that "the fault. dear Brutus is not in our stars.
But in ourselves, that are underlings. "
REFERENCES
Ake Claude, Is Africa Democratizing? Lagos. Malthouse Press Ltd. 1996.
Ajayi 1. F. Ade, First Foundation Day Lecture, Obafemi Awolowo University. 1983.
Ajayi , J. F. Ade and Yemi Akinseye-George, Kayode Eso: The Making of a Judge;
Ibadan Spectrum Books, Forthcoming, 200l.
Ambedkar, Dr. Indian Constituent Assembly Debates 1948 (CADX2).
Babalola, Chief Afe, Leadership and Good Governance.Jbadan, The Social Sciences and
Reproductive Health Research Network, (SSRHN) 2000.
Concise Oxford Dictionary, 9"" (ed.) Della Thompson (ed.) Oxford, Clarendon Press,
1995.
de Smith, S. A. The New Commonwealth And Its Constitutions, London Stevens and
Sons, 1964.
Emerson, Rupert, From Empire to Nation. 1962.
Fafunwa,Babs. A History of Nigerian Higher Education Lagos. Macmillan, 1971 Harvey,
William Barnett Freedom; University and the Law: The Legal Status of Academic
Freedom in the University of Black Africa, Lagos, University of Lagos Press, 1977.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Chief editor for Paul Procter Harlow,
Essex, England, Longman, 1985.
Mellanby, Kenneth, The Birth of Nigerian's University London, Metheun & Co. Ltd.,
1958.
Ojo J. D. Law and Universily Administration in Nigeria._Lagos. Malthouse Press Ltd.,
1990.
Ojo J. D. Students' Unrest in Nigerian Universities: A Legal and Historical Appraoch.
lbadan. Owerri Kaduna, Lagos, Spectrum Books Ltd., and Ibadan, Ifra 1995.
Ojo J.D, The Development of the Executive under the Nigerian Constitutions 1960-81,
lbadan. University Press Ltd., 1985.
Pylee, M. V.. Constitutional Government in India, 2nd (ed.) 1965.
Shakespeare, William, The Tragedy qf Julius Caesar. Wilson, John Dover, (ed), The
Syndics of the Cambridge Press, 1949.
Wheare., K. C. Federal Government 4th ed., London, New York, Toronto, Oxford,
University Press 1963.
CHAPTERS IN BOOKS
Ajayi , 1. F. Ade, "The University as an Integrated System. "Senior Staff Association
Industrial Relations Lectures 1982-83 series, (ed.) J. D. Ojo and J.B. Fadupin,
Ibadan. Senior Staff Association, University of Ibadan, 1983 at pp 1-22.
Ojo J. D. "Division of Powers Among Congregation, Senate and Council of Universities"
Essays on Law and the University Administration in Nigeria (eds.) M.V. Ogungbe
and Olusesan Oliyide, Ago-Iwoye, Faculty of Law, Ogun State University, 1999 at
pp 15-30.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Democracy within and outside the Ivory Tower 40 I
JOURNALS
Abdulkadir. Idiris A. "National Universities Crisis," A paper presented at the
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Research and Training, Monthly Guest Lecture,
College of Medicine, University of lbadan, Ibadan, Sept 16, 1967. Carter. Charles,
"A Review of Sir Aitken's Administration of a University." University Quarterly.
March 1967 at pp. 257-8.
Ojo 1. D., "A Critical Analysis of the Criminal Aspects of April 1978 Students'
demonstration in the Nigerian Universities" Viertel Jahren Berichte No. 80, 1980 at
pp. 139-148.
Ojo, 1. D. "A Critical Examination of the 1989 Local Government Decree; The
Amendments and their impact on National Development" lbadan University Law
Essays._Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, 1998 at pp. 1-42.
Ojo 1. D., "The Changing Role of Traditional Rulers in the Nigerian Politican Set-up"
Indian Journal of Political Science vol. 37, No.4, 1976 at pp 11-26.
Ojo1. D. "The Doctrine of Separation of Powers," The Bureaucrat 1977 at pp 10-14.
Ojo, 1. D. "Freedom of the Press in Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis", Journal of the
Indian Law Institute, 18 JILl, October to December, 1976 at pp. 529-550.
Ojo 1. D. "The Constitutional Aspect of April 1978 Students Demonstration in the
Nigerian Universities," Phillippine Political Science Journal; No. 12, December-
1980 at pp.8 to 21. •
Ojo, J. D. "The Future of Parliamentary Democracy in Nigeria." Viertel Jahres Berichte;
No. 60, June 1975 atpp 167-173.
Ojo, 1. D. "Issues Promoting Contlct in Societies," Conflict Management Techniques and
Alternative Strategies to Conflict Resolution; J. Ademola Yakubu (ed.) Demyaxs
Nigeria Ltd .. 2000 at pp. 58 - 65.
Ojo, 1. D. "Trade and Commerce within the Nigerian Constitution," Indian Socio-Legal
Journal. Vol. VII Nos. 1 & 2, 1983 at pp. 10-27.
Ojo,1. D. "The Police Under the Nigerian Constitution," African Notes vol xvn No. I
and 2 at pp. 13 -31.
CASES
Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarable Musta V. Autex Hamzq & ors._(1982)NCLR229.
Alhaii Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa V. Auta Hamza & ors.JI982) 3NCNNL 439.
Shugaba V. Minister for Internal Affairs (1981) INCLR 25 & (1981) 2NCLR 459.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
20
LEARNING IN TONGUES, EXPRESSING MYSTERIES:
LESSONS FROM NIGERIAN LANGUAGE EDUCATION
PRACTICES
Ayorinde Dada
Department of Teacher Education
Introduction
It is my honour and privilege to stand before this august arid very distinguished
audience to deliver the 7th in the series of Inaugural Lectures for this academic
year. I am doing this on behalf of the Faculty of Education, and the Institute of
Education. I am from the department of Teacher Education, a singularly
cosmopolitan department with its tentacles spreading to virtually all departments
in the Faculties of Education, Arts, Science, the Social Sciences and very soon
Agriculture. I belong to the language unit of that department, again a central unit
in the whole University, because everyone needs language in order to learn, teach
and conduct research.
My journey into language education started in 1966 when I was admitted for
a 3-year B.A. History degree course and on getting to the University I joined the
French beginners class out of curiosity. My performance in French at the end of
the session earned me a bonus trip to the Universite de Dakar for a 5-week cours
d'ete. There were fifteen of us thus honoured out of a class of about 200 students.
Coming back for the following session, I registered fully as French major -
although it was to cost me one extra year abroad. I however passed out with 2nd
class (Hons.) Upper Division in French. After teaching for 3 years I resigned my
appointment to go to France for my Postgraduate studies. There I had a Diploma
in language Education, my Masters and my Doctorat de 3e cycle (Ph.D).
In 1982, I was in the Graduate School of Education, University of
Pennsylvania. There I did courses in The Teaching of English to Speakers of
other Languages (TESOL). Educational Linguistics and Ethnography of
speaking. I also taught a course on Language and Education in Africa.
The biblical connotation of the title of my inaugural lecture is deliberate
since it is inspired by the communication theory as expounded by St. Paul the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
404 Ayorinde Dada
Apostle in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter 14 verses 2, 9, 10 and 11
as quoted below.
2. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but
to God. Indeed, no one understands him, he utters mysteries with
his spirit.
9. So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with
your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You
will just be speaking into the air.
10. Undoubtedly, there are all sorts of languages in the world,
yet none of them is without meaning.
11. Yet if I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying,
I am a foreigner to the speaker and he is a foreigner to me. (Holy
Bible: NIV)
The principles enunciated above are true of any communicative event. The
message that goes from the sender (encoder) to the receiver (decoder) must be
put in a code (language) that is mutually intelligible to both interlocutors.
Otherwise communication will be ineffective. In our day-to-day interactions as
human beings we need this mutual intelligibility to get along meaningfully with
one another. More importantly, however it is in the business of education that we
need this effective communication most.
The teacher has to impart knowledge in a manner that can easily help the
learner to learn. In the same way the learner has to express himself in such a way
as to provide an accurate feedback to help his growth. Good education depends
on effective teaching and learning which in turn depend on the ability of both
teacher and learner to share a common code. Krashen (1972) talks about the
teacher providing a comprehensible input from which the learner obtains "a
meaningful intake."
During the military rule, it was widely reported once that a state Governor
was asked: "What mineral resources do you have in your state?" To which he
answered: We have many mineral resources like Coke, Fanta, Seven Up and
Africola." Obviously there was a breakdown of communication in that situation
because both interlocutors did not share the same meaning for the code "mineral
resource".
In the same way, when we were students in a French class, a series of
questions accompanied some pictures and we were asked to read the questions
and provide answers. This was what one of us produced.
Qu 'est 'ce qu 'if y a dedans?
II y a poissons beaucoup
It took the lecturer sometime to realize that the student was trying to speak
French.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Lessons from Nigerian Language Education Practices 405
TheNigerian Language Situation
Nigeria has been credited with having between 400-513 languages, depending on
whether we use the classification by Greenberg-Hoffinan (1963) or that of the
Ethnologue. In any case, the most conservative figure is 250 (Bamgbose 1976).
Languages in these classifications imply mutually unintelligible linguistic
systems and would not include what we popularly call dialects. These languages
are unevenly distributed across the country and are classified either as major or
minor following criteria which include numerical strength of their speakers and
what socio-linguists would call the entrenchment of each language (Fig. 1).
(Arabic language of religion)
English: Official,
administrative, instructional
Pidgin: Contact Language
Three Major Languages/national language
(each with over IOm speakers)
10 inter-regional languages
(more than Im speakers
p
Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba
Edo, Efik, Fula, Hausa, Igbo, Ijo, Kanuri,
Nupe, Tiv, Yoruba
51 language for school administration
I J 8 Nigerian Languages codi fied
400-513 indigenous languages
Fig. 1: Languages spoken in Nigeria
Source: CM.B. Brann (1976)
Each of the languages that exist in Nigeria is situated in a socio-linguistic context
in which it is used as mother tongue and has a considerable number of
monolingual users. Only Arabic and English are exolects (i.e. non-natives of
Nigeria) although there is a local variety of Arabic spoken by the Shuwas as
mother tongue.
In addition to these, many of the indigenous languages (i.e. the endolects) are
spoken as second languages by sizeable proportions of the other minority
language groups. These would include the three major languages - Hausa, Igbo
and Yoruba, as well as others that are used inter-regionally such as Kanuri, Fula,
Nupe etc. In Plateau State, for instance, there are a number of minority language
groups that use Hausa as second language.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
406 Ayorinde Dada
It is in addition to these endolects that English is spoken by those who have
gone through the education system sufficiently to use it for communication,
while Arabic is used extensively for religious purposes in the Muslim areas of the
country.
Language in the Education Policy \
Historically, the language question has often come up in discussions of the
educational system in Nigeria and Africa during the colonial times. For instance,
the Phelps-Stokes report (1922); the Policy statement by the British Government
Advisory Committee for Education in Africa titled "The Place of Vernacular in
African Education" (1927); the colonial office's "Memorandum on Language in
Africa (1943), UNESCO meeting of specialists' report (1951) and the UNESCO
conference on the Use in Education of African Languages in relation to English
(1952).
Each of these reports extols the use of mother tongue for initial school
learning before switching over to English as language of instruction. It is on these
various considerations that the language aspect of the National Policy on
Education was built.
Major Provisions of the Present Policy
The highlights of the language aspect of the National Policy on Education are as
follows:
(1) Use of mother tongue in the early childhood education.
(2) Use of mother tongue or language of immediate community for initial
primary education while English is taught as subject
(3) Switch-over to English as language of instruction later while the mother
tongue is taught as a subject.
(4) The learning of other major Nigerian languages by students at the
secondary school level
(5) Training of teachers to handle the languages
(6) The production of adequate learning materials
A critique of this document was published in Dada (1985) where among
others the following points were highlighted:
• The question of the heavy linguistic load to be carried by learners
• The problem of which Nigerian language to teach to which group
• The problem of proficiency level to which learners can go in each
language before it is either used as language of instruction or abandoned
for another language as language of instruction.
• The problem of providing specialist teachers to teach the languages
• The attitude of each ethnic group to the learning of the languages of
other groups
A major conclusion from that paper (following a research report on the last point)
was this:
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Lessons from Nigerian Language Education Practices 407
English language, which has been highly favoured by subjects in
this study, although not so favoured by many of the educated
Nigerians who are behind a lot of cultural and linguistic revival,
may eventually remain with us for a longer time as official
language, than we envisage - not because' it might gain more
admirers, but because it is probably the least of all practicable
linguistic evils.
Language Education Practice . . .
It is important to consider how the policy is executed in the school system. Three
major patterns can be identified:
1. The Straight-for-English programme whereby right from the first day in
school, English is used as language of instructiori and taught as a
subject. This is contrary to the recommendation of the National Policy.
Schools involved include all private fee-paying schools and schools in
urban centers as well as· those in areas where there is no dominant
Nigerian language spoken by the people e.g. Rivers StatelBayelsa, Delta
and Plateau etc. .
2. Use of the mother tongue as language of instruction in the first years
while English is taught as a subject followed bya switchover to English
as a language of instruction while the mother tongue is taught as a
subject. This is what obtains in the South-West and South East of
Nigeria as well as areas of Hausa dominance in the North: Kano,
Sokoto, Kaduna, Bauchi (Omojuwa 1977).
3. Use of language of wider communication (LWC) as language for initial
education followed by switchover to English. This occurs in areas where
minority groups exist side by side with a dominant group e.g. Hausa
served as second language to some minority groups in the North. Also
children of parents working away from their homes learn in a language
of wider communication.
Eventually, in all these situations, learners end up at one stage or: the other
using English for classroom communication both in English lessons and in other
subjects.
By and large therefore, learners within the education system are brought up
as bilinguals (trilingual or polyglots). However, the degree of competence in each
language will differ from person to person from school to school, or from region
to region, according to the degree of exposure of learners to each language
whether within the' school or within the community outside the school. The type
of bilingualism developed is generally the compound bilingualism rather than the
coordinate one. A compound bilingual is one who learns a target language
through the medium of a source language and expresses himselfthrough the
process of mental translation. On the other hand, a coordinate bilingual learns his
two languages separately and keeps them apart in use.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
408 AyorindeDada
My Major Research Interest
Because of my experience' in two exolects, my research has been in two
directions:
(a) Language Learning (as a subject)
(b) Language oflearning as a tool of communication)
Language learning research in Nigeria has focused mainly on second
language learning and/or the learning of other languages - apart from the mother
tongue orfirst language. My research in this area has been in the aspect of the
learning of French at ~th the prim~ and the secondary school levels. (Dada
1976. 1979, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1995). These studies have been able to isolate
certain important variables pertinent to the effective learning of the language. In
my Thesis titled;L' apprentissage du francais au Nigeria relation entre
motivation, contexte Pedagogique et performance, it was discovered that both
motivation and the learning environment are strongly related to achievement
whereas attitude - especially positive attitude - mayor may not affect
achievement.
Other variables isolated in the other st..udies include:
(a) . The necessity to provide good models in the areas of pronunciation,
grammar; reading, writing styles etc.;
(b) Exposure to the target language - The provision of what Krashen
(1972) calls comprehensible input;
"(c) Home processes i.e. the encouragement received from home by the'
learner;
(d) Aptitude: The "Knack" for language learning;
(e) Peer encouragement.
In the next phase of this lecture, I am going to present some findings that
relate to some of the above variables mostly in a descriptive form in the areas of
the use of English as language of instruction by teachers and as language of self
expression" by learners. Hitherto a lot has been said on the poor performance of
learners in the English language - which is their ultimate language of learning. It
is the language in which they eventually receive lectures, do all their reading,
express themselves orally in both the intellectual and social domains and do all
their writings: formal and informal. Studies such as Ayodele's (1988, 2001), and
WAEC yearly reports all show us that all is not well considering the very high
number of failing candidates in English. My studies on the other hand tried to
look at the nature of the learners' performance and the kind of input that the
teacher gives that might have contributed to that kind of performance.
The Input of Teachers
Language(s) of Instruction
.Between 1985 and 1990, I led a group of scholars to study classroom interaction
in terms of the input of each participant to the communicative events. It was an
ethrographic study whose center of interest was the language(s) of instruction
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Lessons from Nigerian Language Education Practices 409
used by the teacher and the linguistic responses of learners. In Dada and
Ogunyemi's (1988) study, the classes involved were primaries 4-6 where learners
were supposed to be instructed in English according to the NaticSnal Policy on
Education. In addition to recording the communicative events in the classroom
we were there as participant observers and were able to interact with both
teachers and learners. The major observation was that there were three languages
used for instruction in every lesson, although the proportion varies from subject
to subject and from class to class. The following graphs illustrate the point (see
Figs.2a-c). r-- -,
PRIMARY FOUR
ENG. MATHS SOCIAL ELEM HEALTH
SCIENCES SCIENCE EDU
Fig. 2a. Primary four
PRIMARY FIVE
8~------------------------------_,
7
C:3) 65
Z~ 4
~ 3
fIfli. 21
ENG' MATHS SOCIAL ELEM HEALTH
SCIENCES SCIENCE EDU
Figure 2b: Primary five
PRIMARY SIX
9~-------------------------------,
8
(I) 7
W
sC)
65
Z 4
~0:: 23
~ 1
ENG. MATHS SOCIAL ELEM HEALTH
SCIENCES SCIENCE EDU
Figure 2c~Primary six
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
4 JO Ayorinde Dada
These findings are supported by another study by Dada (1985) where
teachers estimated the proportion of the languages used in various situations -
both formal classroom teaching and the non-formal interaction with pupils and
other teachers in out-of-class contexts. The following graph illustrates this
interaction (see Fig. 3).
100
English
80 . - ..
"CO
0" 60 ~.-.c
s~
o
-
IcCo 40 ..,. -,
20 ..
-,: ....
Yoruba
0
5 10 15 20 25
. Activities
Figure 3: Use or English and Yoruba in Primary Classes 4-6
Again this graph was supported by participant observation of classroom and
out of class interaction as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Observation
Ratio Percentage
Lesson English Yoruba English Yoruba
English Class III 7 4 63.6 36.4
Social Studies Class III 11 17 39.3 60.7
Oral English Class IV 12 5 70.6 29.4
Social Studies Class IV 5 8 38.5 61.5
Oral English Class V . 8 3 72.7 27.3
Social Studies Class V 4 7 36.4 63.6
Oral English Class VI 6 I 85.7 14.3
Social Studies Class VI 3 i4 42.9 57.1
From the examples shown, it is obvious that learners at this stage are learning
in three codes namely English, Yoruba and the mixed code following the pattern
of code-switching from English to Yoruba and back as well as mixing codes. One
or two examples will be sufficient to illustrate how this is done:
Another source of heat is one seed, omo ayo, ta /0 tun mo agbaarin? You
know matches too is a source of heat. E 0 mention e o.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Lessonsfrorn Nigerian Language Education Practices 411
TEACHER: What is the work of carbohydrate. Kini ise carbohydrates?
PUPIL I: They give energy
TEACHER: What is the function of vitamins?
PULPIL II: It deforms our body
TEACHER: Se e ri omo yi pelu ki 0 ma se nkan lodilodi. Molara se
vitamins maun deform ara wa ni? (meaning look at Molara behaving
abnormally: Do vitamins deform our body?).
Use of Substandard Variety of the English Language
The errors made by some teachers are often so many that their own variety
constitutes another language altogether. Again let us look at a few examples.
Ogunyemi 1990 highlights the following errors.
TEACHER: How many of you watch last night kini, em play, em ball
TEACHER: You these children what are you doing at home? Anu
e se mi o. You must not late tomorrow.
TEACHER: Sadiq you haven't finish? Finish up in time we want to
do another work.
TEACHER: Some people when jhey got home in the afternoon,
they will throw the bag for one side until tomorrow
morning.
TEACHER: You too have a sources of heat, your two hands
is a sources of heat.
All we are here demonstrating so far is that pupils do learn in tongues. In this
case they learn in acceptable form of English, they learn in substandard English,
they learn in Yoruba and mixed languages all at the same time.
Pupils' Responses
When learners are assailed on all fronts by a myriad of languages in the course of
their learning, one is naturally tempted to ask, what is their response to this
challenge? Naturally, just like the new Police slogan in Nigeria, they try hard to
return "fire for fire"! The pupils' self-expressions exhibit all the features of the
input they receive and sometimes in a worse form, if not in the same proportion.
First of all, because the classrooms are essentially teacher-dominated pupils
often act as the silent majority as illustrated by the ratio of Teacher talk to pupil
talk presented below
From Table 2, it is obvious that the teachers have usurped every right of the
learner to self- expression. In the words of Stevick (1976), the teachers have
occupied the learner space. They do not allow the learners to learn properly.
Stevick has recommended that teachers should teach and teach and get out of the
way for learners to learn.
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412 Ayorinde Dada
Table 2: The ratio of teacher-talk to pupil-talk in primaries 4-6
TEACHER PUPIL
PRIMARY 4
ENGLISH 9 2
MATHEMATI CS 8 1
SOCIAL STUDIES 9 1
ELEMENTARY SCIENCE 4 1
HEALTH EDUCATION 7 1
PRIMARY 5
ENGLISH 9 2
MATHEMA TI CS 9 1
SOCIAL STUDIES 5 1
ELEMENTARY SCIENCE 8 1
HEALTH EDUCATION 1
PRIMARY 6
ENGLISH 10 3
MATHEMA TI CS 6 1
SOCIAL STUDIES 4 1
ELEMENTARY SCIENCE 9 2
HEALTH EDUCATION 7 1
Secondly, when learners have a chance to speak they also prefer to speak in
tongues using as many codes as they have acquired from their teachers. However,
their speeches are Yoruba-dominated.
Examples:
TEACHER: Awawu, do you know what Milton is?
PUPIL (I): Ibiti nwon ti nse apejo ni ma (It's a meeting place)
PUPIL II: Olomi ni ninu igo 10 ma nwa (It is a liquid and it is
normally bottled)
TEACHER: Ki ise mitini ni 0 ohun ti won ma nbu somi ni o.
TEACHER: Do you know what bridge is ?
PUPIL: Afara ni ma ti won fi nkoja lori odo (It's a bridge
that is built over streams for passage).
TEACHER: What kind of fish do you like best?
PUPIL: Alaran (Makerel)
TEACHER: Why do you like that particular fish?
PUPIL: (laughs) Nitoripe oma ndun ma a si tun mafi nmu
gaari ni ile.
(It is palatable and we also use it in taking gaari at
home)
Their responses in English are usually full of errors.
• I'm not come to school when you have do it. I'm not do the English.
• My school have a good playing ground
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Lessons from Nigerian Language Education Practices 413
• Electricity bulb is a sources of heat.
• I saw many childrens in the zoo
A glimpse at their written work reveals also the same problems. Here is a
student's rendering of a dictated passage:
You poor animar. I ill satingla and I gave you som teng to it side we were u was
Very kind. And se gn jenrop and orepe orne in
The teacher's version is this:
"You poor animal, I'll certainly take you home and give you something to eat"
said the hare, who was a very kind animal. And he picked ijenicher up and
hurried home with him.
This kind of communication is a common occurrence at the primary school
level. It even easily extends to the secondary school where many learners find it
difficult to express themselves in English. There was an occasion when pupils of
an adjacent class were disturbing a teacher on teaching practice. I had to go there
and I asked them to speak English. The effect was that they all became. quiet. It
was a JSS II class. I was so thrilled by this result that any time I found pupils
making a noise in the classroom, all I needed to say was "Speak English" and
there would be peace.
If this kind of language deficiency characterizes the foundation level of
education, then one is not surprised when at regular intervals, one comes across a
written text as the following example coming from a university student (Dada
2002):
• We need to know what English is English is a language speak by wite
men which speak in London area protich, spain, etc. English is original
collonice by britich which means London area is a second language to
any African pupils because is their second aquare of language
• Environment problem can cause problem in a language learning to not
develop the learner intelligent pycologically problem. He we behave
like a villager because illiteracy we never be illtrate.
This example is definitely the height of expressing mysteries after so many years
of trying to learn in tongues.
Observations
A few observations are necessary concerning the pattern of language use/function
in the classroom (Fig. 4).
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414 Ayorinde Dada
REFERENTIAL
POETIC
EMOTIVE CONNATIVE
PHATIC
METALINGUAL
Fig. 4: A model for functions of language.
Source: Roman Jacobson (1960)
There seems to be a functional distribution of the languages in use. What
Roman Jacobson calls the referential function of language is usually performed
in English. The Metalingual (ie. the glossing) function is presented in either
Yoruba or a mixed language. The phatic and connative functions are usually
performed in Yoruba. This is the aspect of maintaining contact with the
addressees or affecting their bahaviour (rebuking, directing, instructing etc). The
emotive function which reflects the speaker's attitude to the subject matter is
usually done in Yoruba. Such a pattern is not very clear in language use by
learners. This may be due to their lower competence in the English language.
However, there is usually an attempt to answer the question asked in English in
.that language. This pattern sort of lays the foundation for what sociolinguists call
diglossia (or triglossia) namely the functional distribution of languages in
society.
Secondly, in the analysis of varieties of English in societies around the
world, Richards (1982) identified certain varieties classified according to their
distance from the standard variety. He talks of the Acrolect (the standard), the
messolect and the basilect (the most distant). It is probably during the process of
schooling that people acquire their own "lect" although the possible influence of
societal language on individuals cannot be ruled out. Nemser talks of
approximative systems in the process of language development between the
source language and the target language and observes that fossilization can take
place at any point when no new input is forthcoming from the target language
and the language learner can satisfy his communicative needs without necessarily
acquiring the acrolect. This is most likely responsible for the very many types of
English that abound within Nigeria and in the English speaking communities
around the world. In fact, John Pride (1982) talks about "New Englishes".
Thirdly, the extent to which each language is learnt or acquired is much
limited by the way English and the mother tongue are used together in the same
situation whereas in some other education systems like in the United States of
America (an equally multilingual nation like Nigeria) the languages are kept
apart and each is learnt at a considerable depth.
In the fourth place pupils' learning cannot but be affected if they cannot
handle each language as an efficient tool of communication. Obemeata (1991)
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Lessons from Nigerian Language Education Practices 415
has tried to demonstrate this point. Furthermore it is a known fact that in our
public primary schools each teacher handles all subjects whether he or she
specializes or not. It is very important that in language teaching, specialist
teachers be employed. In a survey on language teachers at the primary school
(who are not specialists in language education) by Dada (1979), it was
discovered that most of them were not conversant with most of the modern ideas
and concepts on language teaching as illustrated in the table below. The habit of
engaging non-specialist teachers in teaching English has even crept into the
secondary schools and the inputs that learners receive from teachers in English as
well as in other languages leave much to be desired.
The bilingual education offered by the country needs to be re-examined and
streamlined. A language education that leaves its products inefficient in any of
the two languages being used is not good enough. Experimentally, it has been
proved that learners perform very well in both languages when these languages
are properly separated and each is learnt in a different context and long enough.
The Ife project is a case in point (Afolayan 1976). The products of that
experiment performed significantly better than their control group counterparts in
both English language and the subjects taught in the mother tongue. In that
project, English was handled by specialists while the other subjects wer~ taught
entirely in Yoruba.
Table 3: Mean Attitude Score on Concepts in TESL
Quest. Item Regular Non- Teachers Teachers
Participants participants with English with other
at language at language as best subject
courses courses subiect interest
(55) (254) (121 ) (188)
1. 2.05 1.79 1.78 2.06
2. 3.74 3.14 3.52 3.36
3. 3.02 1.36 2.16 2.22
4. 1.38 0.70 1.07 1.02
5. 3.10 3.06 3.37 2.79
6. 2.33 1.21 2.29 2.25
7. 2.34 0.88 2.05 0.17
8. 1.22 1.1 1.14 1.05
9. 3.12 2.4 3.06 2.46
10. 2.10 1.78 3.32 1.56
11. 1.26 1.08 1.12 1.22
12. 2.22 2.16 2.31 2.06
13. 2.14 2.11 2.18 2.08
14. 3.12 0.66 1.81 1.97
15. 3.08 1.12 2.60 1.60
16. 3.09 3.11 3.14 3.06
17. 2.05 1.53 2.16 1.42
18. 1.66 0.62 1.19 1.09
19. 1.32 1.16 1.26 1.22
20. 2.05 1.95 2.21 1.79
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416 Ayorinde Dada
The teaching/learning situation needs to be improved. Not enough is done by
pupils in the classroom in form of practice activities. As I said earlier, teachers
teach so much that they prevent their pupils from learning. Hyman sees the
teaching/learning situation as one that brings together three major elements (Fig.
5).
Teacher
Leamer Material
Fig. 5: Elements in a TeachinglLeaming Situation.
A good teacher is one who is able to organize well the interaction between
learners and the learning materials. Finally, Nigeria needs to pay more attention
to language planning as part of social planning in order to come up with an
efficient language policy of which language in education will be an integral part.
This will involve a lot of socio-linguistic research. In ?- conference presentation
(Dada 1985), I made a proposal for language planning and implementation
activities as follows (Fig. 6):
I Information from Socio- I
I linguistic Research I
Formulation of National Language
Policy
I ~Social
Planning Norm)
Code) Selection
I Standardization Graphization
•••
I Implementation
1
I I.EVALUATION
I I~
Fig. 6: Proposed Scheme of Language Planning and Implementation Activities
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Lessons from Nigerian Language Education Practices 417
I came up with the following conclusions: From the above analysis, it will be
seen that language planning in any society (especially one like Nigeria in which
hundreds of languages are involved) is probably more complex than any other
issue, given the degree of emotion that usually accompanies decisions in this
area. Language allocation for instance is not just a question of
compartmentalizing languages into national languages, languages of wider
communication, official languages, etc. It involves an intricate network of
relationships. This fact underscores the need for a very careful consideration of
the issues involved and the adoption of a long term approach to planning. We
definitely need a lot of socio-linguistic information to start with - information
that can be obtained through surveys, experimentation, consultations, etc. This
requires government-sponsored team research and an adequate information,
analysis, storage and retrieval system.
Next, there is need to establish a global frame of reference within which
individual issues in language planning will be discussed, because a
comprehensive coherent language policy should be the ultimate aim - one that
involves the whole society rather than deal with only certain aspects or isolated
issues.
In terms of participation, all the various sectors of the society should be
involved: Government and its agencies, the media houses, various sectors of the
economy, specialists and researchers and the people at large.
Ritchel and Webber (1972) have described language problems as "wicked
problems" that require solutions that progressively tend towards acceptability,
workability and efficiency both internationally and intra-nationally. Language
policy cannot be formulated in a hurry; it is not a once and for all exercise and
cannot be undertaken in a sporadic fashion. We need time, we need information
and we need massive participation.
Recommendations
The recommendations from this presentation therefore are the following:
(1) Our bilingual education programme needs to be revisited. There is need
to encourage learners to acquire a sound foundation in English before
using it as a language of instruction. This means studying it as a subject
for a longer period possibly throughout the primary level. In addition,
teachers of English at this learning stage should be specialists in the
teaching of English. By the same token, the Nigerian language used as
language of instruction should be well mastered. If the foundation is
well laid, then remedial courses at the secondary and university levels
will yield better results.
(2) More work may need to be done in the area of codification of the
Nigerian languages, in order to avoid the code-mixing and/or code
switching that is characteristic of the speeches of teachers and learners.
The National Language Centre can harness available resources and
coordinate research efforts in this direction.
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418 Ayorinde Dada
(3) Development of language learning materials needs to be intensified. The
quality of such materials should be very high, and should be available in
abundance so that learners and teachers can have their choices according
to needs and interests.
(4) There is the need to monitor what goes on in schools especially at the
primary level. One of the greatest defects in the National curriculum
implementation is the lack of adequate monitoring. We have a
formidable crop of specialists in the Faculty of Education in general and
the department of Teacher Education in particular to assist Government
in putting in place a monitoring outfit.
(5) The University of Ibadan needs to organize its calendar in such a way
that education students will have adequate time for their professional
practice. The way the programme is organized at present whereby
students go to their schools only during their period of teaching and rush
back to attend lectures, or in case of clashes, miss either their practice or
their lectures is very unsatisfactory. We need our full six to eight weeks
of intensive practice, free from university lectures in other faculties.
This will help us to produce teachers and not cheaters.
(6) It is significant that the University Senate is getting more worried about
the quality of language use by students and the apparent ineffectiveness
of the GES 101 - Use of English - in providing the required remedy. If
the foundation at the primary school be destroyed, what can the
righteous people of the Ivory Tower do? Greater effort needs to be
directed at the teacher training level in the grade II Colleges and
Colleges of Education. Also, an interview system may be necessary to
determine the genuiness of candidates' qualification at the entry level in
order to provide a more teachable set of university undergraduates.
(7) At the national level, greater attention should be paid to language
planning and policy in order to render the nation more united and more
efficient.
Conclusion
In concluding this lecture, I need to pay special tribute to the pupils of the public
primary schools, for their fortitude in enduring attacks from all and sundry - the
teachers, the languages, the poor learning materials and condition, the
Government etc. They are the veritable P.LV's - the Poor Innocent Victims. In
paying this tribute, I want to quote W'Elsschot (1961):
II parle deja bien et il faut que ce soil un enfant courageux,
sinon il serait passe depuis longtemps a la greve du silence,
plutot que d'etre plonge chaque fois dans un autre bain. Car il
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Lessons from Nigerian Language E~ucation Practices 419
doit attaquer tour a tour Iefancais, Ie flamand, l'allemand et Ie
polonais et je ne comprends pas comment if parvient ales
maintenir separes et a empecher que tout ne se Jonde en une
sorte de jazz, ou personne ne voit plus clair.
(He already speaks very well and he must be a courageous child,
otherwise he would have gone on silence strike a long time ago,
rather than allow himself to be immersed each time in a new
pool. For he has to attack in turns French, Flemish, German and
Polish and I am yet to understand how he succeeds in keeping
them apart and preventing them from getting mixed up in a kind
of jazz that leaves everyone confused).
REFERENCES
Afolayan A. (1976). "The Six-Year Project". Mother Tongue Education: The West
African Experience. Bamigbose A. (Ed.) UNESCO, London: Hodder and
Stroughton.
Brann, C.M.B. (1976). Languages for Education in Nigeria (mimeo). Institute of
Education, Ibadan.
Dada, A. (1976) L'apprentissage du francais an Nigeria: Relation entre motivation
kontexte pe'dagogique et performance. Unpublished Thesis. Bordeaux,
Universite' de Bordeaux.
_--:=:-- (1985) "The National Language Policy Issue in Nigeria: "The Way Ahead."
Conference Paper. International Congress of African Studies: Institute of
African Studies, University ofIbadan. December, 16-21 1985.
_~--=-=(l986). Language Preference among School Teachers in Bilingual Setting.
In Unoh, S.O. (Ed.) Use of English in Communication. Ibadan: Spectrum Books
Limited, pp. 222-232.
Dada, A. and Ogunyemi, O.A. (1988). Education at the Crossroads: Bilingualism at
the Primary School in Nigeria. Working Papers in Educational
Linguistics. University of Pennsylvania. Pp. 93-103.
Elsschot, W (1961). De Leewintemmer in Verzamelde. Amsterdam, 1.
Federal Ministry of Education. (1977,1981) National Policy on Education.
Jacobson, R (1960). Linguistics and Politics in Style and Language Editor Thomas
Sebeoh: MJT Press
Omojuwa, RA. (1977). Problems of Language Planning for Bilingual Education at
the Primary Level: The Case of Nigerian's Northern States. Language in
Education in Nigeria, 1, pp.39-46.
Phelps-Strokes (1922). Education in Africa. Phelps-Stroke Fund.
Pride J. (ed). (1982) New English Rowdy Massachusetts. Newbury Publishers Inc.
Rittel H.W.J and H.M., Webber (1973) "Dilemmas in General Theory of Planning".
Policy Science 4: 155-169.
Stevicle E. W. (1976). Memory, Meaning and Method Rowley, Massachusetts:
Newsbury House Publishers.
Unesco (1953). The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education. Monograph on
Fundamental Education VII, Paris.
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21
RESTRUCTURING NIGERIA'S EQUINE AND
RUMINANT LIVESTOCK FOR SUSTAINABLE POLO,
FOOD SECURITY AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION
Lanrewaju A. Oladosu
Department of Veterinary Medicine
Introduction
On the theme of my lecture today, and when reflecting upon what is currently
happening in the world, it is impossible to ignore the fact that livestock, food
security and poverty level of mankind are crucial issues. The attendant social
crises of insecurity of lives and property, instability, famine and reduction in
livestock population, are far behind the extraordinary scientific and technological
achievements.
The world population has already grown to beyond six billion people, two
thirds of who live in unbearable backwardness and poverty. In fifty years from
now, as predicted by Cuban President - Fidel Castro - no fewer than three billion
more people will share an already overbloated planet.
In the case of Nigeria, by whatever measurement, poverty is still widespread
today. At least 66% of our estimated 120 million people were living below the
national poverty line in 1996; while it was 43 per cent in 1992. This means that
two out of every three Nigerians, survive on less than a dollar (or W132) per day.
The scenario today, is definitely more serious. Only those unlucky enough to find
themselves in this category, would understand what poverty means. It is certain
that in the face of acute hunger, only a few people would not trade their integrity ..
The increasing demand for food in sub-Saharan Africa, by continuously
increasing population, cannot be over emphasized. The majority of people live in
rural areas where they cultivate land and own large numbers of domestic
livestock.
Agricultural systems, which increase production of livestock and food from
animal origin, will provide more economic security (monetary income upon
sale), food resources at times of need and increase the nutritional status for rural
populations. In' smallholder f~rming systems, farmers generally raise crops and
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422 L.A. Oladosu
livestock under traditional management. More than 250 million herds of large
domestic livestock are kept by small holders and by pastoralists in Sub-Saharan
Africa.
Nigeria has over 70% of its people engaged in agricultural activities. Such
people derive their livelihood from agricultural production either directly or
indirectly. In terms of personal and national revenue (apart from oil revenue)
crop and livestock production is by far the most important economic activity in
Nigeria, especially in the rural areas. Yet, Nigeria continues to experience acute
food shortage both in quantitative as well as qualitative terms, despite the great
potentials, available for both crop and livestock productions.
It is in recognition of this worsening food supply situation, that renewed
efforts are being made by all stake holders including governments, research
scientists and clinicians, to restructure and correct the situation through research
,and developmental programmes. Over the last 27 years as a veterinary clinician
and researcher of University of Ibadan, I had the total commitment to large
livestock research as a tool for alleviating poverty in Nigeria and to promote food
security.
To achieve this, I have identified and restructured the usual clinical services
and research and emphasized on those relatively obscure but needed areas. These
include: experimental surgery for rumen fistulation (Oladosu 1972, Oladosu and
Akpokodje 1975, Oladosu 1992); Equine Medicine and Clinics (Oladosu, Falade
and Akpokodje 1986, Oladosu 1988, Oladosu and Olufemi 1991, 1992. Others
. include Abattoir studies on carcass condemnation due to cattle tuberculosis
(Wintope and Oladosu 1999);· ovine and caprine tuberculosis (Odebiyi and
Oladosu 1999). Similarly, we studied parasitic problems of polo horses (Olaide
and Oladosu 1994; Ajayi and Oladosu 1999; Desbordes and Oladosu 1988). I
have also investigated on human and animal drug evaluation (Oladosu 1978,
Oladosu and Gamer 1991) and studies on poisonous plants that are hepatotoxic
and nephrotoxic to man and animals (Oladosu and Case, 1979).
The bulk of my research initiatives in Nigeria and in many other countries of
the world visited, with other collaborators, focused on equines and ruminants
livestock in several aspects. These are mainly on Equine babesiosis (Oladosu
1981; Oladosu and Dipeolu 1981a, b; Oladosu 1987a, 0; Oladosu and Olufemi
1990; Oladosu and Aliyu 1993.
The cardinal objective is to bring new science to bear on the constraints of
health and production of these domestic livestock, for overall benefit of man. The
control of major emerging diseases, the surgical modification of ruminants for
various nutritional experiments and new drug evaluations especially on the
antihypertensive diuretic-piretanide which is now being marketed in Britain and
USA. In the course of this lecture, slides and transparencies are used to provide a
broad overview of the presentation. Experiences on clinical services and
research on equines (horses and donkeys in particular) and ruminants (cattle,
sheep and goats) are emphasized.
The relevance, the importance and appropriateness of animal traction using
cattle, horses and donkeys as successfully practised in most developing nations
are given adequate attention. This is because animal traction provides cheap,
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo. Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 423
alternatives to tractors, for rural farmers, and youths, being mobilized for
employment under poverty alleviation schemes of Governments. The socio-
economic implication of animal traction is also fully discussed.
Restructuring with Animal Traction (Plates 1 - 3)
Nigeria's position as a developing country has been very precarious since the
world-wide recession period of the 1970s. The situation was further exacerbated
by the unfavourable terms of trade and drastic devaluation of the Nigerian
currency (Agwuma 1985).
The unfavourable monetary and fiscal situation made most imported
agricultural equipment out of the reach of the average "Nigerian farmer. The price
of farm machinery and implements skyrocketed, making it increasingly difficult
for most small-scale farmers to either own equipment or get them on hire.
The continued high rate of foreign exchange made it difficult to maintain or
replace old farm equipment. Farm operations that hitherto depended on use of
tractors and other modem farm equipment suffered serious set-back. The drop in
local food production became a national problem that needs immediate attention
and possible reversal (Babatunde 1993, World Bank 1985).
Plate l(a): Showing the use of cattle for farm operations in Animal traction
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424 L.A. Oladosu
Plate 1(b): Cow traction in Northern Nigeria. Note the simple and cheap Resource
for extensive farm work.
Plate l(c): Showing animal traction and ploughing with ruminant livestock
(Cattle Farm works using the Bunaji and Sokoto Gudali breeds).
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 425
Plate l(d): Showing Bull traction experiences for animal farming in some African countries.
Plate 2(a): Showing the use of horses for animal traction and rural Agricultural Development.
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426 L.A. Oladosu
Plate 2(b): Showing Equine Livestock village traction with horses for farm work in place of
mechanized farming with tractors.
The need arose therefore to "re-look inwards" for appropriate intermediate
technology for increased food production. Animal traction, a not so new but
neglected technology (Starkey and Faye 1988), became a readily available local
resource with great potentials for increased food production (UTA 1977, 1999).
Plate 3(a): Showing the use of donkeys for ridge making and farming by young adults and
children in some Northern States of Nigeria especially in Bauchi, Katsina, Kano and Sokoto
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 427
Plate 3(b): Showing the use of donkeys for planting by young adults and children in some Northern
States of Nigeria especially in Bauchi, Katsina, Kano and Sokoto.
The importance of Nigeria's equines and ruminants: horses, donkeys, cattle
(Plates 1 - 4) as animal traction for ploughing in raising the quantity and quality
of food for consumption of Nigerians, must be recognized by the various
governments. The Federal, state and local governments should involve their
youths, women and farming communities in animal traction. The Federal
Ministries of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Youth Development and
sports should be properly integrated on this project (Plates la, b, c and d).
Nigeria's Animal Power Usage (Tables 1 - 2 and Plates 1 - 6)
Animal traction usage was introduced into Nigeria as far back as 1922. Its
popularity dwindled during the era of the oil boom. The economic buoyancy
during that period is no longer visible. Animal power usage, should once more,
become popular throughout the country although it is being primarily utilized for
ridging and remoulding of ridges in several countries in Africa and in some states
in the Northern part of the country (Starkey et al. 1988.)
Pronouncements should be made by governments to indicate official
approvals for promotion of draught animal power usage (Plates 4 - 6) in
agriculture. The high import content of motorized mechanized agriculture has
continued to dent the country's slim foreign exchange reserves. The nation's
food requirements can only be met by enhancing the productivity of millions of
small-scale farmers. The use of animal power will increase local food and
agricultural supplies by the farming population. It is readily available and
affordable with low operational costs. It could also be an additional source of
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428 L.A. Oladosu
family income as work animals can be hired out to other farming youths and full
time farmers who do not own any.
Table 1: Animal traction initiatives in Nigeria (Plates la, b, c and d)
Will promote: Especially with:
• Food Security • Economic depression
• Poverty alleviation • SAP
• Cheap rural farming • Naira devaluation
• Increased Agricultural Production • Youth unemployment
Table 2: Nigeria's Animal Traction Statistics
• 1964 -1987:
" Potential number of draft cattle = 900,000
Based on 7.5% of National herd.
Animal traction users had doubled to 70,000
• Predominantly in:
Bauchi, Katsina, Kano and Sokoto States
• Limited in Kaduna and some Northern States
• Animals worked 2-3 years then sold
At the end of their work life, the animals would have been fattened, thereby
providing the much-needed animal source of protein to Nigerians. In our quest
for viable alternatives to poverty alleviation and food security schemes, animal
transportation, traction and ploughing with cows, horses and donkeys will assist
in meeting our food production needs (Tables 1 - 2, Plates 1 - 6).
Constraints are:
• Diseases
• Inadequate technology
• Ignorance of benefits
• Development of traction equipment
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock/or Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 429
Because of the difficult terrains and power maintenance culture, most of the
equipment including trailers and farm implements have short life span and are
not supported with adequate spare parts, the frequent breakdown and
irreplaceable parts of farm equipment are commonly seen in different parts of the
country. The incredibly high costs (initial and running costs) of these farm
machines and equipment make it impossible for the peasant farmer to own them.
Where tractors and farm machinery hiring services are available they often come
very late. This results in late preparation of the fields and subsequently, leads to
poor crop yield.
It is in the face of these and other difficulties that it has become necessary to
look for another alternative means of enhancing agricultural production
especially at the farm family level. The present administration's efforts to
revamp agricultural production, alleviate poverty and promote food security,
though commendable, it nevertheless must be redirected towards the use of
animal traction at rural level as illustrated in Plates 1 - 5.
Plate 4: Equine animal traction with Donkeys by rural poor in place of tractors.
Plate 5: A closer view of the donkey being used for animal farming with traction attachments.
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430 L.A. Oladosu
Plate 6: Showing equine livestock usage of donkeys for farm transportation in Northern Nigeria.
POLO AS A FACTOR OF NIGERIA'S UNITY AND COHESION
"Let other people play at ather things
The king of games is still the game of kings: "
Please permit me to say a little about Polo, its origin, horse breeds used for polo
'in Nigeria and notable Polo clubs and Polo enthusiasts in the country.
What is Polo?
Polo is a stick and ball game on horse-back for two teams of four players each
and two umpires. A kind of mounted netball played with up to 12 balls which
have to be got into a central goal.
Persian paintings of the 16th century showed polo as an elegant aristocratic
game played by Kings, their counterparts, and also by women being regarded as
a co-educational sport. International polo started in 1886. Polo ball made of
willow or bamboo toot has a diameter of not more than 7.5 em. The polo stick
called mallet in U.S.A is a cone of varying degrees of whippings 48 inches to 54
inches long according to individuals needs.
Ancient Polo
Polo is probably the oldest organized sport in the world having been in existence
for more than 2,500 years. The name "polo" comes from "pulu", the willow root
from which polo balls were made in Tibet (even today the root of bamboo is used
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T
Plate Dl: Two Teams of Polo Players during the 1998lbadan Polo Tournament 'of the
Nigerian Polo Association (NPA)
Plate D2: The two umpires and the NPA officials including Senator Idris Ibrahim Kuta wearing the
white hat and backing the camera. Shehu Muazu (extreme right) was watching with interest during
the 1999lbadan Polo Tournament.
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432 L.A. Oladosu
to make polo balls). Although the origins of polo are obscure there is much
evidence of the game's history in Asia. As mounted armies swept back and forth
conquering and re-conquering kingdoms, polo was adopted as the most noble of
pastimes by the Kings, and Emperors, Shahs, Sultans, Khans and Caliphates of
the ancient Persians, Arabs, Mongols and Chinese.
The great rulers of those times were expected to be brave warriors, skilful
hunters and exceptional polo players.
Modern Polo
Polo was played in Lagos at the beginning of this century and the Lagos Polo
Club was formed in 1904. The game was introduced into the North of Nigeria at
Kano, Zaria and Kaduna about 1918 and in Katsina, the major Polo centre, in
1922; it spread rapidly throughout the country and was first played in Ibadan in
the 1930s. Polo is now played in Nigeria at Daura, Ibadan, Kaduna, Abraka,
Kano, Katsina, Kazaure, Lagos, Maiduguri, Jos, Sokoto, Yola, Guzau, Minna,
Zaria and Port Harcourt; the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police also play it. It
is expected that the polo will soon reach Abuja where it would be given national
attention, which it richly deserves. In Ghana polo is played mainly in Accra.
Fifteen polo clubs are affiliated to the Nigeria Polo Association, which is itself
affiliated to the Hurlingham Polo Association.
In order to maintain uniform standards, players are classified or
'handicapped' twice a year by a Nigerian Polo Association Committee. His
Highness the Emir of Katsina was one of the original players when polo was
introduced in Katsina in 1922. In 1953 the Emir retired from tournament polo,
but he continued to be the main inspiration of polo, not only in the North but in
Nigeria as a whole. For many years he was the President of the Nigerian Polo
Association.
After the Emir of Katsina, the descendant of the Emir- Late Major General
Hassan Katsina for many years, became the national President of Nigerian Polo
Association. The great polo enthusiast late Major General Hassan Katsina
became the pillar of polo nationwide. Along with other prominent southern polo
players like retired Brigadier General Oluwole Rotimi, retired Honourable Justice
Akpara, retired Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson, former Governor of Lagos State,
polo became a factor of national unity and cohesion.
The Game of Polo
The 2500 year-old game of polo is one of the fastest, roughest, and most
dangerous sports played today. It is gaining increasing popularity as a premier
spectator sport can be an easy game for the first-time spectator to enjoy. Imagine
the excitement of seeing players on thoroughbred horses bumping and jostling
with each other as hockey on horseback, racing at to speeds down the field while
striking a small ball with the precision of an experienced golfer.
Polo is played on a 10 acre grass field, 300 yards in length by 160 yards,
which is the approximate area of ten football fields. Goal posts are set eight yards
apart on either end of the field. The object of the game is to move the ball down-
field, hitting the ball through the goal for a score. The team with the most scores
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Plate D3: Showi~g a crucial moment of Polo during the January 1999 Ibadan Polo Tournamen!
Plate D4: Showing the Polo team in full action during the weeklong 1999 Nigerian Polo
Association, Ibadan Polo Tournament
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434 L.A. Oladosu
at the end of the match is deemed the winner. Teams then change direction after
each goal. Two team made up of four players each, are designated by shirt-color.
The players wear high boots, knee guards, and a helmet of their own selection.
By tradition, players wear white pants in tournaments. The mallet made of a
bamboo shaft with a hardwood head is the instrument used hit the polo ball,
formerly wood, now plastic, about 3 to 3~ inches in diameter and 3~ to 4~
ounces in weight. In fact, the English word POLO is derived from the Tibetan
word, "pulu" meaning ball.
Nigeria's Polo Activities, Polo Veterans and Nigeria's Polo
Association
Horses in Common Use for Nigeria's Polo
Until about 1973 all the polo ponies played in Nigeria were of West or North
African origin; recently however larger and heavier horses from Argentina have
been introduced into polo mainly in Lagos, Kano Jos, and Kaduna; such horses
confer an advantage by virtue of their greater speed and strength and it is of
interest to see how polo is developing with the two different breeds of horses
playing in opposing teams.
Plate D5: Showing the Polo team raising up their sticks to salute the audience during 1999 NPA
Ibadan Polo Tournament. Lt - Rt: the unempire: Mike Magid; Yenma Yusuff; Daule Baba and
Baba Kiari (extreme right).
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Plate D6: A Sudanese Horse with the Polo Player in readiness for another 7'h minutes chukka.
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436 L.A. Oladosu
Plate D7: Showing three Polo players on horses in readiness for another Polo Chukka. In the
middle was Seantor Toks Okubanjo of Lagos Polo Club. All three players were using the imported
Argentinian horses.
The Ibadan Polo Club.
The date when the Ibadan Polo Club was founded is not precisely known but
polo has been played in Ibadan since 1930s. Since 1950, a Nigerian Polo
Association tournament was in Ibadan each year, and attended by clubs from all
over Nigeria and also from Ghana. Apart from the main Nigerian Polo Associ-
ation tournaments, at least two friendly tournaments are played between Ibadan
and Lagos each year. In addition, cups are competed for within the clubs at
intervals during the season.
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Prominent players in Ibadan polo history were the late Robin Atkinson, John
Honey, Jim Mackenzie and Abel Comben; each of these players served as polo
captain at their various times. Others are Drs Asuni and Awolaja, the Hanni
Safiedenes, Messrs Ojeniyi, Alakija, etc. The current Chairman of Ibadan Polo
Club is Mr. Tunji Adepeju. The immediate Past Chairman was Mr. Bankole
Oyeniyi.
The Retired Hon. Justice Akin Apara was elected President of the club in
1978 with Mr. Mike Pratt as Vice President. Past Presidents include Brigadier-
General Oluwole Rotimi (rtd.) and Chief Victor Allam. Both are now Polo
veterans." The polo club became fully independent in 1975; the membership is
continuously increasing and the activities are expanding to embrace not only
various riding events but a range of social activities.
I was as far back as 1979 appointed as an Honorary member and Chief
Consultant, Equine Clinical Services of Ibadan Polo club and the Nigerian Polo
Association in recognition of the useful equine clinical services offered to the
club. As previously observed (by Anon 1962; Akinwumi and Ikpi 1985 and
Anosa 1985) in ruminants, the major disease problems of Nigeria's polo horses
are Trypanosomosis and Babesiosis. These diseases are however, put under
control from time to time, by our prompt intervention.
Cultural History of Nigeria's Horses and Polo as Symbols of National Unity
Horses and horse raising in Nigeria, especially in the North, are phenomenal in
the collective cultural history of the people. Mostly identified with Hausas,
Fulanis, Kanuris and Hausa-Fulanis, the first set to be introduced into the semi-
arid, Sudan and Sahel savannah regions are believed to have arrived during the
Tran-Saharan trade era, although some experts speak of earlier accounts. With
flourishing commerce and exchange of goods and services with North African
Arabs, the Phoenicians and other early settlements, in major cities like Kano,
Sokoto, Maiduguri, Bauchi, Kaduna, down to Ilorin became beneficiaries of trade
network in return for this large, strong animal with mane, fluffy tail and hard
feet.
Over time, horses or stallions within the region have experienced major
socio-economic changes. From beasts of burden and means of locomotion and
'objects' of war, their integration appeared to run full cycle when they became
symbols of means and royalty. Today, these sturdy and gorgeous animals are
status symbols and their values have appreciated even more considerably with
the advent of polo games, horse raising, betting and advert status at global scale.
Lately, prospecting for profitable horses and seeking large dividends from betting
on the Internet have added to a legion of big-time businesses built around horses.
Notable Nigeria's Polo Players
Today, Nigeria parades a remarkable club of aristocrats who individually have
dozens of horses tucked safely away in their stables. Some horses as a matter of
fact, are provided with air conditioners and special lighting systems to provide an
ideal climatic setting.
Notable among these owners are late Major-General Hassan Katsina, Chief
Hanni Saffiedene, Brigadier-General Oluwole Rotimi (Rtd.); Alhaji Sanni
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438 L.A. Oladosu
Dangote, Chief Albert Esiri, Ishyaku Rabiu, Alhaji Dan Kabo, Aminu Dantata,
Kunle Tinubu (younger brother of Governor Bola Tinubu), Atedo Peterside, and
Dapo Ojora.
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Nigeria's Equine and Rumi~ant Livestock for Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 439
Plate D9: Showing Polo Veterans: Hanni Saffiedene (Right); and Secretary Lagos Polo Club Mr.
Uzama (Left) during the Nigerian Polo Association Ibadan Polo Tournament.
For so long, the game of soccer has occupied a prime position in the hearts of
sports lovers in Nigeria. This is not unconnected with the country's landmark
escapades on the African and global scenes.
However, quite unlike soccer, Polo is relatively unknown to many,
particularly to the masses as they consider it the game of the rich. Perhaps this is
true. Even while polo is witnessing an obvious transformation from one
generation to another, it is unthinkable to associate the game of the poor with this
game of the rich. Polo now in Nigeria is witnessing an obvious transformation
from one generation to another.
New Generation of Polo Players
A list consists of established aristocrats like Dawule Baba, fondly known as
"Teacher, Mallam Ahmed Dasuki, Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu, the
Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is also the President of Yola Polo Club to
mention a few. Muhammed (Muha) Babangida, the scion of the Babaginda
family is a leader in this generation of young polo players who would fly the flag
of polo in Nigeria into the next generation.
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440 L.A. Oladosu
r:-' -----------------------.------------"---,.,:.--;-".
Plate DIO: Showing a notable Polo Player, Alhaji Ahmed Dasuki with his Argentinian Polo horse
immediately after playing the Polo tournament (Top)
Bottom picture shows one of the enthusiastic Polo Players Mr. Ade Alakija receiving the special
trophy award from the Veteran, Retired Hon. Justice Akin Apara. The 1999 Vice-President of
Ibadan Polo Club, Mr. Tunji Adepeju and others were watching with admiration.
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Nigeria's Equine an.d Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 441
Plate D11: Showing New Generation of Polo Players whose team won the various valuable prizes
during the 1999 NPA Ibadan Polo Tournament. Polo Aristocrat, Ibrahim Audu, Captain of the
team is on the extreme right while Mumuni Dagazao held the gold award in the middle.
Plate D12: Showing the Kaduna Polo Team led by Major Umar (Extreme Left) shortly before
the Lagos Polo Tournament
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442 L.A. Oladosu
Muhammed Babangida is not alone in this enterprising sport. His
contemporaries include Sulaiman Abubakar, a multi-millionaire with chain of
business in Nigeria and South Africa. Others in the far north include youthful
millionaire, Ibrahim Zakari, the proud owner of the Kaduna ICN, and emerging
polo force in Africa. Royal Fathers are not left out at the most polo tournaments,
among the regulars at tournaments are the president of Nigeria Polo Association
(NPA) and Emir of Katsina His Royal Highness, Alhaji Muhammadu Kabir
Usman, Emir of Kano Alhaji (Dr.) Ado Bayero, Alh Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso,
Senator Idris Ibrahim Kuta, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Alhaji Sani Dangote, Lagos
Polo Club Chairman, Alhaji Hassan Hadeja, Kaduna Polo Club Chairman, Alhaji
Tijani Hashim, Galadiman Kano, Major General MA GaIba (rtd), Alhaji Audu
Usman Nagogo, Majidadi Katsina, Ambassador Zakari Ibrahim, amongst others.
With the likes of Muhammed Babangida taking the future of polo in Nigeria, the
country is yet to witness the beauty of the game.
This list is by no means exhaustive as some names were left out.
Evidently, however, some polo players have the largest collection of horses
in the country with one individual having about 32 horses in stables scattered
around Kano, Kaduna and other towns. The Argentinian horses are not only very
strong and well groomed, they are relatively unbeatable.
Cost of Some Polo Horses
Argentinian horses are renowned worldwide for their pace, robust health and
agility. A typical Argentinian horse may cost between N800,OOO and N2.5
million. "Argentinian horses are expensive to maintain," "But they are a better
bet". They know the ball and they know the mallet," are some of the ways the
horses are descnbed Chief Albert Esiri from Orie, Abraka near Eku in Delta
State is said to own many Argentinian horses and he spends fortunes in
maintaining them
Predictably, Nigerians today keep horses for different reasons. Some raise
them to sell; others for top-flight competitions, but with the royalty, it is purely
for class distinction. Although, not all horse owners are necessarily polo players,
most polo players are inevitably desirous of having elegant gallopers.
CLINICAL SERVICES, DISEASES AND OTHER PROBLEMS OF
NIGERIA'S HORSES
I now want to reflect on my clinical services and research, which has helped to
sustain the equine livestock and polo industry in Nigeria. In particular, I wish to
. highlight those aspects, which have helped to promote the health of these
animals.
Equine Studies:
Drug Evaluation Research
In advanced countries of the world, it is mandatory for manufacturers of new
drugs to subject them to scientific evaluations not only for efficacy but also for
safety when used by humans and animals. The Food and Drug Administration
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Department of the United States of America, has over the years, been the
authority on behalf of the government of USA, empowered to perform and
coordinate drug assessment and safety trials. Over the years, newly
manufactured drugs are imported into Nigeria, without due regard to food and
drugs mandatory trials.
Although we have a similar regulatory arrangement in Nigeria, the
enforcement of compliance to the regulation on Food and Drug Administration
and Control has not been effective neither has it been. Judiciously monitored nor
strictly adhered to by foreign and local new drug manufacturers.
For example, some five years ago, precisely in 1996, there was an outbreak
of cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) in Kano. The pharmaceutical company, Pfizer
Inc. New York in what was thought to be a humanitarian gesture, rushed in its
new drug 'TROY AN'. Trovan has not been sufficiently subjected to clinical
trials before finding the Nigerian children as guinea pigs for the drug.
Recently, the Washington Post of USA in its Sunday December 17, 2000
edition published a report that the Pfizer's 1996 action was not altruistic. The
newspaper claimed that the two hundred (200) Nigerian children on which
TROYAN was administered were used as guinea pigs.
Eleven of the children were said to have died while some of the survivors
became deaf, blind, lame or suffered seizures.
The newspaper said that since some of the children reacted negatively to the
drugs, Pfizer should have discontinued administering the experimental drugs on
them and reverted to the approved treatment of meningitis.
In a follow-up report on BBC on Wednesday December 20, 2000, it was
reported that by the time Pfizer brought TROYAN to Kano, the drug had been
banned in Europe and that the United States of America which had banned its use
for children had to impose a complete ban when adults on which it was
administered developed complications like liver damage.
Pfizer Nigeria Limited denied the report on behalf of its parent company in
New York. The company claimed that Pfizer's action was a philanthropic gesture
borne out of a genuine desire to save lives. This issue was fully documented in
the Nigerian's Vanguard Newspaper of Wednesday December 27,2000.
The new drug "Trovafloxacin" was not approved for the company's
marketing to the public. By December 1996, Pfizer had tried oral and intravenous
Trovan on 13,000 people in 27 nations. Towards the end of that year Pfizer
sought approval for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the
drugs. For undisclosed reasons the FDA did not approve the use of Trovan on
children. This incidence clearly showed the significance of adequate clinical
evaluation of drugs before being distributed to the public.
Diuretic and Tolerance Responses to Piretanide in Horses (Oladosu and
Garner 1978, 1990, Plates 1 - 5)
The diuretic properties of piretanide,: a new compound in the sulfamyl-
aminobenzoic-acid derivatives was experimentally assessed for efficacy and
tolerance in horses. The clinico-pharmacological and toxicological screenings of
the drug in these animals were carried out using a 5 x 5 Latin square
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experimental design. The results obtained showed that piretanide was capable of
producing peak diuresis within the first 10-20 minutes post-medication with the
effects of diuresis lasting for 45 minutes after intravenous administration. The
drug also produced effective diuresis with minimal changes in haematological
status and liver enzymes, signifying good tolerance and no apparent toxic effects.
Piretanide (Hoe 118) is the international non-proprietary name (INN) for a
new loop diuretic with the chemical name 4-phenoxy-3 - (1 - pyrolidinyl)-5 -
sulfarny-benzonic acid and chemical structure which relates to both furosemide
(Lasix) and bumetanide. The drug has been investigated in rats and found in a
preliminary report to be more potent than either furosemide and bumetamide
(Merkel, Bormann, Mania, Muschawech and Hropot, 1976). In rats, Markel et
al. (1976) also observed that it is not likely to produce renal failure by provoking
hypovolaemia - a clinical complication of furosemide therapy reported by Lucas,
Zito Carter, Cortoz and Stebner (1977) in critically ill volunteers.
Although piretanide has some clinical advantageous applications in human
medicine (Merkel et al. 1976) very little work appears to have been carried out
on its effectiveness and side effects in large domestic animals. In this
investigation, we assessed the diuretic efficacy and tolerance of piretanide with
horses as the large animal models. The aim was to: (1) observe the general
response of the animals to piretanide levels, (2) observe the effect of altering the
level of piretanide on some clinical variables of horses, (3) determine the effect
of piretanide on urinary output and (4) monitor the side effect of piretanide on
liver enzymes: SGOT, LDH and SAP.
Plate 1: Tail bandaging prior to catheterization
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Plate 2: Pereneal disinfection before urethral catheterization.
Plate 3: Foley's Catheter Insertion into the Urethra of the experimental mare
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446 L.A. Oladosu
Plate 4: Exteriorization of the Inserted rod from the saline ballooned catheter
Plate 5: Horses with urine collection into the polythene bags after injection with diuretic drugs
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 447
Results
Dose effect on urinary output
Urine volume was significantly increased (p<O.OOOI)by between 4 fold to 13
fold within 0-4 hours after intravenous piretanide administration (Tables 1 and 2)
at the corresponding 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 1.6 mglkg dosage levels. Between 4
and 24 hours for all levels of drugs there was no significant (p>O.05) change in
urinary output compared to predrug volumes (Tables 3 and 4).
The urinary output for the first 2 hours shows that the urinary excretion after
intravenous administration of piretanide peaked before 10-12 minutes (Figure 1).
The urinary output was largely increased within the first 90-120 minutes and
returned close to control values shortly thereafter.
!
I •-. =0. ~5mg/ k;~
I ...--. =D. : u:;;'kc;~ =J.2;r.;;i~S
2000
.r::J-.O: .::J: . 14·m q,l k 9
•.••.•.• =1.6mg/k,~
~500
2CGC
1500
1000
500
:)-5 5-10 10-20 20-30 30-45 45-50 60-90 90-120
Fig. 1: Piretanide Dose Effect on Urine Output for first 2 hours
Note: Time of urinary output in response to intravenous piretanide showing all doses' diuretic
effect which peaked between 10-20 minutes. Points represented Means of5 horses with 5 x 5 Latin
Square Design.
Drug Effects on haematological variables
Figures 2 and 3 show the histograms depicting the effect of all dosages of
piretanide on a number of blood values. When compared with the controls all
values were not significantly different (p>0.05). The mean WBC/ul, mean
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448 L.A. Oladosu
PCV%, the mean Hb grn/kg. were not significantly (p>0.05) different (Figs 2 and
3) using the methods described by Schalm (1967). Other evaluated
haematologial variables i.e the differential white cell countlul and the platelet
counts/ul were also not significantly (p>0.05) different compared with the
controls.
30
pen Hb (gm/dl)
60 28 ~
~=Control ~=Control
.:.:.:.:. =4hr. Pas t ::::~=4hr. Pos t
50 24
::; =24hr. Post ==24hr. Pas t
tJ 40 20
:>
.J
«>
• 30
>
o
Co.
. 20
10
Drug Tolerance Evaluation
Results of the liver enzyme analysed (Figs. 4 & 5) show no significant (P>0.05)
changes between the controls and the post piretanide concentrations when the
three major liver enzymes serum alkaline phosphatese (SAP), lactate
dehydrogenase (LDH) and serum glutamic oxaloacetic acid were evaluated
photospectrometrically employing methods described in the Sigma Chemical
Company Technical Bulletin No. 505 (1967). Clinically there were no signs of
abnormal salivation, perspiration, defaecation, depression, dyspnoea, convulsion
or any other manifestations of systemic intoxication. This drug investigation
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock/or Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 449
sponsored with over US$50,OOO,has now been approved for use in humans and
is now being marketed in Britain, USA and others parts of the world.
-
I == 24hr. Post5.0 Control ~::~ 41lrol/3s t
SAP (I.U./ml)
SDH (I.U./ml)
i: 80.0
~I 4.0 w
«z VI
ur
:E +1
~ zc(
.E
w
..... 3.0 :E 60.0
::>
~
. 40.0
c.
..:
VI
0.05 0.1 0.2 0.4 1.6
PIRETANIDE DOSES (mg/kg)
Fig. 4 and 5: Piretanide Dose Effect on Equine Haematological Parameters
Studies on the Clinical Aspects and Chemotherapy of Trypanosoma
Congolense Infection in Donkeys
(Aliyu and Oladosu, 1993)
As part of the studies on equine livestock and for the purpose Df confirming
trypanosomoses as wasting in donkeys, experimental research was conducted on
donkeys, which are subsequently treated with bereniL
In this investigation donkeys were experimentally infected with T.
congolense and the cause of infection was studied before and after chemotherapy
with BereniL T.congolense produced disease in donkeys characterized by
progressive macrocytic anaemia, anorexia and weight loss. The prevalent period
observed in the infected donkeys was 4 days. Mouse inoculation was found to be
the most sensitive in detecting infection followed by Buffy coat method while
wet smear preparation was found to be least sensitive. Parasitemia was first
detected on day 4 post infection with mouse inoculation and on day 6-post
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450 L.A. Oladosu
infection with Buffy coat method. There were four peaks of parasitemia
observed during the course of infection with the highest log parasitemia of 6.7.
All infected donkeys had a significant drop in PCV% with the lowest as 32.7
+ 0.58% and 24.0 + 1% pre and post infection respectively. The differences in
the mean values of Hb and RBC in infected donkeys pre and post infection were
respectively statistically significant (p<0.01) and (p<0.05). There was increase in
the WBC count with the highest pre and post infection values of 1.39 + 0.16 x
104/ul and 1.86 + 0.01 x 104/ul respectively. Leucocytosis observed was
characterized by neutropenia, lymphocytosis and monocytosis. Negative unit
weight change was observed as from day 12 post infection and this continued
until the animals were treated 30 days post infection. Maximum weight loss of
4.5 kg was observed 2 days post treatment. Following treatment with Berenil at a
therapeutic dose of 3.5mglkg intramuscularly a reversal of all the haematological
and biochemical aberrations was observed.
Ceremonial Uses of Horses
In addition to Polo, the mounted units of the Nigerian Police, on ceremonial
occasions, use the horses for crowd control and for military Parade. The horses
and the police riders are gorgeously dressed on these occasions while being on
guard for security purposes. A case in view was that of the last swearing-in
ceremony of the President, Commander-in-chief, Nigeria Armed Forces - Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo at Abuja. This occasion was recorded with colour slides and
transparencies.
Fig. Bl: Mounted Troop Police Officers with their Horses Ready for Security Patrols and Crowd
Control
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Fig. B2: Use of Valuable Mounted Troop Horses for Crowd Control at the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja
Fig. B3: Mounted Troop Police Officers at Alert with their horses at Abuja Presidential Swearing
in Ceremony in May 1999
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452 L.A. O/adosu
Fig. B4: Governmental Ceremonial Use of Mounted Troop Horses
!~~;::;:
~
Fig. B5: Socially Important Ivory White Horses at Military Parade during the Presidential
Inauguration at Abuja, May 29, 1999.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock/or Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 453
Fig. 86: Ceremonial Use of Horses for Military Parade at Abuja. Eagle Square, May, 1999.
I
i
AlII , ,• • ..
"".""
=-
Fig. 87: Mounted Troop Police Officers in action with their Horses in full regalia guarding the
Government Ceremonial Function
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454 L.A. Oladosu
•. -~---::---:-~-..".------
Fig. 8B: The Abuja Presidential Inauguration Ceremony Being guarded with the
Horses of the Nigerian Police in Fig. B7 above.
Fig. B9: Horse HeaJt:RMonitoring Veterinarian with some of the CeremonlaJiHl'ilr§e5.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 455
Fig. BI0: Showing the horse health monitoring in progress by the Inaugural Lecturer
RUMINANT AND EQUINE SURGICAL RESTRUCTURING
Collaboration with ILRI on Rumen Fistulations:
(Oladosu and Akpokoje 1972, 1975, 1987 and 1990)
With the expertise developed in the early 70s I was invited by ILRI for
collaborative research on surgical modification of West African dwarf rams.
(Plates ILRI 1-2). I also assisted in monitoring the postoperative health cares of
these animals. From time to time, when experiments were in progress, clinical
services were also requested by ILRI should the modified ruminants develop
postoperativecomplications (Plate ILRI 3).
Collaboration _ith Departments of Animal Science (IAR&T, OAU & U.I)
(Oladosu and Akpokoje 1973 and 1975)
My DVM Project (Oladosu 1972) on experimental surgery performed at the
Universityof Ibadan Teaching and Research Farmwas a motivating factor. Even
when I was a Veterinary Officer at Ogbomosho with the Western Region
Government, I was requested by the Animal Science unit of the Institute of
.Agricultural Research and Training (IAR &T) Animal Science unit, to assist on
Ruminant Fistulation services. This needed consultancy continued with the
Animal Science Department at the University of Ibadan when I joined the
servicesof the University in 1973.
Prior to 1975, Professor D.G. Armstrong of the University of Newcastle
Upon-Tyne used to be flown from Britain to assist in performing the rumen
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
456 L.A. Oladosu
cannulations for digestibility studies on Nigerian Ruminant Livestock. This was
always at a high expense to the University whe.never Prof. Armstrong was invitedfor the surgery by Professor Mba of blessed memory .
Plate 1: Fistulation Surgery on ILRI Rams Plate 2: Cannula Exteriorisation Procedure: West
at lIT A, Ibadan. Note the stages of African Dwarf Ram Fistulation. ILRI, IITA
surgical modifications. Collaborative Research
Surgical Modifications of Rams meant for digestibility experiments.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock/or Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 457
Plate 3: Rumen Livestock Fistulation Research and Services: The West African Dwarf Rams were
fitted with rumen cannulae by the inaugural lecturer at ILRI, lITA, Ibadan.
The Inaugural Lecturer was monitoring the health of the fistulated rams post operatively
while the ILRI Collaborator from Australia assisted in the restraint of the patients.
On my initiative and desire to go and perfect the technique in the United
Kingdom, a case was made for my sponsorship by the British Overseas
Development Agency and the Inter University Council to enable me study the
techniques. On my return, I continued to assist the Animal Science Department
in the cannulations of their cattle (Plate ANSC 1-4), sheep, and goats (Plates
ANSG 1-3) meant for use by their staff and postgraduate students. In this regard,
I collaborated extensively with the Pro tcssors and postgraduate students in the
Departments of Animal Science at the Universities of Ibadan and Ife.
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458 L.A. Oladosu
Plate ANSC 1:Preoperative restraint of cattle within an adjustable metallic confinement.
Plate ANSC 2: Paravertebral nerve blocks of thirteenth thoracic, first, second and third
lumbar nerves performed by the Inaugural lecturer who is also the
Consultant Surgeon in this surgical modification.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminani Livestock for Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 459
Plate ANSC 3: Paracostal incision technique Note the relative position from the vertebral column
and the hook bone.
\
Plate ANSC 4:The fistulated cattle showing the relative position of the sutured incision
and the exteriorized cannula
Cattle Surgical Modification For Digestibility Experiments
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460 L.A. Oladosu
Plate ANSG 1: An Adult Red PIMe ANSG 2: The Outpuched
Sokoto (Maradi) Goat with left intact rumen with purse string
side rumen cannula in position. suture in progress.
Plate ANSG 3: Invagiantion of
the lips of rumen incision after
cannula implantation.
RESEARCH ON EXCITING REFERRAL EQUINE CLINICAL CASES
As the equine chief consultant, many referral cases were received from many
horse stables and polo clubs from different parts of the country. This is because
of the specialization, which we have developed at Ibadan equine unit of our
Department of veterinary medicine in this University. I will here reflect on some
exciting ones among those referral cases with a view to sharing with the audience
some of our experiences and the excitements of the owners of these cases.
Equine Referral Case 1 :
A "Blue roan" Dongola Polo horse, owned by Ibadan Polo Club captain: Dr.
Femi Oladele with Traumatic Torticolis.
This 8 years old beautiful horse which has participated in several
tournaments, is the favourite horse of Dr. Femi Oladele. Most unfortunately, the
groom reported sudden swelling and an almost 90 degrees cervical twist (Plate 1)
on the horse to the owner: The resident veterinarian was alerted on this case. In
spite of the initial treatment efforts abnormal neck distortion persisted and the
neck of the horse was deviated along with the head to the right side. Although the
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 461
case was initially treated by the referring resident veterinarian who initially
considered the case to' be that of "Equine encephalitis", there was no apparent
progress or improvement.
For this reason, the owner - Dr. Oladele obtained a referral letter from the
resident veterinarian and opted to refer the case to the inaugural lecturer at the
University of Ibadan for specialist attention.
When the case was received at our department, radiography was taken and on
detailed clinical examination, a case of deformed convexity about the middle of
the neck (Plate2), was diagnosed and recorded as "neck torticolis". The right side
sub-luxation of the cervical vertebrae was also noticed. (Plate 3). The neck was
permanently twisted. (Plate 4).
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462 L.A. Oladosu
Plate 2: Note: Deformed Convexity about Middle of the Neck
Plate 3: Note: The right side subluxation of the cervical vertebrae
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 463
Plate 4: A closer view of the same patient with a twisted neck and head
Successful Clinical Management of Neck Cervical Torticolis
This includes general anaesthetic medication and hydraulic straightening of the
neck's cervical vertebrae which had been dislocated. (Plate 5). Application of
plaster cast strengthened with the wire mesh as neck splint under heavy sedation
and deep anaesthesia. (Plate 6).
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464 L.A. Oladosu
Plate 5: Head and Neck Being straightened with a mechanical pulley. This exercise was before
POP Application under general anesthesia.
Plate 6: Patient's neck manipulation under general anaesthesia
Note: The cotton wool padded "Wire Mesh" neck splint applied along the neck of the horse.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 465
Finally, the plaster of Paris (POP) was applied and the horse allowed to
recover from general anaesthesia (Plates 7 and S). The fully recovered horse after
POP application was then allowed to recover with the POP on for about two
weeks (Plates 9, 10 and 11). Recovery was attained after six weeks of corrective
surgery and the horse went back to Polo fully recovered after six weeks (Plates
12 and 13).
Plate 7: POP corrected sub luxated neck with horse under anaesthesia after surgery.
Plate 8: Patient in lateral recumbency under general anaesthesia after POP application.
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466 L.A. Oladosu
Plate 9: Dorsolateral View of the straightened neck immediately after correction
Plate 10: Closer view of the same horse in standing position after anaesthetic recovery
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 467
Plate 11: Patient 72 hours after the corrective intervention with Plaster of Paris (POP) in place.
Plate 12: Right and Left neck sides of the fully recovered horse after being used for a Polo game at
Ibadan Polo Club. These pictures were taken two weeks after surgical correction.
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-'~ ,
Plate 13: A closer view of the patient after full recovery at six weeks post surgical intervention.
The neck is now straightened up when compared with t~e deformed (bent) neck in Plates 1 and 2
o Equine Referral Case 2
An Ikeja Saddle Club's Thoroughbred Horse with rupture of sacrosciatic
ligament and chronic lumbosacral haematoma
This case was referred from Ikeja Saddle Club. It was a beautiful "Show
jumping" horse which had been lame on the hind-legs for long, with marked pain
on the back. It was reported of having loin swelling and unresolved back pain
problem even when several veterinarians in Lagos had attempted treatment
(Plates 1-3).
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 469
Plate 1: Showing the referred horse with lumbosacral haematoma on arrival at the
Uni versity of Ibadan Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Ibadan.
On clinical examination, serosanguinous fluid was removed from the lumbo-
. sacral region by the author who is the Referral Equine Chief Consultant (Plates
4-6). .
Radiography was carried out by the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH)
Chief Radiographer, Mrs. O.T. Adene supported by the final year students in
Equine Clinics. This case was surgically managed by the author (Plates 7 - 8).
The latero medial radiography showed lumbosacral haematoma and rupture of
the sacroschiatic ligament. The patient was put under general anaesthesia and the
affected area opened up to remove the haematoma. The skin incision was
resutured and dressed up for 9 days after which the patient was discharged to the
owner in Lagos.
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470 L.A.Oladosu
Plate 2: Showing the close up back view of same horse with painful lumbosacral haematoma
Plate 3: Physical examination at a glance of the horse with lumbosacral problem.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 471
Plate 4: Showing the author and Equine Chief Consultant Surgeon performing the needle
aspiration of the swollen lumbosacral haematoma.
;;. -.~ ": With patient mounted and examined in standing position to assess the lameness.
dale _.
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472 L.A. Oladosu
Plate: 6: On arrival at Ibadan the horse was mounted and trotted. The patient showed signs of
severe pain and reluctance to move due to the lumbosacral haematoma.
Plate 7: Showing lateromedial radiography performed by the author on arrival at Ibadan.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock for Polo. Food Security and Poverty A /leviation 473
Plate 8: Showing the back view of the horse with lateromedial radiography in progress.
Equine Referral Case 3: "Dourine" Trypanosoma equiperdum infection at
Ibadan Polo
This was a case of Dourine (Equine Trypanosomosis) caused by Trypanosoma
·equiperdum infection. The case was referred from Ibadan Polo club with a
complaint of an unusual swelling of the belly and the external genitalia
especially the scrotal sac. The oedematous swelling was prominent from the side
and the hind quarters of the patient (Plates 1-3).
Plate 1: Showing the disease dourine in a Nigerian stallion with the closeup view of the
oedematous ventral abdomen and the scrotal area
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474 L.A.Oladosu
•
Plate 2: Showing the right side view of the case of Dourine presented by the owner Mr. Umoru
at lbadan Polo Club with the droopy head of the highly emaciated horse.
Plate 3: Showing the swollen scrotal area of the case of Dourine seen at Ibadan.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 475
.•.
On the examination of the oedema tissues from the scrotal sac, large
trypanosomes with prominent undulating membranes were detected on the
stained blood smears of the animal. (Plate 4). Dourine was confirmed on this
case. The case was however successfully treated with Antrycide prosalt solution.
The case was discharged to the owner with a warning not to breed the animal
after successful clinical management
Plate 4: Showing the back view of the same horse with marked oedema of the Scrotal sac
Plate 5: Showing the Trypanosoma equiperdum organism between the red cells of the patient with
swollen scrotal sack
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476 L.A.Oladosu
Equine Referral Case 4: Equine Trypanosomosis du•e to T. vivax infection.
This case was encountered at a local stable in a village at Ibadan. The horse has
shown evidence of severe weight loss in spite of good feeding regime (Plate 1).
It showed prominent ribs, scapula, marked parlor of visible mucous membranes
and extreme weakness. There was no jaundice and no haemoglobinuria. The Hb
and PCV were very low.
On examining, the blood smear showed Trapanosoma vivax infection (Plate
2). The case was treated with berenil-" (diminazene diaceturate) at a dose level
of 7 mglkg body weight. The patient recovered fully some 3 months thereafter.
Ruminant livestock clinical Referral :
Case 5: Boran cattle intramedullary bone pinning for left foreleg fracture
repair in Lusaka, Zambia with the inaugural lecturer as a Nigerian Federal
Government's Technical Aid Professor of Large Animal Medicine and Surgery
to the Government of Federal Republic of Zambia.
This case was referred to the inaugural lecturer from the Government Livestock
Farm on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia. The case was encountered when I was
on a sabbatical leave at the Samora Machel School of Veterinary Medicine in
Lusaka, Zambia. I was then a Federal Nigerian Government's Technical Aid
Professor of Large Animal Medicine and Surgery in Zambia.
The case involved a young Boran cattle which has forced it's leg in a stone
pit and fractured the canon bone of the left foreleg. At the large animal hospital,
the patient was reluctant to move but favoured the affected left limb (Plates RS 1-
3).The affected left leg has started to swell as seen on the 3rd day after injury
when it was examined.
Plate RS 1.: Boran Cattle Bone Fracture Repair: *Note favoured left fore Limb
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 477
Plate'...R....S.-wi2.: Patient is reluctant to move due to left fore complete --b: one fracture and pain
~
"./-:.
,.
.~ '~ .•, .••.
) ,
Plate RS 3.: Ruminant (Boran Cattle) Restructuring Closer View: Fractured Left Fore. Note
Swelling of the Carpus
Radiography revealed complete transverse fracture of the metacarpal bone as
seen on the latero-medial and antero-posterior views. (Plates RS 4 and 5). Using
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478 L.A. Oladosu
appropriate lengths of intra-medullary pins and plates, the patient was put under
deep anaesthesia and heavy sedation while the corrective surgery was in progress
(Plate RS 6).
I
Plate RS4: Boran cattle Plate RS 5: Ruminant diagnostic Plate RS6: Radiography of Boran
fracture radiograpy: radiography: antero-posterior cattle corrective surgery
*Note the over-riding view of cattle with complete *Re-aligned metacarpal bone of
transverse fracture as seen transverse fracture. same case. *Note intramedullary
from latero-rnedial view. pinnary and plating.
After surgical repairs, the patient and the surgeon who is the inaugural
lecturer of today posed for a friendly photograph. (Plate RS 7). The patient then
"opted for a personal photo to bid good-bye" to the Veterinary hospital shortly
before being discharged back to the farm some nine weeks after corrective
surgery (Plate RS 8).
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 479
Plate RS 7: Showing the surgeon (Inaugural Lecturer) and the patient after corrective surgery.
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480 L.A. Oladosu
Plate RS 8: Showing ruminant (Boran Cattle) restructured. The patient was using affected limb
after corrective orthopaedic surgery.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 481
Ruminant Tuberculosis Studies
Organs Condemnajion in sheep and goats due to Tuberculosis at Bodija,
Abattoir, Ibadan (Figures 1-4)
Wintope and Oladosu (1998)
As a fellow of the Royal Institute of Public .Health and Hygiene (FRIPHH) of the
United Kingdom, food safety and related public Health issues are of paramount
interest as part of my problem solving veterinary clinical research and services to
Equine and Ruminant livestock. This was with particular reference to horses,
cattle, sheep and goats.
To this end, I initiated further updating of data in 1998 to appraise the factors
that were complimentary to the apparent upsurge in the number of encountered
human clinical tuberculosis observed in lbadan at that time. This thought was
based on the hypothesis and proposition that possibly the level of clinical and
inapparent Tuberculosis infection in the beef consumed from slaughter houses at
Ibadan may be significantly responsible for the apparent increase in the cases of
human tuberculosis ofthe time as shown in Figures 1-4.
Fig. 1: Histogram showing organs condemnation ,
and causes for the month of July 1999 in cattle at
'::0 Bodija Abattoir, Ibadan, Nigeria.
100 I,;
IOTot:lll~Onde~'lYI I
im P!lrU~! COOd~~~8!~~1
I,···"
th so
o
-e
~ II.·...]·•...-.I·.~.:I..~..'-~ev'o- :.=
~1l
;
i
i
01_
11<I - Lungs (Tuberculosis); 2 - Udder (Fibrosis);
3 - Lung (Pneumonia), 4 - Liver (Fascioliasis)
5 - L4ijg (Abscess); 6· Intestine (f}~ljore&~)
7 - Liver (Tqberculosis); 8 -Skin (StrclltPt!lrico~is)
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482 L.A. Oladosu
80 III Total condemnation
E Partial condemnation
70
,
en
~C I
en 60 i I
o ·jl
-.;:J
Cl>
c
E 50 .1 !
(l)
<:::l
C
<o.) 40
o
30
20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
CaUH'S
~ 1 - Lungs (Tuberculosis); 2 - Lung (Fibrosis)
3 - Lung (Pneumonia); 4 - Liver (Fascioliasis)
5 - Liver (Tuberculosis); 6 - Liver (Cirrhosis)
7 - Uterus (fetus-in-utero); 8 - Intestine (putrefaction)
9 - Kidney (Nephritis); 10 - Spleen (Congestion)
11 - Skin (Streptothrico-
Fig. 2: Histogram showing organs condemnation and causes for the month of August 1999 in cattle
at Bodija Abattoir, Ibadan, Nigeria.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock for Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 483
100 [JJ Total condemnation
I El Partial condemnation90
<Il
c: 80 I
aj I
CJ)
'-
0 70
-0
(l)
c:
E
Q) 60
-0
c.:
0
u 50 I -
0
'Q-)
..CI 40
F.
:::J
:z
30
20
10
0
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Causes
1 - Lungs (Tuberculosis)
2 - Lung (Fibrosis)
3 - Lung (Pneumonia)
4 - Liver (Fascioliasis)
5 - Liver (Abscess)
6 ~Liver (Cirrhosis)
7 " Intestine (Balooning)
8- Skin (Streptothricosis)
9 - Uterus (Fetus-ill-utero)
Fig. 3: Histogram showing organs condemnation and causes for the month of September 1998 in
cattle at Bodija Abattoir, Ibadan, Nigeria
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484 L.A. Oladosu
... ,
110 •
Ii Total condemnation
g Partial condemnation
100
~ 90
{. '
80
-o 50
Q)
..0
E
::::J 40
::z:
30
20
10
-----1· 2_. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Causes
1 - Lungs (Tuberculosis); 3 - Lung (Fibrosis)
2 - Lung (Pneumonia); 4 - Liver (Fascioliasis)
5 - Liver (Abscess); 6 - Liver (Tuberculosis)
7 - Intestine (Balooning); 8 - Udder (f)1llstitjs)
9 - Skin (SIJ"rptPJ)JJjcos.i;;) 10 ~Ki,ineY.(N~p,~ritis)
)) - Heart (Tuberculosis)
Fig. 4: Histogram showing organs c~?demnati?n and causes for the month of
October 1999 in cattle at Bodija Abattoir, Ibadan, Nigeria.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock for Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 485
Therefore, for the purpose of establishing the prevalence and causes of
carcass and organ condemnation of slaughtered cattle in the urban city of lbadan,
a\l extensive abattoir survey was carried out over a period of 4 months - July to
October, 1998 at the Bodija Municipal Abattoir, Oyo State.
During the period, 26,458 slaughtered cattle were involved in the carcass
evaluation. Routine inspections were also carried out before and after slaughter.
During ante-mortem inspection, 1152 cattle were held as suspect for partial and
total carcass/organ condemnation.
Mastitis was the most common (27.95%) followed by emaciation (22.92%)
and diarrhoea (9.12%). Other less common ante-mortem conditions responsible
for carcass/-organ condemnation included lameness, dehydration and
streptothricosis.
At postmortem inspection, 1,462 organs were condemned. Tuberculosis was
.the most common cause of organs condemnation accounting for about 50% (of
all condemnations. Of this percentage, tuberculosis of the lungs accounted for
80%); followed by fascioliasis (25%), and pneumonia (18.2%). Other significant
conditions which caused partial and total carcass/organ condemnation were
ballooning, and multiple abscesses (Figs. 1-4).
From the above observations, and the analysis of the data obtained, it was
concluded that:
(i) Mastitis which accounted for 27.95%, emaciation, 22.92% and
diarrhoea, 9.12% of ante-mortem condemnation at the Bodija abattoir
continued to be of great public health hazard in the consumption of beef
in lbadan.
(ii) Tuberculosis which caused 50%, fascioliasis, 25% and pneumonia;
18.2% of postmortem organs condemnation at the Bodija abattoir, is of
tremendous public health concern resulting in an upsurge in the number
of human clinical cases of tuberculosis. These were predominantly seen
in adult, women and children. From our observations of the results
obtained, it could be concluded that restructured veterinary clinical
practice, by timely and thorough meat inspection, when carried out by
well trained veterinarians, would enhance safe meat consumption. This
will improve health of the public due to prevention of clinical
tuberculosis and other zootomic diseases which would have otherwise,
been rampant among the populace.
Odebiyi and Oladosu (1999): Sheep and goats organ condemnation data
Similarly, the study was carried out to detect the various clinical conditions
responsible for carcass and organs condemnation in sheep and goats at the
Municipal Abattoir, Bodija, lbadan. The work was carried out between the
months of July and October, 1998. During this period, 5,600 sheep and 4,300
goats which were slaughtered at the abattoir were examined. In sheep, 907 and
494 cases of total and partial organ condemnations, respectively were
encountered. In goats, 596 and 359 cases of total and partial organ
condemnations, respectively were encountered (Figs. 1 - 2).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
486 L.A. Oladosu
~ Part:ial organ condeJrmation
100 ~, £3Total organ condemnation
I
80 +I
"O'"JI=: I
~
-,;0
~'" 60 t
E
E
;:>
"'- iI
r
tI40
I
I
I
I
!
i,.
I
~
P111\ply Fetu. 11'1
9U< utero
Causes·
Fig. 1: Histogram showing number of organ condemnation and causes for the month of July, 1999
in goats at Bodija Abatoir, Ibadan Nigeria.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 487
B. OVINE 34.
100I
Sl Partial organ condemnation
80 T t3Total organ condemna·ti.on
i
"0.•. 60
p
0'")
-2; t
1')
Bs
;;;;J
"'" 40 -
20
......
...
.............
.
...
...
.•.
.
..............
.
.... .
..
',.
·.It •••
......
Pn~umonlfl Cyst PiG,ply Fetus in
out ut"ero
Causes
Fig. 2: Histogram showing number of organ condemnation and causes for the month of July, 1999
in sheep at Bodija Abbatoir, Ibadan, Nigeria
The various conditions encountered at the time of this work included:
_ oesophagostomiasis which accounted for 25 (2.1%) of all cases in sheep and
30(3.2%) in goats; pneumonia, 38.2% and 28.3% in sheep and goats,
respectively. Mastitis, 37.5% and 36.2% in sheep and goats, respectively;
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
488 L.A. Oladosu
abscess, 17.1% and 19.8% in sheep and goats, respectively and cysts, 11.5% and
12.7% in sheep and goats respectively (Figs. 3 - 7).
f TA. CAPRINE120
~ Partial organ condemnation
100
I::l Total organ dondemnation
80
"0
Q.J
E.'"•.
""0
8'" 60•...
1(
~
~;;;J
40
..........................
...... ......
20 ............ .......... ...................
:::::: :.!i.!!.'l.:i.! ~~~~~~
o +-~'-'~"~"4-~__ ~~ __ ~~~"~"~"~-+ __ ~~L-~ __ ~
Pnt!1Jlflonia nbace •• Cyst: Mll.tit!_ Pimply
Causes
Fig. 3: Histogram showing number of organ condemnation and causes for the month of August,
1999 in goats, and Bodija Abattoir, lbadan, Nigeria.
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Nigeria's Equine and.Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 489
B. OVINE
80
S!Partial organ condemnation
!:!Total organ condemnation
60
............ m......::::::
20 ..~.......~.... ~~H
1 :::
·mm m. ~. ~~
:::::: :. .:::::: :::::
o :.1./.1.1.1.1 I'.I..I.!:I.:.I.:.I !IIIIII~~4---~~~---+--~~~ __-4__-1:~:~:~::~_:_L~-~~:E:;~_:_~+:-~:~
Pne\;r.l<::nj,&
Cyst Hllllti.th Pimply r~tua in
gut utero
Causes
Fig. 4: Histogram showing number of organ condemnation and causes for the month of August,
1999 in sheep at Bodija Abattoir, Ibadan, Nigeria.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
490 L.A. Oladosu
y
A. CAPRINE
120
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100
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80
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Causes
Fig. 5: Histogram showing number of organ condemnation and cause for the month of September,
1999 in goats at Bodija Abattoir, Ibadan, Nigeria.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 491
A. CAPRINE
ISP! artial organ condemna"tion
100
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Fig. 6: Histogram showing number of organ condemnation and causes for the month of October
1999 in goats at Bodija Abattoir, Ibadan, Nigeria
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
492 L.A. Oladosu
100
ISP! artial organ condemnation
80 r:J Total organ condemnation
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Causes
Fig. 7: Histogram showing number of organ condemnation and causes, for the month of October,
1999 in sheep at Bodija Abattoir, Ibadan, Nigeria.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 493
From the point of view of Zoonosis, this work unraveled the common causes
of carcass and organs condemnation in sheep and goats, in a typical African City
of a developing Nation relative to what obtains in the developed countries of the
world. With these findings, attempts could be made to improve the prophylactic
and therapeutic measures against most zootomic disease conditions in these
animals, thereby improving the health of the populace through the consumption
of wholesome and disease-free meat.
In the course of my academic and clinical services pursuit over the last
27 years, I had been involved in the number of research investigations.
These investigation were carried out while rendering clinical services
through the veterinary teaching hospital and my department of veterinary
medicine in the specialty of equine and ruminant livestock. Within the same
period, the Almighty Allah Has given me the privilege of using my local and
international experiences and exposure to restructure and improve the
health and well-being of these large livestock.
FURTHER STUDIES ON EQUINE LIVESTOCK
For the improvement of health of horses a number of problem solving research
investigations carried out, mainly to assist and sustain polo industry in Nigeria
include the following.
The incidence and economic significance of equine babesiosis in Lagos and
lbadan., Nigeria! (Oladosu and Dipeolu 1981 a)
Most of the literatures available on the incidence of babesiosis in Nigeria are
concerned with species, which infect cattle, and they were mostly from Northern
Nigeria (Folkers, Kuil and Pede 1967; Leefland and llemobade 1977; Akinboade,
Dipeolu and Adetunji 1981).
In this investigation, a report is highlighted on a 5-year survey of the
incidence and economic significance of equine babesiosis in 8 horse herds in
Lagos and lbadan involving a population of 2,627 horses (Tables 1 - 2).
The study was carried out to assess the incidence and economic significance
of equine babesiosis in Lagos and lbadan. These are the urban centres in
southwestern Nigeria where horses are predominantly used for polo
playing, patrols of the mounted units of the Nigerian Police and for
individuals' pleasure rides (Tables 3 - 4).
A high incidence of clinical babesiosis, some of which ended fatally was
found. Many horses especially the imported Argentinian horses died as a result of
acute infections caused by horse tick fever Equine Babesiosis - (Table 4).
The most critical periods of deaths were shortly after the importation or when
horses moved from the northern part of the country to the two areas covered. The
field clinical data from the areas investigated showed that more and more horses
were died as a result of this same disease. Stress of polo playing and those arising
from other inter-current diseases were found to be the major predisposing factors.
The incidence of the disease was highest during the rainy season when the
population of the tick vectors ofthe disease was highest (Table 4).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
494 L.A. Oladosu
Our investigation also showed that an average of 10 Argentinian horses were
dying annually in Lagos and lbadan alone. These horses were the ones popularly
used for polo playing in view of their size and body conformations.
Plate 1: Blood Parasites of Horses Babesia caballi within the red blood cells
Plate 2: Showing blood parasite of horses Babesia equi at different stages of multiplication
with the stained red blood cells
Considering the fact that each of the 10 imported Argentinian horses that
died annually cost between N800,OOOand N2.5m, the financial loss suffered by
polo enthusiasts due to Equine babesiosis alone becomes collosal. Between N8m.
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 495
and N25m were thus lost annually from the country's foreign exchange reserve as
a result of deaths of horses caused by this disease in Lagos and lbadan alone
(Table 3).
The clinico-pathological features and containment of equine babesiosis in
Nigeria. (O/adosu and Dipeolu 1981b)
In Nigeria, reports on the clinico-pathological aspects of Babesia infections of
equines are not widely documented. Nevertheless, several field clinical
experiences (Olotu 1978; Adejumobil979; ldris Alhaji 1981, and Dipeolu and
Oduye 1976) showed the disease to the highly endemic and highly pathogenic in
the country. This investigation attempts to put on record the major clinico-
pathological features of the disease in Nigeria in relation to the various strategies
that could be used for the control of the problem (Table 1).
In our three-year clinico-pathological investigations on equine babesiosis in
major horse areas of Nigeria, (Oladosu and Dipeolu 1981b) temperature
elevation, anorexia ecchymosis of the third eyelids, depression, thirst,
lacrimation, incoordination, rapid pulse, dyspnoea, rapid respiration, injected
mucous membranes were recorded. Turbulent colic and tetanic spasms of the
locomotory muscles, and "blood stained" tears were the fairly constant clinical
manifestations of acute cases. There were also, icterus of the mucous membranes,
sluggishness, severe weight loss, swelling of the supraoribtal areas, severe
anaemia, reddish brown urine, oedema of the limbs and lower abdomen. Weak
and irregular pulse and dehydration, blanched mucous membranes were some of
the signs observed in chronic infections.
Necropsy findings were generalised haemorrhage, watery blood with
prolonged clotting time, icterus of all tissues, excessive serous fluid in the
pleural, pericardial and peritoneal cavities, subcutaneous oedema and oedema of
the lungs hepatomegaly spenomegaly, pale and swollen kidneys. Most fatal cases
were characterised by coronary and epicardial haemorrhages, petechiae and
ecchymoses along most vessels of the heart enlarge and oedematous lungs with
subpleural deposits of yellow-coloured fluid or gelatinous materials. Others
manifested congested blood vessels of the abdominal viscera, petechiae and
ecchymoses of the serosal surface and serious enteritis. The predominant
parasitologic findings included the presence of organisms morphologically
typical of B. equi and B. caballi within the erythrocytes. The histopathologic
observations were degenerative changes of the liver with increased amount of
haematogenous pigments, congestion and haemosiderosis of the spleen
pulmonary oedema, generalised depletion of the lymphoid germinal centres and
cerebral oedema.
Results
Among the 1564 horses investigated in the 3-year period (1977 - 1979), 506
(32.4%) manifested clinico-pathological features of equine babesiosis. Of the 506
babesiosis cases, 67 (13.2%) were fatal (Table 1) out of which 43 (67.2%) cases
were confirmed to have died of B. equi infections, 12 (17.9%) of B. caballi, and
10 (14.9%) mixed infections.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
496 L.A. Oladosu
Table 1: Clinico-pathological Features and Containment of Equine Babesiosis
(a) Summary of horses investigated and anal sis (1977-1979)
Locations Total Number Number Mortality B. equi B. Mixed
surveyed with of rate (%) Deaths caballi deaths
clinical deaths deaths
babesiosis
Lagos 1024 312 49 15.7 34( 69.4) 9(18.4 ) 6(12.2
Ibadan 540 194 18 9.3 11 6.1) 3(16.7) 4(22.2
Total 1564 506 67 13.2 45( 67.2) 12(17.9) 10(14.9)
( ) Figures in parenthesis are in %
(b) Equine babesiosis incidence and infection rates with B. equi and B. caballi and both atlbadan
and Lagos, Nigeria (1976-1980)
Origin Total Total B. equi B. caballi Mixed Cases
and Examined Babesiosis Cases Cases
Years Cases
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Ibadan*
1976 173 63 36.4 42 66.7 18 28.6 3 4.8
1977 181 54 29.8 28 51.9 21 39.6 5 9.3
1978 188 72 38.3 48 66.7 18 25.0 6 8.3
1979 171 , 68 39.8 38 55.9 23 33.8 7 10.3
1980 193 82 42.5 55 67.1 21 25.6 6 7.3
Total 906 339 37.4 211 62.2 101 29.8 27 8.0
Table 1(b) (Contd.)
Origin Total Total B.equi B. caballi Mixed Cases
and Examined Babesiosis Cases Cases
Years Cases
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Lagos**
1976 317 98 30.9 70 71.4 22 22.4 6 6.1
1977 342 102 29.8 64 62.7 31 30.4 7 6.9
1978 331 93 28.1 74 79.6 10 10.8 9 9.7
1979 352 117 33.2 82 70.1 31 26.5 4 3.4
1980 379 121 31.9 75 62.0 39 32.2 7 5.8
Total 1721 531 30.9 365 68.7 133 25.1 33Q 6.2
*includes cases at Ibadan Polo Club, Ibadan saddle club, Ibadan race course stables and
Ibadan mounted units of the Nigerian Police stables
**includes cases at Lagos Polo Club, Ikeja saddle club, Obalende and Ikeja mounted units of
the Nigerian Police stables.
Table 2: A 5-year equine babesiosis incidence and rates of infection with B. equi, B. cab alii
and mixed infections at Ibadan and Lagos, Nigeria (1976-1980)
Total Total Clinical B. Equi B. caballi Mixed
Examined Babesiosis Cases Cases Cases
Cases
No. % No. % No. % No. %
Ibadan 906 339 37.4 211 62.2 101 29.8 27 8.0
Lagos 1721 531 30.9 365 68.7 133 25.1 33 6.2
Grand 2,627 970 36.9 576 59.4 234 24.1 69 7.1
Total .~,. •... , \,-
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Table 3: A 5-year incidence, morbidity and mortality rates of equine babesiosis in Lagos and
Ibadan (1976-1980)
Clinical Parameters 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
Total horses examined 490 523 519 523 572
Total babesiosis cases 161 156 165 185 203
Morbidity rates (%) 32.9 29.8 31.8 35.4 35.5
Deaths due to babesiosis 19 23 17 27 31
Death as % of babesiosis cases 11.8 14.7 10.3 14.6 15.3
Mortality (%) 3.9 4.4 3.3 5.2 5.4
Table 4: Seasonal distribution of enquine babesiosis cases in Lagos and Ibadan,
Nigeria (1976-1980)
Seasons 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
Rainy season
(April-Sept) No. 120 98 125 112 139
% 74.5 62.8 75.8 60.5 68.5
Dry season No. 41 58 40 73 64
(Oct-March) % 25.5 • 37.2 24.2 39.5 31.5
Total 161 156 165 185 203
Clinical illness and demonstrable parasitaemia (Plates 1 and 2) caused by
Babesia infection lasted a few days to a few weeks. Clinically recovered horses
were found to often join the ranks of infected, asymptomatic horses that become
carriers of Babesia organisms. When horses were stressed with Polo tournament,
this asymptomatic status was exacerbated into clinical illness.
Generally, the Babesia infected horses were dull, listless, jaundiced and in-
appetent with elevated rectal temperatures and heart rate. In acute cases
staggering gait, abdominal pain mimicking acute abdominal disease (violent colic
and Gastrointestinal tract disturbances), paleness and petechiation of the
conjuctival, buccal and vulval membranes, marked jugular pulsations, dyspnoea
and discoloured urine were conspicuously featured.
Fever and anaemia were consistent findings in both B. caballi and B. equi
infections. Rectal temperatures range from 39.5 - 4 1.8°C. B. equi infection often
result in intermittent fevers whereas the fever of B. caballi infections was more
constant. Affected horses become depressed with laboured respiration but often
continue to eat. Gait may be unsteady and head were often held down with neck
forwardly distended. Hypereamia of mucous membranes, ecchymosis of the third
eyelid, constipation, colic and ventral oedema were common signs. As the
disease progressed, anaemia become more severe, icterus develops along with
signs of dehydration. Sometimes constipation often progress into diarrhoea.
Haemoglobinuria were common in horses with B. equi infections but was rare in
horses with B. caballi. Concurrent pneumonia was a common diagnosis in
natural B: caballi infections. Only after a thorough physical examination could
primary disease be rightly diagnosed.
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498 L.A. Oladosu
Clinical and haematological features of stress induced babesiosis in Babesia -
equi infected indigenous horses (Oladosu and Olufemi 1988)
Introduction
Some studies on the haematological parameters of local horses in Nigeria and
those horses that were plagued with naturally occurring equine babesiosis
(Oladosu and Dipeolu, 1981 a, b) had been previously reported. However, the
clinical features and problems of stress induced relapses of babesiosis in premune
Polo horses appear to have been ignored.
In this investigation involving 123 local polo horses, an appraisal of the
clinical and haematological features of stress induced relapses of babesiosis in B.
equi and B. caballi premune indigenous Polo horses, is reported.
The horses
The stressed indigenous horses were brought from different polo clubs to lbadan
and were exposed to long distance transportation stress, heat stress (due to over
exposure to hot weather). They were kept in temporary stables during the
tournament periods with lack of sufficient drinking water and gastrointestinal
parasitism.
The Results
Actively stressed B. equi infected premuned indigenous polo horses, manifested
severe clinical syndromes characterised by partial anorexia, hyperthermia,
lethergy, extreme weakness, marked dehydration, ecchymotic third eyelid, pale
mucous membranes, sternal recumbency and coma. Some horses showed
complete anorexia, obvious colicy symptoms, watery blood, and
haemoglobinuria. The haematologic changes in the affected horses included
highly significantly (P<O.OI) low packed cell volume, reduced haemoglobin
concentration, depleted red blood cell counts and highly significantly (P<O.OI)
depleted neutrophils and lymphocytes.
Tables I and 2 show the effect of the multivariate stress factors on the
haematology of 14 of the 123 visiting local polo horses from Kano, Kaduna,
Sokoto, Zaria and Lagos. The haemotological parameters (i.e. PVC, HB, RBC
and WBC) of these horses, evaluated six (6) days after the onset of the week long
national polo tournament at lbadan showed highly significant differences
(P<O.OI) between the means of one hundred and nine (N = 109) Babesia negative
horses compared with the means of fourteen (N = 14) horses, which showed
stress induced relapses of B. equi infections (Table 1).
While the mean packed cell volume (PVC %) of the 109 Babesia negative
horses was 34.66, that of the 14 Babesia positive horses was highly significantly
(P<O.OI) reduced to 19.86 due to B. equi parasitaemia. Similarly, the mean red
blood cell (RBC) value dropped significantly (P<O.OI) from 6.72 x 106/rnn3 for
the N = 109 Babesia negative to 3.73 x 106/mm3 for the N = 14 Babesia positive
horses. Faecal examination of the horses from the Babesia Positive (BP) and the
Babesia Negative (BN) groups showed evidence of gastrointestinal parasites,
identified as strongyles, ascarids, pinworms, stomach worms, tapeworms and
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestock for Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 499
bots. A highly statistically significant (P<0.01) reduction also occurred in the
haemoglobin concentrations (HB); and the White Blood Cell (WBC) counts of
these horses. (Table 1). The mean differential leucocyte counts were selectively
affected (Table 1). There were highly significant (P<0.01) reduction in the mean
lymphocyte values of the BN and the BP horses (Table 2). The mean Basophilic
cells were also significantly (P<0.01) reduced.
The observed haemotologic alterations on these indigenous horses are more
glaringly shown with the histogram in Figure I for PVC, Hb, RBC and WBC
values and Fig. 2 for the differential leucocyte parameters.
The neutrophils and the monocytes were not significantly (P<0.05) affected
(Table 2).
Haematological Parameters of Argentmian Polo Horses with Acute
Babesiosis (Oladosu and Olufemi 1990)
Introduction
When an animal is exposed to unfavourable conditions such as: poor nutrition,
poor management, physical exertion, excessive stress and concurrent diseases, its
equilibrium is disturbed and the level of immunity is lowered (Courier, 1972). In
Nigeria, Argentinian ,horses which are popularly used for Polo sports are
frequently exposed to immense physical strain and exhaustion due to the
recycling polo tournaments. Such horses quite often manifest clinical disease
from haemoparasites which may be present at sub-clinical levels.
In this investigation the point prevalance of Babesia infection in 40
Argentinian Polo horses which had been under stress during a week-long polo
tournament is reported, including the observation of the haematological
parameters in the infected and non-infested polo horses.
Results
In the study of 40 stressed Argentinian horses, during the lbadan annual Polo
Tournament, 27 (67.5%) developed Babesia parasitaemia. The development of
babesiosis in the horses was associated with stress of the Polo games. Babesiosis
in the horses was characterised by significant (P<0.01) decreases I PVC, Hb. and
RBC, values. The leucocytes were variously affected and only the segmented
neutrophils and lymphocytes were very highly significantly (P<0.01) reduced.
Equine practitioners therefore should be aware that stress can produce clinical
diseases in horses thus allowing the clinical expression of a concomitant sub-
clinical infection.
Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4' show the mean haematological parameters ofBabesia
infected and non-infected Argentinian Polo horses from among the 40-visiting
animals. The number of horses with subclinical Babesia parasitaemia showing
recrudescent babesiosis before, during and after the polo tournament are
indicated in the same tables.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
500 L.A. Oladosu
Table 1: Mean Haemogram of Babesia-Infected and Non-Infected Argentinian Polo
Horses Before, During and after Tournament
Tournament Day Before Polo During Polo Tournament After Polo
Tournament .. Tournament
-2 -1 -{) 2 4 6 8 9
Babesia Infected (2) (2) (3) (8) (15) (27) (7) (2)
RBC (xlO<<lmm) 5.62 5.44 ±1.22 5.14 5.42 4.33 4.08 4.22 4.43
±O.82 ±O.72 ±O.91 ±1.32 ±O.78 ±1.I4 ±O.82
PCV% 30.42 29.64 26.48 23.48 22.55 20.48 23.65 24.72
±1.24 ±O.82 ±2.22 ±O.96 ±O.75 ±4.77 ±O.94 ±1.04
Hb. (gmldl) WBC 7.24 6.98 ±1.02 6.92 5.88 6.82 5.93 5.84 5.91
xl(Pmlm') ±O.66 5.98 ±C.84 ±O.44 ±1.I2 ±O.66 ±1.67 ±O.72 ±O.62
5.92 5.88 5.66 5.44 4.51 4.63 4.02
±O.16 ±O.44 ±O.87 ±b.72 ±1.25 ±O.40 ±1.22
Non-Infected RBC (38) (38)7.95 (37) (32) (25) (13) (13) (38)
(xIO<<lmirf) 7.06 ±O.51 7.62 6.92 6.48 . 7.44 7.68 7.87
±O.91 ±1.24 ±1.84 ±2.31 ±2.42 ±O.61 ±O.55
PCV(%) 33.44 32.62 33.12 34.12 33.22 32.82 33.82 32.62
±1.32 ±O.88 ±1.42 ±O.84 ±1.85 ±3.45 ±O.94 ±1.72
Hb. (gmldl.) 10.75 11.30 11.22 10.88 10.92 10.80 11.48 11.52
±O.44 ±O.68 ±O.21 ±O.42 ±1.I2 ±O.62 ±1.24 ±O.41
WBC (xKPAnm) 7.48 7.12 ±O.74 6.82 7.46 6.48 8.05 8.02 7.32
±O.16 ±O.14 ±O.62 ±O.22 ±2.86 ±O.44 ±O.64
= Figure in parentheses indicate the number of infected and non-infected Argentinian Polo horses
= Day of Berenil (R) treatment. ±= Standard Deviation.
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Table 2: Mean Leukogram (±SD) of Argentianian Polo Horses with Acute
Before During Polo After Poto
Polo
Tourna- Tournament Tournament
ment
Tournament -2 -I ----{) 2 4 6 8 9
Day'
Babesia (2) (2) (3) (8) (15) (27) (7) (2)
Infected
S/Neutro 42.35 43.14 43.22 41.82 41.31 39.89 39.92 38.48
% +5.26 ±434 ±3.14 +6.25 ±5.88 ±6.94 ±6.26 ±5.13
Lympho. 26.52 27.34 26.27 21.48 20.56 19.93 18.48 19.36
% +6.41 +5.04 +4.42 ±4.32 ±5.22 ±3.57 ±4.32 ±5.12
Eosino. 1.22 1.43 1.46 1.49 1.31 1.41 1.38 1.02
% ±O.86 ±1.03 #>.13 ±1.I2 ±O.87 ±1.82 ±0.72 ±O.88
Mono. 2.32 1.64 2.14 1.92 2.04 1.59 1.48 2.12
% ±O.92 ±O.gS ±O.72 ±1.21 +0.77 ±1.31 ±1.02 ±O.47
Baso 0.33 0.52 0.48 0.48 0.55 0.15 0.42 0.27
% ±O.12 ±O.22 ±O.1l ±O.32 ±0.l8 ±0.36 ±O.l7 ±O.15
Non-Infected (38) (38) (37) (32) (25) (13) (33) (38)
S/Neutro. 58.43 57.52 57.62 57.72 56.45 58.54 57.62 56.82
% ±6.82 t6.12 ±5.23 ±6.33 ±8.42 ±7.38 ±7.38 ±8.44
Lympho. 27.42 26.22 27.41 26.48 25.88 27.92 27.43 26.22
% +7.89 ±7.18 ±5.62 ±!t.87 ±9.22 ±8.14 ±7.88 ±6.87
Eosino. 1.04 1.67 1.47 1.84 1.21 1.15 1.03 1.64
% +1.14 ±1.I2 ±1.02 ±1.I2 ±0.86 ±1.41 ±1.24 ±1.32
Mono. 2.66 1.58 1.92 2.85 1.26 2.62 2.41 2.22
% +1.03 tl.ll! ±O.88 ±1.22 +0.72 ±1.45 ±1.26 ±1.34
Baso 0.26 0.46 0.44 0.51 0.42 0.23 0.28 0.12
% ±0.47 ±0.13 ±O.21 ±O.34 ±0.22 ±0.59 ±O.25 ±O.15
• = Figure in parentheses indicate the number of infected and non-infected ARgentinian Polo horses
•• = Day of Berenil (R) treatment ±= Standard Deviation
Two (5%) of the forty (40) Argentinian horses showed relapsed Babesia
parasitaemia with clinical symptoms of acute babesiosis two days before the
onset of polo tournament, following their arrival at lbadan. On days 2, 4 and 6
however, the number of horses with acute babesiosis rose to 8 and 15
respectively. At this time, all horses were treated with Berenil® at a dose of
3.5mglkg body weight for two consecutive days in the early hours of the
mornings. On days 8 and 9 post-treatment the number of horses with Babesia
parasitaemia dropped to 7 and 2 respectively. The parasitaemia in most horses at
this stage were lower. No mortality was recorded among the Babesia positive
Argentinian horses although paramasitaemia were high in some of the positive
cases before and during the polo tournament.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
502 L.A. Oladosu
Table 3: Haematological Parameters in Argentinian Polo Horses with Acute
Babesiosis
Haemic Comparative n x S.D. S.E. F-Value Prob F.
Values Sources
Horses Grouns
PCV(%) B. equi Negatives 13 32.82 3.45 0.96
vs
B. equi Positives 27 20.48 4.77 0.91 8.39 ... 0.0001
HB B. equi Negatives (BN) 13 10.80 1.24 0.34
vs
(zn. 100m1) B. eoui Positives (BP) 27 5.93 1.67 0.32 0.29 ... 0.0001
RBC B. equi Negatives (BN) 13 7.44 2.42 0.67
vs
(x106/mrn3) B. equi Positives (BP) 27 4.51 1.25 0.24 5.22 ... 0.001
WBC B. equi Negatives (BN) 13 8.05 2.86 0.79
(x103/mrn3) vs
B. equi Positives (BP) 27 4.51 1.25 0.24 5.22 ... 0.0004
N Total Horse Examined
X Mean
S.D. Standard Deviation
S.E. Standard Error of Mean
Highly Statistically
Significant (P< 0.0001)
n No. for each category of Argentinian horses
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Table 4: Leukocyte Differential Counts in Argentinian Polo Horses with Acute Babesiosis
Haematologic Comparative
-.
Parameters Sources
(horses Groups) n x S.D. s.E. F-Values ProbF
SlNeutro. B. equi Negative 13 58.54 ±1.38 ±2.05 7;63*** OJ)OOI
vs
% B. equi Positive 27 39.89 ±6_94 ±i.33
Lympho. B. equi Negative 13 21-92 ±8.14 ±2.26 5.19*** 0.0004
vs
% B. equi Postive 27 19.93 ±3.57 ±O.69
Eosino. B. equi Negative 13 1.15 ±L41 ±O.39 L69- 03445
vs
% B. equi Positive 27 L41 ±L82 ±O35
Mono. B. equi Negative 13 2.61 ±1.45 ±O.40 L22- 0_6428
vs
% . B. equi Positive 27 1.59 ±UI ±O.25 .
Baso. B. equi Negative 13 0.23 ±O.59 ±O.16 2.74* 0.0306
vs
% B. equi Positive 27 0.15 ±O.36 ±O.07
N Total No. of horses examined
X Means ofhaemic values
SD. Standard Deviation
S.E. Standard Error
ns Not significult (p > .05) .
Statistically significant (P< 0.05)
Highly significant (P<. 000 I)
n No. in each category of horses.
NIGERIA'S POVERTY SITUATION
How much poverty one finds in Nigeria will depend on one's definition of
poverty, especially since so much controversy surrounds the whole question as to
what constitutes poverty. So, I must precede my assessment of the poverty
situation in Nigeria with some conceptual clarifications.
Poverty Concepts
The most widely used approach for defining poverty and for identifying the poor
is the poverty-line approach. By this approach, a certain level of income is
identified as the minimum income, which an individual or an ordinary household
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
504 L.A. Oladosu
in the given society requires, daily or monthly, for their most basic or most
essential needs. Anyone in the given society, whose income falls below that
minimum, is then identified below the poverty-line.
For example, the World Development Report 2000/2001 gives the
percentage of the population falling below the US$1.0/day poverty-line as 18.5
as at 1998, for China, and 70.2 for Nigeria.
Indeed, the poverty-line approach makes a lot of sense. For example:
(i) It is true that poverty is, primarily, economic even though its
manifestations are, essentially, cultural, since they refer to the totality of
the living conditions and life-style of the poor.
(ii) The poor in any society are differentiate from the non-poor by their
economic disabilities and by living conditions and life-styles, which are
largely determined by those disabilities.
(iii) Thus, income-poverty is central to the whole poverty experience at
individual and household levels and the poverty-line could, therefore, be
a useful predictor of many of the cultural, life-style and attitudinal
attributes commonly associated with poverty.
Having said that, however, I must qualify this endorsement of the poverty-
line methodology in three ways, namely:
i. The notorious problem of income measurement in Nigeria poses a
serious limitation to the suitability and application of the approach in
this setting and justifies serious reservations concerning summary
evaluations based on it.
11. In view of the limitations of personal/household income data obtainable
in most developing countries, including Nigeria, it is hazardous to rely
on such data alone in assessing the poverty situation in such countries.
(Indeed, in such countries, the poverty-line approach must always be
used in combination with a more independent observation and
assessment of certain concrete aspects of the actual living conditions
and life-style of the populations. For example, housing conditions and
environment; child-rearing practices and capacities (nutrition, clothing,
education); morbidity patterns; healthcare culture and health-seeking
behaviour; economic adjustment behaviour, spiritual life.
111. Indeed, the prevalence of poverty in a society can be established through
a careful assessment of the actual living conditions of the people,
whether or not such an assessment ends up in any single index
of poverty.
(This is to say that neither an assessment based on the poverty-line
methodology nor the construction of a sophisticated single index of poverty is a
necessary condition for tackling the poverty problem).
There is one conceptual issue on which I must comment in order to complete
this clarification. The issue concerns relativist notions of poverty, notions, which
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 505
suggest that poverty i~ a relative thing. Let me quickly consider four examples of
the relativist notion:
(i) Poverty as Inequality
According to this notion, poverty simply means that some people have less
resources than others, which is natural (all fingers are not equal).
Of course, poverty refers too much more than inequality; it refers to a life-
situation characterized by want, frustration, human suffering and disgrace.
Poverty must be seen as a social problem in its own right, even if inequality
is one of its major causes.
(ii) Poverty as a function of prevailing standard of living
According to this notion, persons defined as poor in one society may have a
standard of living, which would place them among the non-poor in some other
less affluent society.·
This is very true. But it only means that one must be careful in making
international or even inter-temporal comparisons. It does not mean that the poor
in the more affluent society are not poor, since the relevant reference point and
yardstick in their case is the higher standard of living prevailing in their own
country.
(iii) Poverty as an elastic concept
According to this notion, 'the poor', as identified in most cases are not
homogeneous categories, in terms of their levels of poverty.
This observation is true but even those who are less poor among the poor are
poor, nevertheless, as long as their life-situation and living conditions manifest
the income problem and other disabilities associated with poverty. But then, it
should be possible to differentiate meaningfully, between 'the poor' and 'the very
poor' or the desperately poor, so that the latter can receive more urgent attention
than the former, especially, relief measures.
(iv) Poverty as subjective feeling ,
According to this notion, a person is only as poor as he/she feels; that is, poverty
is all in the mind.
This is, perhaps, the most pernicious of relativist notions, especially when
one considers its possible implications for policy: that we can 'solve' the poverty
problem by doing everything to make the poor 'feel' and 'believe' that they are
not poor; by conditioning their mind to see the objective state of poverty in which
they live as something else.
Thus, we find that these relativist notions are, in general, plausible, at least in
the sense that they do not assert anything that is false. However, we also find
that they add little, if anything at all, to our understanding of the poverty
phenomenon.
Unfortunately, relativist motions also have a tendency to trivialise poverty
and divert attention away from the concrete social problem that poverty is,;
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\:-.~.
': .:~o'~i># -L.A. Oladosu
indeed to encourage the illusion that poverty is something that is neither here not
there, and not a definite problem to which society must find a solution.
How much Poverty
From whichever angle one views the situation, one finds that there is a lot of
poverty in Nigeria and that Nigeria's poverty problem is quite serious. I will
illustrate the point with respect to the following four (4) aspects of the poverty
situation:
1. Aggregate national poverty;
u. Income-poverty at household/individual level;
ui. Poverty-driven social problems (The social costs of poverty).
Aggregate National Poverty
We need not belabour the point that Nigeria is now one ofthe poorest nations on
earth, when poverty ismeasured in terms of Gross National Product (GNP), per
capita. According to the World Development Report 2000/2001, Nigeria's
GNP/Capital (1999) was US$310.00, which put the country in the 179th position
among the 206 countries surveyed and ranked in the exercise.
What this depressing per-capita-income statistic (US$31 O/year) means is that
the average Nigerian had an income of much less than one US dollar per day
during 1999. But the situation on the ground was much worse than that, since
most Nigerians in fact had incomes that were below the average, and this shows
that we must pay even more attention to the prevailing structure of income
distribution.
On that point, Nigeria also had a bad reputation, since most of the nation's
income (and wealth) is, in fact, in the hands of the privilege few. In that
pernicious group of the few who practically own the rest of us are a few
successful entrepreneurs in productive, manufacturing, construction, commercial
and service activities, a large number of retired military officers, many serving
military officers, some retired and some serving police officers, many retired and
many incumbent top bureaucrats (permanent secretaries, directors-general,
directors, etc), both the retired and the incumbent board members and top
executives of the oil companies, the major companies in the private sector,
professional politicians, the various categories of 'contractors' whose "business"
activities, oil and drive the wheels of corruption at all levels of public
administration, etc.
The activities, insensitive greed and callousness of all these people have
created the structure of wealth-distribution and income-distribution which now
. exists in Nigeria and which is not only inegalitarian but also inequitable, even by
capitalist standards. Of course, such activities and their cumulative outcome
have also been facilitated by a macro-policy environment in which the control of
inequalities in interpersonal incomes was not considered an important objective.
Writing in 1981, Diejomaoh and Anusionwu noted: " ... a very substantial
increase in personal income inequalities in the Nigerian economy from 1960-
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Nigeria's Equine and Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 507
1979, and currently the levels of inequalities are quite high by the standard of
developing countries and about twice the level in developed countries".
As one would expect, given the continuous insensitivity of government in
Nigeria to the inequality problem, the situation has remained quite bad. The Gini
Index (of income concentration) in Nigeria (as at 1996/97) has been estimated at
50.6. In comparison, the Gini Index for Ghana (1997) was 32.7 for Cote d'lvoire
(1995) was 36.7, for the United States of America (1997) was 40.8, for France
(1995) was 32.7 and for each of Belgium (1992), Denmark (1992), Japan (1993),
Norway (1995) and Sweden (1992), about 25.0.
In terms of how much of the national income is concentrated in the hands of
the top 10 per cent of the population, the situation is roughly as follows: Nigeria,
1997,40.8%; Ghana, 1997,26.1%; Cote d'lvoire, 1995,28.8%; United States of
America, 1997 30.5; France, 1995 25.1%; Belgium, 1992, 20.2%; Denmark,
1992 20.5%; Japan, 1993 21.7%; Norway, 1995, 21.8%; and Sweden, 1992,
20.1%. (Source: World Development Report 2000/2001,).
Nigeria's Poverty Statistics
The statistics on poverty in Nigeria is appalling. Poverty has been on the
increasing trend. The standard of living and the quality of life of most Nigerians.
today are worse than they were at Independence. In particular, the last 15 years
has witnessed a steady decline in living standard. Nigeria remains the only low-
income country in OPEC. The standard of living in Nigeria is lower than the
average for low-income countries and slightly higher for the sub-Sahara Africa.
Today, Over 72 per cent survive on less than US$2.00 per day. US$1
Alongside the deep poverty is the problem of income inequality. About 10
per cent of the population controls over 40 per cent of nation's income. These
grim statistics imply that only the upper 10 per cent of the population live above
poverty. The middle-class that is so critical to any country's development has
disappeared. The incidence of poverty in the country falls hardest on farmers,
the rural and old people, women, children, the informal sector operators, the
disabled, the unemployed and under-employed. The worsening state of poverty
in Nigeria is a threat to national security, political security as well as constraint to
economic growth. Poverty has been linked with the increasing scourging of
HIV/AIDS and social problems such as prostitution, child labour, diverse and
religious intolerance. Poverty is a serious problem for both the poor and non-
poor alike. The army of unemployed and poor youths in the country today is a
threat to security of lives and property.
Although, the poverty problem predates the present civilian government, the
fact is that little has been done to relieve Nigerians from the scourge of the
problem. Situations in the country have degenerated to that level that people
have not much room for choice. It is either they are waiting for the inevitable
slow death through hunger or they take the risk of living for one more day by
engaging in whatever criminal or risky activities they find.
The' corruption, incompetence and unaccountability of past regimes, both
civilians and military, have been the causal factors for poverty. The manner with
which politicians flaunt their ill-gotten wealth is obscene. The amount of
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
508 L.A. Oladosu
stealing going on at all levels of government today and the huge allocation that
political office holders award to themselves as salaries, allowances. and
perquisites of office given the extensiveness and depth of poverty in the land are,
to say the least, provocative, a reflection of insensitivity to the massive poverty in
the land and a threat to the democratic stability of the country.
Unless the poverty issue is effectively tackled, the groundswell of opposition
and resentments that will develop would provide a breeding ground for the
enemies of democracy. The cynicism and hopelessness that are creeping over the
national polity and that are so evident in the faces of many Nigerians in recent
times are an indictment of the current political process. Therefore, addressing the
deep poverty and inequality in the land is the only guarantee for the sustenance of
the present democratic experiment.
Therefore, taking a decisive step against the growth of poverty is the only
way for democracy and development to thrive.
Refocusing Governments Poverty Alleviation Scheme
To solve the poverty question, a reorientation of government policies to focus on
improving the welfare of the youth, the aged and the weak in the society, boost
the supply of social and economic infrastructure and show a gr,:eater fiscal
commitment to human capital development. First, the easy money culture, which
penalizes those who are hardworking, should be discouraged. Second, political
offices should not be seen as avenues for accumulation of wealth but for service
to the nation. Poverty alleviation also requires effective partnership among major
stakeholders, the government, the private sector, non-profit organization,
international donors and the civil society.
Nationwide Agro-Livestock Pilot Farm Project
The Federal Government of Nigeria proposed 109 Pilot Farm Centres nationwide
as part of government's Special Programme on Food Security (SPFS) and
Poverty Alleviation. This is a right step in the right direction and a welcome
development in the implementation of measures against Poverty.
The farm pilot projects are designed to be established by and supervised on
behalf of the Federal Government by the Projects Coordinating Unit (PCU) of the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This proposal as
disclosed by the Ministry at the opening address of the 14th Annual Southwest
Zonal Workshop on Research Extension Farmers Input Linkage System
(REFILS) at the IAR&T, Ibadan on Tuesday February 20,2001.
Military Rulership and Poverty Perpetration
The agony of the majority of the Nigerians is a direct indictment of the greed and
cruelty of the ruling class. The rulers at the Federal, State and local government
levels must strive earnestly to fmd urgent and enduring solutions to the general
insecurity of life and property, hunger, homeless and unemployment. The
governed should also imbibe the spirit of industry, forgiveness, cooperation and
magnanimity. Nigerians in academics and research institutes should in particular
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Nigeria's Equine an~ Ruminant Livestockfor Polo, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 509
design programmes that will effectively eradicate the menace of poverty and
food insecurity in all its ramifications.
Poverty Alleviation with Prayer and Determination
Furthermore, giving lip service to poverty eradication will not soive the problem.
It demands reaching a state of mind where you believe that poverty is not, yours
and you are able to act and feel like that in your day to day activities. You must
know that Allah is God of Abundance. He has plenty to give and if He gives
you abundantly, this does not reduce His bounteous blessing at all. He said in the
Holy Quran:
"To him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth. He
enlarges the provision for whomsoever He pleases and straitens
it for whomsoever He pleases. Surely He knows all things fully
well. " Quran 42 vs 12.
With the proper knowledge and spiritual prayer you will ask God and you shall
surely receive abundantly. Pray over your problems, throw it in the hands of God
and believe you shall receive. God said:
" ... I answer the prayer of supplicant when he prays to Me ... "
Quran 2 vs 186
Have a clear focus on life attainment and make honest demand for riches: Never
believe that hardwork alone can bring riches. It is not true. Riches come in
response to definite demands and not by chance or luck. You must know what
you want in life and work towards that goal. Be honest in your business,
profession, trade or vocation and believe that you will surely succeed. Then you
will make it at last.
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transmission of Babesia bigemina and Anaplasma marginale to calves with
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I
Anon (1962): British Veterinary Association Handbook of Tropical Diseases pp.l28-150.
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Desbordes C.K. and Oladosu L.A. (1988): Investigations on the immunosuppresive
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Western Nigeria. Wiadomosci Parazytologiczne T. XIlI Nr. 2: 155-159
Folkers, C.,Kuil, H. and Perie, N.M. (1967): Prevalence of Babesia bovis (B. argentina)
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Annual Report.pp.l O-l L.
lITA. (1999): Director General's introductory remark Annual Report. Pp 43-45.
Lawrence P.R., Lawrence K. Dijkman, J.J. And Starkey, P.H., (1990): Research for
Development of Animal Traction in West Africa. The Proceedings of the Fourth
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Leeflang, P. and Ilemobade, A.A. (1977): Tick-borne diseases of domestic animals in
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value of furosemide in preventing renal failure. Surgery Vol.82 Nos.3:314-320.
Merkel, W.; Bormann,: Mania, D; Muschaweck, R, and Hropot, M. (1976: Piretanide
(Hoe 118), a new high ceiling salidiuretic. Eur. J. Med. Chem. Chimica.
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Oladosu, L.A. and Case A.A (1978): Large animal hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic plants.
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Oladosu, L.A. and Dipeolu, 0.0.(1981 a): The incidence and economic significance of
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Oladosu, L.A.; Falade,S. and Akpokodje, J.U. (1986): Equine brucellosis in Nigeria.
Zariya Veterinarian, Vol.l. No.2, 129-132.
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Oladosu, L.A.(1987b): Studies on some clinical aspects of equine Babesiosis. Ph.D.
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Oladosu,L.A. (1988): Effect of intravenous corticosteroid on the pathogenicity of
Babesia equi infection of donkeys (Equus asinus). J. Vet. Med.B. 35:509-514.
Oladosu, L.A. and H.E. Gamer (1990): Diuretic and tolerance responses to piretanide in
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Oladosu,L.A.; Olufemi,RE. (1990): Haematological parameters of Argentinian polo
horses with acute Babesiosis. Tropical Veterinarian 8, Nos. (3&4) 163-169.
Oladosu,L.A. and Gamer, H.E.(1991): A New technique for urine output determination
in mares. Trop. Veterinarian Vol.9 Nos. (1 & 2) 86-92.
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Oladosu, L.A. and Akpokodje,J.U. (1992): Rumen fistulation of the west African dwarf
rams for digestibility studies. Trop. Veterinarian Vol.JO, 30-33.
Olaide, A.M and Oladosu L.A (1994): A survey of gastrointestinal helminth parasites of
polo horses in Ibadan. DVM dissertation of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Ibadan.
Starkey, P. and Faye,A., (1988): Animal traction for agricultural development.
Proceedings of the third workshop of the West African animal traction
network. eTA Publication. pp 78-431.
Swendsen (1986): The Professional Handbook of the donkey. First edition published by
the donkey sanctuary. Sovereign Printing Group England, U'K. pp.85-90. ~
Wintope O.A and Oladosu L.A (1999): Prevalence and causes of carcass and ~rg~
condemnation at Bodija Abattoir, DVM dissertation, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Ibadan (66 pages).
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
22
COMPOSITIONAL CHARACTER: VERITABLE TOOL
IN THE APPRAISAL OF GEOMATERIALS
A. Ai Elueze
Department of Geology
Introduction
Description and Constitution of Geomaterials
For effective commencement of this scientific expedition from the obvious to the
normally unseen, it is appropriate to appreciate that geomaterials are naturally
occurring substances or matter of the earth, and essentially include rocks, and
their derivatives, notably regoliths and sediments. The geological cycle (Fig. 1)
provides a schematic illustration of the paths of transformation of these materials:
Specifically, rocks which are products of magmatism, sedimentation and
metamorphism, are invariably converted into regoliths and sediments by
superficial processes.
-==-'--,/ ?£DlMENTS T
Sur'tce.
.nvironm.rrt
., (IO'N prt'fiSIM'.'"'''~''~' and 1wmpercrtur. J
t:..\nUol.Uh.,.." .
• ",IIO"'UD.
T
SubSurfOa'
.nvi ronm.nt
(:!~\~::~r.'
, ~f'-;-I.!."'!".t~:-'t-'!.-;-!,'------- .-.C
Fig. 1: The geological cycle - transformation paths of geomaterials (modified after Strahler, 1981)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
514 A.A. Elueze
A rock is commonly regarded as an aggre;sate of one or more minerals. The
texture is invariably determined by the variations in size, shape, habit and
aggregation nature of the constituent grains or crystals. Regoliths and sediments
are generally composed of loose grains of minerals and rock fragments. On the
other hand, a mineral is mostly considered to be a naturally existing substance,
usually inorganic, and with a definite chemical constitution and an ordered
atomic arrangement.
Consequently, the compositional attributes of geomaterials are normally
defined from the mineralogical or geological (the obvious) and the elemental or
chemical (the usually unseen) perspectives. In essence, mineralogical and
chemical compositions are inherent qualities of any substance.
Compositional Indices and Variations In Geomaterials Characterization and
Distinction OfMinerals
Features ofminerals
Firstly, it is pertinent to remark that there is hardly any precise definition of a
mineral, which is generally acceptable. For instance, there are disagreements on
the form of occurrence, since some also rate natural fluids like water and
hydrocarbons.as minerals. Besides, from the genetic viewpoint, several minerals
have synthesized equivalents, while some, particularly the fossil fuels are
essentially of organic origin. Again, minerals generally lack fixed chemical
compositions, arising from differences in the extent of substitution. However,
the variations are commonly within definite limits. On the other hand, due to
envirofunental factors, they seldom assume regular crystal forms, to reflect their
ordered atomic arrangements.
Classification of minerals
Several schemes have been proposed for the separation of minerals. Over 2,500
species have been described and identified, especially through recent advances in
mineral analytical techniques. Therefore, it is virtually impossible to achieve a
comprehensive division.
Generalized grouping
Minerals usually exhibit stronger resemblances in physical attributes and rock
affinity, due to similarity in anion, rather than cation types; and hence, have often
been distinguished on the basis of the former. There are several adaptations of the
system originally designed by Berzilius (Berry and Mason 1959), and mostly
include native elements, sulfides, sulfosalts, oxides, carbonates, borates, sulfates,
phosphates, vanadates, tungstates and silicates.
Rock-forming minerals
These largely comprise the silicates which are the largest and commonest class of
minerals, and actually make up ca. 95% of the outermost shell of rocks, or the
crust of the earth (Table 1). In any case, several are considerably rare.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 515
Tabl';.1: Common Rock-forming Minerals (Silicates)
Name Chemical formula Crystal
system
Silica Group"
Quartz varieties Si02 Trigonal
Feldspar Group *
Orthoclase KAIShOg Monoclinic
Albite NaAI Si30g Triclinic
Anorthite Ca AhSi208 Triclinic
Feldspathoid Group *
Leucite KAI Sh06 Isometric
Nepheline NaAI Si04 Hexagonal
Mica Group
Muscovite* K Ah (AI Si30lO) (OH)2) Monoclinic
Lepidolite * KLi2 Al Si4 01O(OH)2 Monoclinic
Biotite** K (Mg, Fe)3 (AISi3 01O)(OH)2 Monoclinic
Amphibole Group**
Anthopyllite series (Mg, Fe)? Sig 022 (OH)2 Orthorhombic
Tremolite-Actinolite series (Ca2) (Mg, Fe)5 s., 022 (OH)2 Monolinic
Hornblende series NaCa2 (Mg, Fe, AI)5 (Si, AI)g 022 Monoclinic
(OH)2
Pvroxene Group**
Enstatite-Hypersthene series (Mg, Fe) Si03 Orthorhombic
Diopside-Hedenbergite series Ca (Mg, Fe) Si2 06 Monoclinic
Augite Ca (Mg, Fe, AI) (AI, Si)2 06 Monoclinic
Olivine series** (Mg, Fe)2 Si04 Orthorhom-
.. bic
*Felslc - rich m silicon (SI), aluminium (AI), sodium (Na), potassium (K) and calcium (Ca)
**Mafic - rich in iron (Fe) and magnesium (Mg) or ferromagnesian
Petrological discrimination
With regards to rocks, minerals present in substantial quantities, are classed as
essential constituents, and are mostly the silicates (Table 1). Those that occur in
small amounts, are referred to as accessory minerals, and are mainly oxides,
sulfides and phosphates. The light and dark-coloured are generally termed felsic
and mafic minerals, which invariably reflect the chemical distinctions as
specified in Table 1. In any case, the qualifications leucocratic and melanocratic
appropriately refer to rocks of corresponding tone, and hence mineralogy. For a
rock, the modal and normative compositions are given as the weight percents,
respectively of the actual minerals and the hypothetical ones derived from its
chemical analysis.
Economic categorization
The grouping of minerals has similarly been based on the modes of utilization;
for example, as outlined in Table 2. An ore mineral is that from which one or
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
516 A.A. Elueze
more valuable metals can be profitably extracted. Gangues are usually the waste
constituents found with ore minerals in deposits. Industrial or non-metallic
minerals are those consumed as raw materials in' construction, processing and
production. They have different functional uses, notably as abrasives, absorbents,
aggregates, ceramics, chemicals, cosmetics, fertilizers, fillers, filters, fluxes,
gems, insulators, lubricants, refractories and stones. Ore and industrial minerals
are collectively termed economic minerals. Energy resources include substances
which are utilized as fuels or harnessed to generate power.
Table 2: Economic classification of minerals
Class Uses Mineral composition
1. Ore Minerals
Precious metals Ornamental, Gold (Au), Silver (Az)
Iron and steel alloy Platinum (Pt)
Non-ferrous Ore of copper, ornamental Cuprite (CU20)
Ore of copper, ornamental Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2)
Ore of lead, accumulator Galena (PbS)
Ore of zinc, galvanizing Sphalerite (ZnS)
Ore of tin, canning, steel Cassiterite (Sn02)
Ore of manganese, steel Pyrolusite (Mn02)
Ore of nickel, steel alloy Pentlandite (NiS)
Ore of titanium, steel Rutile (Ti02)
alloy
Ferrous Iron and steel Magnetite (Fe304)
Iron and steel Haematite (Fez03)
Iron and steel Goethite (Fe203, H2O)
Iron and steel Siderite (FeC02)
2. Industrial
minerals
Electronics Mica, selenite, silica (SiO,)
Chemicals Phosphorite,barytes
Chemicals Flourspar (CaF2)
Insulators Asbestos, magnesite
Refractories Sillimanite, graphite
Gemstones Diamond, garnets, beryls
Abrasives Silica sands
3. Energy
Resources
Nuclear/radioactive Uraninite (V02)
Minerals Thorite (Th Si04) Thorianitc
f---- Fossil fuels (Th02 U3OS)
Coal, petroleum and natural
gas
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal of Geomaterials 517
Formation of Minerals
From the geological cycle (Fig. 1), it is obvious that minerals originate during the
activities of the evolution and transformation of rocks. Consequently, the
formation of minerals is dependent on the bulk chemical composition and the
physical conditions of the specific environment.
The two major mineral-forming processes of the subsurface or primary
environment are largely intrusive magmatism and metamorphism. According to
Bowen (Krauskopf 1985), the crystallization of minerals from magma with fall in
temperature, essentially involves two main paths of reaction, as depicted in Table
3. Magma is a molten mass usually composed mainly of 0, Si, AI, K, Na, Ca, Fe
and Mg, and low amounts of most other elements. Also, it always contains
fluids, substantially H20 and C02. The reactions usually result in the
partitioning of these major elements into the mineral crystals, and the preferential
retention in the residual volatile- and H20-rich fractions, of several of the minor
or incompatible elements. Metamorphism largely entails the transformation of
solid rocks, due to considerable variations in the physico-chemical conditions. In
essence, the mineral assemblages are changed to those that are in equilibrium,
and likewise may assume textural styles or fabrics as determined by the
prevailing interplay of heat, pressure and fluids activity.
Processes in the secondary environment, are commonly characterized by
atmospheric conditions of low temperature and pressure. Hence, primary silicates
are unstable, and presumably decay at rates in the reserve orders of the Bowen's
reaction series (Table 3). Inter-element relations are also significantly influenced
by environmental setting. Weathering and sedimentary reactions mostly involve
hydration, hydrolysis, oxidation, carbonation and dissolution. However, their
mechanisms are rather intricate, due to the complex structures of rock-forming
minerals. On the other hand, some constituents such as oxides and low-
temperature silicates virtually withstand decomposition, and are retained as
resistates in the residues and soils.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
518 A.A. Elueze
Table 3: The Bowen's Reaction Series
High temperature •
-I, II(Temperature fall)Olivine Anorthite
Ortho-soxene .BzytoL.ite,
Monoc inic pyroxene
I
HO~lende Andesine
\. I
Biotite ,oclase
\ Albite,/
Potash Feldspar
Muscovite
Quartz
Low temperature
I Discontinuous (ferromagnesian) series
II Continuous (plagioclase) series
Nature and Classification of Elements
Elements are the ultimate constituents of minerals, as they are substances which
normally cannot be split into simple or smaller components. However, the
periodic table which is essentially a structural categorization of the about 100
known ones, cannot fully account for their behaviours, due to the complexities of
geological environments. Consequently, the geochemcial discrimination of
elements based on parameters that are also related to their natural distribution,
have been found more tenable in investigating geomaterials.
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 519
Abundance character of elements
In terms of the natural' occurrences, elements can be said to have preferences for
different minerals, some of which are relatively rare, but are sometimes
concentrated in deposits. The most abundant elements are ultimately the main
components of magmas and the common silicate minerals (Table 1). Besides,
some less common metals like Cr, Ni, Y, Ti and Mn are often found as
substitutes for related elements in the silicates.
Consequently, from mean concentrations in crustal rocks, elements maybe
distinguished as major (%), minor (1/10%), trace (ppm) and rare (Ppb).
Geochemical classification of elements
On the basis of geochemical associations or affinities, elements can be grouped
as shown in Table 4. Similarly, they may be broadly separated into petrogenic
and metallogenic classes. The former largely tallies with the lithophile group
(Table 4), which constitute the bulk of rock-forming minerals, and are again the
major elements and their common substitutes. Metallogenic elements like Cu, Pb
and Zn are those found in ore minerals, particularly sulfides and sulfosalts, in
which they commonly make-up relatively high percentages, and are readily
extractable. These are invariably the chalcophile members (Table 4).
Table 4: Goldschmidt's 1954 Geochemical Classification of the Elements
Siderophile Chalcophile Lithophile Atmophile
Fe Co Ni Cu Ag (Au)* Li NaKRbCs HN (C) (0)
RuRhPd ZnCdHg BeMgCaSrBa (F) (CI) (Br) (I)
Re Os IrPtAu GaIn TI B Al Sc Y REE++ Inert gases
MoGeSnCP (Ge) (Sn) Pb (C) Si TI Zr HfTh
(Pb)(As)(W) As Sb Bi (P)VNbTa
S SeTe OCrWU
(Fe) (Mo) (Re) (Fe) Mn
F Cl BrI
(H) (T) (Ga) (Ge) (N)
Source:l(rauskop~ 1985
+ Parentheses around a symbol indicate that the element belongs primarily in another
group, but has some characteristics that relate it to this group. For example, gold is
dominantly siderophile, but (Au) appears in the chalcophile group because gold is often
found in sulfide veins.
+ + REE = rare-earth elements.
Development and Experience in the Compositional Disciplines
Historical Perspectives
Understanding the nature and distribution of geomaterials significantly
demonstrates the intimate linkage between geology and chemistry. The ranking
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
520 A.A. Elueze
between these subjects, essentially corresponds to that of a mineral and an
element, which may be comparable to that of a chicken and an egg. In any case,
historical records largely indicate that the jsolation and study of elements
emanated substantially from attempts to exploit and understand the character of
minerals and geomaterials. The earliest known techniques mostly involved
smelting. Therefore, the practice of chemistry can be regarded to have
commenced much later than geology, whose records actually date back to
prehistory. For instance, one of the earliest documentation on minerals (Berry
and Mason 1959) was by Theophrastus (ca. 372-282BC). Also, as shown in
Table 5, elements were generally discovered much later in human history. Even
the earliest known, namely gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, iron, mercury,
antimony, carbon and sulfur are essentially those minerals in the native or
elemental form. It is also remarkable that the first 6 metals are those mentioned
in the Bible.
Similarly in Nigeria, projects on geomaterials are amongst the earliest
indigenous trades (Elueze and Onuoha 1995). Perhaps, it would be interesting to
know if there are native names for the following minerals and elements. The
former are kaolinite, galena, halite, lignite and trona, while the latter comprise
silicon, aluminum, lead, sodium and oxygen. The expected responses may be
variable; however, there is seemingly no name in one's mother tongue for any of
the elements, especially if oxygen is not confused for air or breeze. As for the
minerals, the names "nzu", "otangele", "nnu ", "ako" and "akanwu" could be
applicable.
The practice of geology has likewise maintained invaluable relationships with
some applied disciplines, including mining/mining engineering, petroleum
engineering, metallurgy, mineral processing and materials science. These close
professional connections were clearly recognized by the pioneer Nigerian earth
scientists, with the founding of the Nigerian Mining, Geological and
Metallurgical Society in 1961, currently the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences
Society (NMGS).
Introductory Exposure
The study of chemistry commenced at the secondary level, in St Pius Grammar
School (SPGS), Onitsha-Ugbo, and was continued in the 2-years advanced level
(AIL) course of the part-time programme in Methodist Boys' High School,
Lagos. The absolute drive and visionary stance of the Principal, Chief J.1. Izah
(B.A., London), a pre-eminent 1950 alumnus of the University of Ibadan, and the
exceptional dedication of other staff members ensured that the SPGS training,
notably in the sciences, was excellent.
It is particularly noteworthy that in inorganic chemistry, even at the. AlL
course, mentions were made of the substances from which metallic elements can
be obtained. However, the fact that these are minerals, and constituents of rocks,
some of which occur in Nigeria, was then virtually unimportant.
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 521
Training and Skill A~quisition
With the NL qualification in mathematics, physics and chemistry, the admission
in 1971, was into the 3-year degree programme of the Department of Geology,
University of Ibadan. In the first year, all the 3 one-series 100-level courses of
inorganic, organic and physical chemistry were taken. Of the 3 corresponding
200-level courses, those in inorganic and physical chemistry, were offered in the
second year.
As regards geology, the first year was expectedly the initiation to the subject,
and the 3 years afforded the progressive exposure to the theoretical and practical
aspects of relevant courses. It was quite challenging to study the unique suite
comprising charnockites, syenites and pegmatites around Osuntedo, as the final
year research project. Besides, the recognition (with A.A. Akinyemi, one's
project partner) of the unusual rock composed dominantly of intergrown quartz
and tourmaline crystals, was equally symbolic, though was then classified as
tourmalized quartzite (Elueze, 1974). .
Research Activities
In terms of scholarship, the Department under the dynamic headship •o.f Professor
M.O. Oyawoye, FAS, FNMGS, OON, had by 1975, when I returned as a
postgraduate student, acquired a formidable complement of research facilities,
support personnel and experts, and been internationally designated a centre of
academic excellence. It enjoyed linkage relationships with institutions in
Holland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, British Columbia, Japan, the
USA and several African countries. The Department had also designed major
research projects, especially in the exploration and evaluation of mineral
occurrences of national significance, and particularly under the supervision of
Professor M.A. Olade, FNMGS, an exceedingly versatile scholar and motivator.
My initial work entailed stream sediments geochemical survey, and studies
of the compositional and genetic characteristics of the rocks, in relation to
elucidating the nature and distribution of the Ilesha gold mineralization. Having
highlighted the intriguing geodynamic significance of the association of mafic,
ultramafic and metasedimentary rocks in the Ilesha area or schist belt, research
interest was subsequently extended to other similar belts. Further, the recognition
of various compositional trends with economic implications, afforded the
expansion in work extent and locations.
Apart from the facilities in Ibadan, opportunities were afforded through
different awards, notably by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD),
Bonn, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and the UNESCO, for the
execution of specialized research studies, particularly in the Universities of
Munich and Braunschweig, Germany and the Ecole des Mines, Paris, France.
Sample analyses were likewise undertaken in other institutions in Nigeria and
abroad, especially by my research students.
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522 A.A. Elueze
Applications and Implications of Compositional Data
Concepts, Objectives and Scope of Work
The fundamental essence of any geological research is the provision of data
and/or information thar contribute to elucidating the nature and value of
geomaterials, and hence understanding the evolution of the earth. In similar
light, the focus of one's research is basically the utilization of compositional
characterization as means of achieving this ultimate goal.
Efforts have largely been directed into ascertaining the petrogenetic and
geotectonic nature of basement rocks, exploration and evaluation of mineral
resources and assessment of water quality and environmental dispersion patterns.
Compositional data and indices have likewise been applied extensively in
geochronology, geotechnical site investigations, medical and health surveys,
geobotanical and geobiological indexing, agrogeological/agronomical characteri-
zation and petroleum: exploration and production.
Table 5: Abundances and discovery years of some common elements
Elements Symbol Crustal abundance Discovery year
(oom)
Aluminium Al 81000 1825
Antimony Sb 1 BC
Arsenic As 5 1649
Barium Ba 250 1808
Beryllium Be 6 1797
Boron B 3 1808
Cadmium Cd 0.15 1817
Calcium Ca 36300 1808
Carbon C 320 BC
Chlorine CI 314 1774
Cobalt Co 23 1742
Copper Cu 70 BC
Fluorine F 900 1771
Gallium Ga 15 1875
Gold Au 0.005 BC
Hydrogen H 1300 1765
Iron Fe 50000 BC
Lead Pb 16 BC
Magnesium Mg 20000 1755
Manganese Mn 1000 1774
Mercury Hg 0.5 BC
Molybdenum Mo 15 1782
Nickel Ni 80 1751
Nitrogen N 46:3 1772
Oxygen 0 466000 1772.
Phosphorus P 1180 1669
Platinum Pt 0.005 1735
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 523
Potassium K 25900 1807
Rubidium Rb 310 1861
Silicon Si 277200 1823
Silver Ag 0.10 Be
Sodium Na 28300 1807
Strontium Sr 300 1787
Sulphur S 520 Be
Tin Sn 40 Be
Titanium Ti 4400 1791
Vanadium V 150 1830
Zinc Zn 132 <1400
Source: Dineley, et al. 1976.
The execution of each project was generally designed as to duly incorporate
the main components of field geology involving mapping, examination and
collection of representative samples, and laboratory activities which included
appropriate analytical procedures and techniques.
Petrogenetic and Geotectonic Characterization of Basement Rocks
Outline geology of the precambrian basement complex of Nigeria
Igneous and metamorphic rocks essentially constitute the Precambrian basement
complex of Nigeria (Fig. 2). Though the assemblages have been variedly
classified, they may be broadly subdivided into the ancient gneiss-migmatite
complex, the schist belts and the Pan-African (ca. 0.6 Ga) intrusive series or the
Older Granites plus minor rocks.
Radiometric ages obtained from the ancient migmatitic gneisses, are notably
between ca. 2.8 and 2.0 Ga (Rahaman, 1988). Older dates ~3.0 Ga) have more
recently been derived from some (Dada et al. 1998).
The schist belts occur prominently within the western half of the country
(Fig. 3), though a few have more recently been highlighted in the central and
southeastern parts (Elueze 2000).
They generally show distinctive petrological, structural and metallogenetic
features, and are mostly regarded to be Proterozoic age ~ 0.6-2.5 Ga).
Notwithstanding the lack of agreement on the geographic delimitation, geological
nomenclature, geochronological characterization and geodynamic setting, the
schist belts are composed dominantly of metasediments, particularly pelitic
schists and quartzites. The secondary lithologies are often variedly distributed,
and include banded iron formations, marble bodies, amphibolites and meta-
ultramafi tes.
The Pan-African intrusive suite comprises mainly granites and
granodiorites, with subordinate pegmatites and aplites. Minor, presumably
affiliated rocks include charnockites, syenites and bauchites (Olarewaju, 1999),
plus extrusive and hypabyssal bodies, notably dolerite dikes believed to belong to
the terminal stage of the Pan-African event (ca. 0.45Ga). One of the greatest
challenges in the study of this obviously intricate basement, has been to decipher
and reconcile the modes of origin or petrogenetic affinities and petrotectonic
settings of the different units.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
524 A.A. Elueze
NIGER
•.
~...
o
.'".•••
q,.
~ 0,,-:,.
.§N_-'< '"••".".•"•""P•'"••
1§""'-~r~J
0C]]-o.r.t.,ri.. .I"Cl.M.tri.ff>-S-cN-JI1
J.£
Fig. 2: Generalized geological map of Nigeria (Geological Survey of Nigeria, GSN).
oWut African CratonVoltclion
.~ Birtirrlioo Oreen,:1one ~It.·
{~ Gneiss. Migmol!l., or .•..it,
Fig. 3: Location of the schist belts in the Nigerian sector of the Pan-African Province
(after Turner, 1983) (unsymboled - Phanerozoic depositional sites)
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 525
Petrochemistry in petrogenetic and geodynamic studies
As already implied, chemical results and indices provide the best clues to the
nature of the precursors of rocks, especially basic/ultrabasic types such as
amphibolites and meta-ultramafites, which are more restricted in compositions,
compared to siliceousmigmatitic, metasedimentary and granitic units. Besides,
petrochemical variations when related to geological environments, are
signficantly dependable in ascertaining the regimes of crustal evolution (Elueze
1980; Shoji and Kaneda 1980).
Migmatitic gneisses
As shown by Elueze (1982a), rocks of the gneiss-migmatite complex largely
display chemical variations indicative of having been. derived from
heterogeneous progenitors, which may have been partly volcanogenic. Some
likewise exhibit traits believed to be signatures of the Pan-African remobilization
(Oyawoye 1972), notably the enhancements in K20, Ba and Rb (Elueze 1982b).
The overall crustal character is further subtly portrayed in the innovative CaO-
P205 plot (Fig. 4) and the Zr content (ca. 300ppm), which invariably correspond
to the presence and significance of apatite and zircon, that are merely minor
constituents. On the other hand, the tectonized or cataclastic varieties developed
along fault zones, are substantially differentiated in petrographic and
compositional properties. (Elueze 1982a).
1.00r---:------- --.
•• •
0.50 • •
•••
~
-.! .• • ••••
~ 0.10
• •
: .. .
a~..f'4 ••
0.05 •
• ••
•
•
1 23 •• 6
CaO(wt ••,.)
Fig. 4: CaO - P,O, variation diagram for the Ilesha granite gneiss (Elueze, 1982b)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
526 A.A. Elueze
Amphibolites and meta-ultramafites
The amphibolites are also variable in textural and mineralogical characteristics
(Fig. 5), while the meta-ultramafites are mostly various talc-bearing rocks
(Elueze 1981c, 1982c). Some of the latter may be composed dominantly of any
or more of other minerals, with insignificant talc abundance (Wright and Ogezi
1977; Elueze 1982c).
Fig. 5: Photomicrographs of the Alawa amphibolites showing variation in style of deformation (a)
plicated fabric with aggregated hornblende in micro-fold closure; (b) mortar structure with abraded
and fractured aggregates in granulated matrix)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 527
Geochemical studies have shown that these rocks are commonly of igneous
parentage (Elueze and Olade 1980). The amphibolites are largely derivatives of
tholeiitic basalts, as particularly depicted on discriminant plots (e.g. Fig. 6),
employing relatively immobile minor and trace elements Ti, Ga, Y and Ni
(Elueze 1993a; Elueze and Okunlola 1998). However, the petrographic
subgroups are distinctive in certain petrochemical indices and trends. These
variations, especially in the cases of upgrading in K, Rb, and Ba values,
presumably are imprints of crustal inputs, and tend to constrain the geotectonic
setting, as being essentially intracontinental (Olade and Elueze 1979).
Fig 6: Characterization of Alawa amphibolites on a Tiv - Ga - Y ternary plot for basaltic
suites (Elueze, 1985).
As for the meta-ultramafites, major and trace element abundances, and
petrochemical patterns suggest they are mainly similar to ultramafic magmatic
rocks (Elueze 1982c). Cr and Ni are substantially high, and the latter generally
correlates positively with MgO content (Elueze 1982c).
Metasedimentary rocks
The pelitic schists or metapelites are mainly micaceous units, with essential and
minor proportions of other constituents (Elueze 1981a; Rahaman 1988). Quartz
is dominant in the quartzites which also pass into schistose varieties with
increasing contents of aligned flakes of muscovite/sericite.
On the basis of abundances and ratios of major and trace elements (Table 6),
and discriminant diagrams, the metapelites are believed to have been derived
from protoliths of shale to greywacke affinity (Elueze 1981a; Elueze and
Okunlola 2001a). As for the marbles, Elueze and Okunlola (2001a) have
incorporated stable isotope geochemical indices, in constraining the geotectonic
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
528 A.A. Elueze
setting of the Okene-Lokoja area as being rift-like, which amplifies the assertions
on the schist belts (Elueze 1985; Okonkwo ant! Winchester 2000).
Table 6: Average contents of major and trace elements of meta-
sedlrmen tary rocks
Major a B c D e f g h i
%
Si02 95.12 81.16 80.72 75.19 69.1 72.97 61.41 66.35 60.67
0
Ti02 0.09 0.36 0.58 0.51 0.77 0.81 0.94 \.15 \.84
AI203 3.98 9.47 8.79 9.83 12.5 11.76 16.13 13.47 13.26
7
*F~03 0.25 2.20 2.79 3.10 4.64 5.15 8.08 8.28 15.75
MnO 0.01 0.03 0.05 0.04 0.36 0.11 0.11 0.17 0.39
MgO 0.10 0.85 1.24 0.86 3.98 \.76 4.26 2.63 4.17
Cao 0.01 0.85 1.68 2.87 3.55 2.44 2.99 1.70 0.60
Na20 0.31 0.58 \.16 2.97 1.11 \.89 \.81 2.05 0.59
K20 0.60 2.53 \.61 \.75 2.62 \.84 3.06 2.16 \.00
P20 0.01 ,5 0.08 0.14 0.14 0.37 0.19 0.25 0.13 0.12'
Trace a b c d e f g h i
Ppm
Ba \060 960 970 1250 2270 6\0 1030 940 820
Co 4 9 \0 II II 13 17 21 28
Cr 180 130 170 245 \00 245 185 105 540
Cu 19 22 35 29 33 48 55 86 79
Ni 55 75 88 110 98 70 105 120 140
Rb 35 78 67 96 145 105 99 120 42
Sr 29 82 160 105 205 160 195 90 37
V 5 25 38 35 100 65 145 195 250
Zn 5 26 27 4 5 39 43 29 7
Zr 390 340 420 245 210 235 150 185 115
KlRb 137 259 192 146 144 140 247 170 190
Rb/Sr \.21 0.95 0.42 0.91 0.71 0.66 0.51 1.22 \.14
SrlBa 0.03 0.09 0.16 0.08 0.09 0.26 0.19 0.10 0.05
(a) Quartzites/quartz schists (4 samples)
(b) Quartz-sericite schists ( 5 samples)
(c) Quartz-muscovite (chorite) schists (8 samples)
(d) Quartz-muscovite biotite-feldpar schists (3 samples)
(e) Quartz-plagioclase-biotite-garnet schists (8 samples)
(I) Quartz-plagioclase-biotite-garnet schists (5 samples)
(g) Biotite-plagioclase-garnet schists (\ 0 samples)
(h) Biotite-garnet-staurolite schists (5 samples)
(i) Mafic schists (5 samples)
* Total Feas F~ 03 Sourr.Elueze,198Ia
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 529
Granites and pegmatites
Petrographic types of the intrusives include porphyritic, even-textured and
muscovite-biotite or 2-mica granites (Elueze 1987, 1993b).
Petrochemical data and patterns generally indicate that the even-textured is
considerably basic in nature, whereas the porphyritic bodies evolved from
relatively less fractionated magmas, compared to the 2-rnica variety which
consolidated from water-rich melt, possibly of sedimentary affiliation.
Pegmatites, such as the body adjacent to the 2-mica granite in Ilesha area
(Elueze, 1987), developed from silica and volatile - richer fractions. In any case,
the Rb-Sr diagram (Fig. 7) suggests that the rocks were emplaced within a fairly
thickened Pan-African crustal setting (Elueze, 1987).
20 - 30km
50 ------ ..... ..... ..... ...•.
<20km <,
•
50 100 500 1000
Sr ppm
Fig. 7: Granite rocks in the Rb againstSr crustal thickness grid of Condie (1976).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
530 A.A. Elueze
Cataclasites and mylonites
The mylonitic and cataclastic gneisses notably exhibit distinctive deformational
features and transposive fabrics (Fig. 8). Compared to the undeformed units, they
are usually characterized by enrichments in Ti02, Fe203, and considerable Ba
and Zr contents (Elueze 1982a, 1982b).
Fig. 8: Photomicrograph of mylonitic gneisis displaying abraded quartz and feldspar
in 1'111\ ni/L'd lll:lIri,
Again, Elueze (1981 b, 1984, 1985) has aptly advanced that the cataclastic
amphibolites are subtly differentiated by relatively higher oxidation ratios and
volatile contents. Comparative data also show that the tectonized rocks have
increments in Fe203, CaO, Ba, Cr and Ni, plus depletions in Ti02, FeO, Na20,
Cu and V (Elueze 1984). Minerals transformation is strikingly imprinted in the
essential and accessory constituents (Fig. 9), which likewise reflects the effects
of fluid activity associated with dynamic metamorphism (Spry 1979).
Further, mineralogical and chemical styles imposed by intense deformation,
have been extracted from the rather previously unknown Imelu banded
ferruginous rock. The latter include the relatively elevated Ba and volatile
contents and oxidation ratio, coupled with the diverse trends depicted in the
Fe203 - Si02 and FeO +MgO vs. Si02 +Al203 plots (Elueze, 2000).
Search and Evaluation of Mineral Occurrences
Distribution of mineral resources in Nigeria
Besides the Jurassic (ca. 0.16 Ga) intrusives of the Jos plateau and the Tertiary to
Recent igneous rocks, the basement complex accommodates important
Phanerozoic «ca.O.4 Ga) sedimentary basins (Figs. 2 and 3). Therefore, the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 531
geology of Nigeria is characterized by widely variable lithological and structural
features, and hence several mineral occurrences (Elueze 1993c). The latter
include ore minerals, industrial and energy resources and even water sources.
Fig. 9: Photomicrograph of polished section of the Tegina cataclastic amphibolite showing
abraded amphibole lenticules, ore of white chalcopyrite rimmed
by shells of oxidation products tapering along lamination.
Exploration for ore minerals
In search of ore minerals, dispersion patterns in geomaterials, have commonly
been found workable tools (Hawkes and Webb 1962). Elueze and Olade (1985)
have particularly applied the factor scores map for the element association P-Fe-
As-Au extracted from stream sediments geochemical data, in defining a target
area. This also on geological grounds, has the highest potentials for
mineralization (Elueze 1986), and subsequently became a major location for the
development of the Ilesha gold project.
Elueze and Kehinde-Phillips (1993a, 1993b) have further utilized
mineralogical characteristics and chemical trends in assessing the ore prospects
of lateritic profiles (cf Schellmann, 1989; Elueze, 1994). They have shown that
the saprolite horizons over the Ibodi amphibolite and the Itan-Osan meta-
ultramafite, hold good promise for accumulation of Ni, Co, Cr, V and Mn ores.
Metallographic and geochemical investigation of ores
The earliest investigation of the ore potentials of the metabasites and the meta-
ultramafites, notably included those of Elueze (1980, 1981c, 1982d) and Bafor
(1981). The rocks are found to contain sulfides, mostly pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite,
and pentlandite; while the principal oxides comprise ilmenite, pyrophanite and
magnetite. Chromite is also present in some meta-ultramafites. Though the
mineralization is largely dispersed, the overall metallographic character is
consistent with the petrogenetic affinity of the rocks (Elueze 1981c).
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532 A.A. Elueze
Iron ores are found within the Precambrian domain and some Phanerozoic
sedimentary basins. Majority of the Precambrian ores bear magnetite and
hematite in varying proportions and paragenetic relations (Elueze 1999). The iron
(Fe203) concentrations or grades are considerably different (Table 7). In any
case, the Kakun ore contains mainly magnetite, ferromagnesians and plagioclase
(Elueze and Okolo 1990; Annor and Mucke 1991). Therefore, the high Fe203 -
(ca. 46%) does not connote an equivalent tenor (ore mineral content), considering
the significance of Fe-rich silicates in the ore type. On the other hand, the
enriched Agbaja ironstone (Table 7) is dominantly oolitic (Fig. 10), and mostly
contain goethite, hematite, kaolinite and phosphates (Elueze 1999). However, the
relatively elevated P205 concentration (ca. 2.4%) is deleterious in steel
production, hence rather diminishes the commercial worth of this most extensive
deposit in Nigeria. The principal P-phase has been identified as goyazite-
crandallite (Abimbola et al. 1999).
Table 7: Average abundances (%) of major elements of some iron ore bodies
Itakpe Tajimi Kakun Agbaja
Si02 59.27 • 64.50 35.59 29.08
Ti02 0.03 0.01 0.55 0.11
Ah03 0.33 0.30 7.91 5.72
Fez03 (t) 39.20 34.77 45.76 62.63
MnO 0.02 0.01 0.10 0.03
MgO 0.04 0.02 2.11 0.19
CaO 0.29 0.05 7.51 0.05
Na20 0.02 0.03 0.34 0.Ql
K20 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01
P20S 0.38 0.15 0.42 2.38
C 0.03 0.02 0.03 0.19
S 0.07 0.07 0.10 0.07
Source: Elueze, 1999
Economic potentials of industrial minerals
The talc-bearing bodies mainly display physical attributes which largely reflect
compositional characteristics, and are consumable in several industries, as
appraised by Elueze and Akin-Ojo (1993). However, treatment of the samples is
necessary, especially the elimination of Fe-rich constituents, to achieve the
specifications for each application. The utility of blending and bleaching has
also been recommended for the processing of some (Elueze and Ogunniyi 1985;
Elueze and Awonaiya 1989). In addition, Elueze and Dosumu (1987) have shown
that the magnesite-rich variety, with beneficiation, can yield adequate raw
materials for making refractory and sorel cement.
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 533.
Fig. 10: Photomicrography of Agbaja ironstone in transmitted light, showing different
shapes of goethitic ooids
As for the gypsum bodies in the Sokoto basin, Elueze et al. (1997) have
asserted that the CaO-rich samples like those of Ewekoro, hold better promise for
chalk and pharmaceutical production, while all the varieties are adequate for
utilization in portland cement and .fertilizer manufacture. Screening and
bleaching are appropriate for processing.
Various investigations (Elueze et al.1994; Elueze and Bolarinwa 1995,2001;
Elueze et al. 1999) show that most of the clay occurrences are essentially
kaolinitic, though the residual types commonly have higher mineralogical
inhomogeneity. The sedimentary bodies are mostly finer and more plastic, hence
of higher commercial values (Table 8). On the whole, the samples, with
appropriate processing, particularly screening, are exploitable as ingredients for
fillers, extenders, paints, fertilizers, pesticides and coatings. They likewise are
suitable raw materials for ceramics, bricks, refractories and structural wares.
Elueze (1993c) had advanced that these readily won deposits have attractive
prospects to support organized artisanal projects in sun and simple oven-dried
bricks (Fig. 11). Incidentally, a very recent television news coverage highlighted
the thriving status of such undertakings.
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534 A.A. Elueze
Table 8: Comparative chemical characteristics of some residual and sedimentary
clays
Residual clays . Sedimentary
clays
Oxide RAB ISAN HERO K 1M SAB SITU
Si02 60.00 55.49 60.70 56.00 54.12 52.50 70.60
Ti02 0.78 - - - - 0.91 -
Ah03 18.21 18.63 17.75 23.29 21.11 28.73 15.03
F~03 7.58 9.67 6.04 2.55 8.92 3.31 1.93
III
MoO 0.06 0.04 0.03 0.01 0.06 1.45 -
MgO 0.59 1.25 1.22 0.01 0.10 0.41 0.14
Cao 0.80 0.77 0.83 0.03 0.38 0.2.8 0.62
Na20 0.94 0.46 0.23 0.94 0.77 0.33 0.07
K20 1.55 1.84 1.40 1.13 0.16 0.40 0.35
P203 0.31 - - 1.15 0.61 0.38 -
H2O 8.70 10.18 10.71 12.13 9.83 11.12 9.05
H2O - - - 2.47 2.67 - -
Total 99.52 98.33 98.91 99.71 98.73 99.62 97.79
RAB Residual clay of Abeokuta area
ISAM Residual clay of lsan-Ekiti
IJERO Residual clay ofIjero-Ekiti
K Residual clay of Kitibi-Ayedade. Iwo district
1M Residual clay ofImope, Ijebu district
SAB Sedimentary clay of Abeokuta area
SITU Sedimentary clay of ltu area, S.E. Nigeria
Source: Elueze, 1995
Elueze and Okunlola (200 1b) have also shown that the Burum dolomitic and
Jakura calcitic marble bodies meet the specifications for use as steel fluxes,
fillers and extenders, and in production of glass, hypochlorites, road bases,
·ornamental stones and lime-based chemicals. Only the Jakura is consumable in
calcium carbide and ordinary portland cement (OPC) manufacture. Besides,
agronomic characterization supports their usefulness as soil acidity ameliorants.
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 535
Fig. 11: Exploitation oflateritic clay for simple sun-dried bricks in building of
low-cost accommodation
The crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks of the basement complex,
often collectively called 'granites', are commonly being quarried
indiscriminately, without adequate precaution for conservation and
environmental protection. Even the laminated quartzites are being exploited as
natural building slabs (Fig. 12). In any case, Elueze (1995) has commercially
characterized the rocks, based on compositional and physical properties (Table
9). It is particularly. interesting, as the "nero icheku" products are derived from
charnockitic rocks. Elueze (1988, 1995) has also recognized the requirements and
options for viable investments in decorative and ornamental stones. However, it
is striking that in the recent discourse on "resource control", a new forum named
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536 A.A. Elueze
"Granite-rich States" of Nigeria emerged, presumably from political,
rather than geological considerations.
a
b
c
Fig. 12: Potential projects in high grade geomaterials (a and b artisanal working oflaminated
quartzite for building slabs; c - varieties of polished products of different basement rocks).
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 537
Table 9: Comm~rcial characterization of crystalline rocks for ornamental
stones
Rock types Potential commercial Application and functional
products uses
Gneisses and multi colour, diadema, Interior and exterior
migmatites tiles nylandia, african juparans, decorations, orienta, vibro
and others verde, spriana.
Quartzites and oakley schiefer, favang, Interior and exterior, tiles.
schists verde
Fundrels, verde vermion,
schiefer brands etc.
Amphibolltes and verde shades, nero tones Interior and exterior,
mafic schists monumentals
Marbles and calc bianco brands" zebrino, Interior and exterior,
gneisses maharani and so on monumentals. pupilt and altar
slabs
Granites, grigio, star flash, serizzo, Interior and exterior, tiles,
granodiorites verde lights, nero tijuca stone items
and diorites
Syenitic and nero "icheku", verde Interior and exterior,
charnockitic rocks coloured, monumentals, counter, altar
tijucas tops etc.
Gabbros, dolerites nero oriental, verde, nero Monumentals, tiles, stone
and assoluto, grunporphyr items
lamprophyres and decoratives
Source: (Elueze, 1995)
Compositional determinations have likewise been invaluable components of
most of the major consultancy projects executed in the Department. These
include the investigation of the Ibese limestone and clay deposits for OPC-type
manufacture; the Ifon ceramic clay project; the evaluation of the Ubo marble, and
the appraisal of brick clay bodies in Ire-Ekiti. Several other projects also entailed
the compositional evaluation of geomaterials, such as granites for quarrying and
crushing, rocks and soils in engineering foundations and pavements, and minerals
for gems (Olade et al. 1981; Elueze et al. 1990).
Water Quality and Environmental Assessments
Further, in the appraisal of the nature and value of water sources, compositional
results and indices have been found to be decisive (Levin 1981; World Health
Organization WHO, 1984). Even the relevant physical properties like taste,
colour and smell depend largely on the dissolved and suspended constituents.
Therefore, evaluation of the usability should entail isolating appropriate .
treatment measures, especially for the-readily polluted, but much easily available
and accessible surface supplies.
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538 A.A. Elueze
On the other hand, anthropogenic activities especially industrialization,
directly or indirectly lead to myriads of environmental hazards ranging from
noise to toxic waste pollution. Notably, heavy metals contamination of waters,
soils and plants can subsequently be acquired by man, through the food chain
(Holum 1977).
Hydrochemical characterization
Elueze et al. (2001a) have demonstrated that sodium and bicarbonate ions
predominate as the solute components of the slightly acidic surface water
samples from southeastern Nigeria (Fig. 13). Surface and groundwater sources
around Ibokun in the southwestern part, were however found to be weakly
alkaline, but also with low sodium hazard, and essentially meet the WHO
standards for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses requiring notably
filtration and disinfection (Elueze et al. 2001 b).
~Na'
eCa2•
BMg2t
~K·
;HCO;
mel'
mC~2'
ISO/"
"
28%.1
Fig. 13: Relative illustration of the dissolved constitutes of the waters from southeastern Nigeria.
Geoenvironmental evaluation
As shown by Elueze et al. (1997), the products of the corrosion of repro graphic
machines in Lagos, particularly portray the inputs from the steel appliances, their
exhaust emissions, the processing pigments and the local hydro-system. Elueze et
at. (2001c) have likewise illustrated that organic matter and Fe203 contents have
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 539
posmve controls on Pb, Zn,Cu and Cd absorption capacities of soils and
sediments around the Ibadan Exide Battery Factory. The overall compositional
patterns in water bodies, soils and sediments, largely imply the dispersion and
deposition of heavy metals laden wind-borne dusts from the plant chimneys, plus
direct discharge into the ecosystem.
Conclusions
Previewing Observation
Several pertinent issues have emanated from, or been highlighted in the
conception, execution, outcomes and effects of the different assignments. Some
are considered to merit further elaboration, specifically with respect to
recognizing the remedies to the problems inherent in the research on
geomaterials, prescribing options for optimizing the development and
exploitation of the geo-resources, and then extending and reconciling the
necessary aspects to the human perspectives.
Derivatives from the Major Areas of Contribution
Water supply and environmental monitoring
In the rural areas where industrialization levels are still relatively low, water
sources commonly meet the compositional qualities of domestic supplies
demanding minor treatments. On the other hand, human activities have been
found to influence the compositional variations of water, soils and sediments.
Therefore, there is need for continuous environmental checks, including
geomaterials-based project sites which readily emit wastes and pollutants (Elueze
1989).
Precambrian crustal evolution in Nigeria
There are still disagreements as to the regimes of crustal formation in Nigeria.
However, the riftogenic model, particularly for the schist belts (Olade and Elueze
1979; Turner 1983; Elueze 1985; Elueze 1992; Elueze and Okunlola 2001) is
rated most dependable in accommodating their compositional variations,
petrogenetic affinities and petrotectonic styles. Undoubtedly, enlargement of the
relevant data-base would afford more acceptable geodynamic model (Ajibade
and Wright 1989; Elueze 1992, 2000). For example, isotope variations and
abundance ratios plus radiometric data are still relatively scanty for the
Precambrian suites of Nigeria.
In any case, the compositional recognition of the cataclastic and mylonitic
units, along some major fault zones, is particularly remarkable. Such dislocations
are probably linked to the tremors experienced around Ibadan, in 1984 and 2000
(Elueze 1990, 2001). It is pertinent to add that in place where the crust is
relatively thin and subjected to high heat flow (hot spotism), major fractures
could provide channelways for eruption of magmas to the surface, or create
volcanos. Volcanic activities are often catastrophic, as experienced lately around
Gorna in the Congo Democratic Republic. However, the extent of crustal
thickness (Fig. 10) and stability do not suggest proneness to extreme seismicity
in Nigeria. Nevertheless, as emphasized by Elueze (2001), the National
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540 A.A. Elueze
Technical Committee on Earthquake Phenomena (NTCEP) should urgently
establish the long proposed monitoring seismograph network with a station
allocated to this University. It is also necessary to evaluate and remedy major
slopes, whose failures could propel destructive earthflows and mudflows which
are at times confused as volcanic eruptions, like the case in Isan-Ekiti (Elueze
and Olorunniwo 1997).
Geomaterials wealth of Nigeria
Mineral resources, notably gold, iron ores, clays, talc, magnesite, gypsum,
marble, limestones, gemstones and rock stones have been shown to occur in
Nigeria. Despite their enormous demand (Table 10), not much concerted effort is
made in evolving appropriate strategies of harnessing, and hence monetizing
these valuable geomaterials. In any case, the prevailing unfavourable socio-
economic situation clearly echoes the necessity of adopting appropriate
strategies, especially on the industrial minerals, which likewise have high export
potentials (Elueze 1998).
Table 10: NIMAMOP preliminary market assessment of economic minerals
'in Nigeria
Commodity Annual demand Local value Internatioaal
(tonnes) value
(Naira/tonne) (US$/tonne)
Barytes 100,000 - 225,000 16,000 39-80
Gypsum 150,000 - 300,000 6,000 9-18
Kaolin 150,000 3,000 55-92
Bentonite 60,000 - 80,000 5,000 30-40
Feldspar 60,000 - 100,000 2,400 N/A
Diatomite - N/A 250-500
Tale 50,000 - 100,000 9,000 ~0-250
Rutile 60,000 - 80,000 N/A 85-700
Phosphates 200,000 - 300,000 4,400 25-24
Salt 300,000 - 500,000 N/A 6-37
Soda ash 50,000 - 60,000 7,000 105-115
Glass sand 180,000 - 2000,000 N/A N/A
Iron ore 300,000 3,000 30-50
Source: Elueze 1998
Firstly, there is need to isolate the prevailing limitations to ·the effective
operation of the economic minerals sector in Nigeria. These notably include the
following.
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Veritable Tool ill the Appraisal of Geomaterials 541
• Substantial reliance on imported mineral raw materials, derivatives and
products plus operational machines; consequently draining the meagre
foreign exchange reserves.
• Haphazard execution of exploitation activities, without due consideration of
the environment, vividly depicted by the unwholesome mining of gemstones
and precious metals in many parts of Nigeria. The ills are likewise seriously
sociological, as the areas are commonly transformed into enclaves of
immense lawlessness.
• Inadequacy of financial facilities for the minerals industry, which commonly
has long gestation period and high risk factor.
• Instability of the socio-political conditions, and the prevailing economic
recession.
Elueze (1998) has also prescribed some priority actions required in addressing
and resolving the prevailing constraints. Though, there are also overlaps, some
are outlined below.
• Ensuring that the relevant government establishments are well funded and
encouraged, notably the GSN and the Mines Department, for efficient and
effective execution of mapping and evaluation programmes, and their outputs
being readily accessible to all stakeholders.
• Providing for easy access to the required financial, management and
technical facilities of the minerals industry, through the establishment and
functioning of appropriate institutions.
• Recognizing and organizing artisanal miners including the illegal ones, into
cooperative bodies in which the landowners and local authorities are
"shareholders", for proper operational monitoring and control, and
governments being involved in buying and marketing of such winnings.
• Streamlining and easing of the procedures of the regulatory aspects of the
minerals industry. Besides, ensuring that the roles of the three tiers of
government are appropriately reconciled, such that artisanal to small-scale
projects in geomaterials, are under the exclusive administration of state and
local governments, thereby allowing for the regulation of unofficial
workings. Their localized markets and job opportunities would significantly
boost the economies of these levels of government, and reduce the
dependence on the declining "zero" federal allocations. Similarly, making
the Council of Nigeria Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG) to be
fully operational, to enforce professional ethics, and ultimately guaranteeing
improved performance of the minerals sector.
• Adopting allocation formula, whereby revenues from minerals-based projects
are duly made beneficial to all stakeholders; namely, the investors,
landowners, local authorities and state and federal governments.
• On the whole, the processes and requirements of optimizing the benefits of
the exploitation of geomaterials would demand positive efforts, ethics and
commitment of all stakeholders.
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542 A.A. Elueze
Problems and Remedies in Curricula and Research
The prevailing conditions, particularly with regards to facilities and personnel,
are generally deplorable in the Department of Geology. While some
recommendations have been advanced in addressing the prevailing lapses, it is
considered desirable to further enumerate some, suggest remedies, and then
outline the current and future thrusts in research.
Limitations and shortcomings
Most of the inhibiting factors are definitely not peculiar to the University of
Ibadan Geology Department, and have also been highlighted by Elueze and
Onuoha (1995). Some notable ones are itemized below.
• Inadequacy in field and industrial exposures, and logistics.
• Prevalence of non-available or non-functioning and obsolete laboratory
facilities, instruments, machines, items of equipment and workshops.
• Insufficient funding, low motivation and morale and poor provisions for staff
development and specialized skills acquisition.
Recommendations and priorities
Obviously, for improvement and enhancement in performance and productivity,
there is need to make some expedient suggestions.
• Efforts should be made to ensure proper collaboration with related
Departments, and then the industry and relevant establishments.
• The provision of working facilities is of priority, though there should be
availability of competent operational and maintenance personnel, and
avoidance of undue duplication and under-utilization, within the context of
the University.
• The priority national projects of the envisaged revitalized GSN should
include integrated geochemical and subsurface mapping; in which it must
mobilize and utilize available expertise in the academia. The expected
outputs should comprise data bank on compositional characterization of
rocks, minerals, soils, waters, air and vegetation, plus information on noise,
seismicity and radioactivity levels.
• The Departments of Geology and Chemistry should urgently establish the
postgraduate programme in environmental geochemistry. Similarly, in
cooperation with the Department of Geography, concerted effort should be
made to develop the expertise, facilities and training in geological
information system (GIS).
• External resources generation should be vigorously pursued by the
University, to ensure adequate augmentation, since underfunding is
presumably a worldwide phenomenon. Incidentally, most of the earlier
research projects and facilities were funded through external grants obtained
by Professor Oyawoye, while Professor Olade notably utilized consultancy
projects and revenues for acquiring and sustaining items and activities.
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During one's tenure of headship, significant support was achieved,
particularly through former students, including the donation of items, prizes,
substantial funds and two field Jeeps (Fig. 14). It is however imperative that
the financing by government, should be realistic and regular.
Fig. 14: The field jeeps donated by NAOC, being "launched" by members of staff.
Current and Future Research Inclinations
The contributions outlined in this treatise, have generally served as worthwhile
references, and the earlier ones were particularly stimulants to other researchers
on the reality of compositional characterization, in evaluating geomaterials in
Nigeria. However, it is of pertinence that the relevant investigations largely
entailed analyses of whole samples. Therefore, the current and future lines of
research considerably integrate determinations in the realms of mineral
chemistry, stable isotopes and organic geochemistry. In particular, these thrusts
are substantially incorporated in the works of Bolarinwa (2001), Okunlola (2001)
and Nton (2001).
Compositional Characterization of Geomaterials: Implications for
Humanity
In conformity with the posture of launching from the visible, the hidden theme
of this discourse is on the bearings of compositional qualification to humans.
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544 A.A. Elueze
These aspects are obviously only realizable at the arrival station, being not the
essence which belongs to the starting block.
A sizable proportion of humanity inhabit Nigeria which is part of the earth's
landmass. The foundation or basement of the country is shown to be composed
of Precambrian rocks that also accommodate various younger suites. The
assemblages are widely variable in compositional nature, and hence have
different genetic affinities, geotectonic significance and economic values.
Similarly, the inhabitants of the country show disparities in origin, inclinations
and endowments. Otherwise, the collective strength relates positively to the
extent of diversity.
On the other hand, the prevailing crustal situation, except for some minor
shocks, has favoured much tranquility and accommodation, between and among
the rocks and their components. It is therefore imperative that Nigerians must
sincerely accept that no meaningful peace and growth, least of all, the optimal
exploitation of the geomaterials can be achieved in conditions of ethnic bigotry,
religious antagonism, violence, corruption, cultism and other negative
tendencies. Again, no two crystals of a mineral, or whole-specimens of the same
rock are found to have identical compositions. As a matter of fact, not even the
assumed mono-elemental mineral or native metal that has a fixed.composition. It
is also unnatural to find a single-plant colony, since even in a plantation, there are
bound to be weeds or parasites in the botanical population. Further, there is no
single-tongued settlement, in which all the indigenes can be proved to belong to
the same stock or lineage. Besides, each individual is at least an offspring oftwo
different and normally distinctive persons. Consequently, inhomogeneity in
composition, is an inherent attribute of all physical and biological entities.
On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that the minor and trace
components, which are comparable to human minorities, have significant roles in
appraising the nature of geomaterials. Environmental factors are known to exert
influences in the cycle of geomaterials, and invariably also on humans. Hence,
Nigerian kids exposed to the same situaton, do definitely have comparable traits,
and their categorization should be based on locations of birth and/or abode, rather
than that of the ancestry. The reconstruction of the latter, like for geomateials,
could be problematic, especially after considerable span or intensity of
transformation. In addition, the semblances of minerals have been shown to be
related to the similarities in anions, which for example are silicates, hydrated
oxides and sulfides, respectively in magmatic, surface and reducing
environments. Invariably, the metallic or positive cations, otherwise the male
components get united with the available negative anions or the female partners,
in proportions determined by their oxidation states or charges. It is hence not
surprising that men whose wives are compatible, readily relate closely.
In essence, for this country, and particularly the University, the acceptance of
the diverse ethnic composition is the only realistic and honest option. Else, there
would be the destruction of fairness, merit and excellence, with the breeding of
mediocrity, subservience, sycophancy, indiscipline and blackmailing. Therefore,
conscious and appropriate measures have to be in place, to forestall the thriving
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal ofGeomaterials 545
of undue favouritism and abuses in admissions, examinations, appointments,
promotions, selections, elections, and even in the informal situations.
It is likewise explicit from this presentation, that thorough grounding in
geology and chemistry, is pre-requisite to the understanding of the transformation
and inter-relations of geomaterials. Correspondingly, adequate exposure to the
tenets of citizenship and morality, is sine qua non, for proper appreciation of the
development and norms of human societies. Nowadays, the need for formal
training in positive orientation and values, has largely been taken for granted.
The prevailing situation of immense religiousness, with seemingly low upright
inclinations, is rather worrisome. At one's early stages, moral instructions were
major components of the upbringing at home, and in the primary and secondary
schools. In particular, the SPGS (Piusian) motto (Virtus Sola Nobilitat) and
culture duly stressed that only virtuous values and attitudes readily secure
success and nobility. Consequently, the UI should as matter of priority, introduce
an entry year compulsory course in citizenship and behavioural science.
Similarly, all categories of staff should benefit from training in work ethics,
management and social norms. The University should take the lead, in
conformity with the pace-setting philosophy of its State of location.
A major component of the, work of the "compositionist", which has
considerable human angle, is field geology. For one, the cumulative temporal
and spatial coverages are exceedingly substantial. There were countless
opportunities for very close and informal interactions with persons that can be
appropriately labelled as the "grassroots". The experiences have also been very
memorable; mostly unbiased and devoid of ethnic, political or religious
prejudice. It is delightful to highlight the continued link with the Osuntedo
people (fig. 15), since the first visit in 1974, and the 1975 conferment of the title
of "Omo Owa of Ijeshaland" by the host family in Ilesha. Some candid scenes
are likewise worth recollecting, like also in 1974, of the boy Sule, Ile Asati,
Ogbagba, who had meticulously whispered "baba mi ti ko 0" to communicate the
absence of his mother that had been separated from the fondly father, and the
donkey riding Mallam Yahaya at Alawa, who in his undisguised goodwill, was
very emphatic in the parting statement of "aboki na, tsa-uni wan cham bayi
dechaw sam-sam", to forestall contact with a presumed unsafe rock hill.
In general, the sociological dividends of geologists investigating the
compositional nature of geomaterials, are unquantifiable. Therefore, such
experts have complete and unpolluted understanding of the people, their
environments and the exploitable resources, and are best suited to head all
programmes on rural development, job creation and poverty alleviation. Actually,
their comprehensive knowledge of the human and physical aspects of the
country, distinctively qualify them to all positions of trust and responsibility.
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546 A.A. Elueze
a
b
c
Fig. 15: Scenes at Osuntedo village (a) the cocoa store field accommodation and
(b) close interaction with the host's child in 1974 (c) re-union posture with hosts in 1992).
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Veritable Tool in the Appraisal of Geomaterials 547
Synthesis of Research Philosophy, Approach and Conviction
This exercise has largely enunciated contributions to the knowledge on the
compositional nature of geomaterials. Despite the alternative views obtainable in
some cases, the prevalent style has been the scrutiny, recognition and
consideration of even the subtle components of the compositional variations and
indices. This posture can be said to have been cultivated early in one's
development. Hence, the unusual rock encountered at the initiation stage, was
from the obvious compositional qualities, excitedly tagged tourmalinized
quartzite. Of course, it is part of the mineralized pegmatites currently attracting
enormous commercial, rather than scientific interest. In essence, the
fundamental research attitude has been to generate, process and interpret
compositional data, through scientific reasoning, coupled with sound judgement,
and thereby upholding the vision of this citadel of excellence, the University of
Ibadan (Recte Sapere Fons)
Altogether, efforts have been made to adorn the fact that compositional
characterization is a realistic and dependable instrument in understanding natural
things. Further, all physical and life entities are no exception to what may be
referred to as the "principle of natural heterogeneity". Consequently, it is
conclusively convincing that there is no degree or form of religious or ethnic
cleansing or genocide which can effectively confer homogeneity to any nation,
and such acts are not only crimes to humanity, but gross violation of the
ordinance of God.
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
23
LEAVING CERTAINTY FOR UNCERTAINTY:
FROM THE STOMACH TO THE WOMB
Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa
Department ofPhysiology
Introduction
My journey into the world of the Sciences began when I was offered the
University Scholarship to enroll as a Ph.D student in the Department of
Physiology. In my last year as an undergraduate I was fascinated by the stories
my mentor, Professor B.O. Amure, used to tell us about the discovery, extraction
and purification of Gastrin. I therefore decided to do some studies on Gastrin,
one of the hormones in the stomach.
Earlier research has shown that the acid gastric responses of the male rats do
not vary appreciably from one animal to the other; while in the female,
significantly varying responses have become obvious. These differences in the
responses of the male and female rats are influenced by the estrous cycle of the
female animals. This cycle is of very short duration. The existence of a typical
estrous cycle in the guinea pig and the associated changes in vaginal cytology
were first reported by Stockard and Papanicoloau in 1917. Shortly thereafter,
similar phenomena were reported in the rat and the mouse. The estrous cycle is
similar to the menstrual cycle in humans. It lasts for 4-5 days and is made up of
the pro-estrous, diestrous and the estrous, which is the period generally known as
"coming on heat". Unlike what occurs in humans, the estrous phase, which is
similar to ovulation phase in humans, is the only time at which the female animal
is receptive to the male (Fig. 1 a-c ). The level of circulating estrogen also varies
with the estrous cycle. Thus Presl et at. (1969) reported that the level of
circulating estrogen is highest during pro-estrous and lowest during di-estrous.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
554 Adeyombo F. Bo/arinwa
A
B
c
Fig. 1: Estrous Cycle: (A) Pros-estrus (B) Estrous (C) Diestrous
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
lseaving Certainly for Uncertainty: From the Stomach to the Womb 555
How then does this translate to "the journey from the stomach to the
womb"? The stomach is the major seat of power for the processing of food,
which eventually becomes the fuel for energy production. It also produces
hormones, which are vital to the well-being of the animal. One of such hormones
is Gastrin (fig 2).
Fig. 2. The Stomach
Gastrin is a major physiological regulator of gastric acid secretion. It also has
an important trophic influence on the gastric mucosa. Gastrin is synthesized in
the G cells, which are located in the gastric pits, primarily in the antrum of the
stomach, and it binds receptors found predominantly on the parietal and
enterochromaffn-like cells.
Structure of Gastrin and Gastrin Receptor
Gastrin is a linear peptide that is synthesized as a preprohormone and is post-
translationally cleaved to form a family of peptides with identical
carboxytermini. The predominantly circulating form is Gastrin - 34 ("big
Gastrin") but full biologic activity is present in the smallest peptide (Gastrin-14
or mini Gastrin). Further, full bioactivity is preserved in the five C-terminal
amino acids of Gastrin, which is known as Pentagastrin. Importantly, five C-
terminal amino acids of Gastrin and Cholecystokinin, another gastrointestinal
hormone, are identical which explains their overlapping biological effects ( Fig.
3). The Gastrin receptor is also one of the receptors that bind Cholecystokinin
and is known as the CCK-B receptor.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
:~
556 Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa
oral It'Wwg ~~(it~ ~
p(!f~ JJfl:bil~ I I
Plt}!IUljdllill
C=:J~~gPhIgi11hrr
~iii Gdlhll·j.(
Ij.unlllll
G<ltilln·14
Fig. 3. The Structure of Gastrin
Gastrin receptors are found on the parietal cells. The binding of gastrin,
along with histamine and acetylcholine, leads to fully stimulated acid secretion
by those cells. Enterochromaffn-like (ECL) cells also bear gastrin receptors, and
recent evidence indicates that this cell may be the most important target of
gastrin with regard to regulating acid secretion. Stimulation of ECL cells by
gastrin leads to histamine release, and histamine binding to H2 receptors on
parietal cells is necessary for full-blown acid secretion.
The epithelial cells of the stomach are protected by two agents and tend to be
damaged by two agents. Protective agents are layers of mucus and alkaline
secretions containing bicarbonate. -Ihe damaging agents are acid and pepsins of
the stomach. Peptic ulcer results from deficiency of either one or both of the
protective factors. It may also result if one or both of the damaging factors
become excessively powerful.
A peptic ulcer disease is a worldwide problem, affecting about I in 10 people.
Similarly, Helicobacter pylori, the now undisputed culprit in most cases of peptic
ulcer disease, is found virtually everywhere in man on our planet. Although the
organism causes problems in only a minority of those who carry it, it is linked
with a number of serious consequences. In developing nations four of five
persons are infected by age 20 years (Graham et al. 1991 and Brewer et al.
(1997). According to Graham et al. 1991), Malaty and Graham (1994), twice as
many Black and Hispanic people are infected as White people. This difference is
not racial but reflects socioeconomic and educational factors especially socio-
economic status during childhood. Another major risk associated with H pylori
infection is gastric cancer.
Let us pause here and look at some common beliefs on ulcer. Contrary to
popular beliefs, there is limited evidence to show that a person's occupation or
socioeconomic status causes ulcer. However incidence of duodenal ulcer in men
is about twice that in women, while the occurrence of gastric ulcer is about equal
in both sexes. Although ulcer can occur at any age, it is rare among children and
only slightly more common in teenagers. Duodenal ulcer usually first appears in
people during their twenties or thirties, while gastric ulcer is more likely to
develop among people who are in their forties or older. Although a variety of
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
.
Leaving Certainty for Uncertainty: From the Stomach to the Womb 557
popular beliefs have associated numerous factors with peptic ulcer, only a few
have been found to playa role in causing the disease.
Heredity is a factor in the incidence of peptic ulcer disease. The risk of
developing an ulcer is increased threefold if any blood relation has had ulcer,
Similarly gastric ulcer is more likely to occur in a person whose parents or
siblings have had it. Other factors may include:
• Smoking. A considerable amount of scientific evidence has shown that
cigarette smoking not only doubles a person's chance of developing an
ulcer, but it also tends to slow the healing process of an existing ulcer. In
addition, recent research findings indicate that smoking is an important
factor in causing ulcer recurrence. People who stop smoking have a
lower rate or recurrent ulcers regardless of what medication they may
take. In fact, recent research has shown that the chances of an ulcer
healing and staying healed are better if a patient quits smoking and takes
no medication than if the patient continues to smoke and receives drug
treatment.
• Aspirin. Persons who use aspirin regularly over long periods of time,
such as some arthritis patients, have an increased chance of developing
gastric ulcer. Researchers have found that aspirin and. similar drugs
inhibit the stomach's production of a substance called prostaglandin
which protects the lining of the stomach from injury by a wide variety of
chemical agents, including the stomach's own acid secretions.
• Caffeine. Coffee, tea, cola drinks, and other foods that contain caffeine
can stimulate acid secretion in the digestive tract and, in turn, may
aggravate the pain of an existing ulcer. However, the role of caffeine
products in contributing to the development of ulcer is unknown. The
level of acid secretion induced by decaffeinated coffee is the same as
with regular coffee. Therefore, substances other than caffeine are
apparently present in coffee that stimulates gastric activity.
• Diet. No convincing evidence shows that certain diets cause ulcer or that
certain diets can heal ulcer and keep them healed. A diet may help to
relieve the pain or indigestion of an existing ulcer, but it will not prevent
an ulcer from forming.
• Alcohol. One of the most popular myths about peptic ulcers is that people
who drink alcohol are more likely to develop ulcer disease. The truth is
that even those people who are moderate to heavy users of alcohol do not
have an increased chance of developing ulcer. Although alcohol was
often thought to be a stimulant of stomach acid secretion, numerous
studies have failed to establish such a relationship between acid secretion
and concentrated alcoholic drinks. This however is not a vote for alcohol.
~?':'~.~..~.
Although stress may aggravate the pain or indigestion ~S-s~ciatedwith ulcer,
scientists have not yet been able to determine whether>stress is an important
factor in causing ulcer. Stress is difficult to measure, because people react
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
558 Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa
differently to similar circumstances. A situation that may cause stress in one
person may have no effect on someone else.
So far, there is no convincing proof that people who have high pressure jobs
or who experience a great deal of tension in their lives are more likely to develop
ulcers. However, some ulcer patients may be less able to tolerate large amounts
of stress or tension. Regardless of the level of effect that stress may have on a
patient's ulcer, it is a good idea for the patient and his physician to work together
to identify and then try to reduce or remove stressful factors in the patient's life ..
Doll in 1952 established that duodenal ulcer prevalence was higher in males
than in females. A marked increase in gastric hospitalizations for women over 65
years old has however been reported (Jurata et al. 1985). This could be due to the
fact that the risk of developing ulcer disease increases with age (Bonnevie 1980)
and as women appear to now live longer than ever, more women can expect to
develop ulcer in their lifetime (National Health Interview survey conducted by
the National Center for Health Statistics 1978). On the other hand it has been
suggested that the female sex hormones confer some protection against peptic
ulceration (Crean, 1963). Earlier researchers have shown that pregnancy affects
the gastric acid secretory response in different species. Diminished secretions of
pepsin and hydrochloric acid occur during pregnancy in women (Murray, Erskine
and Fielding 1957) in the rat (Lozzio, Gagliardi and others 1961) although in the
experimental dog, no consistent changes in gastric acid secretion were found
(McCarthy, Evans and Dragestedt 1954). These have led many workers to seek a
relationship between female sex hormones, chorionic gonadotrophins and gastric
acid secretion.
It was therefore in a bid to unravel this jigsaw puzzle that I embarked on the
studies on the gastric acid secretion, estrous cycle, pregnancy and parturition. In
1975, we studied the pattern of gastrin content of the rat mucosa during the
estrous cycle using the modified method of Gregory and Tracy (1964) and
reported as follows:
The female rats in di-estrous showed a remarkably high gastrin concentration
in the mucosa, which significantly exceeded the concentration in the estrous and
pro-estrous. We then concluded that estrous cycle appears to exert an inhibitory
effect on secretion in the female rat stomach (Amure and Bolarinwa 1975) (Fig
4).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Leaving Certainty for Uncertainty: From the Stomach to the Womb 559
35001
~ 3000 i
E 250~F0----.-4
:~;:iE 200t-0------I"'.fj----::--------lCo
~ ~ 15001------
~ ~ 1000
'Ii
(II
~ 500
o
Cyde
Fig. 4: Gastrin Concentration Equivalent in ngSHG/gm weight during the Estrous Cycle
Next, we studied the pattern of antral gastrin content in pregnant rats. Rats
have a gestation period of21 days. They were divided into early (2-3 days), mid
(12-14 days) and late (18-20days) pregnancy. We reported that the antral gastrin
content was highest in early pregnancy and lowest in late pregnancy (Bolarinwa
and Amure 1978) (Tab 1).
Table 1: Antral Gastrin Content in Pregnancy
Stage of Pregnancy Gastrin content (ngiSHG/ml of
test solution
Early (2-3 days) n = 40 1.33 +0.02
Mid (4-14) n=40 1.13 +0.01
Late (18-20) n = 40 0.86 +0.06
Non-pregnant (Control n=20) 1.42 + 0.09
We also studied the plasma gastrin levelin rats during the estrous cycle by
radioimmuno assay using gastrin labeled withl25I. We reported that plasma
gastrin level is lower in diestrus than in estrous and proestrous. This agrees with
the pattern of gastric acid secretion in these phases (Bolarinwa 1981). From the
data provided by Presl et al. (1967) on the level of circulating estrogen in rats
during the estrous cycle, the level of estrogen is highest in proestrous and lowest
in diestrous. (Fig. 5). This corresponds to the level of gastrin as observed in this
work. The same pattern was observed in gastric acid secretions (Table 2). Claims
that estrogen hastens the healing of peptic ulcers or lowers the amount of acid
secreted have therefore been challenged. Kaufinan and Spiro (1968) did not note
any improvement in peptic ulcer as a result of estrogen treatment that could not
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
560 Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa
be attributed to antacids, frequent visits to physicians or the natural course of the
disease. On the other hand, the quiescence of subjective as well as objective
symptoms of peptic ulcer disease during pregnancy may be due to the lowering
of the pain threshold as a result of increased circulating estrogens as well as
increased mucus production.
Diestrus,
----.-6:-9------.---
Ovariectomi
,--_~.s::::d
(Control), Male, 0.1
Fig. 5. Estrogen Levels (ug/l OOml) During the Estrous Cycle
Table 2: Plasma Gastrin Level and Induced Gastric Acid Secretion
during the Estrous Cycle
Animal Group No. of Plasma Acid secretion
Animals Gastrin (pg/ml) III response to
IOOng/100g
Pro-estrus 60 64.0 + 3.0 0.018+ 0.002
Estrus 50 58.0 + 3.0 0.014+ 0.001
Diestrus 50 48.0 + 1.0 0.01 + 0.00
Ovariectomised 20 40 + 2.0 0.013 + 0.03
"- Source: Bolarinwa, 1981
As drug trials have not provided the desired complete relief in peptic ulcer,
attempts were made to investigate the effects of various food materials on the
healing and incidence of ulcer. The idea of therapeutic diet was first suggested by
Sippy (1915) as a means of alleviating ulcers. He advocated a repeated milk
drink as part of his programme designed to neutralize completely the gastric acid.
Levy and Siler (1966) proposed milk cream purees and protein hydroxylsate
respectively. Tovey in 1974 investigated the buffering action of rice bran, which
was used on patients in India for the treatment of ulcers. In Nigeria, Elegbe and
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.Leaving Certainty for Uncertainty: From the Stomach to the Womb 561
Bamgbose (1976) provided an explanation as to whether some Nigerian local
food substances experimentally induced ulceration in rats or not.
In 1986 Oluwole and Bolarinwa studied the buffering capacity of some
Nigerian food substances. We reported that the buffering capacity of red beans is
greater than that of the white beans. Generally speaking, the grains (beans, rice
and maize) buffer more acid than the tubers (yam and cassava) (Fig. 6). It has
been shown that the incidence of peptic ulceration is lower in the Northern part
of the country where the diet is rich in the grains compared with the Southern
part of the country. From the results it is pertinent to suggest that while habitual
intake of some relatively weak buffer food substances like cassava products and
yam should be discouraged in ulcer patients the idea of gastro duodenal buffering
effects of proteins must not be ruled out.
Fig. 6. Buffering capacity expressed as the number of millimeters ofO.1N Hel
neutralized to get pH 1.9
Our next line of action was to study the effects of various factors on induced
ulceration. Fasting as well as drugs e.g. indomethacin can induce ulcer.
Variations in the incidence rates and severity of duodenal ulcers in patients in
different parts of the world, most especially in India and Africa have been
reported by various workers (Tovey 1974). Thus Oluwole and Bolarinwa (1990)
studied the effects of gonadectomy on indomethacin-induced ulceration and
reported that castrated male rats with low ulcer scores exhibited significantly
higher peptic activities. Also the low ulcer scores in the intact female rats are
associated with the very low peptic activity in the same group of rats (Table 3).
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562 Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa
Table 3: Peptic activity and ulcer scores in gonadectomised rats
Peptic Activity .Ulcer Score
Intact male 9.05 + 0.03 18.42 + 0.22
Castrated male 15.84+ 0.06 9.58 + 0.17
Intact female 11.00 + 0.07 8.67 + 0.20
Ovariectomised 17.42+0.14 7.67+0.16
Source: Oluwole and Bolarinwa, 1990.
Attempts were made to bring together the various aspects, which were
reported. Thus in 1990, Evbuomwan and Bolarinwa studied the effects of diet on
indomethacin-induced peptic ulceration in pregnant rats. We used local diet like
grated and fried manioc (gari) and sucrose solution. The various results showed
that the presence of food in the stomach decreases the incidence of peptic
ulceration. This is a warning to those who go on long periods of fasting or
,slimming through appetite suppression. ,
Effects of commercial diets on pregnancy and parturition were also studied
using the rat as a model. It has long been realized that the functional integrity of
the reproductive system depends upon adequate nutrition; thus chronic and acute
starvation, caloric restriction and vitamin as well as mineral deficiencies have
been known to have adverse effects on the functions of the reproductive organs.
The result showed that there was a significant reduction in the maternal, foetal
and placental weights (Table 4).
Table 4: Percentage weight gain or loss, litter size and mean weights of fetuses
and placenta on the 18th day of pregnancy
Average Mean % Mean Wt.Of Placental
original final Decrease no. of litters wt. (g)
wt(gm) weight (-) or litters (±S.D)
(gm) increase
(+) in wt
Control 175 218 +24.6 5.0 4.54± 0.51
(Normal 0.6 ±O.02
feed)
Pure 184 180 -2.2 3.8 3.02± 0.18
Olive oil 0.02 +0.02
Dried 195 202 +3.1 4.2 2.75± Q.30±
milk 0.02 0.06
30% 200 254 +27.0 5.6 4.96± 0.46
Casein 0.10 +0.08
3% 195 191 -2.1 1.02 1.08± 0.13
Casein 0.02 +0.01
Bolarinwa and Edemeka, 1991
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Leaving Certainty for Uncertainty: From the Stomach to the Womb 563
This work has therefore suggested that the foetuses of women on commercial
diets stand the risk of being adversely affected physically and intellectually
(Bolarinwa and Edemeka 1991). This is in agreement with the findings of Simic
(1971). Women should therefore avoid continuing their slimming effort during
pregnancy. Caloric restriction adversely affects the placenta, which may result in
placenta insufficiency during pregnancy. This may lead to abortion or death in
utero.
Majority of this work was done on laboratory animals (mainly the rat) and
this was at a time when, as a researcher, one had access to as many rats as were
needed. I remember the Physiology Department had a well-run animal house
with the late Papa Orenuga in charge. Papa Orenuga was an encyclopedia on
various laboratory animals. I remember that as a B.Sc student I was able to use
up to 100 rats in a day for my project. Today the story is regrettably different.
Physiology Department can no longer financially run an animal house. The
situation now is that one rat sells for NI50.00. It is very difficult to keep a well-
stocked animal house, because the very low funding of Nigerian universities has
adversely affected many research activities.
The Other Side of Life ,
In 1982 I had the privilege of spending a sabbatical leave in the Department of
Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina in U.S.A. At Duke, I
was able to appreciate what it truly means to be a scientist. There, I worked in the
hospital with two Residents and a Nigerian G.I.T. Surgeon Dr Onye Akwari. We
worked on the pattern of interdigestive biliary flow in fasted dogs. We also
studied the effect of motilin in cholecystectomized and intact animals.
The beauty of this work is that mongrel dogs were prepared by ligation of the
lesser pancreatic duct and insertion of a duodenal canulla in a surgery that lasted
for three hours. After recovery the fasted awake dogs had biliary catheter inserted
through the duodenal fistula to enable us study the pattern of cyclical biliary
flow. The studies showed that bile flow in the canine common bile duct is
cyclical and reflects the activity of the gall bladder during fasting. Exogenously
infused motilin has little effect on canalicular flow and composition but alters
common bile duct flow and composition indirectly through its effects on the gall
bladder (Bolarinwa et al. 1984).
A few points were obvious from my research work in Duke. You can keep
your research animals for as long as you wish to study them. Sometimes this can
be up to four to six years. Frank, one of the dogs in our laboratory, had been an
experimental candidate for three years before I got to the laboratory in 1982.
A system that makes this possible requires proper funding. The experimental
animals in Duke include chim-panzee apart from dogs. These animals were all
given a VIP treatment as each had its own quarters and people were paid to take
care of them. These quarters were kept better than what some rooms in our halls
of residence in this university used to be.
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564 Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa
The Alternative
At this period in the life of Nigeria when medical care is beyond the reach of the
average Nigerian, attention has turned to the use of local herbs as medication.
Many of these local herbs, while being useful in specific ailments, also have
adverse effects particularly in pregnancy. One of such herbs studied is Morinda
Lucida, which has been shown to have suppressive effect on rodent plasmodium
berghei malaria (Makinde and Obih 1985). Extracts of this medicinal plant are
taken by both male and female and also by pregnant women. Our work has
shown that this extract might be a herbal remedy for malaria when used for a
short period of about five days even in pregnancy (Adewoye, Bolarinwa and
Makinde 1991).
Quassia amara is reputed in traditional medicine to have good stomachic,
antianaemic, antibiotic, antiamoebic and antimalarial properties (Polonslay
1985). Many antimalarial agents have been reported to have anti-fertility actions
(Meisel and Winterhoff 1993). Our work on this herb has shown that the crude
methanol extract of the stem inhibited both the basal and LH-stimulated
testosterone secretion in the rat leydig cells in a dose-dependent fashion (Raji and
Bolarinwa 1997) .
.
Summary
(i) The likelihood of peptic ulcer disease is increased in persons of black
ancestry, which reflects an increased risk ofH pylori infection.
(ii) Cigarette smoking not only doubles a person's chances of getting an
ulcer, but it also tends to slow the healing process of an existing
ulcer. People who smoke have a lower rate of recurrent ulcer
regardless of what medication they may take. This has been further
confirmed by recent research which has shown that the chances of an
ulcer healing and staying healed are better if a patient quits smoking
and takes no medication than if the patient continues to smoke and
receives drug treatment.
(iii) Persons who use aspirin regularly over long periods of time, such as
some arthritis patients, have an increased chance of developing a
gastric ulcer.
(iv) Increased circulating estrogens as observed in pregnancy lowers the
pain threshold and this may be responsible for the quiescence of
subjective as well as objective symptoms of peptic ulcer disease
during pregnancy.
(v) The buffering capacity of red beans is greater than that of white
beans. The grains (beans, rice and maize) buffer more acid than the
tubers (yams and cassava), which should be discouraged in ulcer
patients.
(vi) The foetuses of pregnant women on commercial diets stand the risk
of being adversely affected as caloric restriction adversely affects the
placenta. Women should therefore avoid continuing their slimming
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Leaving Certainty for Uncertainty: From the Stomach to the Womb 565
effort during pregnancy. They should however resist the temptation
to eat for two during this period.
(vii) Bile flow in the canine common bile duct is cyclical and reflects the
activity of the gall bladder during fasting. Exogenously infused
motilin however has little effect on canalicular flow and composition
Recommendations
(i) There is need for our educational system, at the secondary school
level to expose all children to the study of the sciences with
particular emphasis on information technology. This will ensure that
they are properly educated to know the various options available to
them, not only at the tertiary level but also after graduation, in order
to avoidmoving blindly from "certainty to uncertainty".
(ii) The government should promptly make up her mind if she wants to
run a University system or glorified High Schools. The government
should stop biting more than she can chew. I believe that there are
enough resources to properly and adequately fund the University
Education in this country. Our problem over the years had been bad
management of resources.
(iii) The Universities should begin to bridge the gaps between various
disciplines. Interdisciplinary researches are the order of the day all
over the world. There is no reason why a Physiologist, a Biochemist,
a Nutritionist and a Pharmacologist and various Clinicians cannot
work together to isolate and characterize local herbs which can be
used for various ailments and which will be safe particularly in
pregnancy.
(iv) There is no reason why a Physicist should not be a member of
faculty in the College of Medicine or a Clinician on the Faculty of
the Social Sciences. An engineer should be able to work in the
hospital in a team without feeling inferior or superior to others.
Things seem to have degenerated to a bad state in our university
system so much so that there is a polarization even within the same
department, faculty or college. People who are supposed to be
scientists now talk of "medically qualified" or "non-medically
qualified" staff even in our Colleges of Medicine; to the extent that
those who are disillusioned by this unfortunate trend have opted to
leave the Colleges of Medicine and move into other colleges of
Health Sciences. Things have, in some cases, gone to the extent that
they have degenerated into unhealthy rivalry, partisanship,
animosity, ill-feeling, ostracization and so on and so forth.
(v) There is need for us to respect one another as we work together. We
need one another in a collective fight against illiteracy, disease and
poverty. University of lbadan is the first and the best. Let us take a
lead in things that are good.
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566 Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa
(vi) Our medical curriculum needs to be reviewed all over the country.
Our medical graduates should be exposed to research methodology
in basic medical and clinical sciences during their training, as is the
case in most parts of the world except, regrettably, in this part of the
continent. This will ensure that our doctors in the teaching hospitals
would have access to laboratories where Basic Medical researches as
well as Clinical researches are available. The medical students, basic
medical postgraduate students and Residents will therefore form part
of the team working in such laboratories.
(vii) Individual Nigerians should be encouraged to fund researches in the
Universities. The government alone obviously can no longer be the
principal provider of research grants. Very wealthy individuals
should begin to support research initiatives by providing the needed
grant. We can borrow a leaf from people like Rockefeller,
Macarthur and recently Bill and Melinda Gates. There is enough
money I believe to go round. There are lots of potentials in our
Universities waiting to be tapped. Unfortunately the money appears
to be in the hands of many who apparently also do not know what to
do with it positively. ,
(viii) The government needs to seriously sanitize the money market. Most
of the chemicals and laboratory equipment we use come from
outside this country and we have to purchase them with hard
currency. A situation where in 1987 at the height of the "SAP" one
dollar was equivalent to only seven naira but which now has become
one hundred and thirty naira, is bad for our Nation. Government
should go to the root of the problem and find a solution. We still sell
millions of barrels of oil daily, which means we earn loads offoreign
exchange. A situation where people illegally and desperately want to
take money out of this Nation for untenable reasons will continue to
push the value of our naira lower and lower. The government should
also put more money into the hands of Nigerians and stop trusting
our economy into the hands of foreign consultants and contractors.
(ix) Nigerians should rally round the government to address the decay in
our tertiary institutions. We are all sitting on a gold mine, but if we
do not know what to do, it will simply rot away. I dare to submit that
we cannot and should not allow this to happen.
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Leaving Certainty for Uncertainty: From the Stomach to the Womb 567
REFERENCES
Adewoye, O.E; Bolarinwa, A.F. and Makinde, M.J. (1991): Effect of Morinda lucida in
pregnancy in the mice. J Pharm & Pharm. Pract 2: 6 -8.
Amure, B.O. and Y. Bolarinwa (1975): Estrous cycle and Gastrin Content of Mucosa in
rat. J Interdisciple. Cycle Res., 6: 317-321.
Bolarinwa, A.F. and Edemaka, D.P. (1991): Effects of commercial diets on pregnancy
and parturition in the rat. Nig. J Physiol. Sci. 7(2): 159-162.
Bolarinwa, A.F., Schirmer, B.J., Kortz, W.J. and Akwari, O.E. (1982): Pattern of
interdigestive biliary flow in fasted dogs: the effect of motilin in
cholecystectomized and intact animals. Gastroenterology 84(5): part 2 : 1110.
Bolarinwa, Y. (1981): Plasma gastrin level in rats during the estrous cycle. Isr J Med.
Sci. 17: 1073 - 1075.
Bolarinwa, Y. and Amure, B.O. (1978): Pregnant rats and antral gastrin content. J
pharm. Pharmac., 30: 400.
Bonnevie, O. (1980): Peptic ulcer in Denmark. In olckronborged symposium on
duodenal ulcer. Scand. J Gastroenterology 15: 163 -174.
Crean, G.P. (1963): The endocrine system and the stomach. Vitam. And Hormones 215:
280.
Doll, R. Endemiology of peptic ulcer. In: Avery Jones F.ed. Modem Trends in
Gastroenterology. London: Butterworth, 1952: 361 - 379.
Elegbe, R.A. and Bamgbose, S.O.A. (1976): The antihistamine properties of l-methyl-3-
pyrrotidy &-phenyl cyclohexane glycolate methabromide (AHR 483). Biochem
Exp Bioi 12: 329 - 332.
Evbuomwan, M.l. and Bolarinwa, A.F. (1990): Effect of diet on indomethacin induced
peptic ulceration in pregnant rats. Nig. J Physiol. Sciences 6(2): 187 - 1991.
Kaufmann H.J. and Spiro HM (1968): Estrogen and gastric secretion. Gastroenterology
54:913-917.
Kurata, J.H., Haile, B.M. and Elashoff, J.G. (1985): Sex differences in peptic ulcer
disease. Gastroenterology 88: 96- 100.
Lozzio, B.B., Gagliardi, O. Po., Biempica, L. and Royer, M. (1961). Effects of pregnancy
on gastric secretion in rats. Gastroenterology, 41: 126-128.
Makinde, J.M. and Obih, P.O. (1985): Investigations of various extracts of Morinda
lucida for antimalarial actions on Plasmodium berghei in mice. Afric. J Med. Med.
Sci. 14: 59 - 63.
McCarthy, J.D., Evans, S.O. and Dragstedt. L.R. (1954). Ibid., 27, 275-280.
Meisel, M.L., Winterhoff, H. and Jekat, F.W. (1993): Tylosin inhibits the steroidogenesis
in mouse Leydig cells in vitro. Life Sciences 53: 77 - 84.
Murray, F.A. Erskine, J.P. and Fielding J. (1957). Gastric secretion in pregnancy. J
Obstet. Gynaec. Br. Common W. 64: 373 - 381.
Njar, YCO, Alao T.O., Okogun, J.l., Raji, Y., A.F. Bolarinwa and E.U. Nduka, (1995.
Antifertility activity of 'Quassia amara', Quassin inhibits the steroidogenessis in rat
Leydig cells in vitro. Planta Med 61: 180-182.
Oluwole, F.S. and Bolarinwa, A.F. (1986); Buffering capacity of some Nigerian food
substances. Scand. J Gastroentenal. 21(suppl. 124): 113-120.
Oluwole, F.S. and Bolarinwa, A.F. (1990): Effects of gonadectomy on indomethacin -
induced ulceration and peptic activity in rats. Afr. J Med. Med. Sci. 19: 139 - 143.
Polonsky, J. (1985): Fortschritte der cherne organischer Naturstoffe. Yol. 47 (Herzw,
Grisebach, H. Kirby, G.W. Tamm. Ch. Eds) pp 22 - 264 Springer Yerlag.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
568 Adeyombo F. Bolarinwa
Presl, J., Herzmann, J., Horsky, J., Mikulas, I. And Henzi, M. (1967): Fluctrimetric
estimation of oestrogen in the blood of-infant rats. J. Endocr., 381201- 202.
Raji, Y. and Bolarinwa, A.F. (1997). Antifertility activity of Quassia amara: in vivo
study. Life Sciences 61 (II): 1067 -1074.
Simic, B.S. (1971): Nutritional aspects of diabetes mellitus in developing countries. Food
and Nutrition 9: 19-31
Sippy, W.L. (1915): J. Am. Med. Assoc 68: 1625.
Stockard C.R and Pappanicoloua G.N (1917): Staining technique in oestrous cycle.
Anatomical Records.
Tovey, F.I. (1974). Geographical distribution of peptic ulcer. Trop. Doctor 4: 17-21.0
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
24
SUPPORT THROUGH THE RAGING STORMS OF PAIN
Olaitan. A. Soyanwo
Department of Anaesthesia
Introduction
This is'the third inaugural lecture from the Department of Anaesthesia, one of the
15 Departments in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences and Dentistry, College of
Medicine, University of Ibadan. The first inaugural lecture from the Department
was given by Professor J.A.O. Magbagbeola in 1976 and the second by Late
Professor C.E. Famewo in 1993. The Department of Anaesthesia was created
from the Department of Surgery in 1967 and this illustrates the age-long
relationship between Anaesthesia and Surgery. Although the relationship
between Surgery and Anaesthesia is often likened to that of husband and wife,
this is not a monogamous arrangement. The department works in close
collaboration with several other departments including medical, paediatrics and
laboratory specialties to promote professional medical education and safety of
lives especially during dangerous and critical situations. . .
The topic of my inaugural lecture is "Support through the Raging Storms of
Pain" and this afternoon, I do not intend to make you view anaesthetists as those
mere mortals trying to play the role of the Almighty, the Creator as may be
implied from the title of this lecture. Rather, I would like to talk on some
interrelated subjects, which have continued to be of special interest to me as an
anaesthetist. These are the areas of the storms encountered during the
multidimensional practice of anaesthesia and pain management, what the
anaesthetist has to offer now and in the future. I shall start by giving a brief
history of the specialty of Anaesthesia.
The Birth of Anaesthesia
The word 'Anaesthesia' was derived from the Greek words "a" meaning without
and "aesthesis" meaning perception. Anaesthesia thus involves the production of
a state of reversible insensibility to pain locally or through loss of consciousness.
Methods commonly employed in the 18th Century were hypnosis, alcohol and
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
570 Olaitan A. Soyanwo
opium by inhalation of its vapour and by ~pplication of the powder to wounds.
The latter method still finds some use in modem times during wars when the
euphoric effect of opium is still found to be beneficial. Some extreme methods
were also employed such as compression of carotid arteries to cut off blood
supply to the brain. Phlebotomy or blood letting when carried out aggressively
enough also caused loss of consciousness and was utilized as a pain-killer! But
such methods can also promptly kill (Macht 1915).
Nitrous oxide was first prepared by Priestley in 1772 but it was Humphry
Davy who discovered that it relieved pain while suffering from a toothache.
Because nitrous oxide was later associated with asphyxia, its use was temporarily
forgotten and overshadowed by ether for over 40 years. Dr. Crawford Long, a
practising physician in need of safe anaesthetic, realized that those who
participated at "ether parties" discovered bruises and other injuries acquired
while under the influence of ether but had no recollection of pain. We probably
will come across such interesting findings and produce extracts for anaesthesia
and pain relief if we study the traditional herbs used by our. people during
initiation ceremonies and tribal clashes!
Ether, although prepared originally in 1540 by Valerius Cordus and used
privately for several years was not introduced into clinical practice until 1846. W.
T. G. Morton, a dentist on October 16th 1846, performed the first successful
demonstration of its clinical use and brought about the turning point in the
history of Anaesthesia. Within a few months, chloroform superseded ether as the
most popular anaesthetic agent especially as the famous John Snow, the first full
time anaesthetist gave over 4000 chloroform anaesthetics without a death. He
succeeded in popularizing chloroform by administering it to Queen Victoria
during the delivery of her eighth child (Prince Leopold) in 1857. This action also
set down the seal of respectability on the relief of pain during childbirth and
deliverance of women from the theological injunction of Genesis Chapter 3,
verse 16. Cocaine was introduced for local anaesthesia in 1884 and by 1889
spinal anaesthesia was used widely and opened the doors to development and use
of local and regional anaesthetic techniques.
The concept of "Balanced Anaesthesia" was embraced from 1926 when John
S. Lundy of the Mayo Clinic introduced the term. He suggested that a
combination of agents be used, so that general anaesthesia and pain relief were
obtained by a nice balance of agents and techniques such as:
(i) intravenous agent to produce loss of consciousness quickly;
(ii) muscle relaxant for muscle relaxation;
(iii) analgesic drugs for pain relief;
(iv) other drugs to prevent unwanted reflexes like slowing ofthe heart.
With this concept, it is now possible to avoid deep levels of anaesthesia and
depression of vital centers in the brain. The pace of development has been
sustained in all aspects from inhalation agents, drugs, general and regional
techniques and equipment. Thus the Schimmelbusch mask and ether drop method
of the early days is now replaced with computerized anaesthetic and monitoring
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Support through the Raging Storms of Pain 571
equipment while information management systems are utilized for effective
service, teaching and research. The pioneers of anaesthesia in the West African
subregion - Waters, Flemming, Beckam, Oduntan, Oduro, Magbagbeola,
ffoulkes-Crabbe, Obiaya, Akinyemi, Famewo, Odugbesan also made several
contributions.
Anaesthesia as a Medical Specialty
Before World War I, there were few anaesthesia specialists, thus untrained
inexperienced care providers including surgeons were assigned to anaesthesia. It
soon became clear that this was a big mistake bordering on criminal negligence
as those soldiers with massive trauma faired better with the skilled care provided
by trained anaesthetists. Thus began the era of specialists in anaesthesia and for
us, this is one good result from a world war (Davis 1968). During the World War
II, massive trauma care, triage in emergency situations, delivery of anaesthesia
outside the operating room, transfusion medicine and treatment of hypothermia
all fell into the courts of anaesthetists. In the decade after World War II, several
changes occurred in the scope and complexity of surgery. These could not have
been possible without matching developments and refinements in anaesthetic
practice. Nowadays, many surgical patients are very ill and caring for the patient
before, during and after the surgical assault is a major role for the anaesthetist.
The Raging Storm .
In the attempt to heal or cure, the surgeon's knife produces tissue damage
resulting in pain and an outpouring of stress hormones. This situation is also
similar to what a person encounters during major trauma, such as road traffic
accident and severe bums. Pain is the most demanding of all symptoms of disease
and most people who seek medical treatment actually have pain as a complaint.
Historically, for many centuries, philosophers and psychologists followed
Aristotle who thought pain to be a purely emotional problem (Dallenback, 1939).
Even the Latin word "poena" from which "Pain", was derived means a penalty
or punishment. But after the discovery of "Pain nerves" and "Pain Tracts", it is
now known that pain is a complex experience having a sensory component and
an emotional component. By 1979, the International Association for the Study of
Pain (IASP) defined pain as an unpleasant, sensory and emotional experience
associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such
damage (IASP 1979). To the ordinary individual, pain is unpleasant, a
combination of agony and suffering and it is like being caught up in a raging
storm.
During surgery, the surgeon requires his patient to be still without moving or
complaining while he has a good view of his operating field. Occasionally, he
asks the anaesthetist: "Is the patient OK"? The patient simply wants to be
unaware of the operation and to be alive at the end. The anaesthetist on the other
hand actually has to support the patient's various body organs through the
surgical ordeal, which in some instances can even terminate in death. A lot of
people say that the anaesthetist only "puts people to sleep". But we know that it
is more important and more difficult to be able to wake them up! The
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572 Olaitan A. Soyanwo
requirements of each individual that is rendered unconscious and the anaesthetic
considerations are diverse and I hereby invite you all to join me in looking at
some of the case scenarios often requiring the anaethetist's support.
Let us start our journey with The Pregnant Patient who is expected to bring
forth the new generation. She may be presented to the anaesthetist for surgery
unrelated to the pregnancy, for provision of pain relief during labour or
anaesthesia for operative delivery and management of complications related to
childbirth. It is well known that pregnancy and labour produce remarkable
physiological, anatomical and psychological changes in the mother. Although
many of these complications are beneficial and help women survive childbirth,
others place the women at increased risk of death. Even the layman is aware of
some of these problems, hence prayers are often offered for safe delivery while
culturally, several taboos are levied to protect pregnant women against harm. The
choice of anaesthesia in the obstetric patient is influenced by the training and
experience of the anaesthetist, the facilities available, the clinical condition of the
patient and whether the procedure is elective, urgent or an emergency.
The fact that two or more lives (the mother and babies) are under the care of
the anaesthetist simultaneously makes obstetric anaesthesia unique with
additional challenges. Special. considerations when general anaesthesia is
employed include the less efficient gastric emptying and risk of regurgitation and
aspiration of gastric content, intubation problems and the fact that in the supine
position, the uterus presses on the inferior vena cava, leading to severe
hypotension - the supine hypotension syndrome. During general anaesthesia, the
mother is paralyzed while low concentrations of anaesthetic agents and sedative
drugs are administered until delivery of the baby. The use of such "light
anaesthesia" is aimed at producing an awake baby with the expectant loud cries.
This technique could however lead to the problem of awareness during surgery
when the mother would be able to hear and even feel pain.
As our own research contribution to this aspect of anaesthesia, Soyannwo,
Elegbe and Odugbesan studied three groups of women undergoing Caesarian
Section in 1988. We found that administration of a small dose of narcotic
analgesic (pethidine 25mg) with a benzodiazepine (flunitrazepam 0.03mglkg)
was associated with a low incidence (4%) of awareness. Twenty-eight percent of
the women in the control group were aware and five of them could repeat some
of the statements made while under anaesthesia such as "this knife is not sharp",
"the baby is a little elephant". Over the last decade, regional anaesthetic
techniques especially spinal and epidural have become more popular in obstetric
practice and this has minimized the risks associated with obstetric anaesthesia.
Thus, in developed countries, maternal deaths attributed to anaesthesia has fallen
steadily in the last 30 years (Fig. 2). In the Report on Confidential Enquiries into
.Maternal Deaths (CEMD) in the UK for 1994-1996, there were no deaths from
general anaesthesia (Levy 2001). However, the story is different in our
environment where preventable causes, ignorance, late referrals and inadequate
facilities even when the women get to the hospital still lead thousands of mothers
to their graves.
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Support through the Raging Storms of Pain 573
The Paediatric Patient .'
A happy and healthy child is a joy to behold and wheri children have to receive
anaesthetic care, the dexterity, knowledge and competence of the anaesthetist are
always maximally utilized. One may notice that a two-month old baby is listed
on the operation schedule for a minor surgical procedure under anaesthesia but
on preoperative visit, discover a tiny baby weighing lessjhan 2 kilograms, who
was born three months prematurely at a gestational age of 28 weeks. One also
discovers that the baby had severe respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) at birth
and was on ventilator support for one week in the neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
On the same list may be a fit 10-year-old child for minor surgery. The anaesthetic
management thus becomes a much more major event in the former infant who
. manifests the highest anatomical and physiological variance from an adult.
In 1986, I reported several problems of accessibility to the airway which
were encountered in our paediatric anaesthetic practice as exemplified by the six
day old baby with a large neck multinodular swelling, six month old baby with
adherent upper and lower lips and 5 month old baby with frontoparietal mass
(Soyannwo 1987). The latter being fat also posed the problem of venous access
and she in fact developed mediastinal emphysema with pneumome-diastinum
, following traumatic intubation (Soyannwo and Ogunsehinde 1987). In major
surgery, on the 4-year-old for excision of Wilm's tumour as reported by Soyanwo
(1989); blood loss that has to be replaced accurately by the anaesthetist may be
more than the total blood volume of the child. Blood transfusiori in the
perioperative period including the protection of self and others against the risks
of deadly infectious diseases like the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HN) and
Hepatitis are part of the schedule of the anaesthetist. Problems are also magnified
when the children presenting for surgery come as emergency or are on treatment
for other concurrent medical problems like sickle cell disease and congenital
heart diseases as we reported. The anaesthetist must be knowledgeable on these
issues and guard against complications throughout the operation and' in the
immediate postoperative period.
Patients with Medical Problems and Critical Care
Surgical patients who have intercurrent medical diseases pose a great challenge.
to the anaesthetist and the challenges are more in the elderly who manifest
physiological changes' and' disease states due to the ageing process. My
colleagues and I studied surgical patients in Ibadan in 1996 and found that 9.21,
% out of a total of 2, 106 consecutive patients had intercurrent medical diseases as
listed in table 1.
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574 Olaitan A. Soyanwo
Table 1: Incidence (%) of Intercurrent Medical Diseases
in Surgical Patient in Ibadan (1996)
Type of disease Percentage
Hypertension 42.27%
Diabetes Mellitus 13.4%
Anaemia 9.7%
Asthma 6.7%
Malnutrition 4.64%
Septicaemia 3.61%
Heart Disease 3.6%
Others include haemoglobinopathy, neurological and respiratory diseases,
typhoid fever, thyroid and liver diseases (Soyannwo, Bamgbade and Odutola
1996). Although the physician may be consulted on the management of such
diseases pre-operatively when time allows, the anaesthetist has the responsibility
of intra-operative management and ensuring that the patient recovers fully from
anaesthesia. This area of the work sometimes results in major conflicts between
the cautious anaesthetist and the surgeon who is eager to operate ev~n when the
patient's disease state is uncontrolled. We reported' our experience on surgery of
toxic goitre in non-euthyroid patients whose economic situation led to non-
compliance with prescribed medication and poor control of their disease. (Ajao,
et al, 1997).
Because of the expertise in airway control, respiratory care and support of
failing vital organs during surgery, the anaesthetist now plays a frontline role in
critical care medicine. They are pillars in teams for the A, B, C (Airway,
Breathing, Circulation) principles of Basic and Advanced Life Support,
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Trauma, Accident and Emergency and Intensive
Care. These are areas where the knowledge of Basic Sciences and Clinical Skills
of the physician anaesthetist are fully utilized.
The area of Respiratory support has moved from the realms of oxygen
administration via nasal catheter or oxygen masks to various modes of
mechanical ventilation, and nonventilatory components of therapy. The latter
include position changes (supine to prone) for improved ventilation perfusion
(VIQ) matching, nitric oxide inhalation in the treatment of severe Adult
Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and pulmonary hypertension and
ventilation with a liquid perfluorocarbon to allow substantial improvement of gas
exchange. The University College Hospital, Ibadan has one of the very few
Intensive Care Units in Nigeria and this is under the Department of Anaesthesia.
Pain Management
Pain is a common feature in all the situations described above and Anaesthesia
prevents the immense suffering it generates. Major surgery provokes prolonged
release of cathecolamines, which contribute to cardiac morbidity in the
postoperative period. Pain can cause significant reduction in the respiratory
efforts, heightened stress response and depressed immune function. Poorly
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Support through the Raging Storms of Pain 575
relieved pain has a' negative psychological effect, causing sleeplessness and
depression. Acute pain as in these cases results from tissue damage, cut nerve
endings and maneuvers associated with anaesthesia and surgery. Acute pain
usually has a short duration of hours or days of less than three months and
improves with healing. Chronic pain on the other hand e.g. backache or arthritis
is long standing (over six months) and a cause may not be found readily. Chronic
disabling pain, widespread throughout the body is often thought to be a
manifestation of psychological distress.
The Pain Message
Through a complex pathway, sensation of pain is transmitted by a variety of
nerve fibres with different conduction rates to cells in the dorsal horn of the
spinal cord. These cells act as "gate" as was first postulated by Melzack and Wall
in 1965. When 'open', pain impulses pass.through and pain is felt and if 'closed',
no pain or little pain is felt. Descending pain pathway from the brain and several
substances such as bradykinin, substance P, prostaglandins modify the pain
message (nocciceptive input). The message passes through relay stations in the
spinal cord, medulla and midbrain to the brain where it is perceived as pain.
Involvement of spinal pharmacological mechanisms and various transmitter
substances such as peptides, excitatory amino acids, endorphins cause
amplification (central hypersensitivity) or alteration in pain states. Knowledge in
this area has enhanced various sites for pain treatment from peripherally acting to
central measures acting on the brain.
Pain Assessment > > >.;'
You may want to ask, "How does the anaesthetist know that an unconscious
patient such as the one under anaesthesia feel pain"? As earlier mentioned, pain
is a combination of events, which include metabolic and endocrine changes.
Thus, observations like increased heart rate, and respiratory rate, blood pressure,
sweating and lacrimation may be pointers towards inadequate intra-operative
analgesia. That is why the anaesthetist stays closely and monitors each patient
carefully throughout surgery, using his clinical skills to decipher the cause of
various changes occurring in the patient. Several monitoring equipment are also
available now to assist with monitoring various parameters in the patient, the
anaesthetic equipment and even the environment - a similar situation to the
cockpit of an aircraft.
The anaesthetist deciphers that an unconscious patient under his/her care has
pain but in the awake patient like postoperative, the patient complains of pain.
Sound approaches to treatment of any pain must include appropriate assessment
in terms of:
Self report- what the patient says
Behaviour- what the patient does
Biological methods how the body reacts.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
576 Olaitan A. Soyanwo
The patient is usually able to indicate where it hurts e.g. site of operation or
distant sites. Specific descriptive terms are used to describe the type of pain e.g.
sharp, aching or throbbing may imply likely organic cause related to tissue
damage while numb, tingling are suggestive of nerve compression or injury and
words like "buzzing", "funny" when used may point to anxiety or fear.
Pain assessment is now considered to be the fifth vital sign that should be
recorded regularly in any patient whether medical or surgical and furthermore,
the years 2000 to 2010 have been declared the decade of Pain control and
research. It is better to grade pain as objectively as possible before and after
treatment while the commonly used English words have to be translated to
relevant languages for ease of comprehension by patients. Our multidisciplinary
group had to translate the universally employed Verbal Rating Scale (VRS), a
part of the McGill Pain Questionnaire to Yoruba (Soyannwo et al. 2000)
0= No pain Ko si irora
1= Mild Pain frora die
2= Discomforting frora ti 0 nini lara
3= Distressing Irora ti 0 ba ni lokanje
4= Horrible frora ti 0 ga
5= Excruciating frora ti 0 koja ifarada
We are currently working on the translation of a 101 - instrument, the
Multidimensional Affect Pain Score (MAPS) for use in Nigerian patients.
Pain assessment in neonates and small children (age < 4yrs) represents a
major challenge due to the lack of the language skills and changing psychology.
Although the pain rating scales used in adult can be used for older children, other
scales are specifically designed for use in children. These scales make use of
behavioural and physiologic parameters such as: restlessness, grimacing,
vocalization, sweating, lacrimation, pupil dilatation, skin blood flow, tachycardia,
hypertension, dyscoordinate respiration. Pictorial scales e.g. Faces scale, are
useful for 3-6 years and the child can indicate which face represents the amount
of pain being experienced.
Pain Control
The goals of pain management in this millennium emphasize the "process" rather
than specific treatment modalities. There should be a collaborative,
multidisciplinary approach while patients should be involved in developing the
pain management plan. Use of combination of systemic analgesics, topical
analgesics, wound infiltration, nerve blocks with safer and longer acting local
anesthetics and non-drug therapies including acupuncture, Transcutaneous
Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), psychotherapy, peer support and pastoral
counselling are now commonly employed.
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Support through the Raging Storms of Pain 577
Over the past two decades, opioids especially morphine and shorter acting
preparations have come to the forefront among the drugs used for pain relief. The
methods of dispensing have evolved from intramuscular six, eight hourly or as
and when required dosing to intravenous, neuraxial, trans dermal, and
transmucosal as alternative routes. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents
including the new COX-II inhibitors and recently a2 adrenergic agonists are now
effective adjuvants to opioid use. During the last decade, the use of epidural and
spinal opioids for acute pain control has increased due to excellent analgesia
produced and ease of administration. It is now possible for patients to self-
administer small doses of Opioids by Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) when
they experience pain. This is achieved through computer-programmed pumps
with a lockout interval to prevent overdose. A background infusion of the
analgesic can be delivered to achieve a constant blood level of drug and ensure
complete pain relief even during movement, coughing or straining. Where such
facilities are available, acute pain teams consisting of a consultant anaesthetist, a
nurse, and pharmacist supervise treatment and ensure safety and standard of care.
Many of the above methods can be used safely in children too since it is now
proven scientifically that even the smallest neonate responds to pain. For
physiological, moral, ethical and humanitarian reasons, pain should be
anticipated and effectively controlled in all age groups. We have promoted this
philosophy in our department and our research study has shown that even the
customary male infant circumcision in Africans need not be accompanied by
screams and yelling. Our use of eutetic mixture of local anaesthetics (EMLA)
cream applied to the prepuce 45 to 90 minutes before circumcision significantly
reduced the pain and discomfort associated with circumcision in infants (Shittu,
Soyannwo and Sodipo 1997).
Some of you in the audience who have had major surgery in Nigeria will
probably never like to go through the experience again mainly because of the
pain experienced. Many studies worldwide including contributions from our
department have shown that pain is undertreated. In a recent study, Faponle,
Soyannwo and Ajayi (2001) showed that almost 70% of our patients indicate
moderate to severe pain following surgery. Such a situation would have resulted
in surgeons and anaesthetist being dragged to the law courts in developed
countries. But despite the archaic pain management methods, 90% of our
Nigerian patients still reported that they were satisfied with their pain reliefl It is
possible they expect that pain must be part of any surgical procedure or we are
able to handle pain better culturally!
The situation for the Nigerian woman in labour is no better and even in this
millennium most women still go through the agonizing pains of childbirth. It is
now well established that pain relief during labour accomplishes more than just
providing comfort because labour is both painful and stressful to the mother.
Every effective uterine contraction increases the parturient's cardiac output, and
the work of the heart. Her oxygen consumption, carbohydrate metabolism and
secretion of stress hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol and cortisone)
rise steadily. This taxes the mother's reserves and may deprive the foetus of
oxygen and nutrients. Hence, several methods of pain relief are now offered to
women during prenatal education.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
578 Olaitan A. Soyanwo
In 1985, I introduced and confirmed the effectiveness of inhalation of a fixed
concentration of 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen (Entonox) for pain relief during
labour in Nigerian women (Soyannwo 1995). Pain relief was reported to be
satisfactory in 86% of the patients. However, epidural analgesia is currently the
most widely used technique to provide pain free labour in many parts of the
world. This involves the delivery of weak solutions of local anaesthetics with or
without opioid analgesics into the epidural space through an inserted catheter.
Drug delivery may be achieved by continuous infusion, by intermittent top-up or
by patient controlled administration (PCA), which offers the parturient the
additional psychological benefit of being in control. She can even walk around,
pain free during labour. The technique provides flexibility to meet the needs of
each patient despite varied obstetric courses (spontaneous vaginal delivery,
forceps delivery, caesarian delivery). Unfortunately, inadequate manpower and
equipment prevent provision of such service on a routine basis in Nigeria.
The province of Anesthesiology also extends to the areas of chronic pain,
cancer pain management and terminal care as part of the multidisciplinary team
approach to patient care. The long hours spent in.the theatre co-coordinating the
activities of surgeons, nurses and other theatre personnel and communicating
with anxious, distressed and sometimes difficult patients (and surgeons) are great
assets. In order to be a pain sp'~~ialist, the anaesthetist must appreciate and
understand the pathophysiology of pain syndromes, be familiar with current
psychophysiology, psychotherapy and use his knowledge of nerve blockade
techniques.
Patients with difficult pain states including cancer patients are referred to
anaesthetists for management. Majority of these cancer patients in developing
countries are incurable by the time the diagnosis is.made and pain occurs in about
70% of those with advanced disease especially caneer of the breast and prostate
in Nigerians. Management of pain and other symptoms are therefore crucial to
the quality of their remaining life. It is disheartening to know that this is a
neglected aspect of medical care in Africa and Nigeria in particular ..Therefore,
there is an urgent need for formal education and research in pain and symptom
control in terminal illness and establishment of Pain Clinics. After all, death is a
price that everyone has to pay but it does not have to be painful.
The idea of formal pain management was initiated by John Bonica, a senior
anaesthesiologist with: the Madigan Anny Hospital, United States of America
who startedthe first Pain Clinic in 1944. He later became the founder of the
International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Akinyemi and Famewo
(1984) established the first Pain Clinic in Ibadan in 1978 while we pioneered the
formation of a Cancer Pain Palliative Care Group in 1995. The activities of this
group resulted in the inauguration of the Society for the Study of Pain, Nigeria, in
1998. For the first time, doctors, scientists, physiotherapists, psychologist, nurses
and non-medical individuals who are interested in pain treatment and research
could collaborate while the society has become a chapter of the international
body.
Ajayi et al. (2000) have identified impediments to the availability of opioids
in Nigeria and made concerted efforts for four years to get the Federal Ministry
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Support through the Raging Storms of Pain 579
of Health and its agency National Agency for Food and Drug Administration
(NAFDAC) to make opioids available for medical use. These potent painkillers
are now available and hopefully, Nigerian patients with cancer can obtain
deserved relief using the WHO Guidelines for Cancer Pain Management (WHO
1986). This method stipulates that analgesics should be given "by mouth", "by
the clock", "by the ladder", "for the individual", with "attention to detail" while
non-opioid, opioid analgesics are employed with adjutants as required. Regional
neurolytic blocks, ablative neurosurgery, chemo-therapy, physical therapy,
radiation therapy and other non-pharmacological interventions may also be
indicated.
The Making of an Anaesthetist
Even where anaesthetic facilities are optimal like in the United Kingdom,
Confidential Enquiry into Perioperative Deaths (CEPOD) revealed, that overall
death after anaesthesia and surgery was 0.7% (Buck, Devlin and Lunn 1987).
Anaesthesia alone was responsible for death in approximately 1 in 100,000
operations but contributed to 14% of all deaths. Thus like all aspects of life,
anesthesia is associated with risks but these can be kept to an absolute minimum.
The training and knowledge of the anaesthetist must therefore be top class while
he/she must be of sound mind at all times. Otherwise, he may not be capable of
waking those put to sleep! In the developed world, anaesthetists are respected
and highly paid and it is now commonplace for doctors who have acquired
postgraduate qualifications in Basic sciences, surgery, medicine, paediatrics and
other specialties to retrain as anasesthetists or anaesthesiologists ..
In 1980, our study (Akinyemi and Soyannwo 1980) revealed how unpopular
the specialty of anaesthesia was in a class of graduating medical students at the
University of Ibadan, Anaesthesia as "a choice of future career" ranked sixth out
of eight specialties presented. This situation has not changed and it is even worse
at postgraduate level, which takes six years or more to complete. The senate of
the University of Ibadan in its wisdom and based on the need to train
postgraduate specialist medical teachers within the country, approved regulations
for the Master of Medicine programme in 1964. Anaesthesia was one of the
specialties and training took off in 1970. I became the only product of this
training in Anaesthesia because a National programme under the Nigerian
Medical Council replaced the M.Med. A West African programme under the
West African Postgraduate Medical College was also commenced soon after. A
University-based Diploma Programme, which was first available in London in
1935,was not commenced in Nigeria until 1967.
Elegbe and Soyannwo have shown in their study that by 1996, only 1
anaesthetist was produced per 49 surgeons trained on the West African
programme (Soyannwo and ElegbeI999). Anaesthesia manpower in Nigeria is
therefore still in the lowest range of 1: 300,000 population (compared to 1:10,000
in USA). Hence, like in other countries with shortage especially developing
countries, middle" level manpower - nurses and technicians are trained to
administer anaesthesia. I was privileged to train nurses to administer anaesthesia
in The Gambia and install them in 7 newly established secondary referral centres
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
580 Olaitan A. Soyanwo
as parr of the country's efforts to improve obstetrics services, thereby reducing
maternal mortality (Soyannwo 1992; Soyannwo -and George 1995). Such
personnel are trained to work under supervision of physician anaesthetists but we
found that 29% of those in Nigel'iia work alone under surgeons who sometimes
know less than they do about anaesthetic issues - a very dangerous situation
(Soyannwo, Oduntan and Faponle 1997).
What does Anaesthesia have to offer in the new millennium?
In the issue of Anaesthesia 200], :volume 56, pages 272-296, A. Vohra .of the
Manchester Royal Infirmary U.K., asked: "So what is the role of the anaesthetist
in theatre?" And I agree with his answer: "We are the patients' replacement
brain. We induce a reversible chemical coma and then take over the functions
that the brain would normally perform". Successful surgery requires the
coordinated activities of employees with different skills (doctors, nurses,
administrators, physiotherapists, pharmacists, technicians, porters etc.) and
application of costly supplies and equipment in order to produce the finished
product - a patient discharged with successful outcome. The breakdown in any
step in this "assembly line" leads to frustration and dissatisfaction to all
concerned. When such breakdown occurs on a regular basis as happens in our
nation's health sector, .dedication is sacrificed for self-gains and the number of
colourful obituaries. in our newspapers and television screens increase!
An extension "of !be surgical role of the anaesthetist is carried outside the
operating theatJ;e-sudi.~~Jhe new area of office day surgery, monitored sedation,
resuscitation especiallyii; "sudden death" situations, intensive care unit, obstetric
unit and' chronic pain management. These are areas of great challenge to all
clinical ~n9-esthesia··providers but the onus is especially on Government and
academic centers including our great University of Ibadan to provide required
facilities-for these clinical activities, research and education since all three are
inseparable.
I am proud to have received most of my education and professional training
in Nigeria but those were:r"'lhedays when our naira was stronger than the dollar
and at par with the pound sterling. Hence, 50% of my annual salary in Nigeria in
1978 was enough to fully support my one-year study leave in Britain. Our
country is still a consumer country and all equipment, consumable items and
drugs required --for _teaching, research and service concerning anaesthesia, life
support and pairr'management are imported. The government must therefore note
the priority areas and take into consideration the value of the naira when
allocating funds to tertiary institutions. A situation where strong opioid
analgesics were not imported into the country for several years is unacceptable
and government regulatory policies must be streamlined to prevent the suffering
brought about through the unavailability of such essential and controlled
medications. Nigerian parents, organizations and philanthropists also have a role
to play in supporting tertiary institutions. It is pertinent to note that the funds
spent on overseas medical bills and emergency air ambulance for a few can make
meaningful impact if ploughed into improving educational and health facilities in
Nigeria.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Support through the Raging Storms of,Pain 581
In conclusion, anaesthesia has changed from just "putting patients to sleep"
to an area of perioperative. and emergency medical care. As a team player, the
anaesthetist is an indispensable member of trauma emergency response and-life
support teams, essential obstetric services, safe motherhood, appropriate clinical
use of blood and palliative care. Ally effort put into developing the specialty of
anaesthesia will therefore reap dividends 'in all these areas where support is - .
required' through the raging storms of pain and death. I believe that when
anaesthetists receive enough support to evolve into subspecialty and
multidisciplinary groups in Nigeria, the specialty will surely attract more
practitioners who will not only provide safety in sleep but will ensure freedom
from the raging storms of pain. '
REFERENCES
Ajao, O.G., Soyannwo, O.A., Adebamowo, C./\.., Okeke, L.I., Ladipo, J.K. and
Sotunmbi, P.T. Surgery of Toxic Goitre in Non-euthyroid Patients: A Preliminary
Report. Afr. J Med. Sci. 1997; 26: 59-62.
A.jay'i,1.0., Soyannwo, O.A., Adebamowo, C.A. and Amanor-Boadu, S.D. Availability of
Opioids for Cancer Pain in Nigeria. Nig. J 'Surg. 2000; 7(1) 25-28 .
Akinyemi. 0.0. and Soyannwo, b:A .. .The Choice of Anaesthesia as a Career by
Undergraduates in a Developing Country. Anaesthesia 1980; 35: 712-715.
Akinyemi, 0.0. and Famewo, C.E:'Pioneering a·Pain Clinic in a Developing-Country:
The Pain Clinic 1984; J, 109~114. .' .
Buck, N., Devlin, H.B. and Lunn, J.N. 1987..The Report of a Confidential Enquiry into
Peri operative Deaths. Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, London.
Cancer Pain Relief, WHO, Geneva 1986.
Dallenback, K.M. Pain: History and Present Status. Am. J Psychol. 1939, 52, 331.
Davis, D.A, Anaesthesia in the World Wars. In: Davis, D,A. ed. Historical Vignettes of
Modem Anaesthesia. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company; 1968: 19-29.
Faponle, A.F., Soyannwo, O.A. and Ajayi, 1.0. Postoperative Pain Therapy: A Survey of
Prescribing Patterns and Adequacy of Analgesia in Ibadan, Nigeria. Centr Afr. J
Med. 2001 47(3), 70-74.
IASP 1979. Subcommittee on Taxonomy. Pain Terms: A List with Definitions and Notes
on Usage. Pain 6: 249-52.
Levy, D.M. Anaesthesia for Caesarian Section. BJA CEPD Reviews 2001, (6) 171-176.
Macht, D.I. The History of Opium and Some of its Preparations and Alkaloids. JAMA
1915; 64:477-81.
Melzack, R. and Wall, P.O. Pain Mechanisms: A New Theory Science 1965; 150,971.
Shittu, O.B., Soyannwo, O.A. and Sodipo, A.A. EMLA cream anesthesia for
circumcision in infants. Nig. J surg. 1997; 4 (2) 63-65
Soyannwo, O.A. Self-administered Entonox (50% Nitrous Oxide in Oxygen) in Labour:
A Preliminary Report of the Experience in Ibadan. Afr. J Med. med. Sc. 1985; 14,
95-98.
Soyannwo, O.A. Some Problems with Tracheal Intubation in Nigerian Children. WAJM
1987; 6:2; 137-142.
Soyannwo, O.A. Wilm's Tumour - Review of Anaesthetic Experience. Afr. .LAnaes. And
Int. Care 1989; 1(1) 30-33.
Soyannwo, O.A. Nurse Anaesthetists in the Gambia. World Health Forum 1992; 13: 208-
210.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
582 OlaitanA. Soyanwo
Soyannwo, O.A. and Ogunsehinde, O. Subcutaneous Emphysema and
Pneumomediastinum Complicating Endotracheal Intubation. Afr. J. Med. med. Sc.
1987; 16:119-121.
Soyannwo, O.A, Elegbe, E.O. and Odugbesan, C.O. Effect of Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol)
on Awareness during Anaesthesia for Caesarian Section. Afr. J. Med. Med. Sci.
1988; 17,23-26.
Soyannwo, O.A. and Melville, O. George. Anaesthesia in the Gambia. W. Afr. J. med.
1995; 14: (3) 169-173.
Soyannwo, O.A, Bamgbade, O.A. and Odutola, 0.0. Medical Diseases and Anaesthesia.
Afr. J. Anaes. And Int. Care 1996; 2(2), 5 I -56.
Soyannwo, O.A., Oduntan, S.A. and Faponle, A.F. Anaesthetic Manpower and Facilities
in Nigeria. Afr. J. Anaes. Int. Care 1997; 3: (I) 11-15.
Soyannwo, O.A. and Elegbe, E.O. Anaesthetic Manpower Development in West Africa.
Afr. J. Med. med. Sci. 1999; 28: 163-165.
Soyannwo, O.A., Amanor-Boadu, S.D., Sanya, A.O. and Gureje, O. Pain Assessment in
Nigerians - Visual Analogue Scale and Verbal Rating Scale Compared. WAJM
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Vohra,. A. The role of the Anaesthetist: Replacement Brain. Anaesthesia 2000; 56: 272-
273
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25
GIVING A VOICE TO THE RURAL POPULATION
Janice E. Olawoye
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
Introduction
It is a privilege to represent the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry that has so
many distinguished and senior professors. At the same time, however, it is
overdue that the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
be given this opportunity. In the 25 years of existence as a distinct department,
this is the first inaugural lecture to be given from my Department. Although
Professor AU. Patel presented a valedictory lecture and Professor J.A Ekpere
gave a series of University Lectures, no one in the Department has previously
been given this opportunity. It is, therefore, a challenge for me personally, but it
is also an honour shared collectively by every member of staff of the
Department.
Background
When I was a young girl growing up on a small farm in Iowa, U.S.A, I would
dream, like any other child, about the future. Like many rural children, I guess
my dream was to leave the farm and to have adventure. Never in my wildest
dreams, however, did I consider that one day I would be living, teaching, doing
research, preaching and raising a family in Africa. But my humble background
provided a good training ground for relating with rural people, wherever they
may be. I learned the dignity of labouring with one's hands and producing not
only for oneself, but also for the household, community and even the nation. I
saw the importance of the social support network. I found that there was wisdom
in many of the ways of the rural community and in the vast knowledge of rural
people, like my father and grandfather, about the land that they farmed. In
America, policy makers and researchers listen to the voice of the farmers,
because the 'experts' recognize that the farmers know what they are talking
about.
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584 Janice E. Olawoye .
In Nigeria, we in the academia, research institutes and government often
ignore the ideas, aspirations, talents and difficulties faced by rural people who
form a large proportion of our population. When the concerns of agricultural
development and the needs of the rural population "are addressed, the
interventions are usually planned and implemented by outsiders with virtually no
input from the people most affected by the programmes. Iii countless cases, our
development projects and innovations have failed to achieve their objectives
because the local population has not been given the opportunity to voice its
views. <
This evening, by the help of God, I will try to provide the voice of many
wonderful people living in the rural communities across this country and Ghana,
that I have had the privilege of meeting and with whom I have interacted. They
have taught me much and this is the opportunity I have to 'present their views, as
I have understood them, in a venue of such distinguished personalities. I do not
take this responsibility lightly, for to misrepresent their views would be a bigger
sin than to ignore them. As I attempt to give a voice to the rural population, you
will also see the faces of many of my informants over the past years of my field
work.
The Importance of Listening
One of the main reasons why the rural people have not been given a voice in
matters that affect their lives is largely because most researchers, development
practitioners and policy makers do not listen to them. Communication is not just
about talking - it is also about listening. When we failto listen to the people
most directly affected by our actions, problems will result. I will support this
assertion with an example from the Bible. In the wisdom given to him by God,
King Solomon made the following statement as recorded in Proverbs 18 vs. 13:
"He that answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him."
This wisdom, however, was not passed down to his son, Rehoboam, who became
king after his father. When he w~s setting his own plan of action for his tenure,
-Rehoboam consulted the elders and then his friends and mates. Rather than heed
the caution of the elders, he decided to do what he and his friends wanted, rather
than consider the wishes of the people over whom he was to reign. I Kings 12
vs. 13-14 records the action of the king:
The king answered the people harshly. He disregarded the
advice that the older men had given him and spoke to them
according to the advice of the young men.
Verse 16 of the same chapter tells us the reaction of the people:
~When all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, the
people answered the king, "What share. do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, 0
.: /'
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Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 585
Israel! Look now to your own house, 0 David". So, Israel went
away-to theirtents,"
The situation is riot so different' today. Many politicians, policy makers,
academicians, and development practitioners take the role of deciding what they
want or what they think the people should want, disregarding the views of the
very people who should benefit from their actions. In many cases, the rural
population becomes alienated, disillusioned, sceptical and even resentful.
I was greatly affected by a book that I stumbled upon in the 1980's. The title
was Fatal Remedies by Seiber (1981). The title intrigued me because it seemed
to be a contradiction of terms - how can a remedy which implies an
improvement in a condition - be considered fatal? Yet, the premise upon which
the title rested was that very often our development interventions leave people
worse off than if we had left them alone in the first place. Unfortunately,
experience has shown that this is a reality in some development projects. While
it may be impossible to foresee all of the consequences of our interventions, I
believe that we have a moral obligation to try to ensure that our projects do result
in an improvement in the lives of the intended beneficiaries. One of the ways to
facilitate this goal is to obtairrthe views of the local people and use their ideas as
an input into the development of interventions and innovations.
Let me also sound a word of caution. Analysis of the impact of an
intervention many times depends on who is doing the assessment. Since the
evaluation requires a subjective assessment as to what is an improvement, there
may be quite a difference in the views on the impact of a project between the
rural population who feel the impact directly and the outside experts who may
want to justify their actions.
Need for Academic Humility
There has been significant support in theory for the 'bottom-up' or 'farmer first'
approach as opposed to the conventional 'top-down' or 'technology transfer'
approach in programme development and implementation, including extension
delivery systems (Chambers' 1988). Unfortunately, the communication flow
from the rural dwellers 'up' to the policy makers and researchers, in reality, has
seldom been encouraged, nor have the messages usually been taken very
seriously. Very often, we feel that due to our higher formal education, we know
better and should make the decisions for the 'uneducated'. For development
workers, this often manifests itself in a feeling of superiority or paternalism on
the part of the 'expert'. Allow me to illustrate this with a little story that I often
tell my students:
A young graduate of agriculture went to a village as an
extension agent to pass across information on innovations to
improve productivity. He had a sense of pride with his
achievement of an honours degree in agriculture from the
premier university in Nigeria. As he went to the village in his
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586 Janice E. Olawoye
shirt and tie, he met an elderly fanner. The extension agent
proceeded to explain to the fanner why the way he was spacing
the plants and his combination of crops would not give a good
yield. Wherever possible, he added some scientific terms which
of course could not be translated into the vernacular. The
elderly fanner listened patiently, as is the custom of the elders, -
and then asked the young man to show him his hand. Though
puzzled by this request, the agent held out his hand. The fanner
said, "Ah, I can see that this hand has not held a hoe for a long
time, if ever. Now look at my hand. This is the hand of
experience (Fig. 1). I will now tell you why I farm as I do and
you will see that your advice cannot work in this area ",
In research, this type of academic arrogance is sometimes expressed in
objective questions with all of the possible answers provided. The fanner gives
a response according to the categories provided, even if the possible answers do
not reflect his position. We must admit that there are reasons and conditions that
we may not be aware of, issues of importance that are outside our experience and
views that had simply not occurred to us (Richards 1979). Rhoades (1987: 1-2)
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Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 587
presents a very descriptive picture of the limitations of many of our modes of
research: "
Agricultural scientists have developed and redeveloped methods
on how to extract information and data from farmers to fit
preconceived ideas about farming: e.g. questionnaires, farm
trials, budgeting, cost-benefit calculations and even informal
surveys. Yet, in all these methods, something is missing; they
remain a one-way process. The questions are still ours and the
farmer must struggle to fill in the blariks. Some experienced
farmers have even become astute in giving us the answers we
expect.
The Great Diversity of Rural People and Rural Places
There is a common saying: "You've seen one, you've seen them all". This is
inaccurate when referring to rural people or rural places. I have visited well over
a hundred rural communities throughout Nigeria and Ghana and I am yet to find
two that are the same. Yes, they may look the same in physical terms, but none
is a perfect match to another in social terms. This led me to write an article in
1984 entitled, "Degree of Rurality: Questioning the Empirical Existence of the
'Typical' Village". Consideration of these differences also formed the basis for
my Ph.D research topic (Olawoye 1986).
There are several dimensions in which significant locality-specific
differences can be found.
• In many localities, the socio-cultural picture of a community may be
very diverse, having several ethnic and religious groups within, such as
in many areas of the Middle Belt and the South-South geo-political
zones of Nigeria, while other communities may be relatively
homogeneous.
• The gender division of labour may also vary greatly from one group to
another, even within a community.
• Ecological variations from one area to another affect the type of crops
and other activities of the local population.
• The level of infrastructural development will affect the extent to which
rural dwellers can take advantage of economic and other opportunities.
• Within a community, socio-economic status differences will determine
the level to which individuals are able to engage in various productive
activities as well as their standard of living (Olawoye 2001).
The tendency to over-generalize from the example of one or two cases must
be checked. It is this tendency that leads one to believe that there is one master
plan for rural development that will work everywhere, but that is simply not the
case. In various studies using gender analysis, for example, I have seen such
diversity in the income-generating activities, levels of social participation,
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588 Janice E. Olawoye
involvement in agricultural productivity and attitudes of rural women. Any
strategy to enhance female participation in development programmes or to
improve their household food security might be very successful in one locality,
but be a dismal failure in another.
Linkages to other Villages, Towns and Cities
The conditions and activities in rural communities cannot fully be understood
when viewed in isolation from other settlements, towns or even urban centres.
Trager (2000: 2) states this position as follows: "In order to understand what is
happening in rural communities today, and to find ways to improve the situation
of rural people, we need to look at a wider social field."
A study by Okali et al (2001) looked at the interactions and linkages
between the urban centre of Aba in Abia State and five peri-urban and rural
towns and villages in the same state. The basic proposition of the study was that
"rural and urban areas are interdependent localities characterized by exchanges
of people, ideas, goods and services, to support livelihoods, rather than two
separate and isolated socio-economic entities". [The theoretical framework for
this study is shown in fig. 2] This assumption was supported by the findings of
the study showing that the livelihoods of both rural and urban dwellers were to
some extent dependent upon remittances, long or short-term migration, activities
that spanned the rural-urban divide, social support and trading. In another study
in Southwest Nigeria, Akinwumi and Olawoye (1994) found that one of the
coping mechanisms employed by some poor urban residents was to send their
children back to the relatives in the village for schooling to reduce their expenses
in the city. The rural-rural and rural-urban linkages are of fundamental
importance for people resident in either type of community.
SpaCial nO,","5 betw'een
rural aDd urban Arens
. - "People -
• 000.><J> •
•. lrlt'onnarion .
•. Mou<ov
I-fistorica/
•• VV1:M:nlho'W
founded
•. t..-nd tenure
• CoopeOltioo/
mctJOD
•. Mipati.ool
settlCDleot
patten>
Fig. 2: Conceptual Framework for Rural-l 'rh,111lntcraction-
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Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 589
Rural Livelihood Strategies: How Do Rural People 'Make a Living'?
To understand how the standard of living of rural people can be improved, we
must first know how they 'make a living'. The western concept of 'occupation'
in terms of one activity by which all needs are met is not relevant to the
experience of most rural dwellers in developing countries. The most realistic
conceptualization of how rural people meet their needs is by noting the variety of
activities engaged in to secure the goods and services required by their
households. Loubser (1995) refers to the combining of such activities as
'livelihood', defining it as "the totality of means by which people secure a living,
have or acquire the requirements for survival and satisfaction of needs as
defined by the people themselves in all aspects of their lives.
In studies with males and females in different rural areas across Nigeria and
Ghana, a common finding has been that they engage in multiple income-
generating activities. The major activities that result in necessary produce or
income include crop farming, livestock rearing, trading, fishing or hunting,
gathering non timber forest products, working as a hired labourer, selling cooked
foods or snacks, carpentry or bricklaying, blacksmithing, working as a civil
servant, tailoring or hair dressing and craft-making. In a recent study covering
the six geo-political zones of the country, it was found that the overall average of
activities per person, whether male or female, was 3.5. There were variations by
locality, but in all areas, people engaged in more than one activity to 'make a
living', even including the sampled women in purdah in the Northwest zone
(Olawoye et al., 2002). The variations by zone and gender can be seen in Table
1. Similar results were found in a study of rural women in different states in
Nigeria. The average number of activities for sampled rural woman in Imo State
was 3.6, for Oyo State - 3.2, in Niger State - 2.8 and in Bauchi State - 3.1
(Olawoye et al. 1994).
Table 1: Average Number of Income-Generating Activities per Rural
Respondent by Gender and Geo-Political Region in Nigeria.
Geo-political Region Average number of Average number
activities per male of activities
respondent per female
respondent
Northeast 4.3 4.1
Northwest 2.3 1.7
Middle Belt 3.2 3.7
Southeast 3.1 4.7
South-South 3.2 2.1
Southwest 4.9 4.7
Total Sample 3.5 3.5
Adapted from Olawoye et al. (2002)
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590 Janice E. Olawoye
There is a significant reason for understanding the fact that rural people, and
indeed most people wherever they reside, combine numerous activities to meet
their needs. Development workers tend to be myopic, viewing only the activity
that they are directly concerned with, such as crop production. Consequently,
they may not understand why the rural dwellers do not jump at suggestions to
enhance their yields if the recommendations will require greater time input. For
the rural women that are already overworked and need that additional time for
their processing activities, gathering of non timber forest products (NTFPs) or
tending their small livestock, such a suggestion would endanger their ability to
earn extra income or ensure household food security. As,my people used to say,
"It is risky to put all your eggs in one basket. "
One must also note that the sustainability of many of these activities is often
not assured with conditions of insecure access to productive and natural
resources, environmental degradation and economic instability. The implications
for poverty alleviation with these uncertainties are very serious.
In line with the livelihood strategies of rural people, one must ask the
question: Is the rural household really the smallest unit of production?
Agricultural economists argue that it is, but evidence from studies looking at the
groupings within the household, particularly separated by gender and generation
would suggest otherwise. Females are more likely to have different activities and
often separate income streams from males to meet their own specific
responsibilities. The idea that all members of the household form a cohesive unit
all working toward the same goal(s) and contributing their labour and other
resources for shared activities with proceeds distributed for all is not commonly
found. This is supported by findings that women are less likely to contribute as
much time and resources in a joint venture if they are not likely·to share out of
the proceeds.
In a comparison of the seasonal calendars prepared by separate groups of
rural males and females in a rural community in Southwest Nigeria, the
difference in activities is apparent. It can be seen in Table 2 that some crops are
planted by both males and females, but activities such as cocoa production,
drying and marketing are done only by men while women are in charge of
processing other crops such as cassava and palm fruits.
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Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 591
Table 2: Seasonal calendar comparing activities of rural males and females in
Southwest Nigeria
Month Male Activities Female Activities
January Land clearing Processing and
marketing of farm
produce
February Land clearing; Bush burning Processing and
marketing of farm
produce; Land
preparation for early
crops.
March Land preparations; Ridge Processing palm oil and
making palm kernels
April .Spraying cocoa; Planting Processing palm oil and
maize and melon palm kernels; Planting
early crops
May Planting yam; Tending cocoa Weeding; Processing
and kolanut trees
June , Weeding; Spraying; Planting Weeding; Processing
cassava
July Weeding; Planting late Harvesting early crops;
maize; Harvesting and drying Marketing; Land
cocoa preparation for late crops
August Harvesting dry maize Planting late maize
September Weeding Planting cassava and
yam
October Harvesting early maize Weeding and tending
late crops; cassava
processing
November Cocoa marketing; Harvesting Processing; Harvesting
dry maize maize
December Cocoa marketing; Harvesting Processing, Harvesting;
dry maize Marketing.
Source: Olawoye et al. (2002)
Gender Studies for Rural Development
I cannot leave this section without making a few comments about gender studies.
Gender has been an important topic since the early to mid-80's and remains a
significant research theme. Many writers have wrongly considered gender
studies to be synonymous with studies only on women. In reality, gender looks
at the relationships between males and females, recognizing that the roles and
responsibilities, privileges and rights, constraints and potentials of males affect
and are affected by those of females. From observing numerous studies using
gender analysis and interacting with many self-acclaimed gender specialists,
however, I feel it is important to make the following observations:
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592 Janice E. Olawoye
• Many researchers have tried to 'cash in' on the gender theme,
recognizing that much of the support for research requires a gender
component. I have seen persons that have openly expressed
contempt for the current emphasis upon gender studies, yet have
added 'gender analysis' to the title of their proposed research.
Ultimately, they fail to capture the gender dynamics that affect
nearly all aspects of our lives.
• Not all women are gender-sensitive and not all men are insensitive to
gender issues. I do not agree that only women can study women.
Sometimes, men can show even greater objectivity in gender studies
than some female researchers.
A Special Note on Rural Women
Imust take a few minutes to put special emphasis upon the case of rural women.
As Ihave often seen the hard life endured by so many rural women - carrying
firewood on the head, a baby on the back and maybe a basket of produce in their
hands, or spending endless hours pounding grains and frying gari or walking
several kilometres to fetch a bucket of water, the thought always comes: "There,
but for the grace of God, go [".(Fig. 3). '
Fig. 3: 'There, but for the grace of God, go 1." .•. ./"--
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Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 593
The average rural woman is controlled or limited by so many social,
physical, environmental and perception factors. There are often socially
imposed restrictions on participation or movement from norms, values or
religious beliefs. In such cases, even programmes designed specifically to
provide economic, health or educational opportunities for women may not have
the desired impact because the women cannot take full advantage of them. In the
areas where young women are in purdah, the restrictions from going to the
market, from involvement in women's groups and from participation in
communal activities seriously limits their ability to benefit from many
interventions. At the same time, however, one should understand the views of
the women living in this social setting. One secluded woman from a village in
Northern Nigeria told me, "We are the lucky ones. Our husband can afford to
keep us. Poor women have to go out in the hot sun to farm." While I do not
advocate maintaining the status quo when women's productivity, health and
level of education can be improved, yet one should recognize the effect of the
local perspective as a force limiting empowerment.
Social change has sometimes resulted in greater responsibility for the rural
women in meeting the needs of the household. In the Southeast part of Nigeria,
for example, there has been-increased population pressure upon arable lands,
which have also suffered from soil erosion. For many rural households, the
productive resources available are not sufficient to meet the livelihood needs.
The male head may then be constrained to migrate in search of salaried
employment to supplement whatever the wife and children can produce on the
farm. This has greatly increased the work load particularly upon the women.
In a study we conducted in Plateau State on women in tin-mining areas, the
era of industrial mining resulted in changes in the traditional gender division of
labour. According to our respondents:
Men from this area were once known to be great farmers, but
with the advent of industrial mining activities, most of the men
were employed by companies like the Amalgamated Tin Mining
Company of Nigeria (ATMN). In order to keep their farmlands
allocated to their households by the families, the women now
started farming. If they did not farm, their in-laws would
confiscate the land for lack of use. When the husbands
occasionally came home, they were very happy to see how well
their wives were maintaining the farms. By the time the
industrial mining ended, the husbands came home finally. The
men, however, felt that since the women had done so well during
their absence, they should continue to handle the farming
activities. Both the male and the female respondents agreed that
this had now become a social norm, one that the men seem to be
quite happy about and that the women seem powerless to
change. (Pamma et al. 2000).
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594 Janice E. Olawoye
From the degradation resulting from decades of tin wrung, productive
activities are far more energy demanding than in the past. Because of this, many
of the women have also taken to small-scale mining activities with men. In
another example of social change, women are now involved in aspects of mining
that were previously only carried out by men. Formerly, men were responsible
for digging the wells and going down to extract the ore and the washing was
done by women, but now women even go down into the pits to extract the ore.
While this is very hazardous and tedious work, the women feel the potential
earnings are worth the risk and effort and note that in some cases, they have no
alternative.
The physical demands upon rural women with long hours and hard work
required to meet their livelihood needs are often greater than they should carry.
Research studies have noted that there are health hazards to the types and strains
of the work activities taken on by rural women. One rural woman made a
remark that I could never forget. In a study looking at how to improve women's
productivity in Ghana, I saw that in one village, the women sold their cassava
tubers unprocessed for a very low price. The women themselves had recognized
that they could make a lot more money if they sold the cassava as flour or in
other processed forms. Their constraint was lack of processing equipment. I
asked them if they would be ready to process their cassava if they had the proper
equipment. They eagerly answered in the affirmative. Ihad earlier asked them
about their daily activities and found that they hardly ever had time to rest I
then reminded them that they were already overworked. One woman looked at
me seriously and said, "It isn't hard work that kills, it is poverty. Ifwe can make
money from it, we will do it" (Fig. 4) (Olawoye and Canocoo 1995).
Fig. 4: "It isn't hard work that kills, it is poverty."
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GivingA Voiceto the Rural Population 595
Rural women are very dependent upon environmental conditions for meeting
their responsibilities. Declining environmental quality evidenced by defore-
station, erosion, desertification and pollution have increased the time required
and the hardships encountered in trying to fetch water, gather non timber forest
products (NTFPs) such as firewood, snails, locust beans, shea nuts, vegetables
and leaves, or produce their crops.
Another important factor affecting the conditions of rural women is their
own perceptions of their capabilities and their self-worth. Very often, if one asks
a rural woman what is your •occupation' or what do you produce, she will
respond, "Oh, I am just a housewife". Upon probing, however, one will find that
she is probably engaged in several different income-generating and productive
activities. She no doubt provides much of what the family consumes and spends,
yet she has a very low view of her own contribution. Similarly, due to lack of
formal education and social beliefs, she has probably also concluded that it is not
possible for her to learn certain skills and thereby does not take advantage of
some opportunities to enhance her productivity. For example, one women's
group in Niger State was dependent upon a young man to operate their rice mill.
From a few questions about the price charged for using the mill and the
'frequency of its use, it was apparent that the operator was cheating the women.
He always reported that the profits were only enough to pay his salary. I
suggested to the women that they could easily learn to operate the mill by
themselves and keep their own records with a little training. I even showed them
that I could start the engine. Their response was one of doubt, noting that it is
only white or educated women who would be able to handle the equipment and
the records. Their lack of confidence in their own abilities or feeling of low self-
worth has been a limiting factor (Olawoye, Personal Field Notes, 1994).
Do Not Underestimate the Local Potential
It is common for most people both within and outside the rural areas to
concentrate attention upon the local constraints and problems impeding their
progress. There is no doubt that the obstacles to progress are many and serious;
including low level of productivity, limited access to infrastructural facilities,
lack of appropriate technology, high levels of poverty with increasing demand
upon available resources, non-literacy of a large proportion of the population and
inaccessibility of information sources as well as the poor state of the
environment. In our concentration upon the problems, however, I believe we
often overlook the positive aspects within the rural areas that can contribute to
solutions to these problems. This is captured in the following quotation:
That people continue to function at all under extreme adversity
and deprivation is an indication of their fortitude and adapt-
ability, not of their weakness .. , Catterson 1988:32) ..
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596 Janice E. Olawoye
Fig. 5: Environmental degradation increases rural women's burdens
I have often been amazed at the ability of people to survive and produce in
areas with such harsh environments and social restrictions. As I noted elsewhere,
The social support networks, available human and physical
resources including labour, the willingness to participate as well as
indigenous knowledge and practices are among the important inputs
available in the rural communities that can enhance the develop-
ment process in areas where it might seem on the surface that there
is nothing that can be locally contributed (Olawoye 2001: 17).
The use of local community leaders - whether an Oba or Eze or District Head -
can result in effective mobilization of the local population for self-help projects
or for involvement in an externally-initiated project. Failure to gain the approval
and support of the representatives of the people, however, will usually lead to
opposition and unsustainable gains.
Developing Programmes Acceptable from the View of the Intended
Beneficiaries: Responding to the Felt Needs of the Rural Population
There is no doubt that in most cases, development planners desire to improve the
productivity and standard of living of the target population. Without taking the
time to listen to them, however, they often miss the target. I will illustrate this
point with the following example.
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Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 597
In the town of Savelugu in the Northern Region of Ghana,
women's groups had been assisted by IFAD to obtain a com mill
(valued at c2.27 million) and groundnut oil extracting mill. The
groundnut oil extractor is not being used because no one comes
to patronize them. The women stated that people don't like the
way the equipment processes the groundnut oil, leaving very
little paste left over to make kuli-kuli, from which the women
make a bigger profit than from the oil. In the case of the com
mill, the women complained that the machine is always breaking
down and so they spend all their profit on its repairs with
nothing left over to pay back the loan for the equipment. The
women asked me to pass on their appreciation to the IFAD
officials, but requested that they should come for their com mill
and oil extracting mill and provide them with a shea nut crusher
instead (Olawoye and Canacoo 1996).
Even within the community, there is often a lack of consensus on which needs
are greatest. In a recently concluded study on Gender and Rural Transport
carried out for the Federal Department of Rural Development, we found that
transport and transportation was the commonly stated priority need overall, yet
there was variance from region to region, community to community and males to
females, as shown in Table 3.
Some Voices are Louder than Others
One of the social realities that is often overlooked in studies of rural people is
.the fact that there are differences in socio-economic status and social power.
These differences are often not easily apparent because it usually appears as if
everyone is essentially at the same level of poverty. In reality, however, there
are cases where so-called 'poor' farmers may, in fact, be quite wealthy. Cases
have been found of 'disguised wealth' in the form of houses and vehicles in town
owned by cash crop farmers who otherwise appear to have a low status in their
farm residences (Akinwumi and Olawoye 1994).
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598 Janice E. Olawoye
Table 3: Rankings by Perceived Importance of Communal Needs by Paired Needs Comparison among Men and
Women's groups in Selected Rural Communities of the Six Geo-political Zones
Type of Need South-South: Southeast: Northwest: Middle Belt: Northeast: Southwest: Average
(Ogoloma, (Okwu, (Ungogo: (Jarawan-Kogi, (Yawi, (Ikereku, (rank)
Rivers State) Imo State) Kano State) Plateau State) Bomo State) Oyo State)
M F ·M F M F M F M F M F
Transport - related I I 2 1 -- 3 4 3 1 3 I I 1.9 IS
Education / schools 2 6 5 6 2 3 5 1 2 6 -- -- 3.8 4'"
Water 3 2 I 3 1 1 3 4 , 1 2 3 2 2.2 2na
Medical / hospital/ health 4 7 4 2 2 2 5 5 3 4 -- -- 3.8 4'"
Market 8 4 6 4 -- -- 3 2 4 7 -- -- 4.7 6'"
Electricity 5 5 7 8 -- -- 2 4 1 5 2 3 4.2 5'"
Agricultural inputs -- -- 3 -- 2 2 1 5 5 1 , 3 3 2.8 3ra
Note: (a) The highest rank is 1, meaning that it is the highest priority among the needs identified by the local population.
(b) In some cases, there is more than one type of need that has the same ranking. This occurred where the need
received the same number of responses.
Source: Olawoye et at. (2002)
1>:.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 599
Within the rural community, as in any social unit, there are some people who
are economically and/or socially more powerful and more likely to have
opportunities not open to others. While the majority of rural women are
resource-poor, there are women who are able to take advantage of marketing or
other economic opportunities on their own. In a study on women's involvement
in the forestry sector, it was found that the 'timber converters' in Edo State, that
is, those who purchased the logs from the timber contractors and hired
sawmillers to 'convert' them to sawn wood for sale to carpenters were mostly
women (Olawoye 1997). According to these women, lack of money was not
their problem. There are also cases of women entrepreneurs who buy up the
produce of other women farmers at a lower price and arrange transport to carry
the goods to markets in the peri-urban or urban areas where they make a
substantial profit (Olawoye et al, 2002). Such rural dwellers should not be the
target population for poverty alleviation programmes.
It is important to make a point here. One of the defining differences between
the poorer and richer rural women has been found to be the individual's ability
to take advantage of economic or social opportunities. For poorer women, their
only mode of access to productive resources, information or markets is through
their groups while richer women can participate fully as individuals (Olawoye
1994). It is true that poorer women often suffer exploitation from men who may
take over their resources or income-generating activities once the tasks become
less tedious and more profitable. At the same time, however, poorer women
often suffer from the exploitative activities of other women who pay them very
little as hired labour or buy their produce very cheaply to sell at exorbitant prices
in the urban markets. Many of the harmful traditional practices that are against
women, such as rituals that widows must endure, are actually perpetuated more
by other women than by the men (Olawoye 1998). It is important to fully
comprehend the factors that affect the conditions hindering the development of
our people.
Social stratification is a reality in the rural areas. There are several groups
of rural dwellers that are not only poorer than others, but the social barriers to
their advancement often leave them out of development benefits. In such cases,
targeting of intended beneficiaries may be necessary to ensure that the gains of
the interventions are not 'hijacked'. Idachaba (2000) notes how many of the past
agricultural development schemes stated that the intended beneficiaries would be
the small-scale farmers, but in reality, those that benefited were merchants,
contractors, middle-men, government officials and transporters.
Among the socially marginalized groups are:
• rural poor,
• majority of rural women,
• tenant or landless farmers,
• ethnic minorities or ethnic groups not having political positions, and
• pastoralists.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
600 Janice E. Olawoye
To ensure that development projects do not further impoverish these
people who are often the intended beneficiaries of such interventions, targeting
mechanisms for participation in the project are sometimes needed. Among the
means for targeting the socially marginalized members of the community are
criteria for qualification that may include owning no more than a small area of
land,never before benefiting from any formal credit scheme and willing to
contribute one's own labour - not hired labour - for the project.
Yet, involving the less privileged members of the society in development
programmes is not enough to ensure that they are able to retain the benefits. In
Katsina State, I was involved in a supervisory study for a community
development project which included land reclamation of severely degraded
farmlands that had been abandoned. The landless poor farmers, including
women, were given a small portion of land to rehabilitate using time-consuming
and tedious methods that were yielding favourable results over a period of years.
My major concern, however, was that having improved the land, the long lost
owner would come back to claim his land, thereby depriving the poorer farmers
from reaping the fruits of their labours. I recommended at that time that the
participating farmers should be issued certificate of occupancy or other form of
recognized ownership to the lands they had rehabilitated (Olawoye, Personal
Field Notes, 1996).
How Can We Hear Their Voices? Participatory Methods
The use of a number of qualitative methods has gained prominence as a means of
securing information from the rural population. One of the most commonly used
methods is Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Fig. 6. In a group situation, people
will usually offer information that they might withhold during an individual
interview. Recognizing that discussions might be affected with gender,
generational or socially mixed groups, males and females, old or young, better-
off and poorer and different ethnic groups are often put into separate groups for
the discussions. What women or younger people may not be able to voice out in
the presence of older males can be said in a group of social equals.
In-depth Interviews with Key Informants is another important means of
securing information on general characteristics of the community or group. Key
Informants may be community or religious leaders, leaders of farmers', women's
or youth groups or opinion leaders. Development workers from governmental or
non governmental organisations can also provide important insights. The
significance of Key Informants is that they can provide background information
on social norms or beliefs, history of the community, level of infrastructural
development and past interventions or self-help efforts.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 601
Fig. 6: FGD with men's group in Northern Nigeria.
Participatory tools including community mapping, seasonal calendars, daily
activities charts and ranking of paired needs are increasingly being used as a
means of securing information while at the same time providing a medium for
interaction between planners and the local population. In developing a
diagrammatic illustration of their community, activities and needs, the rural
people and the researchers or planners are able to better diagnose the problems
and find a more suitable solution. In a recent study conducted in two forest
reserves in Southwest Nigeria, community maps were drawn by the local
inhabitants of enclave villages to delineate the spatial relationships between the
residential buildings, roads, farmlands and the natural and plantation forests.
The study was designed to determine the likely impact of the proposed logging
of the surrounding forest. Figure 7 illustrates the potential for conflict between
fanners and loggers if care was not taken to protect the cocoa and kolanut trees
during the extraction of timber trees from the plantation. The location of the
road relative to the forest areas shows that the most direct route to extract the
logs would be through the fanners' tree crops. The fanners noted that there
would be no trouble as long as their crops were not disturbed. From past
experience, however, they were aware that loggers have not usually been very
considerate of the fanners' rights (Olawoye et al. 2000).
Seasonal calendars and daily activity charts help to understand the time
constraints of rural dwellers, as well as the complex allocation of time on a daily
or monthly basis for the numerous household and communal activities. This can
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
602 Janice E. Olawoye
be very useful when trying to determine the best time of the day or the year for
scheduling a meeting or project that will not disrupt the usual activities of the
people. In one village that I visited, I was surprised to find out that the literacy
classes were being conducted from 6-8 pm. When I asked why it was so late,
they responded that in order for the women to participate, the classes had to be
scheduled for a time when they would be free. Until 6 or 6.30 pm the women
were still busy preparing food and other household duties. Although the men
were free from 4 pm., they agreed to this later time, even though some of the
lessons were conducted with lantern (Olawoye, Personal Field Notes, 1995).
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p ppp.ppppp
p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p pppppppp
@ @@ ® ®®@®ppp
© ©®®©
® ®®®®ppp
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• ••
o. . 0 0 o oLr!.:l
o lEI 0 (BJO O~ !Jo ~ H
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N N NN N NN NO~HOO -COWIt.C •• "_N N N N N N· • N __ ,OIIUJ
!o":oIoLJiOUIIo, I:L!slII~-:..J
Fig. 7: Community Mapping of Adejori Camp (Plantation and Natural) in Ondo State
Importance of Extension and Rural Sociology for Giving the Rural
Population a Voice: The Past, Present and Potential Role of the Department
oClAgricuitural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ibadan
There is currently national and international interest in developing better
methods for agricultural extension and rural development. The Federal Govern-
ment has stated its commitment to improving extension delivery and alleviating
rural poverty. It is important that this process is undertaken in a way that is
acceptable to the rural population and sustainable for their long-term
development. Their voices must be heard.
The Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development can play
an important role in capacity-building and institution-strengthening to meet
national man-power needs to achieve this purpose. Yet, there are constraints to
turning our potential into reality. In the 1970s, the Department was well-known
for the Integrated Rural Development Project at Badeku. The project site was
not only a means of providing services to the society, but it was also a practical'
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 603
classroom for students and a research 'laboratory' for staff. At one time, the
project involved not only staff from the Department, but also from other
departments in the Faculty and other faculties as well, including the Department
of Community Health and Preventive Medicine from the College of Medicine
(Olawoye 1991). When the funding ended, the project also ended. It is
unfortunate that due to lack of transportation, we are unable to even take our
students to the rural areas, which is a necessary 'extension' of our classroom.
Our Vision
The University is moving forward, to the glory of God. We have seen the
commendable efforts of the authorities to give the institution a new look and the
'vision' to restore the enviable position once held as a centre of academic
excellence. To have a vision of where one is going is crucial to getting there.
Even the Bible says: "Where there is no vision, the people perish" [Proverbs 29
vs. 18].
The Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development has also
developed a vision to be an integral part of this new era. When I became Acting
Head of Department on 11th August, 1998, we considered how the Department
could become more relevant to the national and local needs for capacity-building
and institution-strengthening and to facilitate rural development. On the 21 st of
August, we submitted a "Plan of Action for the Development of the Department
of Agricultural Extension Services." After reading our proposal, the then Vice
Chancellor, Professor Adewoye, commented, "It seems you want to change your
image." I answered in the affirmative. He then suggested, "Why don't you
change your name." That suggestion became the push to change the name of the
Department to give it a broader coverage which was more in line with the
expanded view of our potential.
One of the needs I expressed at that time was the shortage of specialized
teaching staff. Having four areas of specialization - agricultural extension, rural
sociology, rural communications and home economics, we were suffering from
inadequate human resources. As an example, from 1978 until 1998, I was the
only rural sociologist in the University of Ibadan. Staff deficiencies were also
found in the areas of home economics and rural communications. I am happy to
state that five new teaching positions were created and filled the following year.
In terms of human resources, the Department is well endowed.
The academic programme at the undergraduate level has evolved over the
years, but an unwelcome intrusion came several years ago with the imposition of
the NUC Minimum Academic Standards Programme. At the University of
Ibadan, we were already operating above that standard, yet we were constrained
to adopt an academically inferior programme. For the Departments of
Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, it
became even more threatening as one degree programme replaced the previously
existing separate and better specialized programmes. In the present dispensation
of academic autonomy, the Departments are putting together their proposal for
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
604 Janice E. Olawoye
reviving their distinct and more appropriate undergraduate degree programmes.
This will soon come before the Senate.
Curriculum Committee and later the Senate
At the postgraduate level, we have good academic degree programmes for the
M.Sc., M.Phil. and Ph.D degrees. We have recognized the need to provide
training of trainers for strengthening the capacity of organizations providing
extension services and facilitating rural development. To achieve that goal, the
Department has already developed programmes for a professional postgraduate
diploma in Agricultural Extension for serving extension personnel, a
professional postgraduate diploma in Rural Development for rural development
workers who might not need specific training in agriculture and a professional
Master of Extension and Rural Development. From our survey of training needs,
we believe these programmes will not only perform an important function for the
nation, but also generate income for the University. These programmes have
been approved by the Faculty Postgraduate Committee and we are now carrying
out the market surveys. The proposals will then be forwarded to the Postgraduate
School. It is our plan to introduce the new programmes progressively, beginning
• with the PGD for Agricultural Extension. Already we have had several enquiries
about when it will commence.
The members of staff of the Department are eager to fulfil the vision of
providing qualitative education to meet the needs of the Nation, but we are
constrained by the lack of adequate facilities. The Department of Agricultural
Extension Services was established as a separate department in 1976, yet we
have never had a separate building. In the budget for 1980, The Department was
placed on "Priority A" for a building along with Faculty of Technology, Faculty
of Medicine and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Plans were drawn and the
ground was pegged, but our own building never materialized. At the present
time, the Department is housed in two locations on campus which is not efficient
for proper coordination. The space for offices and classroom is also inadequate.
We have not given up, however. As a step of faith, we have erected a signboard
on our land (Fig. 8). By the grace of God, the building will become a reality. I
use this opportunity to remind the University authorities of this important need.
Please, don't pass us by again.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Giving A Voice to the Rural Population 605
Fig. 8: Proposed Building Site for the Department of Agricultural Extension
and Rural DL'\ clopment
Conclusion and Recommendations
1. Too much of our attention to participatory development interventions has
been in rhetoric alone rather than action. We speak of the importance of
local participation, but then fall into the old ways of deciding and doing for
the people, rather than with or by them. There is a need not only to give the
rural dwellers a voice, but actually use their ideas as an input to policy
formation and implementation as well as later giving them 'ownership' with
its attendant responsibilities. This is not only the right thing to do, it is also
the wise thing to do.
2. Rural development interventions must be locality-specific, taking into
account the unique social and ecological conditions and designed on the
basis of information obtained at the local level. Collecting data from the
rural population should be achieved through participatory and innovative
methods. The felt needs of the rural dwellers should be identified and set as
a priority for programmes.
3. Socially disadvantaged groups need to be targeted for assistance. Social
mechanisms to ensure that intended beneficiaries are able to obtain and
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
606 Janice E. Olawoye
retain the gains of development programmes must be put in place as well as
mitigation measures to handle any conflicts that may result.
4. Poorer rural women should continue to receive special attention in
development efforts. Their local groups can provide a channel for members
to have access to opportunities that could not be secured as individuals.
These groups may, however, require capacity-building (Fig. 9).
5. Many rural development workers and extension agents need innovative
training programmes that the Department of Agricultural Extension and
Rural Development can provide with the appropriate enabling environment.
6. The University of Ibadan should retake its position as the academic leader
for other institutions to follow. Our programmes should be the product of
our expertise and not imposed by administrators who find it more convenient
for all programmes to be cut in the same pattern. This means we need to
encourage the present striving for excellence and actively use the promised
autonomy of universities to maximize our potential.
Fig. 9: I pray that one day they will not have to 'move out to move up.'
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
GivingA Voice to the Rural Population 607
REFERENCES
Akinwumi, J.A. and Olawoye, 1.E. (1994) Initiatives of the Poor and Informal Safety
Nets in Osun State Report for the World Bank sponsored Research Studies on
Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria. 47 pp.
Catterson, T.M. (1988) "Mechanisms to Enhance Effective Popular Participation in
Desertification Control and Renewable Resource Management in the Sahelian and
Sudanian Zones of West Africa by F. Falloux and A. Mukendi (eds.) Wash.D.C.; The
World Bank.
Chambers, R. (J 988) "Farmer First" International Agricultural Development 8 (6): 10-
12.
Idachaba, F.S. (2000) Desirable and Workable Agricultural Policies for Nigeria in the
First Decade of the zr' Century Lecture given in the Departmental Series of Topical
Issues in Nigerian Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of
Ibadan.
Loubster, J. (1995) Sustainable Livelihoods: A Conceptual Exploration Paper presented
at the Workshop on Civil Society, Sustainable Livelihoods and Women in
Development, held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Okali, D.U.U.; Okpara, E. and Olawoye, J.E. (2001) The Case of Aba and Its Region, .
Southeastern Nigeria: Rural-Urban Interactions and Livelihood Strategies Working
Paper 4. London, International Institute for Environment and Development. 60 pp.
Olawoye, J.E. (1984) "Degree of Rurality: Questioning the Empirical Existence of the
'Typical' Village" The Rural Sociologist VolA (4): 299-308.
Olawoye, J.E. (1986) Degree of Rurality: An Empirical Examination of Selected Villages
in Oyo State Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis in the Department of Sociology, University
ofIbadan.
Olawoye, J.E. (1991) Constraints to Increased Production of Selected Food Crops in
00 State: A Review of the Rural Development Programmes in Two Areas in Oyo
State. The Ibadan Extension Monograph Series No.1; University ofIbadan. 28 pp.
Olawoye, J.E. (1994) Women and Forestry in Nigeria. Report for the Tropical Forest
Action Plan; Ibadan. 80 pp.
Olawoye, J.E. (1997) Forest Resources Study: Private Sector Involvement and Socio-
Economic Assessment. Report for Geornatics, Nig. Ltd. and Beak Consultants,
Canada. 104 pp.
Olawoye, J.E. (1998) Widow's Rights in Nigeria: Findings on the Survey of Widows in
Ibadan City. Report on the Research Component of the Pilot Project on Widows'
Rights in Nigeria for the MacArthur Foundation on behalf of LOTO Production,
Ibadan, 37 pp.
Olawoye, J.E. (200 I) Contemporary Research Interests and Problem Areas in
Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. The Ibadan Extension Monograph
Series No.2. University ofIbadan. 45 pp.
Olawoye, J.E.; Agumagu, A.C.; Gbadegesin, A.; Akande, S.O.; and Yahaya, M.K. (1994)
Situation Analysis of Nigerian Women and Girls: Agricultural Production and Rural
Productivity Draft Final Report for WORDOC Coordinated Research Project for
Unicef 73 pp.
Olawoye, J.E.; and Canocoo, V. (1996) Ghana: Strategic Framework and Priority Action
Plan for Raising the Productivity and Income of Women in Agriculture. Report
submitted to The World Bank, Wash.D.C. 28 pp.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
608 Janice E. Olawoye
Olawoye, J.E.; Olujide, M.G. and Oyesola, O.B. (2000) Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) of Logging in Natural and Plantation Forests of Ogun and Ondo
Forest Reserves: Task Area - Rural Sociology. Draft Report submitted to Cedar
Grove Management Consultants. 46 pp.
Olawoye, 1.E.; Odebode, S.O.; Akinbile, L.A.; Oladeji, 1.0.; Oyesola, O.B. and Olujide,
M.G. (2002) Gender and Rural Transport Initiative: Analytical Study of Gender
Specific Problems Affecting Nigerian Women in Rural Travel and Transportation
and the Identification of Pragmatic Solutions to the Problems Draft Report
submitted to the Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development, Abuja. 107 pp.
Pamma, T.; Olawoye, J.E.; Garba, S. and Ujor, G. (2000) Women and Natural Resource
Management: Two Case Studies in Northeast Nigeria - Tin-Mining and Pottery-
Making. Report submitted to the Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team
(NEST), Ibadan. 38 pp.
Rhoades, R.E. (1987) Farmers and Experimentation Discussion Paper 21, London,
Overseas Development Institute.
Richards, P. (1979) "Community environmental knowledge in African rural
development". Rural Development: Whose Knowledge Counts? IDS Bulletin 10 (2):
28-36.
Sieber, S.D. (1981) Fatal Remedies: The Ironies of Social Intervention New York,
Plenum Press.
Trager, L. (2000) Migration and Rural-Urban Linkages: Implications for Rural
Development, Poverty Alleviation and Gender Relations. Distinguished Lecture
Series, No. I, Centre for Gender, Governance and Development, Ibadan.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
26
NUTRITIONAL ENGINEERING IN MAMMALIAN
REPRODUCTION: OBSTETRIC AND
GYNAECOLOGICCONCERNS
A.LA. Osuagwuh
Department of Veterinary Surgery and Reproduction
Introduction
From the esoteric point of view, reproduction is the gateway to mortality and
immortality. But from a scientific point of view, reproduction is more than just
two individuals of opposite sexes simply mating or breeding. It is a complex
scientific enterprise and a highly well synchronized and timed biological process
through the activities of several hormones produced by the endocrine system.
Cohen (1977) describes the complete process as the replacement of parents by
their progeny. According to his description, the first stage includes the
production of haploid gametes by germ cells within the gonads of the first
generation; union of gametes to create a diploid conceptus; development of the
conceptus through the embryonic and fetal stages; parturition, lactation and
various degrees of postnatal care. The off-spring must subsequently grow, reach
sexual maturity, mate and produce their own progeny. It must be observed here
that the description of Cohen obviously indicates that the complexity of. the
science of reproduction is appreciated with a good knowledge of endocrinology,
physiology, anatomy embryology, histology, cytology, microbiology and
nutrition.
Evolution of the Process of Reproduction
The inauguration, by God, of the process of reproduction in all organisms,
including man and animal, is when God is quoted as saying to its creatures "be
fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 1:21-28). This indicates clearly
that in the beginning there was reproduction in all living organisms and that
without reproduction all living organisms could have become extinct. There are,
however, variations in the different methods of reproduction among living
organisms. A large number of lower organisms propagate mainly by vegetative
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610 A.l.A.Osuagwuh
or asexual means. With this method endless clones are produced and each clone
is identical to the single parent. Such lower organisms like amoeba and
paramecium reproduce asexually through a simple division of the parent into two
as the protoplasm increases in bulk.
Another asexual method of proliferation is by budding as seen in the yeast and
in simple animals like the hydra. These methods of propagation do not require
specialized reproductive organs for the production of gametes, and there is no
involvement of different sexes. .
All forms of asexual reproduction can be highly prolific for they allow quick
exploitation of suitable environment and nutrient supplies, but do not allow for
genetic variation or adaptation in the same manner that sexual reproduction does.
However, combination of genetic materials is accomplished periodically by
bacteria or protozoa through the act of conjugation which involves a temporary
fusion and exchange of DNA material. In this case once conjugation is completed
the partners separate and continue asexual propagation.
Sexual reproduction, on the other hand, involves the combination of genetic
materials as contained in the male gamete (spermatozoa), and the female gamete
(usually referred to as ovum or egg). This act constitutes fertilization which is the
essential element i~ sexual reproduction. ,
Many diverse mechanisms for sexual reproduction have evolved in
individual organisms. There are few species that are truly bisexual
(hermaphrodite), with individual components of the same organism producing
male and female gametes. In this case self-fertilization can occur even though
this is not the usual practice. We have several thousand mammalian species but it
is only in about 25 species that extensive study of their reproductive biology has
been carried out. These include rodents, rabbits, primates (including man) and
farm animals.
Reproductive Roles of the Male and Female in Domesticated Mammalian
Species
The male gonads produce spermatozoa and male sex hormones. The production
can be continuous throughout the year or during the mating season. In Nigeria, as
in most tropical countries, all the male domesticated animals and men all over the
world produce spermatozoa and sex hormones throughout the year. The
spermatozoa are produced within the seminiferous tubules in the testes, and are
stored in the epididymis. All males with normal libido should always be willing
and able to copulate with a willing or receptive female. The male must be
physically capable of mounting the female and have properly functioning
genitalia to effect intromission and ejaculation. In'some species the male may
contribute to post-hatching or postpartum care, protection and education of the
progeny. This is true of some non-domesticated mammalian species, as well as
man. However, the role of the male in a particular reproductive enterprise in
domesticated animals is finished immediately after copulation and ejaculation.
Post-partum care, protection and education of the young become the sole
responsibility of the female.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Nutritional Engineering in Mammalian Reproduction 611
On the part of the female, she must produce ova or eggs and sex hormones.
Unlike the male, this is done in a cyclic rather than a continuous manner. Again
the mature female gametes or ova are not stored as in the mature male. Rather, as
the ova approach maturity, the behaviour of the female changes. She becomes
more sexually active and receptive and can willingly allow the male to mount
her. This is the period of ovulation in most mammalian species.
Following successful mounting, ejaculation and fertilization, the mammalian
mother must then provide the proper uterine environment for the normal
development of the conceptus and eventually give birth. However, it is not all
matings or copulations that result to the birth of a new baby. Reproductive
wastages or losses occur in mammalian reproduction due to fertilization failure,
early embryonic death, intrauterine fetal death, abortion, fetal death resulting
from dystocia, or difficult birth and neonatal death. Some of these wastages can
also occur due to bacterial infection such as brucellosis, viral infection, protozoa
infection, poor housing and poor nutritional management or manipulation during
pregnancy. With very good obedience to the laws of hygiene and strict
application of prophylactic principles in any mammalian reproductive activity,
poor nutrition becomes a limiting factor.
Nutritional Needs During Pregnancy
Nutrition aims at providing all essential nutrients in adequate amounts and in
optimum proportions. Based on their chemical structure and functions in the
body, nutrients can easily fall into a six-fold classification:
• Carbohydrates
• Fats
• .Proteins
• Vitamins
• Minerals, and
• Water.
Nutrition is basic in all mammalian physical, physiological and spiritual
activities. From conception to birth, from birth to sexual maturity, the
mammalian species are nutrition dependent. No wonder then, it has been stated
that "a hungry people listen not to reason nor are its demands turned aside by
prayers" (Seneca 4BC-65AD).
Aristotle was correct in asserting that procreation and feeding are the main
pre-occupations of living animals. The nutritionist may go further in suggesting
that of these two pre-occupations, feeding is of overriding importance, for
without the urge and ability to seek and consume their food, animals would not
reach sexual maturity and could not reproduce themselves. In fact in some
species the first signs of an inadequate level of nutrition is a failure in
reproduction.
From conception to birth, all parts of the fetus are made of nutrients from the
maternal store and diet. The quality and quantity of milk produced by the mother
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
612 A.f.A.Osuagwuh
post-partum for the feeding of the young is a function of the quality and quantity
of the diet provided to the mother during pregnancy and after (Osuagwuh and
Akpokodje 1992).
Placental Development and Nutrition
Following fertilization in mammalian species, a new temporary organ develops
within the uterus. This temporary organ is called the placenta and will be
discharged from the uterus soon after birth. It performs respiratory, absorptive
and excretory functions for the developing fetus. It also functions like an
endocrine gland producing array of hormones that not only help in the
maintenance of the pregnancy but also in the expulsion of the fetus at birth.
The placenta sets the physical framework that allows fetal growth. It grows
more rapidly than the fetus in the first two-thirds of pregnancy and then ceases
growth over the remaining one-third. Based on the fact that the placenta is a
versatile and metabolically active organ, one is tempted to conclude that poor
nutrition in early pregnancy might restrict the size of the placenta and therefore
reduce the ability of the fetus to grow normally later in pregnancy, even under
good nutrition.
For example, it has been shown that severe under-feeding in early pregnancy
will reduce placental size (Everitt 1964,1968; Alexander and Williams 1971).
Fetal Growth and Nutrition
Fetal growth is known to be affected by several factors such as heredity, dam
size, parity, nutrition, placental size, sex and ambient temperature. Of all these, it
is considered easier to manipulate the nutritional factor in order to avoid
pregnancy losses than the other factors (Osuagwuh and Aire 1990). Even though
the fetus is generally believed to be privileged nutritionally studies have shown
that the level of maternal nutrition during the last stages of pregnancy has marked
effect on the birth weight. For example, Chow and Lee (1964) have shown that
restricting the feed allowance of female rats during pregnancy and lactation by 25
to 50 percent, caused permanent stunting of the young from which they did not
recover. Thompson and Thomson (1953) report that pregnant sheep on low level
nutrition produced small and weak lambs, most of which died at birth or soon
after. This was in contrast to vigorous lambs and few deaths recorded for sheep
on a high level nutrition. However, a pregnant animal under nutritional stress will
abort the fetus (Osuagwuh, Akpokodje, Akusu, 1986).
Overfeeding in late pregnancy, particularly of animals in relatively poor
condition, increases the size of the fetus when compared with that in control
animals. Unfortunately, this kind of increased feeding during late pregnancy
usually leads to increase in fetal size and can cause and do cause reproductive
losses due to difficult birth (Curll et al. 1975; Osuagwuh 1992). Because of the
high reproductive losses resulting from both underfeeding and overfeeding, there
is considerable controversy about the most appropriate way to manage the
feeding of pregnant domestic animals to minimize these losses. As a veterinary
obstetrician and gynaecologist, I find myself professionally competent to attempt
to settle this controversy.
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Nutritional Engineering in Mammalian Reproduction 613
In my academic sojourn in this University, I have spent most of my time
studying the reproductive constraints of the West African Dwarf (WAD) goats
with special reference to its nutrition during pregnancy. Goats, generally, were
for long, neglected in research activities especially in the area of reproductive
nutrition. This, no doubt, may be related to the relative unimportance of the goat
in temperate regions of the world. And, more importantly, there was this
common assumption that the findings in nutritional studies in the dairy goats and
cows can be extrapolated or used for the non-dairy tropical goats.
My research interest in reproductive nutrition in West African Dwarf goats
was based on the results or the investigations I carried out at the University of
Ibadan Teaching and Research Farm in 1981. The study involved the analysis of
176 kidding, involving 320 kids from an original population of 85 female adult
goats. The study was an attempt to evaluate the reproductive performance of the
WAD goats and to assess their reproductive potentials (Table 1).
Table 1: Reproductive Performance of the West African Dwarf Goat
Trait Value
Age at first kidding (months) 19.82 + 4.60
Kidding interval, (d) , 242.33 + 50.63
Annual kidding rate 1.68 +0.25
Birth weight (kg) 1.20 + 0.24
Prolificacy (5) 181.30
Mortality % (first three months) 38.60
Stillbirth (%) 7.39
Abortions (%) 25.70
± Standard deviation
Source: Osuagwuh and Akpokodje 1984
The results obtained in that study indicated that the WAD goats are early
maturing, prolific and non-seasonal breeders. However, a high level of
reproductive wastage due to abortions, stillbirths, low birth weights and neonatal
mortality was recorded (Osuagwuh and Akpokodje 1981, 1984). Because most of
these pathologies occurred during the dry season when fresh forage and grass
were in short supply, nutrition was therefore queried. To evaluate this nutritional
problem during pregnancy, which is considered a controversial subject, two
questions were asked:
• What are the dynamics of fetal growth and development including some
organs and endocrine glands?
• How can one manipulate the nutritional needs of the pregnant animal
based on the dynamics of fetal growth in order to minimize reproductive
losses due to prenatal mortality?
To attempt to answer these questions, the intrauterine growth rate of the WAD
goats and their fetal brain, heart, liver, thyroid, pituitary and adrenal glands were
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
614 A./.A.Osuagwuh
studied. The work involved 25 pregnant goats and 58 fetuses from them. The
animals were maintained on a standard farm ration and the fetuses harvested by
caesarean section at 30, 60, 90, 120 and 140 days of pregnancy. An exponential
growth model was used in the analysis of the data obtained which were subjected
to multiple linear regression to obtain the daily growth rate and maximal rate of
increase of the variables studied.
The results showed that fetal body weights and those of the brain, hearts,
liver and the glands were significantly (P<O.Ol) related to the age of the
pregnancy. The coefficients, b, and b2 were also significant (P<O.OI). That the
coefficient b2 was significant and negative indicated that the relative growth rate
of the variables was not a constant as would be assumed by a simple exponential
- .function, but were variables that decreased as pregnancy advanced. It was also
observed that some of the variables considered in the study showed different
maximum rates of growth and different initial instantaneous growth rates which
also decreased at different rates for each day of pregnancy. However, the
maximum growth rate of the adrenal gland could not be determined within the
period covered in this study (Osuagwuh and Aire 1990, 1992).
Nutritional Implications of the Characteristic Growth of the WAD Fetus,
Organs and Glands
Growth has been defined by Brody (1964) to include cell multiplication,
enlargement and incorporation of nutrient materials taken from the environment.
The period of maximum growth rate may occur when most of these activities are
at their peak, especially cell enlargement and incorporation of nutrient materials
referred to as the period of hypertrophy (Winick and Noble 1965). It has been
observed that fetal growth can be retarded during the period of accelerated
growth or hypertrophy (Winick and Noble 1966). This period of intense
development and rapid cell division could be referred to as the critical period. If
cell division and final cell number achieved in an organ is limited due to
malnutrition during this critical period, full recovery may not occur. This is
because the events meant to occur within this period must occur only then not
later.
Malnutrition within this period has been associated with stillbirths and
prolongation of pregnancy in sheep (Osuagwuh, Taiwo and Ngere 1980),
abortion and neonatal death in goat (Osuagwuh, Akpokodje, Akusu 1986), and
low heart and brain weight in goat (Osnagwuh 1991). The inability of the fetal
pituitary gland to grow normally due to poor nutrition during the critical period,
has been associated with marked underdevelopment of the adrenal cortex (Liggin
and Kennedy 1968). This will in turn jeopardize the role of the adrenal cortex in
initiating parturition or delivery. In the case of an organ like the liver, poor
nutrition of the pregnant animal during the critical growth period will result in
the reduction of its glycogen content which may affect the neonatal survival of
the baby animal. This is because the hepatic glycogen store serves as the
immediate source of energy for the animal neonate (Hafex 1969).
In human, the critical period for neural tube development is said to be from 17
to 30 days of pregnancy (Whitney et al. 1998). It is therefore, within this period
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NutritionalEngineering in Mammalian Reproduction 615
that neural tube development is most vulnerable to nutrient deficiencies - a time
. most women do not even realize that they are pregnant. Abnormal development
of the neural tube or its failure to close completely has been associated with
major defects in the central nervous system causing serious mental handicaps,
abortions or stillbirth (Whitney et al. 1998). It has been stated (WHO 1984) that
19.7 percent of babies born in Africa are below 2.5kg. This low birth weight
reflects the devastating consequence of malnutrition during the critical period of
fetal growth during pregnancy. Such babies are more likely to die before the
celebration of their first birthday than those weighting more than 2.5kg. Even
when they survive, the chances of normal healthy growth and development are
greatly reduced thereby increasing the number of destitutes in the society.
It is therefore clear from this study that the accelerated growth period of the
developing fetus, including the associated body systems, is critical to the survival
of the fetus whether in or outside the uterus of the mother following delivery.
This period, no doubt, is crucial in any feeding programme during pregnancy in
order to ensure normal fetal growth and birth weight.
Nutritional Engineering During Pregnancy
In the obstetric and gynaecologic context, the concern <;?verbirth weight is three-
fold. First, large fetuses contribute to. difficult birth (dystocia); second,
undersized fetuses are susceptible to neonatal death and disease, and third, poorly
nourished fetuses stand the risk of being aborted or may result in pregnancy
toxemia as in the sheep. The question now is, how can the nutrition of a
mammalian species during pregnancy be engineered, strategized, formulated,
supplemented or manipulated to ensure the prenatal and postnatal survival of the
fetus.
Based on the pattern of the growth of the fetus, the fetal organs and glands of
the WAD goat, (Osuagwuh and Aire 1990, 1992) and the nutrient requirements
of pregnant WAD goats, (Osuagwuh and Akinsoyinu 1992), an experiment was
designed to provide the scientific basis for successful nutritional engineering that
ensures a normal birth weight. The study was carried out on 15 pregnant WAD
goats. They were divided into three groups (A,B,C) of five animals each.
Varied quantities of concentrate supplement were fed to each group at
different pregnancy periods. All the animals were provided with forage ad
libitum throughout pregnancy. One group (A) was fed on concentrate at the rate
of 50glkg metabolic weight per day, per animal throughout pregnancy. Group (B)
animals were offered concentrate from day 61 to 120, and 121 to term at the rate
of 50glkg and 25g1kg metabolic weight per animal per day, respectively. The
animals in group (C) were provided with concentrate from day 61 to 120 and 121
to term at the rate of 25g and 50kg metabolic weight per animal per day,
respectively.
The result obtained in this study showed that there was no abortion, Two
animals from group (A) had difficult birth (dystocia). There was no significant
difference between the mean birth weights and neonatal growth rates of kids
from groups A and B. The mean birth weights and neonatal growth rates of kids
from group C were significantly (p<O.OI) lower than those of groups A and B.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
616 A./.A.Osuagwuh
There was no significant difference between the udder circumference of animals
in group C and those in groups A and B. All neonatal deaths recorded were from
animals in group C. From the results of this study the following can be
concluded:
• That a high level of feeding during the first 60 days of pregnancy or
after 120 days of pregnancy may not be necessary.
• That the period of fetal vulnerability is from 60 to 120 days post-
conception, for group C fed on 25g instead of 50glkg metabolic weight
per animal per day during this period had kids with low neonatal growth
rate and some died soon after birth.
• That the level of nutrition offered to the pregnant animals during this
period is crucial to the prenatal survival of the kids. .
• That reduced concentrate intake as parturition approaches may not
. significantly affect the birth weight and neonatal performance of the,
kids.
• That high concentrate feeding during late pregnancy may lead to
difficult birth (obstetric problems).
• That the high level of concentrate fed to the animals in group C as
parturition approached did not improve the birth weights of the kids,
neonatal survival and growth rate. This shows that the retarded
intrauterine development of the fetus due to feed restriction or
malnutrition between days 60 and 120 of pregnancy is not reversed
towards parturition following increased nutrient intake. The lack of
abortion in the group C animals indicated that the level of feeding was
sufficient to maintain intrauterine fetal survival but not neonatal well-
being.
• That there was no significant difference in the mean udder
circumference in the three groups of animals. This may be due to the
fact that udder development during pregnancy is known to be most rapid
during the latter stages of pregnancy (Ferrell, et al. 1976).
• That the high rate of neonatal death recorded in group C animals cannot
be associated with low milk production but the inability of the kids to
stand up and suckle because they were born weak hence their death is
due to starvation.
The principle of nutritional engineering used in the WAD goats here could be
applied to other pregnant mammalian species including man (Osuagwuh 1992).
Utilization of Research Findings for Sustainable Livestock Development in
Nigeria
The primary objective of sheep and goat production in Nigeria is meat, and the
demand is indeed high. All annual off-take of 70 per cent from goat has been
estimated (Nuru, 1982). Based on public abattoir figures, it has beert estimated
that sheep and goats contributed, on the average, 23 per cent of the meat
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Nutritional Engineering in Mammalian Reproduction 617
consumed in Nigeria between 1978 and 1980 with average carcass weight of
llkg (FAO 1980). Goat alone was estimated to contribute 16 per cent of the total
domestically produced meat in Nigeria which was estimated at 813,000 tons per
annum (FAO 1982).
In addition to its role as source of meat, the goats skin forms necessary raw
material for the local leather industry and for export too, especially the skin of
the red Sokoto goats which is the most valuable of all goat skins.
Goats also provide handy alternative source of income, especially to the rural
people to meet. their social needs. They feature prominently during marriages,
naming and burial ceremonies. Goats in most Nigerian communities are given as
a token of love and friendship. The goat, therefore, occupies a high position in
the socio-economic life of Nigerians.
It is indeed sad to note that despite the importance of these animals, little or .
nothing has being done to improve their lots through the utilization of research
findings aimed at improving the productivity of these animals.
Pre-independence records show that in 1957, livestock contributed only 10.4
percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) whereas crops contributed
84.9 per cent (Oyenuga 1967). The situation remains the same today. In the
United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Australia and New
Zealand, animals and their products contribute higher values to the total
agricultural economy than crops (Table 2).
Table 2: Estimated Value of Relative Output of Crops and Livestock in four
Countries in 1960 Compared with Nigeria
Country Total value of Value of Value of
Agriculture Crops Livestock
USA 34014.0* 15076.0 18938.0
- (10%) (44.3%) (55.7%)
UK 3622.92 742.28 2880.64
(100%) (20.5%) . (79.5%)
Australia 2287.45 655.12 1635.33
(100%) (28.5%) (71.5%)
New Zealand 1018.64 84.56 934.00
(100%) (8.3%) (91.7%) -
Nigeria 1481.5 1319.9 161.6
(100%) (89.09) (10.91%)"
Source: Oyenuga, 1967.
* =millions of US dollars.
Another noteworthy feature in Nigeria is that the percentage of human
population that is economically active in agriculture ranged from 69.6 per cent in
1975 to 65.5 per cent in 1988, whereas in the USA the corresponding figures
were 3.9 and 2.5 percent (Table 3). .
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618 A.J.A. Osuagwulr
Table 3: Percentages of Human Population Economically Active In AgrIculture In
Some Countries Cempared with Nigeria (1975-1988)
Years
Country 1975 1980 1985 198 1987 1988
6
Switzerland 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.8 4.6 4.4
France 11.1 8.6 6.7 6.4 6.1 5.8
Australia 7.4 6.9 5.8 5.7 5.5 5.3
USA 3.9 3.5 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5
UK 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1
Nigeria 69.6 68.1 66.5 66. 65.8 65.5
2
Source: FAO Production year book 1988.
The very high percentage population of agriculturally active people in Nigeria
notwithstanding, available record (Table 4) shows that in the USA, animal
protein intake per person per day between 1984-1986 was 70.9g while in Nigeria
it was given to be 6.8g (FAO 1988).
Table 4: Food Supply: Protein from Animal Products
Per Caput Per Day (grams)
Years
Country 1961-63 ]969-79 1979-81 1984-86
France 57.3 62.9 72.4 '74.8
Australia 63.6 64.6 64.4 65.0
Switzerland 50.4 54.5 61.5 63.3
USA 65.4 70.3 68.7 70.9
UK 55.8 56.0 53.1 52.0
Nigeria 6.5 7.0 10.0 6.8
Source: FAO Production YearBook 1988.
These observations indicate that it is not-the number of people involved in
agricultural activities that determines the volume of the output but the technology
involved in the operation. The present low level of animal protein consumption
in Nigeria is a reflection of the poor productivity of the traditional animal
management system which Nigeria still depends upon.
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Nutritional Engineering in Mammalian Reproduction 619 -
Protein is a vital body building element, which is largely sourced from
livestock products. Lack of adequate protein to pregnant women or animals can
lead to irreversible damage to the developing fetus, neonatal mortality, slow rate
of growth, poor development, increased susceptibility to infections and possible
permanent physical stunting. The reported high frightening figures of Africans
dying of HIV/AIDS infection may be related to malnutrition resulting from low
protein intake that adversely affects the immune system of the human body.
There is real-problem. The problem is a very simple one - the inability of the
Nigerian government to put in place well-structured, home-based financed
strategies, programmes and policies to make use of research results littering all
our universities that are involved in livestock research, including poultry. With
an humility, if all the research results in the areas of animal and poultry health,
reproduction, nutrition, breeding and management from the Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine and the Department of Animal Science of this university alone, are
consciously put into use, the livestock subsector of the economy of this nation
will be transformed for the good of all. The National Agricultural Research
Strategy plan 1996-2010 projected growth rate of 6.4 per cent per annum for goat
meat and mutton and 8.7 per cent per annum for beef within this period, provided
appropriate policies and improved technologies generated by research are
applied. It was, however, noted that despite the projected increased output of the
various livestock products, the daily protein intake per person by the year 2010,
would be only 5.32g which is still far below the FAO recommendation of 34g.
It is a known fact that there is no current serious mechanism put in place by
government to achieve these goals that the government set for itself by making
use of new technologies for improved livestock production based on research
findings.
The current moribund research-extension linkage model adopted in Nigeria
involved five zonal coordinating research institutes, the Federal Agricultural
Coordinating Unit (FACU), National Agricultural Extension and Research
Liaison Services (NAERLS) and National Agricultural Research Institutes
(NARI). Then we have the Agricultural Development Project (ADP) which is
provided with technical support by the other groups in the areas of on-farm
adaptive research, monthly technology review meetings and extension services
operation. This research extension linkage model is considered comprehensive,
for it will generate a favourable climate for close interaction between research
and extension organizations.
Following the initial success of this model in some selected states, ADP
services were introduced to all the states of the federation where they form the
extension arms of the state ministry of agriculture. The ADPs were mostly
financed by the World Bank and when the World Bank withdrew their financial
support, the programme became moribund and not much is happening as of
today. But more disturbing is the fact that when the programme was fully
operational the livestock subs ector was virtually neglected, for it mainly
concentrated on crops.
No nation can really take its rightful place among other nations without a
viable, strong and all-round agricultural base. This is because a stable agricultural
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
620 A.I.A.Osuagwuh
sector of any national economy, including the livestock subsector, guarantees
food security, industrial growth, economic growth, improved quality of life and
political stability. No nation or organization can develop another nation or .
organization to the point of self-sufficiency. Let us stop running to the World
Bank or IMF or both for financial support for our programmes or policies meant
to develop our country for they will abandon us when they are mostly needed.
Nigeria has all it takes to develop this country without asking for foreign loans.
All that is required is for the people in high places to develop the political will
and minimize the level of looting of the national treasury for personal economic
and political power.
It is Nigerians that are impoverished by few Nigerians, keeping the
impoverished perpetually below the poverty line so that the few rich Nigerians
will maintain their social, economic and political dominance on the poor rural
masses, grassroots, or the common man on the street as they call them. This
group of Nigerians are used in formulating policies and programmes that are
poorly implemented or not implemented at all. This is because the politicians
consider them irrelevant on their way to political power; for they usually by-pass
the ballot box, instead of going through it. And that is why they can move from
one political party to the other without any reference to their so-called
constituency that elected them into political power.
There is no programme that can be more poverty alleviating or poverty
eradicating than a well-constructed, home-based and continuously financed
programme of utilizing indigenous research results for national development. A
nation is as strong as its ability to make effective use of indigenous research
results. Research leads to knowledge and knowledge leads to power, supremacy,
and dominance. All great nations all over the world practise the law of silence as
far as break-throughs based on research are concerned. There is nothing like
"Technology Transfer". It is a ploy to keep the uninformed countries under the
intellectual dominance of the developed countries of the world.
They have come with their beautiful concept of "Globalization and Free
Trade Liberalization". If this hydra-headed concept is blindly and fully accepted
and practised by any developing nation like Nigeria, it will spell doom for its
industrial growth and development.
The government should be well advised to properly finance this country's
educational system based on the minimum UNESCO recommendation and make
proper use of research results from our universities and research institutes for the
overall development of this great nation. "The wise hears and gets wiser", it has
been said.
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Nutritional Engineering in Mammalian Reproduction 621
REFERENCES
Alexander, G. and Williams, D. (1971) Heat stress and development of the concepts in
domestic sheep. J. of Agric. Sci. (Cambridge) 76:53.
Brody, S. (1964) Bioenergetics and Growth New York: Hafner. pp. 140-205.
Chow, B.E and C.J. Lee (1964) Effect of dietary restriction of pregnant rats on body
weight gains of the offsprings. J. Nutr. 82:10-18. London: Cohen, J. (1977)
Reproduction, Butterworths, pp. 1-11.
Curll, M.L Davidson, J.L. and Freer. M. (1975) Efficiency of lamb production in ewe at
mating and during pregnancy. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 26:553.
Everitt. G.C. (1964) Material under nutrition and retarded fetal development in merino
sheep. Nature (London), 201:1341.
Ferrell, e.L. Garret, W.N. and Hinman, No. (1976) Growth, development and
composition of the udder and gravid uterus of beef heifers during pregnancy. J. of
Anim. Sci. 42,1477-1489.
FAO (1980) Production Year Book vol. 34 pp. 199.
FAO (1988) Agricultural Year Book Vol. 42.
Hafez, E.S.E (1969) Prenatal growth. In: Animal Growth and Nutrition. Hafez, E.S.E.
and LA. Dyer (eds) Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia.
Liggins G.C. and Kennedy P.e. (1968) Effects of electroagulation of the fetal lamb
hypophysis on growth and development. J. Endocrinal. 40: 333-344. ,
Nuru, S. (1982) "Meat production and the Nigerian economy" A keynote address to the
19th annual conference of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association. Kano
Nigeria.
Osuagwuh, A.LA., B.B.A Taiwo and L.O. Ngere (1980) Cross breeding in Tropical
Sheep: Incidence of Dystocia and Parturition Losses. Tropical Anim. Health and
Production 12: 85-89. \
Osuagwuh, A.LA. and J.U. Akpokodje (1981) West African Dwarf (Fouta Djallon)
Goat I. Cause of Early mortality. Inter. Goat and sheep Res.
Osuagwuh, A.LA. and J.U. Akpokodje (1984) The Reproductive performance of the
West African Goat. Tropical Anim. Prod. 9: 231-238.
Osuagwuh, A.LA. Akpokodje, J.U. and Akusu, M.O. (1986) An outbreak in West
African dwarf goat due to malnutrition. Trop. Veterinarian 4: 67-70.
Osuagwuh, A.LA. and Akinsoyinu (1990) Efficiency of nitrogen utilization by pregnant
West African dwarf goats fed at various levels of crude protein in the concentrate as
supplement. Small Ruminant Res. 3:363-371.
Osuagwuh, A.LA. and T.A Aire (1990) Intrauterine Growth rates of the West African
dwarf goat and some foetal organs in relation to Strategic Feed Supplementation
during pregnancy. 1. Vet. Med. A. 37:198-204.
Osuagwuh, A.LA. (1991) The problems of the Traditional livestock management systems
in Nigeria as they affect small ruminant productivity. Proceedings Nat. Livestock
Conf. Kaduna Nigeria.
Osuagwuh, A.L (1992). Effects of strategic supplementation during pregnancy on the
birth weight and prenatal survival of West African dwarf kid. J. Agric. Sci.
Cambridge 1-4.
Osuagwuh, A.LA. and Aire (1992) The growth rates of the fetal thyroid, pituitary and
adrenal glands of the West African dwarf goat. Anim. Reprod. Science. 27:31-39.
Osuagwuh, A.LA. and Akppkodje, J.U.(1992) Pre-weaning growth rate and mortality rate
of the West African dwarf goat. Vet. Arhiv. (3) 171-177. . -:
Oyenuga, V.A. (1967) Agriculture in Nigeria. FAO, Rome pp. 20-157.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
622 A.IA. Osuagwuh
Thomson, A.M. and W. Thomson (1953) Effect of diet on milk yield of ewe and growth
of her Lamb. Ibid. 7:263-274.
Whitney, E.N. Cataldo, c.B. and Rolfes S.R. (1998) In Understanding Normal and
Clinical Nutrition 5th edition pp. 586.
Winick, M. and A. Noble 1965. Quantitative changes in DNA, RNA and protein during
prenatal and post-natal growth in the rat. Dev. Biop. 12: 451-466.
Winick, M. and A. Notile (1966) Cellular response in rats during malnutrition at various
ages. J. Nutr. 89:300-306.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
27
SPATIAL ENGINEERING AND ACCESSIBILITY
c. O. Ikporukpo
Department of Geography
Introduction
Geography is one of the most misunderstood and, indeed, one of the -most
maligned disciplines. To the uninitiated, geography is simply about the names
and locations of places and geographical features. Given this orientation,
geographers are expected to know the names, locations and characteristics of
such geographic individuals as the world's cities, countries, lakes, rivers, etc.
What is the capital of Afghanistan? What is the population of Myamar? How far
is Toronto from New York? What is the size of Bayelsa State? These and similar
questions are the ones geographers are expected to answer and correctly too at
the blink of an eye. Geographers study such geographic features but these are not
what geography is about.
Another widely held view is that geography is about maps, and, therefore,
geographers are map-making technicians. There is no doubt that the map is a very
important tool of the geographer. However, it is not what geography is about.
There is also the perspective that geography is simply about exploration,
expedition and discovery of places. A corollary is that geographers study
exploration, expedition and the discovery of places. Exploration and discovery
may provide new vistas for geographic analysis; but geography is not simply
about exploration, expedition and discovery. If these were what geography was
about the discipline would have died long ago and might only have resurrected
with relatively recent exploration of the outer space.
These various perceptions of geography, though largely wrong, have some
historical basis. Geography had its greatest followership during the age of
exploration and discovery (from the 15th to the 19th centuries) when geography
and geographers provided meaningful information on new places and regions.
Geographers were effectively involved in the mapping and description of such
areas. Subsequent colonial interests and expansion aided the ascendancy of
geography as geographical societies, which promoted expedition and discovery,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
624 Chris 0. Ikporukpo
were rapidly established worldwide. The first modem geographic society was
established in Paris in 1821, followed by that of Berlin in 1828. The Royal
Geographical Society of London was founded in 1830. By 1885, about 100
geographical societies with a membership of over 50,000 were in existence
worldwide (Holt-Jensen 1987;Freeman 1961).
The Royal Geographical Society was not only active in expedition and
discovery but also in academics. It was fundamental in the appointment of the
first geography lecturer in each of Oxford (1887) and Cambridge in 1888
(Coones 1989; Stoddart 1989). It is remarkable that the foundation lecturer at
Cambridge, Henry Guillemard, was a medical doctor who was active in
expedition and discovery and in the work of the society. He was apparently so
involved in expedition that when he was pressed to give up his geography
lectures, he resigned (Stoddart 1989).
Be this ascendancy of geography during the age of expedition and discovery
as it may, the discipline remained maligned and misunderstood. For instance, the
Oxford historian, J.R. Green, declared in 1879: ''No drearier task can be set for
the worst criminals than that of studying a set of geographical textbooks such as
children in our schools are doomed to use" (quoted in Coones 1989, p.l3).
Indeed, even the "dark continent", imagery of Africa has been equated with
geography. Jonathan Swift, the renowned Irish satirist, Anglican cleric and
author of the well known novel, Gullivers Travels, in his work, On Poetry: A
Rhapsody, published in London in 1733, said of geographers and Africa thus:
So Geographers in Afric - Maps
With Savage-Pictures fill their Gaps
And o'er uninhabitable downs
Placed Elephants for want of Towns.
The malignity the discipline has been subjected to in modem times is aptly
illustrated by the demise of geography in a leading American University-
Harvard. Geography was abolished there in 1948 not necessarily because of what
geography is but partly because it was alleged that the Head of
Department/Chairman was a homosexual (Smith 1987). How times have
changed!
It was to this misunderstood and maligned discipline I returned late in 1974
after my one-year national service in the present Zamfara State. This was at a
time geography was in a state of flux, consequent largely on the Quantitative
Revolutionwith origins in the late 1950s/early 1960s. The increased employment
of mathematical and statistical techniques, which, characterized the revolution,
aided model building and theory formulation and launched geography into the
frontiers of the scientific revolution. Realizing that the frontiers of a given
discipline are not necessarily impervious, geographers adapted and reinvented a
number of concepts and theories from other disciplines. For instance, the gravity
model; derived from Newtonian physics and its later extension entropy model
from thermodynamics, came to be widely used in transport geography and related
sub-disciplines.
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Spatial Engineering and Accessiblity 625
Whereas geography gained considerably from such fertilization, too many
disciplines realized too late what difference some injection of a geographical
perspective could make in their insight. For instance, health planners realized late
how useful a Central Place theoretical framework could be. Even economics,
which together with geography hybridized economic geography, discovered
economic geography rather late. The discovery is due to the work of a
contemporary economist - Krugman - described by the great 'positive
economist' Paul Samuelson (1994, p. vii) as "the rising star of this century and
the next". Realizing that space, which is the central focus of geography, matters,
Krugman has over the last two decades or so applied geographical principles to
his analysis of trade, regional development, economic and monetary integration,
localization of industry, externalities, strategic industrial policy, path dependence
and globalization (see Martin and Sunley 1996; Dyrriski 1996). His two most
celebrated works in this regard are Development, Geography and Economic
Theory (Krugman 1995) and The Self-organizing Economy (Krugman 1996). In
the former, he utilized what he referred to as the five "exiled traditions" of
economic geography, that is, location theory, land use modelling, social physics,
local external economies and cumulative causation, and lamented the "retreat" of
economic geographers from quantitative modelling into Marxist andpost-Fordist
interests. In the latter work where the self-organizing space economy is
modelled, the central place theory and Von Thunen's isolated state theory occupy
pride of place in the analysis. It is noteworthy that one of the chapters of
Krugman's 1995 work is captioned "Geography: Lost and Found".
My return to Ibadan in late 1974 was also at a time the debate about
relevance in geography was on. This debate and the quantitative revolution
influenced the focus of my Ph.D thesis. The topic - Spatials Structure and
Efficiency in a Physical Distribution System: A Case-Study of the Nigerian
Gasoline Distribution Industry - reflected the physical distribution crisis that
plagued the country's petroleum products industry. The thesis, examined in
December 1977 and accepted in January 1978, applied a heuristic programming
approach in assessing and proposing the location of products depots and analyzed
the structure and efficiency of gasoline distribution, employing techniques such
as factor analysis. Since my Ph.D thesis is in transport geography, my research
has not only been in this area but also others, particularly regional development,
environmental studies and political geography. If I were to summarize the focus
of my research, I would say it has been spatial engineering and accessibility.
Transportation is about accessibility and the other areas 'address spatial
engineering in varying degrees. My choice of topic for an inaugural lecture has
thus long been obvious to me. Let me, for the sake of clarity and completeness,
now address the issues: What are spatial engineering and accessibility? And how
are they related?
Spatial Engineering and Accessibility: The Concepts
Engineers need not be agitated that geographers are about to take over their
profession and disciplines. The central concern of geographers is spatial analysis.
As the International Charter on Geographical Education puts it, "some of the
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
626 Chris 0. Ikporukpo
central concepts of geographical studies are location and distribution, place,
people environment relationships, spatial interaction, (and) region" (I.G. U.
1992). Locations, places and regions could be manipulated. Indeed, people could
also be manipulated over space. Spatial engineering is about this manipulation.
Morrill (1996) defines spatial engineering in terms of territorial manipulation.
Coates, Johnston and Knox (1977) and Okafor (2000), following them,
conceptualize it in terms of the spatial manipulation of social well-being.
Spatial engineering is necessitated by the realization that the so-called
invisible hand of the free market mechanism cannot and has not always assigned
scarce resources equitably. Even if all the perfect competition assumptions of
conventional economic wisdom were to hold, non-economic considerations,
which are sometimes much more fundamental limit the usefulness of the market
mechanism. Even the United States of America, the doyen of capitalism, realized
by the 1930s when the Tennessee Valley Authority was set up that the market
mechanism could not wholly be relied on. There is indeed no country that does
not attempt to manipulate space for development. Ikporukpo (1983) divides the
attempts in Nigeria into two broad groups based on a spatial perspective.
Spatial engineering is usually conceptualized in terms of the attempt at
reorganizing space in order to benefit a people. The fact that there could be
spatial reorganization intentionally meant to make a people or communities
disadvantaged is often glossed over. I believe that there are both positive and
negative spatial engineering. The positive one involves manipulating space for
the benefit of people while the negative is meant to enthrone a disadvantage.
Gerrymandering is a typical example of negative spatial engineering. "The term
'gerrymandering' immortalizes Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts
(U.S.A) who signed into law a districting designed to maximize the election of
Republican-Democrats over Federalists" (Morrill 1994, p.l04). Gerrymandering
is simply the manipulation of regional or district boundaries in order to place
some people or areas at a disadvantage. It was commonly used in the U.S.A. in
the early 19th century to prevent the election of black Congressmen.
Whether the interest is in positive engineering or its negative
variant, the essence is relative accessibility. In manipulating space, accessibility
or inaccessibility is the consequence. What then is accessibility? Times were
when Peter Gould (1969, p.64) opined that accessibility" ... is a slippery notion
... one of those common terms that everyone uses until faced with the problem of
defining and measuring it." Since Gould's assertion several works have
expounded the concept (for instance, Ingram, 1971 ; Stutz, 1973; Pirie 1979;
Ikporukpo 1987). Accessibility could be conceptualized in terms of the ability to
get to a place quickly and cheaply and the availability and affordability of a
utility. Various measures of accessibility are used, namely, simple distance,
graph theoretical indices, opportunity index, eigen functions and socioeconomic
indices.
In general, the concept has two fundamental components. These are
locational and effective accessibility (see Ikporukpo, 1987). The locational aspect
pertains mainly to proximity while that of effectiveness is essentially whether or
not there are any socio-economic and indeed political constraints in the way of
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering and Accessiblity 627
utilization. For instance, a very good clinic or school could be in a
neighbourhood or even village but individuals living close by may not utilize the
facility because of prohibitive cost. How many children from the villages in
which they are located attend some of the very expensive private secondary
schools that have become a feature of Nigeria's educational landscape? Indeed,
there is a hypothesis that utilities are usually less available to those who need
them more. This is the basis of Hart's (1971) inverse care law, which states that
"the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need of the
population served".
Effective accessibility raises the issue of spatio-social equity and justice and,
indeed, in some cases environmental justice. The basic consideration is whether
some people or areas should enjoy defined privileges at the expense of others.
Where such privileges exist, could they be said to be fair? In terms of
environmental justice, which is particularly pertinent in this discussion, the issue
is whether a people or community should be unduly exposed to environmental
hazards in order to satisfy the needs of all. The groundswell of opinion is that
where such an exposure to environmental hazard is inevitable people or
communities so affected must be adequately compensated. As several studies
have shown, this is a worldwide practice (see Ikporukpo 2000a).
Nigeria and, in particular, the Niger Delta region have been my geographical
area of research focus. It is therefore to them that I shall now turn to examine a
number of issues of spatial engineering and accessibility. The focus is the
manipulation of political and economic spaces to the advantage of some areas or
groups of people and to the disadvantage of others.
Manipulating Political Space
The bases for intensive and extensive struggle for access to political power and
hence for the manipulation of political space were laid long before the country's
independence in 1960. The British colonial government itself realized this. The
perspective of the Report of the Commission appointed to enquire into the fears
of Minorities and the means of allaying them [Henry Willink's Commission],
which was set up in September, 1957 [Nigeria 1958], is instructive and is
therefore quoted in extenso.
At the Constitutional Conference of 1953, it was decided after long
discussion that Nigeria should be a Federation of three Regions (and
the Small Federal Territory of Lagos), residual powers resting with
the Regions. This decision was acquiesced in reluctantly by one of
the principal parties, the National Council for Nigeria and the
Cameroons which had previously advocated a strong centre and a
larger number of constituent states, smaller and with less powers
than the present Regions. The NCNC gave way ... when it became
clear that continued disagreement would bar advance towards
independence. The result of this decision was a Federation of an
unusual composition, in that one of the three constituent elements
was slightly larger in population than the other two together, while
U
IVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
628 Chris O. lkporukpo
in each of the three Regions it was possible to distinguish between a
majority group of about two-thirds of the population and minority
groups amounting to about one-third. (p.l).
Understandably, even before independence, there was a clamour for political
access through spatia-political reorganization. It is significant that it was not only
ethnic minorities that were involved but also parts of at least one major ethnic
group that had a feeling of political power not being accessible. The demands
that came before the Willink's Commission are shown in fig. 1.
----../ ."~,
---.
BORNU .I1
Fig. 1: Pre-independence Demands for Regions/States
In the Western Region, there were demands mainly for a Central Yoruba
State made up of Oyo and Ibadan Provinces, an Ondo Central State from Ondo
Province and a Mid-West State to be made up of Benin and Delta provinces. The
demands in the East were for Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR), Rivers, Calabar and
Ogoja States while in the Northern Region, the clamour was for a Middle Belt
State. In addition to these, there were demands for merger. The most significant
were the demands by Ilorin and Kabba Divisions of the Northern Region to be
part of the Western Region and Western Ijaw Division of the West to be part ofa
Rivers State.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering and Accessiblity 629
Apart from these major demands for merger, there were a number of less
significant ones. These included the expressed desire of Ndoni Clan of Aboh
Division in Western Nigeria to be part of Ahoada Division of the East, of Ete
District in Nsukka Division of Eastern Nigeria to be part of Igala Division of the
North and that of Asaba and 1ka Divisions wishing to be in Eastern Nigeria.
There were also the cases of the Akoko-Edo District's demand to be part of Ondo
Province (Western Region), the Igbirra area of Afemai Division of the West to be
in Kabba Division of the North while the villages of Sobe and Ijagba in Ondo
Province, Western Region, agitated for merger with Benin Division (Nigeria
1958; Ikporukpo 1986a; Gana 1987).
The basic factor in all these demands was self-determination, that is,
effective access to political power base. In all the cases, except those of Yoruba
Central and Ondo Central States, the allegation was that the major ethnic group
had a domineering tendency, which stifles political participation by other groups.
The agitators for Yoruba Central and Ondo Central States asserted that political
power was totally inaccessible to them because they were being victimized by a
government controlled by the Action Group given that they were, in the main,
followers of another political party, the NCNC. In the North, there was a
religious coloration in the demand while in the East and the West political access
was agitated partly for economic reasons.
The debate on the creation of the Mid-West was the most intense and most
significant and showed very clearly the struggle for political space. The agitators,
the government of the Western Region and the majority party, the Action Group,
provided different perspectives. The Mid-West Movement demanded political
autonomy on the grounds that the major ethnic group, the Yoruba, was
discriminating against the other groups in the areas of economy, appointments
and culture. It was also alleged that the Yoruba regarded people from the
proposed Mid-West as inferior. The Willink's Report put this allegation
succinctly thus:
The Yorubas, we were told used the term "Kobo kobo" to describe
an Ibo and applied the term contemptuously to the people of Benin
as well; it means, we understand, one who speaks unintelligibly. We
were told that the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Denis Osadebay,
had been asked to surrender his leadership to Alhaji Adelabu, who
was a Yoruba, on the grounds that no one in Yoruba country would
vote for a party which might give the Region a "Kobokobo" as a
Premier (p.3).
Interestingly, all the three groups supported the creation of a Mid-West State,
although each had a different orientation. The Mid-West State Movement argued
that the proposed State should be made up of Benin and Delta Provinces. The
villages of Sobe and ljagba in Ondo Province were to be part. The Action
Group's position was that all Edo-speaking people should be united in one State
while the lbos of Asaba and Aboh should be in the East and the Ijaws with the
Ijaws of the East. Apparently, to underscore the significance of party-
followership, it was argued that the Yoruba-speaking Akoko-Edo and the Itsekiri
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
630 Chris 0. Ikporukpo
and Ishan Division should remain in the Western Region. What a great show-
case of gerrymandering it would have been! The perspective of the Western
Regional Government was, similar to that of the Action Group, except that it
included Akoko-Edo and Ishan in the proposed State.
In spite of the debates which accompanied the Willink's Commissions
sittings and the various Constitutional Conferences, no new states emerged
before independence. With independence, old and emergent feelings of
inadequate access to political power by various groups, whether real or just
perceptual, resulted in intensive and extensive cries for access through state
creation (see Osaghae 1985; Ikporukpo 1986a; Suberu 1994, 1997). For instance,
the cry of political marginalization which was a minority-ethnic group
phenomenon became the chorus of Igbo nationalism. The Igbo feeling was
hinged on the fact that in the state creation exercise immediately preceding the
Nigerian civil war in 1967, the area was constituted into just one state. Indeed, by
1987, the minorities of the former Eastern Region where the Igbo were the
political overlords, had three states while the Yoruba and the Hausa-Fulani each
had at 1east four states with the Igbo restricted to only two. The operation of the
Federal character principle which emphasizes the equality of States in access to
power (see Ekeh and Osaghae 1989) exacerbated the relative inaccessibility to
political power of the Igbo. The c1amour for states was such that the 1980s and
1990s were in many respects the decades of the state agitators. For instance, in
1983, the National Assembly received as many as 48 formal requests for new
states. Sixty-five requests were presented to the Mbanefo Committee, and the
National Constitutional Conference of 1994 received forty-five. There have also
been merger requests. The most significant of these have been those from
Bomadi and Burutu Local Government Areas to be in Rivers State, of Borgu
Local Government Area of Kwara State to be in Niger State and of Doma Local
Government Area of Plateau State to be in Benue State.
The spatial engineering that followed the agitations is reflected in fig. 2.
Whereas in 1914 and in 1946, there were only two and three regions respectively,
apart from the Federal Capital Territory, the number increased to four in 1963,
twelve in 1967, nineteen in 1976, twenty-one in 1987, thirty in 1991 and thirty-
six in 1996. The various regions before independence were largely a creation of
the British (the colonial master), with little or no input from Nigerians. The
earliest sub-divisions of the country were no doubt based on administrative
convenience, although the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern
Protectorates in 1914 was informed mainly by the economic consideration that
the North was unviable and needed the South to avoid its being an economic
burden to Britain (Osuntokun 1979; Yaqub 1997).
Since independence, the perspective of stakeholders has been influential
in the pattern of spatio-political organization. For instance, as General
Babangida, the then Head of State, put it, the state creation exercise of 1991 was,
in part, to satisfy, "the expressed wishes of the people and communities"
agitating for states (Babangida 1991). Thus, virtually all the states agitated for at
the sittings of the Willink's Commission, but were not recommended, were
created not long after independence; with the Mid-West being the first.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering and Accessiblity 631
••••
I"t
lMS
••
••••
••••
m&
Fig. 2: A Schema of the Evolution of Nigeria's Political Regions
Key to Figure 2 (Only new Regions/States are defined in each year)
1914: SP=Southern Proctectorate; N P = Northern Protectorate.
1946: W = West; * = Capital Territory (Lagos); E = East;
N = North.
1963: MW=Mid-West.
1967: L = Lagos; EC = East Central; SE = South Eastern;
R =Rivers; BP= Benue Plateau; KW = Kwara.
NW = North Western; NC = North Central;
K = Kano; NE = North Eastern;
1976: OY=Oyo; OG=Ogun; ON=Ondo;. B=Bendel; A = Anambra;
1= Imo;,CR = Cross River; S = Sokoto; N = Niger;
KD=Kaduna;
BC = Bauchi; BO = Borno; G = Gongola,;
BN = Benue; P = Plateau.
1987: CR=Cross River; AK=Akwa Ibom; KD=Kaduna;
KT= Katsina.
1991: OY=,Oyo; OS=Oshun; ED=Edo; DT=Delta; A =Anambra;
EN = Enugu; 1= Imo; AB = Abia;
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
632 Chris 0. Ikporukpo
S= Sokoto; KB = Kebbi; K = Kano; JG =Jigawa;
BO = Borno; YB = Yobe; TR = Taraba;
AD = Adarnawa; BN = Benue; P = Plateau; KG = Kogi; KW = Kwara.
1996: ON=Ondo; EK=Ekiti; EN = Enugu; EB=Ebonyi;
AB = Abia; R = Rivers; BY = Bayelsa; S = Sokoto; ZF=Zamfara;
BC=Bauchi; GB=Gombe
P = Plateau; NS = Nassarawa.
This is not to suggest that all states agitated for have always been created. Of
the twenty-six states consistently agitated for at different times between 1960 and
1980, that is, the first two decades of independence, especially in the 1970s, only
sixteen have been created. Table 1 shows that of the fifty-one states that have
been consistently demanded in the post-1980 period, fifty percent has not been
created. However, the component parts of some of the States not created now lie
in different states.
Even for states created, the objective of bringing government nearer to the
people has not always been achieved. This has particularly been the case in
situations where the new capital is located in such a way that it is less accessible
to a large number of people than the former capital of the larger area from which
the new state was partitioned. Typical examples are the choice ofDutse as capital
of Jigawa and of Asaba as the capital of Delta State. The former is explainable by
• fear of sectional acrimony, which would have resulted from a choice of location
within the areas of the three dominant sub-.ethnic groups of the new state. Suberu
(1994, pp.20 and 21) summarized the perspective on the latter case thus:
The most vehemently criticized decision of the Government has
been ... the location of the capital of Delta in the Anioma town of
Asaba rather than in Warri or any other centrally located town
within the Old Delta Province. This. decision generated
considerable acrimony between the Igbo and Urhobos, and has been
portrayed by critics as an act of marital favouritism, in reference to
the Asaba origins of the country's flamboyant First Lady, or as an
exercise on political vindictiveness, in allusion to the prominent role
that was played by Urhobo elements in the abortive attempt in April
1990 to unseat the Babangida Administration Yet the government's
ostensible act of political compromise in giving the ueita people a
State without a capital and the people of Anioma a capital without a
State cannot be isolated from the serious crisis engendered by the
divisions between the Urhobos and Itsekiris on the State-issue.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering and Accessiblity 633
Table 1: The Status of the Major Post-1980 Demands for States
SINo. Name of State Whether Date Created
Created
1. New Anambra* Yes 1991
2. Enugu@ Yes 1991
3. Wawa@ Yes 1991
4. Aragah Yes -
5. Ebonyi Yes 1996
6. Gombe Yes 1996
7. Katagum No -
8. Edo Yes 1991
9. Coast No -
10. Delta Yes 1991
11. Anioma No -
12. Okura+ No -
13. Kogi+ Yes 1991
14. Makurdi No -
15. New Benue* Yes 1991
16. Guiiba N@ -
17. New Borno* Yes 1991
18. Kukawa No -
19. Ca1abar No -
20. Mainland Akwa Ibom** Yes -
21. Real Cross River@@ Yes 1987
22. New Cross River*~~ Yes 1987
23. New Gongola* Yes 1991
24. Nvasara No -
25. Taraba Yes 1991
26. Sardauna No -
27. Aba No -
28. Abia Yes 1991
29. Nyaba No -
30. Katsin Yes 1987
31. New Kaduna* Yes 1987
32. Ghari No -
33. Hadeiia No -
34. Jigawa Yes 1991
35. Tiga No -
36. Lautai No -
37. Iiebu No -
38. NewOndo No -
39. Ekiti Yes 1996
40. NewOvo* Yes 1991
41. Osun Yes 1991 .
42. Nassarawa Yes 1996
43. Middle Belt No -
44. Port Harcourt No -
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
634 Chris O. Ikporukpo
45. New Rivers No -
46. Kebbi Yes 1991
47. Zamfara Yes 1996
48. Oke-Ogun No -
49. AbayelsalBayelsa Yes 1996
50. Oil Rivers No -
51. Upland Rivers No -
*Word "new" dropped on creation.
+Name adopted by people from two different areas.
**Word "Mainland" dropped on creation
@/@@ Same area; difference only in terms of name adopted
by different groups.
Nos. 1-47 are demands with roots in the 1980s.
Nos. 48-50 are demands with roots in the early 1990s.
Source: Compiled by author from various sources.
Manipulating Economic Space
In spite of the limitations of state creation as a strategy for access to political power, it
has brought the second tier of government nearer to the people and has engendered access
to political power at the federal level, particularly with the enthronement of the federal
character principle. After creating many states, especially from the 1967 twelve-state
exercise, the Federal Government realized, that most States were largely economically
unviable. The chorus of government then changed largely from bringing government
nearer to the people to one of ensuring that no part of Nigeria lags behind in the
development process. The manipulation of economic space has been the result. This
involves the flow of financial resources from federal government to the state and local
government areas, making some states and local government areas advantaged and others
disadvantaged.
The economic unviability of the States became more marked as the years
went by. For instance in 1980, Niger State generated less than 9 percent of its
revenue internally, and Kwara State less than 10 percent. By 1989, Niger State
generated only about 5 per cent, Bauchi less than 7 percent and Sokoto 9 per-
cent. There is no doubt that part of the problem is a weak revenue-collection
drive by states (Ikporukpo 1996).
The economic unviability of the states was at a time petroleum had emerged
as the mainstay of Nigeria's economy. When petroleum was first exported from
the country in 1958, it counted for only about 0.1 percent of the revenue: As fig.
3 indicates, the percentage increased to more than 26 in 1970, about 78 in 1975,
more than 81 in 1980 and a peak of more than 86 in 1992. Its percentage
contribution to export value has been much more.
Given the significance of petroleum, the Federal government, staunchly
supported by the non-oil producing States, turned to it as the panacea for
pursuing its policy of ensuring even development in all parts of the country. The
circumstances leading to the seizure of petroleum resources from the oil-
producing areas by the Federal government are very interesting and needs to be
quoted in extenso.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
636 Chris0. Ikporukpo
apologized for what appeared to be "coup de grace "which appeared
to him to be a good thing for the unity of the country. I pointed out
the inconsistency in preserving the derivation principle for cocoa
and groundnuts. He thought we should submit a supplementary
Council memo on the abolition of derivation principle for cocoa and
groundnuts. Professor Adebayo led the attack on the proposed
abolition of the derivation on cocoa and groundnuts. General
Gowon replied that the Council has to be consistent and Council
decided that the Federal Government should occupy "the
commanding heights of the economy" (Ayida 2001, pp.12 and 13).
Whatever the circumstances, the Federal government, through various decrees by
the various military regimes between the late 1960s and the late 1970s, took over
the control of the country's petroleum resources and thereby de-emphasized the
principle of derivation. For instance, the Petroleum Decree of 1969 and the Off-
Shore Oil Decree of 1971 vested in the Federal Government the entire ownership
and control of all petroleum found in any part of the country the continenta 1 shelf
and tenitorial waters. Similarly, by the Land Use Decree of 1978, all land is
owned by the State. The implication is that the petroleum resources are much
more accessible to the Federal government than the state or local governments
through a vertical revenue allocation system devised by the Federal Government
(Ikporukpo 1996; Nigerian Economic Society 1999). Given these various laws,
apart from the technicalities of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea, the Supreme Court judgement of 5th April, 2002 that the control and
ownership of off-shore petroleum resources should be vested in the Federal
Government was to be expected.
If the petroleum resources are less accessible to the states of the Niger Delta,
which produce virtually all the petroleum, how do these states fare when
compared to the non-petroleum producing ones? The Federal Government
operates a Federation Account (formerly called the Distributable Pool Account)
in which a proportion of the total revenue collected from all sources is kept and
allocated to the states. This is dominated by revenue from oil. The allocation to
the states is based on defined criteria. Since the dethronement of the derivation
principle, population size, equality of states and land area have become the most
significant criteria. The implication of this is that more populous and
geographically larger states benefit more. The dilemma of the petroleum-
producing states is that they are all relatively small both in terms of population
and areal extent. Table 2 shows that as the derivation principle declined in
significance and as the number of states increased, the proportion of the revenue
flowing to the major oil- producing states of Delta/Bendel and Rivers declined.
In 1980, Rivers and Bendel each accounted for about 10 per cent of the allocation
while Sokoto counted for 5. Kano 6.7 and Oyo 6.3 percent. By 1989, Bendel's
percentage had declined to 6.4 and Rivers; to 5.2 while Kano's rose to 7.3,
Sokoto's to 6:2 and Oyo's to 6.7. Indeed, from 1990 to 1996, Bendel accounted
for 25 percent, and Rivers 3 percent although Kano's percentage was nearly 11.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering and Accessiblity 637
Table 2: Distribution of Allocated Revenue Among the States
States Distribution in Percenta e
1980 1985 1989 1990-96
Abia - - - 2.3
Adamawa - - - 2.2
Akwalbom* - - 4.1 3.1
Anambra 5.1 4.1 5.4 2.5
Bavelsa+ - - - 0.9
Bauchi 4.1 4.1 4.2 3.2
Benue 4.2 4.3 4.1 2.9
Borno 4.6 4.6 4.8 3.1
Cross River 5.2 4.9 2.8 2.1
Delta (Edo) Bendel 10 5.9 6.4 2.5
Ebonyi+ - - - 2.5
Ekiti+ - - - 1.1
Enugu - - - 2,6
Gombe+ - 1.2
Imo 6.4
-5.5 -5.9 '2.9
Jigawa - - - 2.8
Kaduna 5.4 5.5 3.4 2.8
Kano 6.7 6.8 7.3 10.9
Katsina* - - 4.1 2.9 '
Kebbi - - - 2.4
Kogi - - - 2.5
Kwara 3.6 3.4 3.5 2.4
Lagos 3.4 3.7 3.9 3.2
Nasarawa+ - - - 1.1
Niger 3.2 2.9 3 2.6
Ogun 3.5 3.2 3.3 2.7
Ondo 4.4 4.4 4.6 3
Osun - - - 2.2
Oyo 6.3 6.4 6.7 3.1
Plateau 3.9 3 3.8 3
Rivers 10 5.6 6.2 3
Sokoto 5.8 5.9 6.2 3.5
Taraba - - - 2.4
Yobe - - - 2.7
Zamfara+ - - 1.3
FCT Abuia - 1.7
-1.7 3.2
TOTAL 100 100 100 100
*Created in 1987 +Created in 1996
Source: Computed by author from various sources.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
638 Chris 0. Ikporukpo
In terms of access, the oil-producing commumnes are particularly
disadvantaged. Consequent on the Land Use Decree, no compensation is paid for
loss of land or water bodies in the process of oil exploration and exploitation. It is
only loss on improvement to land such as crops that is paid for. Compensation
for crops, as experience has shown, is usually far below the market rate because
of frequent under-valuation (Adewale 1995; Human Rights Watch 1999). As
Adewale (1995) observed, resort to litigation hardly results in higher rates
because of the obvious disadvantaged position of the rural farmers and
fishermen. For instance, in the case of Jacob Yule and others vs. Shell BP in the
early 1970s, the plaintiffs demanded W60,000 compensation in earlier
negotiations but were offered only W3,000 by the company for crops, economic
trees and shrines destroyed. In a subsequent litigation, only a total of W313.50
was awarded by a Port Harcourt judge as damage, that is about 10.5 per cent of
what the company offered to pay during the earlier negotiations!
Even the products from petroleum - refined petroleum products - are
geographically and economically more accessible to most non-petroleum
producing areas than the riverine areas of the Niger Delta. Before the
introduction of a uniform pricing system on November 1, 1973 and the setting up
of the Petroleum Equalization Fund, prices varied over the country. This was'
because the price of products was then determined by ex-refinery, cost,
insurance, freight cost and a profit margin determined by the marketing
companies (Ikporukpo 1997). The result was that petroleum products were
cheaper in areas near the coast and much more expensive in far inland locations
such as Maiduguri and Sokoto. The prices are now the same everywhere except
in the riverine areas of the Niger Delta, which suffer from problems of relative
geographic inaccessibility. The Political Bureau, which was set up in the middle
1980s to chart Nigeria's political course, lamented the situation thus:
It is one of the most repulsive ironies of Nigeria that petroleum
products cost more in Bonny, for example, where Nigerian Bonny
crude (which is about the best) is produced than elsewhere in the
country. (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1987, p. 171).
The pattern of access to Nigeria's petroleum resources has become a very
controversial issue. Three schools of thought and their variants have emerged.
These are that:
(i) the Federal Government should continue to have exclusive right;
(ii) some strategically located non-petroleum producing states should have
exclusive control; and
(iii) the exclusive right should be that of the producing areas (states, local
government areas or communities).
The school of thought that canvasses a federal control and the distribution of
the resources among all component units of the federation, bases its argument on
the need for even development, national unity and the fact that petroleum is a gift
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering andAccessib/ity 639
from God. The school which has followers from many groups, individuals and
governments m the non-petroleum producing areas argues that a federal control
is necessary because this will ensure that there are non sharp regional disparities
in development across the country. In other words, if there was no federal
control, the oil-producing states might be highly developed while many of the
non-producing areas would continue to be highly underdeveloped. This state of
affairs, the school asserts, is not good for the goal of national unity. It believes
that any damages suffered by the producing areas are adequately compensated
for by the social action programmes of the oil companies. The gift of God
argument is succinctly put by Kano State government presentation to the Okigbo
Commission on Revenue Allocation thus:
... just because they (the petroleum resources) happen to he located
in a place by accident .... does not mean that they are derived from
that State ... (Furthermore) in creating the wealth from mineral
extraction, the efforts of the people (in the oil-producing areas) not
directly involved (Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1980, pp.180 and
181).
The gift of God argument has been amplified mainly by some Northern
Nigerian academics led by the historian Bala Usman (Ekeh 2001) to propose that
some non-oil producing States should have control of the petroleum resources.
The argument, though ridiculous, is based on the geological Processes involved
in the formation of petroleum. It is asserted that the sedimentary Niger Delta
Basin where petroleum is found was built over the centuries from sediments
transported mainly from states around the rivers Niger and Benue in the northern
part of the country. Therefore, these states should have much more right than the
states where the resources are found; the latter being only the secondary
producers while the former the primary producers. Bala Usman put it thus:
those states of Nigeria upstream from the delta in the Niger-Benue
basin should take exclusive ownership and control of the river water
and its sediments drained away from them to form the delta and its
hinterland and demand their share from the returns from the export
of crude oil and gas in proportion to what their vegetation faeces,
dead bodies, animal remains and fertile soil generally contributed to
the making of these minerals for hundreds of thousands and even
million years. (quoted in Ekeh, p. 8).
The basic trend of the argument is that the Niger-Benue basin states contributed
overwhelmingly to the formation of the Niger delta and should, therefore, exert
an overwhelming influence and control over the resources.
The best known and most publicized school, particularly since the re-
introduction of a democratic government in the country in 1999, has been the
school that argues that petroleum resources should be controlled by the
producing states. The cliche "resource control" .whieh-expresses the desire of this
school of thought, recently led by the Governors of the oil-producing South-
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
640 Chris 0. Ikporukpo
South geographical zone, has become very current in Nigeria's political economy
debate. The origins of the school, however, date back to the late 1960s and early
1970s. This school hinges its argument on four foundations. These are: (i) the
relative underdevelopment and neglect of the Niger Delta region; (ii) the practice
in the country before petroleum became significant; (iii) the practice in other
federations and other oil-producing countries; and (iv) the need for
environmental justice.
The governments and various groups and individuals in the oil-producing
states assert that the Niger Delta region is one of the least developed parts of the
country. This situation is largely due to neglect by the various regional and
Federal Governments. The school argues that since the area now has a resource
which could be the basis for its development, no other part of the country or
federal government should lay claim. The second foundation is that before the
discovery of petroleum, the natural resources of the country, such as solid
minerals and agricultural resources, were exploited for the exclusive
development of the producing areas. Now that petroleum has emerged as the
dominant resource, there is no reason why the situation should change. The
reference is to the derivation aspect of the revenue allocation formula, which was
at a time the only criterion. The school, also argues that the practice in other
federations is not control by the federal government but the producing areas;
Nigeria should not be an exception. The environmental justice argument is that
the area has been subjected to a long period of environmental damage, which has
been neglected and can only be effectively addressed through "resource control".
Responding to Economic Gerrymandering
The state of affairs where petroleum resources are apparently more accessible to
many non-producing states than the producing ones has been sharply criticized
as unjust by many well-meaning Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike. For instance,
a well-known political scientist and one-time Minister of External Affairs,
Professor Bolaji Akinyemi (2001, p.9), expressed it thus: .
It is an act of self-deception for anyone to argue that there is nothing
wrong with the revenue allocation formula. We have had basically
two systems of revenue allocation in Nigeria. The first system,
which we practised during the First Republic, allowed the North to
keep the proceeds from its groundnut and cotton, the West to keep
the proceeds from its cocoa and East to keep the proceeds from its
coal and oil palm produce. Then we changed the system so that the
Federal Government got its hands on the proceeds from on-shore
and off-shore crude petroleum, and, yet we don't expect the
minorities in the oil producing areas to perceive that this is an
injustice done to them.
People in the oil-producing areas perceive the situation as internal colonialism
and some sort of economic gerrymandering. Various groups and organizations,
some of which are external to the oil-producing areas, have emerged to enthrone
justice and equity (Ikporukpo 1996; 2000).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering andAccessiblity 641
This fight for justice could be divided into four phases. These are the early
civil society stage, the Ogoni phase, the Ijaw Youths phase and the wilderness
phase. The approaches employed include advocacy, protest marches/civil
disobedience, sabotagelblockade and armed protest (Ikporukpo 1996). The Ogoni
Bill of Rights, the Kaiama Declaration of IjawYouths, the Charter of Demands
of the Ogbia People and the Aklaka Declaration all through advocacy demanded
for justice and effective access to petroleum resources. Protest marches have
been very characteristic of the struggle by various groups. The most spectacular
has been that by the Ogoni on January 4, 1993 which involved a predominant
proportion of all Ogonis. Men and women demonstrated peacefully in Ogoniland,
displaying placards depicting their grievances and demands. Typical placards
read: "No Oil Right No Peace"; "Save Ogoni from Pollution"; "UN Save Ogoni";
and "Shell, Save Ogoniland" (Saro-Wiwa 1995; Ikporukpo 1996).
Sabotage and blockage have since the 1980s become significant. Oil
company sources indicate that since the 1970s sabotage has emerged as a major
cause of oil spills, although equipment failure continues to be a dominant factor.
For instance, between 1977 and 1979, sabotage accounted for 31 percent of all
oil spills in Nigeria and was the second most significant cause. In a cross-national
study of 40 countries, of the sev~ major oil spills due to sabotage or vandalism
in 1983, Nigeria accounted for four. Among the three countries that recorded
sabotage-induced spills, this factor accounted-for only 2 percent of the spills in
the U.S.A. whereas in both Nigeria and Nicaragua, the figure was 33 percent.
Nicaragua was then more or less in a state of war (Ikporukpo 1986b). Of the total
340 oil spills that were recorded in Shell Petroleum Development Company's
(SPDC) operational area in 2000, 137 were attributed to sabotage. This cause
accounted for 57 percent of the 30,751 barrels spilled (SPDC 2001). Although
NGOs and communities accuse oil companies of unduly attributing spills to
sabotage in order to avoid compensation (Ikporukpo 2000b), even the people of
the oil-producing areas acknowledge the fact that there have been sabotage-
induced spills (Ikporukpo 1995).
Blockades of oil production activities, some of which are violent, became
particularly prominent in the 1990s. Figure 4 shows the rapid increase in the
blockades and work stoppages in SPDC's oil production activities between 1994
and 1998. In 1994 and 1995, the occurrence was less than 100 annually. This
increased to 150 in 1997 and as many as 325 in1998; although there was a
decline thereafter. Some of these were peaceful invasions while others involved
the use of firearms. For instance, of the 176 incidents in 2000, 18 per cent
involved the use of firearms. Youths from virtually all parts of the oil-producing
areas, have been involved in such incidents which affect not only SPDC, which is
the largest company, but also all others. SPDC (1999 p.13) provides a dramatic
description of one incident thus:
On Wednesday, December 16, 1998, a group of armed youths from
the Isoko National Movement attacked SPDC accommodation
facilities in the Olomoro-Oleh oil field. They killed one of the field
guards who was unarmed and preceded to loot the facilities. They
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
642 Chris Oc Ikporukpo
later issued a letter, "Why We Struck", claiming marginalization of
the Isoko people by the Nigerian government.
The basic reasons for such blockades vary from compensation disputes through
demand for employment to political issues. Essentially, the factors pertain to lack
of political and economic access. Some of the issues, particularly the political
ones, are clearly outside the orbit of oil companies. The setting can, however, be
explained in terms of SPDC's perspective that "in. many Delta communities,
underdevelopment has led the people to perceive SPDC (or any other oil
company) as the only form of "government" they know. In recent years, "this
proximity to host communities has increased SPDC exposure to growing
community discontent with government" (SPDC 1999b, p.7).
1.,.
Fig. 4: Pattern of Blockade ofSPDC Operations
Be these incidents involving firearms as they may, the most celebrated armed
protest has been that of the Niger Delta Volunteer Service led by Isaac Jasper
Adaka Boro, a one-time Students Union President of the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, and a former police officer. On 23rd February 1966, Isaac Boro declared
an area (now the southern parts of Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta States) "The Niger
Delta People's Republic" and proceeded to defend its territorial integrity. The
revolt was meant to end a situation where "petroleum ... is being pumped out
daily from ... (the) veins" of the people of the area (Boro 1982, pp.116-117). It
was to demonstrate to the world at large what and how the people felt about
oppression. In keeping with the basis of the secession, oil pipelines linking the
area to Port Harcourt refinery and to the major flow station were blown up. The
revolt came to be known as "The Twelve-Day Revolution", for, federal forces
quelle~ it within twelve days.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering and Accessiblity 643
The response of government, particularly the Federal Government to the
crisis in the oil-producing areas, has had much more of stick than of carrot. The
Federal Government has over the years attempted to address the developmental
needs and environmental problems. Unfortunately, the attempts through the
Niger Delta Development Board and Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development
Commission dismally failed, due largely to the lack of commitment by
government and corruption (Ikporukpo 1981; 2001). The recently established
Niger Delta Development Commission is another hope; though too early to
assess.
Whereas concrete developmental approaches to the problems of the Niger
Delta have been pursued half-heartedly, programmes of suppression have been
vigorously implemented. The incidents of State repression are too many to
recount. However, Ikporukpo (1996) and Human Rights Watch (1999) discussed
the most significant. In the Umuechem incident of 1990, the police killed 80
unarmed demonstrators and destroyed or badly damaged 495 houses. The
destruction of life and property by the notorious so-called Rivers State Internal
Security Task Force in Ogoniland, the hanging of the Ogoni Nine and the
destruction of Odi in 1999 have been the most spectacular.
Social action programmes by the oil companies have had very limited effect
(Ikporukpo 1993; 1998). Shell Petroleum Development Company (1999, p.7)
summarizes the development situation in the Niger Delta thus:
Despite widespread poverty, decaying social and physical
infrastructure, massive youth unemployment and rising crime, there
is little visible social investment in the area by government or
traditional donors. Poor governance has led to revenue allocation
practices unfavourable to the region and has discouraged donor
investment. Historically, overall support to the Delta appears to
have been less substantial and intensive than in many other - and
more prosperous areas of the South.
Conclusion
How can the crisis in the Niger Delta be resolved? Is it through spatio-political
re-engineering or through spatio-economic reengineering? Let me emphasize that
there need not be any dispute about the fact that whereas political power and
economic power are relatively inaccessible to the people of the Niger Delta,
environmental hazard is so accessible. Nigeria flares much more of its natural gas
than any other producing country. According to the World Bank (1995) in 1991,
Holland did not flare its natural gas at all, U.S.A. 0.6 percent, Britain 4.3, former
US.S.R. 1.5, Mexico 5, Algeria 4, Iran 19, Saudi Arabia 20 and Libya 21. The
figure for Nigeria was 76 per cent. Indeed, where only associated gas is
considered, the Nigerian figure rises to more than 90 per cent. Similarly, between
1982 and 1992,40 per cent of Shell's worldwide spills were in Nigeria although
production here accounted for only about 14 per cent of Shell's total oil
production (Gilbert 1999).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
644 Chris 0. Ikporukpo
The question raised about re-engmeering could be put differently. Is it
resource control or political power control that will effectively address the crisis
in the Niger Delta? In theory, whether the petroleum resources are controlled by
the Federal government or even by the States of the Niger-Benue trough, what is
important is how effectively the resources could be used for the development of
the producing area. In practice, given the nature of the Nigerian State and the
Nigerian nation, who controls is pertinent to development. Obviously, if the
Niger-Benue trough states were to control, the development of the Niger Delta
will be doomed. Nevertheless, resource control cannot be arrogated to the states.
For it to be meaningful, there must be diffusion to the local govertunent and
community levels, but taking into consideration the fact that the other parts of the
country need also to develop. Control at the lower echelons is necessary because
a feeling of stake increases with decreasing levels of governance. For instance,
public funds could be more easily embezzled without repercussions at the federal
or state levels than at the community level. The political .control aspect
particularly through the practice of true federalism is important; for, this is the
most ptacticab 1e channel for enthroning resource control. Various studies, for
instance, Ikporukpo (1996) and Taiwo (2000) have shown that the pattern of
spatio-economic access to petroleum resour.ces in Nigeria is against the basic
tenets offederalism.
There is no justifiable reason why the Niger Delta should continue to be
disadvantaged. Stereotype images of the Niger Delta (Ikporukpo, 2001) need not
be obstacles. A common image is that the Niger Delta cannot be developed
because it is all water. Indeed! Where did the billions of dollars expended on
building a new federal capital city come from? Where did the enormous financial
resources employed to manage the traffic problems of Lagos come from? Where
did the billions of naira expended on dams to make the dry far north wet come
from? Do the Nigerian state and nation lack conscience?
To conclude, I wish to seek refuge in parts of Ken SaroWiwa's immortal last
statement to the special tribunal that paved the way for his "judicial murder":
We all stand before history. I am a man of peace, of ideas. Appalled
by the denigrating poverty of my people who live on a richly
endowed land, distressed by their political marginalization and
economic strangulation, angered by the devastating of their land,
their ultimate heritage, anxious to preserve their right to life and to a
decent living, and determined to usher to this country as a whole a
fair and just democratic system which protects everyone and every
ethnic group and gives us all a valid claim to human civilization, I
have devoted my intellectual and material resources, my very life, to
a cause in which I have total belief and from which I cannot be
blackmailed or intimidated. I have no doubt at all about the ultimate
success of my cause, no matter the trials and tribulations which I
and those who believe with me may encounter on our journey. Nor
imprisonment nor death can stop our ultimate victory. I report that
we all stand before history. I and my colleagues are not the only
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Spatial Engineering and Accessiblity 645
ones on trial. Shell is here on trial. On trial also is the Nigerian
nation, its present rulers and those who assist them. Any nation
which can do to the weak and disadvantaged what the Nigerian
nation has done to the Ogoni, loses a claim to independence and to
freedom from outside influence. I predict that the denouement of the
riddle of the Niger delta will soon come.
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28
ENERGY, EXERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT
AND THE FUTURE
Olayiwola Fagbenle
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Contribution to BQundary Layer Analysis
Ideal fluid of Classical HydrodynQlllics
Classical hydrodynamics, with its humble roots in the Daniel Bernoulli [1]
equation of 1738 and the Leonhard Euler [2] equation of 1755, ordinarily deals
with "ideal or frictionless fluids", that is those media which show only an
insignificant dependence upon fluid internal friction or viscosity over a wide
range of flow parameters. The laws of classical hydrodynamics even in this space
age, still enable the engineer to calculate and study some important properties of
flows, albeit within known limits of their validity. For example, classical
hydrodynamics is unable to explain such real observed phenomena as drag, flow
separation and wake in the flow over a body, as in the cylinder of Figure 1; or the
pressure loss in pipe flow, all of which are direct or indirect manifestation of the
viscosity of the flowing media. Early engineers confronted with this glaring
contradiction simply developed the empirical science of hydraulics, which was
based on a large amount of experimental data.
The problem defied resolution for such a long time partly because air and
water, the two most common and important fluids, possess such small viscosity
that the corresponding viscous force is negligible compared to the other forces
such as gravity (a body force) and pressure forces. Thus its influence on fluid
motion was not expected to be as important as it turned out to be later in the early
zo" century. .
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650 R.O. Fagbenle
Staenat;"" point Separationr
I
a
(a) (10)
Fig. 1. Flow around a circular cylinder; diagrammatic only. (a) Assuming ideal fluid; (b) With
boundary layer, leading to separation, backflow and formation of a wake; flow in wake is
unsteady. From (Laminar Boundary-Layer Theory by Harry L. Evans, Addison-Wesley
Publishing Co. Inc. 1968; P. I).
The Navier-Stokes (N-S) Equations of Real Fluids
That it was known early 'in the 19th century that the viscosity effects needed to be
accounted for is evident from the work of Navier [3] in 1827 and Stokes [4] in
1849 who mathematically formulated the conditions for the equilibrium of forces
in a fluid, i.e. the surface (viscosity) forces, inertial forces, pressure forces and
body forces, the body forces being such forces as centrifugal and buoyancy
forces, among others. The resulting system of second order, nonlinear partial
differential equations known as the Navier-Stokes equations still continues to
present extraordinary mathematical difficulties today, and exact solutions of the
equations have been found for only a few simplified forms of the equations.
Thus, progress on the utility of the N-S equations was retarded for about 50 years
until 1904 when Prandtl [5] proposed some simplifications resulting in what is
now known as the Prandtl Boundary Layer Equations.
Prandtl showed that viscosity, as long as it is small (which we have noted to
be true for many real fluids), or more precisely, for large values of a
dimensionless flow parameter called the Reynolds number, affects the flow only
in a relatively thin "boundary layer" near the surface or the "wall". Within this
boundary layer, the fluid velocity rises from zero at the wall (the no-slip
condition) to virtually the full value of the undisturbed "outer layer" velocity, this
outer layer being the ideal fluid flow problem of classical hydrodynamics.
Boundary-layer has the peculiar property that under certain conditions the
flow adjacent to the wall becomes reversed resulting in separation of the
boundary layer from the solid surface over which the fluid is flowing. This
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 651
separation is generally accompanied by the formation of eddies in the wake of
the body, thereby changing the pressure distribution radically from the ideal fluid
pressure distribution. Such a deviation results in what is termed "form drag"
which can be calculated with the aid of boundary layer theory. The theory also'
enables the determination. of the shape of a body necessary to avoid the
detrimental flow separation. The phenomena of stalling associated with the point
of maximum lift of an airfoil can similarly be understood and satisfactorily
predicted with boundary layer theory, as is the problem of heat transfer between a
surface and the fluid interfacing with it, be it internally or externally. Figure 2
shows an application to vehicle body design. Applications of boundary layer
include the calculation of the skin-friction drag on a body moving through a
fluid, e.g. the drag on: a flat plate at zero incidence; a ship hull; an airplane wing;
aircraft nacelle; gas and steam turbine blades; compressor blades; pump
impellers; as well as geometries such as pipe- and channel-flows, among many
others.
f·.._·····
IN Sf;.Mrlii$;! I
------------ --_. J.__._. l
Fig. 2. Flow about a model of a motor vehicle (Volkswagen delivery van), after E. Moeller.
Angular nose with separated flow along the whole of the side wall and large drag coefficient (C =
O.76);"b) Round nose with no separation and small drag coefficient (CD =0.42). (From Boundary-
Layer Theory by Dr. Hennann Schlichting, McGraw-Hili, 1968; P.35)
The Prandtl Boundary Layer (PBL) Equations
Consequent on the relatively small thickness of this boundary layer (with respect
to any physical dimensions of the problem), some of the mathematically
intractable terms in the N-S equations drop out on account of becoming
negligible compared to the remaining terms in what is termed an order of
magnitude analysis. We then obtain the PBL equations differing from the Euler
equations of motion of ideal fluids by the only one additional term which
accounts for the influence of viscosity.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
652 R.O. Fagbenle
PBL equations have since become the starting point of a special area of
research within hydromechanics which bridges the gap between classical
hydrodynamics and the empirical science of hydraulics. As in the case of the N-S
equations, a general analytical solution of the PBL equations, simplified as it is,
is yet to be found. Nevertheless, "exact" solutions have been found for a few
special cases of practical significance. One of the earliest significant milestones
was the work of Blasius [6], who in 1907, was able to compute the drag force on
a flat surface or plate in laminar boundary layer flow from the solution of the
PBL for a special case of flow with zero pressure gradient. Blasius' calculations
were in excellent agreement with very careful measurements, as Figure 3 shows.
Blasius was among the first to introduce the use of universal functions which
could be tabulated once and for all in the solution of steady, two-dimensional,
laminar, constant-property PBL equations. Blasius' method requires that the
external stream velocities be expressed as polynomials of the stream-wise
distance measured from the front stagnation point, and it was quite effective for
flows over blunt objects. However, for slender or streamlined objects, an
excessive number of terms would be required in the polynomial representation,
and further, the series suffers from slow convergence. For example, even for the
circular cylinder which is npt a slender body, Blasius' solution required six terms
and the velocity polynomial distribution to the power x"! To remedy this
drawback, Gortler [7] devised another series solution in stretched coordinates and
the solution was also expressed in universal functions, but its convergence was
not always superior to that of Blasius. Sparrow [8] employed Gortler's method to
analyze thermal boundary layers and found that considerably more universal
functions were required.
-. °f'-. -T.----~~~I': t I i~~·-(!:-'---"-"",- -0.'- i--I-:~-- '-I''r~
- ...-.-- - ' - __ ._#l i i i ·1
'. .. '-- - - - '--'- +- : --I
-+--+-- -----~-I _._--- :--i--'--- ---1
.. "
I'It·"!!.-!- II:' II jI
-. UJ/J,.lfP -- -!--i-
..... .-t-o --. -.-:~::: ..-L- ----- ._.--
u ---- -- -
J--++--+--t-+-- ..- --- -..---LL -r{'fiL_ .. __ .-. -. _-_~-.: .I--T-"ry--r}r-::----f'o -. -
1D. 2.0 3., •.0 511 $.10 lit! 7.(1
Fig. 3a. Velocity distribution in the laminar boundary layer on a flat plate at zero incidence, as
measured by Nikuradse.
(From Boundary-Layer Theory by Dr. Henumm Schlichting, McGraw-Hili, 1968; P.J32)
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy. Exergy, the Environment and the Future 653
, 0,
I:~.fImIC,'- ., OG ....••. ,..,,-
4DtJS r--~
, . - f"'.l.
'"I I
I.8IJ1
•• I ~"'
I, -
, ~
I -~~
~.
(l.tIfII
-. I -~- ,
UOfJ5 . i -
. 0 Inlnet :sIlih 11-;&/10_#_II:IXJID ""'" rrIt1ch, ",me 1-00'-
IJIr«1 8kIII fmthlf _~ JC - ZiJ.G an
. U!m
•
It , . , , , ." -Mem
~. r !,'w, 1 I-I-!JJJR._ . I I I I t .J2 J .56 ,10$ Z R.1 ..V,_S_f IJ v'
x=-;-
Fig.3b:'Local coefficient of skin friction on a flat plate at zeto inci'dence in incompressible flow,
determined from direct measurement Ofshearing stress by Liepmann and Dhawan '
(From Boundary Layer Theory by Dr. Hermann Schlichting, McGraces-Hill, 1968: p.l33)
Similar Boundary Layers
Blasius' solution for laminar flow along a flat plate (flow without pressure
gradient) turns out to be merely a special case of a class of general solutions
termed "similar flows", and the PBL theory was used to establish the conditions
for the external flow under which the velocity profiles of the laminar boundary
layer are similar to one another at every corresponding point in the flow. Among
the most important contributors to the solution of this problem are Falkner and
Skan [9], Hartree [10], Goldstein [7] and Mangler [12]. Such similar solutions of
the boundary layer equations are possible for the entire region of accelerated and
retarded flows whenever the external velocity is proportional to a power of the
distance from the leading edge of the flow, hence known as the power-law or
"wedge" flows, i.e. U 11 x" where "m" is related to the wedge angle.
Non-similar Boundary'Layers
Although the majority of practical flows are non-similar in general, yet there are
regions of such practical flows that are "locally similar", such as near the forward
stagnation point of blunt bodies, Thus, the considerable early effort spent on
similar flows is very well spent. Substantial effort has also been expended on
methods of analysis of non-similar flows, with considerable variation among the
methods in their level of complexity and the computational labour entailed.
A category of "wedge" methods which provides a rigorous refinement of the
local similarity concept is that of Merk [13], who derived the PBL equations in
transformed coordinates similar to' those' of Gortler and of Meksyn [14].
Universal functions are also used to present the resulting series solutions, and the
method is essentially an extension of Meksyn's procedure.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
!
654 R.O. Fagbenle
Spalding and Pun [15] compared fifteen general methods of non-similar
boundary layer analysis by applying them to the calculation of the heat transfer
over the front portion of a circular cylinder in cross-flow. The results were
compared with experimental data of Schmidt and Wenner [16] and with
Frossling's solution [17] regarded as "exact" for 0 < xID < 0.45. The study rated
a method regarded as "Merk's method" among the top five for its accuracy, even
though it was a series solution method in which the only one term of the series
available at the time of the study was employed. Spalding and Pun cautioned that
the results of their study could not be taken as generally valid. Had another
surface been chosen as, for example, a streamlined body, the performance of
each method might have been different. But, even then, what made the "Merk's
method" perform so well, noting that Merk provided only two terms in the series
and the solution to only the first term which Spalding and Pun employed? This
curiosity led to further detailed studies on this "Merk's method", notably by
Evans [18] and Chao and Fagbenle [19], even though Bush [20] had earlier
investigated the issue.
Based on the several examples in his own studies, Evans concluded rather
unexpectedly that "indeed there is some evidence, but this is not conclusive, that
the use of just one term in the series will generally give better agreement with the
other methods and with experiment than the use of two terms .....". The reason for
such anomaly was given by Chao and Fagbenle [19], who demonstrated that the
second terms of both the series as given by Merk and by Evans were in error for
both the flow and the temperature boundary layers. Even though Bush [20] had
earlier reported the error in Merk's equation in a brief research note which
escaped the attention of both Evans and Chao and Fagbenle, the "corrected"
equation presented by Bush looses the essential feature of the Merk method
whereby rapid calculations of the significant boundary layer quantities are made
possible with the aid of a limited number of universal functions. The correct
equations of the Merk method and their solution in terms of universal functions
were given by Chao and Fagbenle [19]. Figs. 4 and 5 show the velocity
distribution and the skin friction coefficient for flow over an elliptic cylinder
from the modified series of Chao and Fagbenle compared with experimental data,
being one of several applications which they studied.
This then is the essence of the contribution by Chao and Fagbenle, which
continues to be acknowledged upward of twenty years afterwards through
applications and extensions. The first extension was the paper by Fagbenle [21]
presented at the 12thbiennial conference of the West African Science Association
and the 215t Annual Conference of the Science Association of Nigeria, which
held at the University of Ife on July 20-26, 1980. Fagbenle used a two-parameter
series expansion to obtain solutions in terms of universal functions to the
problem of mixed free (natural) and forced convection laminar flows over a two-
dimensional or rotationally symmetrical body. Although the paper was well
received, in all likelihood it did not get any further audience beyond the
conference walls. Indeed, I doubt the proceedings ever came out since the paper
has long disappeared from my Curriculum Vitae!
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy. Exergy, the Environment and the Future 655
L3 r-' -,------:-'.6 ';;;::"""i
I Z - _.1
.1 t t: '1
l,v. -"1
o» ~, .j
~_ef- ·1
:07 t i06 1 'O~ L04t~._::t:l.09,J.J~j
01 -
o _....l.-...L. '
OlZ!.4!~
.:.!:'"'/~!!:..;~-.
2~ f ••
Fig. 4. Comparison of predicted velocity distribution in boundary layers over Schubauer's
elliptical cylinder with experiments, (From Chao and Fagbenle, Int. 1.Heat and Mass Transfer
[19]. P 21:l)
20
05
OL- ~ L ~
f1 oe JoO l6
Fig. S. Skin friction, displacement thickness and momentum thickness of boundary layer
over Schubauer's elliptical cylinder, (From Chao and Fagbenle, Int. 1. Heat atld Mass
Transfer [19], P.234)
Shortly thereafter, I put aside this line of research due to lack of stimulating
environment - computing and library facilities and supportive "boundary layer
research family". Imagine my surprise and joy therefore, at coming across a
series of publications in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
(IJHMT), all acknowledged as applications, extensions or adaptations of the
corrected Merk series of Chao and Fagbenle, while I was on sabbatical leave at
South Bank University, London in 1994! I was particularly struck by the 1991
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
656 RoD. Fagbenle
paper by Cameron et al. [22] titled "Mixed forced and natural convection from
two-dimensional or axisymmetric bodies of arbitrary contour", How I wished
then that I had sent the 1980 Ile-Ife conference paper out for international peer
review in the IJHMT where our own earlier work had 'also appeared. Too late,
Cameron et al. claimed full credit for the work; they published it where it
mattered, IJHMT not Ile-Ife, for such an established field as boundary layer
theory.
Kim et al. [23] in 1983 employed the corrected Merk series of Chao and
Fagbenle for power-law fluids and developed a general computer program for the 0
first three equations of the series. Commenting on their results for the wall
second derivatives of the universal functions required for calculating the drag and
the heat transfer from a body in the flow, they stated as follows "They (i.e. the
first three wall derivatives) are compared with those of Chao and Fagbenle
when n (the power-law exponent) is unity. It is found that the values oft. "(0)
in both analyses agree Up to 11 digits and those of Ji" (0) and Ji" (0) differ by
0.25% at most". In their paper, Cameron et al. [22] developed the corrected Merk
series of Chao and Fagbenle for two parameters, which was then applied to
obtain the solution for the mixed forced and natural convection problem. They
state as follows: "The case AB = 1 corresponds to pure forced convection ,!nd as
such, can be compared to the results of Chao and Fagbenle. For the first erder
equations, the results match for the first four significant figures. Higher order
functions occasionally differ by as much as 10%, but over most of the range for
AJ the difference is 1% or less. For a series which converges rapidly, the
higher order terms are much smaller than the first order term and have little
effect on the overall solution." Meissner et al. [24] in introducing their 1994
paper on mixed convection to power-law fluids wrote as follows: "Chao and
Fagbenle put forth a corrected form of Merk's series and used it to perform a
universal, laminar boundary-layer analysis for forced flow of Newtonian fluids
over isothermal bodies. Since then the Merk-Chao-(Fagbenle) approach has
been used with success for a family of boundary layer solutions. Some of (he
latest applications of the Merk-Chao series solution technique have been
universal boundary-layer analyses of the mixed convection to Newtonian fluids
[22], and the forced pure convection [Ti], and pure natural convection to non-
Newtonian power-law fluids [25].
Perhaps asa tribute to the lasting contribution of the 1974 work of Chao and
Fagbet).le, the 1st International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and
Thermodynamics which held in South Africa on 8-11 April 2002 accepted for
presentation the paper by Fagbenle [26] on "The thermal boundary layer transfer
for non-isothermal surfaces using the modified Merk series of Chao and
F 'agbenle" after a rigorous international peer review. Consequent on this, a
formal invitation was extended to Fagbenle to be a member of the International
Advisory Committee of the 2nd International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid
Mechanics and Thermodynamics to be held at Victoria Falls in 2003, according
to the correspondence, "because of your outstanding contributions to the theme
of this Conference". To God Almighty be all the glory. Amen. 0
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 657
Contribution to Nuclear Reactor Analysis and Safety Research
As a Presidential Research Appointee in the Reactor Analysis and Safety
Division of Argonne National -Laboratory, Illinois, a US Atomic Energy
Commission facility, I had the good fortune to work with top scientists on
coolant fluid- and thermodynamics for the liquid metal-cooled fast breeder
nuclear reactor programme of the laboratory. The amount of that rare fissionable
uranium isotope Um, as a primary energy source in conventional nuclear
reactors, is perhaps more limited than that of any of the other primary finite
energy sources such as coal, oil, or natural gas; it is a veryfinite resource indeed.
Um represents only 0.7% of natural uranium and it is expected to be in short
supply at current utilization rate in a matter of decades. Thus breeder reactors
were developed in which either the more commonly available isotope of
uranium, Um, or alternatively the thorium isotope, Thm, is placed in a reactor
initially fuelled by Um. Under neutron bombardment, Um is converted into
plutonium PUm, or thorium Thm into Um, both of which are fissionable. Thus,
by means of a breeder reactor, in principle, all of the more commonly occurring
natural uranium U238 or thorium Thm can be converted into fissionable nuclear
reactor fuel. The energy released by the fissioning of only one gram of Um or of
Pu239 or of Um is truly enormous, amounting to 8200 MJ, approximately
equivalent to the heat released by burning 2.7mt of bituminous coal or 13.4
barrels of crude oil.
The work by Fagbenle [27], which was a thermodynamic analysis of the two-
phase flow of a boiling liquid metal (Na) coolant and its vapour in a breeder
nuclear reactor - a reactor accident condition - was presented locally at the l"
International Conference on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics held at the
University of Lagos in 1976. The work highlights the conditions under which a
loss of coolant accident could take place in a liquid metal-cooled fast breeder
nuclear reactor, in particular the choking conditions and the critical mass flux,
conditions that needed to be avoided to prevent reactor meltdown. It was
presented at this conference with the hope that such work would interest the
Nigerian government to begin a programme for the peaceful application of
nuclear energy, particularly for power generation. This hope was partly realized a
few years thereafter when both OAU, Ile-Ife and ABU, Zaria began nuclear
research.
Contribution to Solar Energy Research and Development
The above interest in boundary layers is traceable, in part, to the fact that my
undergraduate admission at the University of lllinois was actually for
aeronautical engineering, although after giving its nor too bright future in a
developing country a thought, I changed into mechanical engineering in my "-
second year. Thus, I was under no illusion that the research facilities at my
disposal in the USA would be available on returning to Nigeria, which accounts
for the little resistance to abandoning boundary layer research after the 1980 TIe-
Ife conference. By that time, the global energy situation was real after the first
Middle East oil crisis in 1912 and renewable energy was seen by its apostles as
the long-term solution needed. Along with some others who may be here today, I
took up energy research-in general, but particularly renewable energy research.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
658 R.O. Fagbenle
As with all research efforts at the time as is even now, funding was grossly
inadequate, particularly for large demonstration projects that could impact on
society at large. The miniscule funding at the institutional level and within some /
government Ministries sufficed only to churn out crude students' projects in
which "oil-rich" Nigeria of the time was uninterested. I dare say not much has
changed even now, particularly if one were to take account of the highly
devalued naira over the years.
I therefore embarked on fundamental investigation of the solar energy regime
in Nigeria with a view to providing as much scientific information as possible for
designers of solar energy equipment and systems to be used locally. I believe that
today, together with the effort of other co-workers in this field, there is no basis
for a solar energy equipment designer to moan for design database in Nigeria.
What is lacking is the will - particularly at government policy-making level -
to move forward with the rest of the world on large-scale application of this
infinite energy resource. How infinite? From recent measurements of the solar
constant, the thermal power of the solar radiation intercepted at the edge of the
earth is about 174,000,000 GW, roughly 5,000 times all other steady fluxes of
energy on the earth combined! It is also expected to continue at this rate for
geological periods of time into the future. The origin of this energy is the nuclear
fusion process of hydrogen into helium in the sun's interior, and we have already
noted the enormity of nuclear energy from just one gram of heavy atomic
isotopes. The mass of the sun is approximately 2x1033g or 2x1027tonnes, which is
330,000 times heavier than the earth though only in the middle range of the
stellar masses.
The largest concentrations of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface
occur in desert areas within about 35° of latitude north and south of the equator,
thereby including both the Sahara and the Khalahari desert areas of Africa. From
the measurements of total solar radiation in Ibadan by Fagbenle [31] to be
discussed later, the rainy season solar radiation - minimum of the year -
averaged over 24 hours is 110 W/m2. Assuming a 10% efficient conversion
device such as solar photovoltaic (PV) modules (actual commercial modules of
amorphous solar PV cells are about 15% while crystalline solar PV cells average
18% efficiency or higher), the electrical power available from 1 km2 of collection
area would be 11 MW. For an electrical power plant of 1000 MW capacity, the
collection area required would be about 90 km'. Thus, to generate 4000 MW
current national generation capacity of the National Electricity Power Authority
(NEPA), we would require a collection area of about 360 km", This is a little less
than the area of Ojo Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State (375 km') or
just about the combined area of Ibadan North, Ibadan South West and Ibadan
North East LGAs (355 krrr'). As a fraction of Nigeria's land mass area of about
930,000 km", it is an insignificant 0.04 %, less than half of one-hundredth of one
per cent! And what is more, this area does not have to be virgin land, it could be
achieved from retrofitting roofs and walls of existing buildings in cities with
building-integrated solar PV cladding which could also be grid-connected. We
shall later consider such developments in Europe, America and Japan as well as
the 1998 work of Fagbenle et al. [53] on its potential for Nigeria.
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Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 659
We shall now take a quick look at some highlights of my modest contribution
to solar energy research and development in Nigeria.
In 1979, Fagbenle et al. [28] presented a paper on the-design and operation of
a solar seed-germinator for an oil palm research institute at the 18th International
Conference on Solar Energy in Milan. The idea was to use a solar air heater
(collector) to replace the electrical heaters in the oil-palm seed germinator room,
with all the associated controls activated by solar electricity from a solar
photovoltaic panel. The work generated a lot of interest at the time, with requests
for copies of the paper coming from researchers in many countries through most
of the 1980's. Yet funding problems prevented its completion, particularly on the .
controls side. That was my first baptism in inter-institutional research and its
unique management problems in Nigeria. Some of the lessons learnt were put to
use later in an institutional-government research project.
Sol-air temperature and solar radiation estimation
In ventilation and air-conditioning engineering, the sol-air temperature is defined
as the temperature of the outdoor air which, in the absence of all radiation
exchanges, would give the same rate of heat transfer into a surface as would exist
with the actual combination of incident solar radiation, radiant energy exchange
with the sky and other outdoor surroundings, and convective heat exchange with
the outdoor air. It is therefore a useful quantity in the estimation of energy
exchanges between building surfaces and the surroundings, as in the transient.
analysis and simulation of the cooling load of a large central air-conditioning
system. In 1984, the hourly variation of the sol-air temperature for horizontal
surfaces, such as flat roofs, and for clear days was given by Fagbenle [29] using
meteorological data for Ibadan.
Since solar radiation data is not readily available in all locations in many
developing countries, reasonable estimates must be found from correlations with
other meteorological data such as sunshine hours, relative humidity, cloud cover,
etc. An estimation of the total solar radiation in Nigeria was thus given by
Fagbenle [30], with the aid of meteorological data from the Nigerian
Meteorological Services which has a considerable amount of raw data from its
installations nationwide. Of the two major empirical methods studied, the
Angstrom-type equations were found to give the best estimation. The
climatological constants "a" and "b" are provided for sixteen cities all over the
country to assist estimation of the solar radiation once the relative sunshine is
known at the location. Total solar radiation generally increases with latitude in
Nigeria, the month of August experiencing the least radiation in the year
throughout the country, with its value ranging between 13 and 20 MJ/m2 - day
depending on locality.
Results of a one-year experimental data on total and diffuse solar radiation
were presented by Fagbenle [31] at the I" World Renewable Energy Congress in
Reading, UK in 1990. The work was the outcome of a research funded by the
Federal Ministry of Science and Technology on generating diffuse solar radiation
data for two cities in southern Nigeria. As far as I know, that represented the first
attempt at generating continuous diffuse radiation data in Nigeria for such a long
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
660 R.O.Fagbenle
period. The least-squares linear fit and the maximum-likelihood quadratic fit to
the data are: K, = 0.3798 - 0.1838 K, and K, = 0.524 - 0.793 K, + 0.618 K/,
with a maximum deviation less than 5% from the data. K, is the ratio of the
diffuse to the total solar radiation on a horizontal surface and K, is the ratio of the
total solar radiation to the extraterrestrial solar radiation at the same location.
Before this work, the usual practice worldwide was to use the internationally
acclaimed Liu-Jordan correlation, two of the earliest US solar energy researchers.
The diffuse component in Ibadan however appears to be much lower from our
data than predicted by the Liu-Jordan correlation especially at the low values of
cloudiness index K, encountered in the study.
Arising from this same conference at the University of Reading, Fagbenle
[32] published a conference report on African contributions and challenges in
energy research for the 1990-2000 decade. There was no African contribution to
the Congress in the following areas of renewable energy research: wind turbine
technology, concentrators and solar thermal power generation, hydrogen
technology, wave and tidal energy technology, geothermal energy and mini-
hydro; yet these are vital areas of energy research where the continent has good
endowment of requisite resource. In such areas as photovoltaic technology,
materials science, solar refrigeration and space cooling, solar desalination and
solar cookers, there was much more research activity from Arab Africa than sub-
Saharan Africa. Only in biomass technology did sub-Saharan Africa appear to
have a higher research activity level. Significantly, although Africa contributed
19% of all the papers presented at the conference, there was not a single plenary
speaker from Africa out of the nine plenary speakers. The paper identified areas
of energy research that have been glaringly neglected and underscored their
importance to the continent. The problems and challenges facing African
renewable energy researchers were outlined and the suggested lines of action
given for improved renewable energy research, development and demonstration
programmes on the continent. The paper ended with the following still relevant
caveat to African governments on their support for new and renewable energy
research: "In concluding, perhaps a quote from a recent (1990) editorial of the
New York Times is appropriate to the African situation' ... two-thirds of US
Federal research and development money is devoted to military purposes. If
Washington continues to cling to this old agenda, the US will fall behind on
research on new energy technologies that will generate riches as fossil fuels are
replaced in coming decades. If the US loses its market share of new energy
technologies, it will end up importing them as it now imports oil with the same
implications for its political and economic strength ..... "
Professor Sayigh of the University of Reading, UK and Chairman of the
World Renewable Energy Congress and an editorial board member of the
Nigerian Journal of Renewable Energy (NJRE) wrote as follows to the editor of
the journal: "It (the NJRE) has an excellent article by Mr. Fagbenle about our
Congress and the African contributions. Please thank Mr. Fagbenle on my behalf
for such an excellent report. "
On prospects and problems of applying solar energy in transport technology
in the 1990's, Fagbenle [33] in 1991 suggested the use of solar photovoltaic cell
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRA
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Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 661
(PV) cladding on vehicles, particularly long-axle articulated trucks and transport
trucks. The solar PV cells would provide all the electrical needs of the vehicles,
including its electric drive systems and its refrigeration system for refrigerated
trucks. By 2000, solar PV clad trucks have been in operation in parts of Europe,
as suggested in that paper. This is a lesson to younger academicsto take the twin
issues of patents and intellectual property rights (IPR) very seriously while
developing their academic career. ._
Non-tracking solar collectors normally have to be oriented towards the
equator and titled at some angle to the horizontal in order to maximize the total
solar radiation collected, textbook recommendations generally' giving the tilt
angle as the (latitude <p ± 15°). Fagbenle [34] in 1991 analyzed the radiation from
sixteen Nigerian cities and found that the optimum tilt angle is generally (latitude
<p + 5° to 10°), and the average yearly solar energy, Eav,yrin kWhlm2 , incident on
the collector so tilted can be estimated from the following logarithmic functions,
depending on the latitude <p of the location:
In Eav,yr = 7.405,
In Eav,yr = 0.35 <p + 4.29, 7° < <p ~ lOON
These equations suffice to carry out a preliminary design of a solar energy
system designed for optimal energy collection.
The cloudiness index, K, is the ratio of the total solar radiation to the
extraterrestrial solar radiation at the same location, and it is an important design
parameter for solas- systems. To assist solar equipment design engineers,
Fagbenle [35] provided a table of recommended average day and the associated
monthly-averaged daily extraterrestrial radiation for fifteen Nigerian cities and
for each month of the year. The choice of the average day lay between (i) the
Julian day represented by a specific day for each month of the Julian calendar,
(ii) the mid-month as represented by the 16th day of the month, and (iii) the day
in the month with the least deviation from the monthly-averaged extraterrestrial
radiation. Most of the earlier work was done in temperate climates of the
northern latitudes where the Julian day was recommended average day for each
month. The study for the 'lower: latitudes of Nigeria recommended a mix of the
three possibilities and provided copious design tables for each of the 15 cities.
Stochastic models and synthetic radiation sequences
A serious drawback to the exclusive use of historical data in design, planning and
analysis of solar energy systems is that a particular sequence of observations does
not occur in an identical form over a future period. Stochastic models are
therefore used to produce computer-generated likely or synthetic sequences of
future events such as solar radiation sequences. The objectives of stochastic
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
662 R.D. Fagbenle
analysis of a time series could be descriptive, predictive or eontrol. A useful
application of such stochastic analysis is when a limited set of solar radiation
measurements is available in a particular location where it is desired to install a
solar energy system such as solar water- or solar air- heaters whose time
constants are of the order of only a few hours at most. Stochastic models can
prove quite useful in long-term performance analysis of solar systems and in
forecasting both short- and long-range sequences from limited data.
In their stochastic study of 2,182 sequential hourly global solar radiation at
Ibadan, Fagben1e et al. [36] found out that the solar radiation does indeed have
some memory with a one-hour lag autocorrelation coefficient R(l) = 0.4 for K,
The relatively fast. decrease in the autocorrelation coefficient with lag hours also
indicates small memory and hence relatively high variability in the sequences.
Much higher coefficients would be expected for the northern areas of the
country. An analysis of the synthetic sequences generated from the Markov
transition matrix of the KT sequences compared satisfactorily with the original
data.
Using the detrendized average daily solar radiation sequences for 17 years
(1973-1989) from the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA),
Fagbenle and Ighodalo [37] also generated synthetic rqdiation sequences which
were found to sufficiently characterize the actual sequence regarding trend,
variance, and internal characteristic structure. Contrary to the hourly radiation
sequences, the autocorrelation coefficient of the daily sequences was found to
decrease relatively slowly with time, indicating that the daily insolation at Ibadan
has fairly good memory with insolation on a given day being related to that on
distant days apart.
Solllr rllllilllion co"ellllionsllnd c/JllrIs
Solar radiation has for long been successfully correlated with sunshine hours, as
in Fagbenle [38] where the 10-year (1979-1988) monthly average insolation in
Ibadan was correlated with the average relative sunshine ( s/SJ by the equation:
HfRo =0.281+O.490(S/So) - 0.188 (S/SJ1
with a coefficient of multiple correlation rJ,23= 0.76. Similar studies for diffuse
radiation include Fagbenle [39, 40] and Fagbenle and Karayiannis [41].
In the measurement of sunshine duration developing countries however
generally suffer from instrumentation problems in regard to the most often used
Campbell-Stokes type heliographs or the Foster sunshine switch or the normal
incidence pyrheliometer. The Campbell-Stokes recorder .charts have to be
changed daily, implying the ready availability of spare charts and the personnel
to effect the change daily at sunset. Besides, instrument errors of up to 15% have
been found by Benson et al. [42]. Thus, correlation of solar radiation with other
meteorological parameters have been sought by several investigators, as with
precipitation,rainfall, relative humidity, temperature, cloud cover and cloud
amount, among others. Stigter [43] in a study of cloudiness in Tanzania
concludes that point cloudiness observations yield only about 4% error in
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 663
radiation estimation, with such visual observations being done twice daily by
trained personnel. For developing countries, particularly in remote locations, it
therefore appears attractive to estimate sunshine from cloud observations as long
as trained observers are available. Fagbenle [44] studied the Department of
Meteorological Services' cloud data on 16 Nigerian cities and provided the
coefficients of the cubic regression equations for each city. An area-wise
regression for the country also yielded the following useful equations:
(1 - nIN) = 0.344C - 0.0925C2 + 0.00827C3 , for latitude < 9°N, and
(1 - nIN) = 0.222C - 0.0649C2• + 0.00643C3, for latitude> 9°N.
where nIN is the relative sunshine and C is the cloud amount in oktas. Thus, with
availability of reliable cloud data, sunshine duration can be obtained from this
work for any part of the country.
In an effort to provide a quick design guide for solar systems designers,
Fagbenle [45] employed all the known correlations on total solar radiation in
Nigeria to produce twelve isoline charts, one for each month of the year. Thus,
through the charts, it is possible to rapidly estimate the expected average
radiation at any site in the country and for an average day of any month of the
year. •
Harmonic or Fourier Series Analysis of solar radiation.
The use of harmonic or Fourier series analysis to study solar irradiation has
several advantages. Firstly, the solar irradiation data itself is in a time series form
ab initio, making it immediately amenable to the method. Secondly, it enables
data consolidation, reducing digital data by orders of thousands without
significant loss of information content on the observed phenomena. It also allows
the possibility of data rehabilitation, whereby incomplete data sets may be
selectively filtered for noise to obtain relatively clean signals. Finally, the
harmonics and their phases contain detailed information which give insight into
its spatial and temporal distribution patterns. The Fourier series tool had been
applied in hydrology and water resources for much longer, Thomann [46] for
example. The earliest applications to solar climatology were in 1983 by Balling
[47] and by Baldasano et al. [48], both dealing, not unexpectedly, with data from
USA and Europe. Applications to data from the tropics was lacking, particularly
to confirm or otherwise, the various findings from the temperate northern latitude
solar harmonics. Thus, in a harmonic analysis of a lO-year dataset for Ibadan
(1980-1989 lITA daily global solar radiation data), Fagbenle [49] found out that
the first harmonic was not a dominant factor as was the case in the northern
latitudes of Europe and the USA The values for Nigeria in seven out of the ten
years is about 30%, the other years yielding 13%, 60% and 70%. Balling [47]
found a remarkable coherent spatial pattern with values ranging between 92 and
99.9% for the 221 US stations studied. Similar results were given for Spain by
Baldasano [48] and Herrero [50]. Thus it appears that the relative importance and
dominance of the first harmonic diminishes near the equator. Nevertheless,
global solar irradiation estimates from the parameters of the first harmonic given
in the work by Fagbenle are accurate to within 10% of the data for any year.
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664 R.O. Fagbenle
Fagbenle and Karayiannis [51] also carried out a harmonic analysis of the
solar radiation data from 28 stations of the Department of Meteorological
Services, providing the pertinent amplitudes, phase angles, and harmonic angles
at each station. The study revealed that the first harmonic is only marginally
more dominant than the second one and that between them both, they account for
over 80% of the variance at most stations.
In the design, simulation and testing of solar energy systems, considerable
use is made of computer programs and design packages which have the Test
Reference Year (TRY) as a key input. Fagbenle [52] generated a TRY for Ibadan
from a lO-year global solar radiation UTA data set using the selection method of
Finkelstein-Schafer statistics. The representative year was thus identified for each
month and the corresponding solar radiation tabulated in a ready-to-use form in
the relevant solar design packages.
Solar PV-clad buildings and electrical power generation
Within the past decade or so, solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity has been
undergoing pioneering applications particularly in Europe, where roofs and walls
of both public and private buildings are being clad with solar cells and the
balance of electricity generated is connected to the national grid. Perhaps the best
known is Germany's 100,000 Roofs National Programme (revised in 2000)
whereby generous subsidies are given to homeowners to purchase solar PV roof
cladding interconnected to the national grid. Similar programmes are the 1995/96
(revised 1998) Japanese Solar 1.2 to 1.4 million Roofs Programme and the US 1
million Solar Roofs Programme of the early 1990's. On its own, the Sacramento
Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in California has over 8 MW of grid-
connected solar PV clad roofs on residential and commercial rooftops, car
parking lots, church and school rooftops, and stand-alone solar PV substations.
Fagbenle et al. [53] undertook a study of the potential of PV-clad residential
and commercial buildings in Nigeria and came out with some startling findings.
The study found that some selected solar PV-clad buildings in Ibadan and Lagos
alone could easily have met the 1997 total national installed and generating
capacity of about 6GW and 15 TWh respectively. Gross estimates for PV-clad
buildings in 5 to 10 largest cities give a range of 7.5 to 15 GW for the installed
capacity and 35. to 75 TWh for the generating capacity, enough to meet the
projected national installed and generating capacity for the year 2020, Fagbenle
et al. [60]. The pricing structure for electricity however is stacked up against
such new technologies, particularly in developing countries. It was found that
PV-clad electricity from buildings would cost about 83 times more than the then
(1997) electricity price. But then conventional electricity generation does not pay
for the damage to the human and environmental health - the so-called
externalities - it inevitably causes through fossil fuels combustion.
There are other contributions of note in solar energy research and
development which space and time will not permit us to consider in this lecture
include the use of salt gradient solar pond for power generation (Fagbenle [54]).
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Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 665
Contribution to Wind Energy Research
Wind energy is a renewable energy of great importance to many countries in
Europe, the Americas and Asia, contributing significantly to economic activity
traditionally in milling and water pumping and lately in decentralized and grid-
connected electrical power generation. According to Renewable World Review
Issue for 2000-2001, by 2000, nearly 14 GW of wind power capacity was
installed worldwide with the global wind turbine market worth US$ 4 billion at
end of 1999. The cumulative installed wind power capacity by 2000 in various
countries were as follows: 5600 MW in Germany; 3400 MW in Spain; 2800 MW
in the US; 2100 MW in Denmark; 400 MW in Britain; and 260 MW in China.
Africa had no significant wind power generation even as Japan and several Asian
countries made some progress towards wind power generation. Considerable
effort is now being devoted to off-shore wind farms to complement the coastal
and on-shore wind farms that constitute the bulk of the generation noted above.
The use of wind machines in Nigeria dates back to the last stages of colonial
administration in the 1950's when multi-blade windmills were installed in
selected villages of the then northern region. Invariably, these windmills were
directly coupled to reciprocating pumps by long shafts and used to pump potable
water from deep wells for the villages and their environs. Propeller-type two-or
three-bladed wind ndbines were also being used for electricity generation in the '
tin mines of the Jos area of Plateau State. That the colonial powers did not site
any wind machines outside of the north suggests that the wind energy resource of
the southern Nigeria was relatively small. Thus, there was a need to undertake a
systematic study of the wind energy potentials of Nigeria in order that this
resource can be optimally used.
Of the considerable excellent work on the weather in Nigeria by the
Meteorological Services Department, that of Adejokun [55] provides a firm base
for the understanding of the Nigerian weather system. In one of the earliest
studies of the wind power potentials of Nigeria, Fagbenle et al. [56] found that a
modal class speed of about 3 mls characterized the 1951-1960 wind data from
twelve meteorological stations, and that the Weibull power density could be
estimated by a third degree polynomial of the mean wind speed:
PIA (W/m2) = - 47.8 + 74.2 Y - 34.5 v' + 5.1 y3
Other previous studies include those of Ojosu and Salawu [57] who studied
the wind data from 22 stations for the period 1951-1975 and of Adekoya and
Adewale [58] whose studies of the wind data from 30 stations covered various
periods ranging from 8 to 22 years. The mean wind speeds found in these studies
have been found to be consistent with those of Fagbenle et al. [56].
Fagbenle and Karayiannis [59] in 1994 made a detailed study of the 1979-
1988 wind data of the Meteorological Services Department which included (i)
the hourly surface wind data for 18 stations, (ii) highest gusts data for 13 stations,
and (iii) upper winds data at 1200 hours for two stations, at elevations 610m,
1220m, and 2440m. It should be noted that these stations are usually airport or
aerodrome stations established primarily to aid air navigation. Instrument height
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666 R.O. Fagbenle
at the stations is not standardized - about a third have 5m anemometer height
while the rest have 10m heights. Only Lagos had a 15m height anemometer. A
deliberate program to map the wind regime in the country would ideally locate
the data sites rather differently, as well as the anemometer heights. For example,
the data sites would be located at the windiest sites across the nation and data at
10m, 25m and 50m would be standard at each site.
Fagbenle and Karayiannis also gave the Weibull parameters c and k as well
as the power densities for each of the 18 stations of the study. The wind speed is
distributed as the Weibull distribution function if its probability density function
f(V) fits the equation:
f(V) = (k/C)(V/C)k-iexp[-(V/c)k]
The mean wind speed V rn and the average power density PIA are respectively
given by:
Vm = CG (1 + 11k),and PIA = 1/2(I-F 3o) P c G (1 + 31k)
where G is the gamma function, F0 is the probability of observing zero wind
speed at the location and p is the wind density,
Generally, the mean wind speed increases with latitude across the country,
although the lowest mean wind speeds occur at the mid-latitude station of Bida
with a mere 1.3 mls. Power densities vary over a wide range, from 29.1 W/m2 at
Sokoto to 0.76 W/m2 at Bida. Sokoto was found to have a good possibility of24-
hour useful energy extraction from the winds whose mean speed rarely fall below
3m1s and which exhibits less than 10% calms throughout the day.
Gusts of 20 to 50 mls occur annually, usually accompanying the first few
rains of the year. Adequate designs must therefore be made for the structures of
wind power machines - windmills and wind turbines - to withstand these
gusts_
An upper winds analysis of Maiduguri showed a power law fit of the mean
speed - height variation, with exponent n ranging from 0.08 to 0.15.
Incidentally, this is a boundary layer type velocity distribution with the no-slip
condition at the surface of the earth! !!
The study recommended a deliberate and well-coordinated wind energy
resource mapping programme for Nigeria at 10m, 25m, 50m and at both wind
turbine hub-height and upper winds, with particular emphasis on the following
possible wind farm sites:
(i) Adamawa and Bamenda highlands in Adamawa and Taraba states;
(ii) Biu plateau and the Mandara mountain areas of the northeast;
(iii) Flatlands of Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Oyo states;
(iv) Mountain ranges of the southwest merging into Kwara through Osun
State;
(v) Coastal and offshore sites of the Atlantic coastline
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 667
Contribution to National and Regional Energy Policy Development
and Implementation
National Energy Issues
In a 1997 case study of Nigeria's power sector, Fagbenle et al. [60] in a paper in
the International Journal of Global Energy Issues projected that the electricity
demand of 5.881 GW (installed) and 14.79 TWh (generating) would double by
the year 2020. The technically and economically feasible hydro potential of
Nigeria is about 9.85 GW installed capacity and 45 TWh generating capacity,
about a third of which has already been developed. Thus continued development
of all the remaining hydro resources would just be barely sufficient to meet the
2020 demand.
Although the petroleum resources are able to meet this projected demand,
there are serious financial and environmental constraints associated with their
use. Petroleum resources are part of the conventional, exhaustible, finite fossil
energy resources that any nation so endowed has the onerous responsibility to
plan carefully to optimize its benefits to its people and their future generations as
well as the environment.
The energy sector has been characterized by the World Energy Commission
as a large consumer of national resources which demands large expenditures,
skilled manpower and steady foreign exchange outflows [6.1]. It could not be any
more true than in Nigeria, where in 2001 alone, US$446.9 million appropriation
to NEPA to ensure steady electricity nationwide by December 2001 failed to
produce the expected change.
Even with the LNG exports, Nigeria still has about 22 billion cubic meters of
natural gas proven reserves remaining. This much gas could provide
approximately 230 TWh electricity annually, dwarfing the 30 TWh projected
demand for the year 2020. Translating this much resource into the needed
product implies long-range planning, dedication, commitment, fiscal discipline,
well-trained personnel, and a lot of foreign exchange. In particular, attention
needs be paid to downstream chemicals industry that could supply value-added
input to the upstream oil and natural gas which now is mostly exported and the
balance used internally as fuel energy. There is need to develop our capacity in
production and utilization of LPG and CNG in the domestic and transportation
sectors. The deadline on flaring should be strictly observed; it is only wise to
leave the resource untapped until industry finds it economic to invest in any of
the well-known gas recovery technologies.
A case was also made in the work for two nuclear power plants each of 1000
MW capacity to take care of half of the additional 15 TWh that would be
required in 2020, while gas/oil fired stations could provide the remaining 7.5
TWh. On the African continent, only South Africa has nuclear power stations,
with its two units of 11.76 TWh generating capacity and 1.842 GW installed
capacity. It is noted that about 30% of the world's uranium oxide reserves are in
Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Niger, Gabon, Central Africa Republic, Algeria
and Zaire). Africa ought to benefit more from nuclear technology than just the
economic gains from nuclear fuel export with no value-added.
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668 R.D. Fagbenle
Energy efficiency and conservation (Demand Side Management), energy-
conscious building design, solar passive and active building systems, all have
their place in limiting or reducing the energy demand. Indeed, about 30% of the
energy generated by NEPA was unaccounted for through its billing system in the
study of 1980-1996 generation by Fagbenle et al. [60] and count as losses.
Measures to reduce inefficiencies in electrical energy production, transmission,
and distribution in Nigeria, coupled with reduction in end-use inefficiencies
could reduce the projected 30 TWh demand in 2020 by 30% to 50%. Equipment
and appliance energy efficiency rating now exists in many European and
American countries, stimulating equipment manufacturers to strive for more
energy-efficient products. The down side of course is that the old energy-
guzzling equipment will eventually find their way to the developing countries
most of which are mere consumers, unless they have knowledgeable law makers
and public administrators. Public education and awareness training are essential
for a successful demand side management programme. A look at Nigeria's
current market in "Tokunbo" electrical appliances and vehicles is enough
confirmation of the worst of my fears for developing countries!
Other measures include the mandatory use of solar water heaters for all
institutional and commercia! (hotels, hospitals, etc.) sectors, and industrial
processes requiring less than boiling temperature water, and the encouragement
of the domestic sector to install solar water heaters if water heaters are needed.
Large central solar PV systems are suggested to assist in meeting peak load
demand which generally coincide with maximum solar radiation period, typically
1200 - 1500 hours. With such design in mind, the capital outlay on storage will
be minimal and the overall cost reduced accordingly. Building integrated solar
photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected systems are also now advocated in the light of
recent developments worldwide. It is to be noted that from environmental
considerations, hydro, solar PV, and the other renewables are much preferred
means of generating electrical energy but the conventional fossil (oil-, gas-, or
coal) - fuelled thermal power stations have tradition, the industry might and
muscle, and economics of scale in their favour. For example, within the last
decade and on a per kilowatt (electrical) installed basis, fossil-fuel plants burning
natural gas have the least installed cost at $200-300, followed by oil-burning
plants at $250-350, coal-burning plants also at $250-350, nuclear plants at $300-
1200, while solar PV costs are in the range $400-70,000 (Fagbenle et al. [60]), a
reflection of the absence of externalities in the cost structure of fossil-fuelled
power plants.
The above notwithstanding, the average annual world market for solar
photovoltaics (PV) over the past five years is about 200MW per year, and it is a
rapidly growing market. Renewable Energy World Review Issue 2000-2001
forecasts 650 MW for 2005 and 1700 MW in 2010 for solar PV. The
corresponding dollar value of this world solar PV at a conservative 8 US$/Watt,
(from Fagbenle [62]) is about US$ 1.6 billion annually over the past five years.
The trend and forecast in grid-connected residential/commercial solar PV
worldwide was also given (in MW installed capacity) as:
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Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 669
Year 1990 1993 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2005 2010
MW 1 2 7 27 36 60 110 300 800
The estimated market value of this grid-connected solar PV trade is about
US$1 billion annually. Can Nigeria truly afford to be shut out of this market with
all the energy and environmental benefit clearly seen by the rest of the world
except Nigeria? Is the President of Nigeria aware of the huge renewable energy
deployment in Europe, America, Japan, Asia, and even in oil-soaked Arab and
gulf states over the past decade? It is a matter for regret that Nigeria which sorely
needs solar PV and other renewables in both decentralized and grid-connected
system modes is, as usual, the ever sleeping giant, only to awake someday when
everyone else has acquired and got used to later generations of the technology, a
la Nigeria's first generation GSM and the internet!!!
On liberalization and privatization, Fagbenle et al. [60] argued for a break up
of NEP A into three autonomous organizations - one each for generation,
transmission and distribution, respectively. Liberalization and privatization could
then proceed in the distribution and marketing sub-sectors, while for security
reasons, generation and transmission would have to remain largely state-
controlled for quite some time. The first step towards the liberalization stage is
full commercialization. NEPA must be made to run as a successful commercial
organization making profits and paying dividends to stakeholders (government in
this case).
The on-going "subsidy" dispute between the Federal government, NEPA and
the Lagos State government over the 270 MW Independent Power Project (IPP)
at Egbin is a lesson to us all. That gas turbine cycles, on their own without
combined cycles, are highly unlikely to be viable base-load power stations has
been taught to all my thermodynamics students from the 1970's. They are very
efficient topping cycles, and when planned into an effective maximum demand
tariff structure that has in-built peak-load control mechanisms could be an
attractive economic solution. The whole structure of IPP's and EPP's
(Emergency Power Projects) needs to be undertaken within a reviewed and
holistic National Energy Policy as will be discussed later.
Sub-regional and regional energy issues
As the first Director of Energy Affairs in the Republic of Botswana and later the
Energy Advisor to the government, I was opportuned to make some contributions
to the development of the energy sector not only of Botswana, but also of the
Southern Mica sub-region (SADC) and of the Africa region. Through
membership of several high-level regional committees, as Director of Energy
Affairs, I had the good fortune to be called upon to contribute meaningfully to
the development of the SADC energy sector. The SADC regional energy
regulatory reform process had its maiden meeting in March 2000 in Botswana at
which I was invited to present the welcome address outlining the issues of energy
sector regulatory reform worldwide, and the subsequent approval by the SADC
Energy Ministers Meeting of the Regional Energy Regulatory Association
(RERA) in Luanda, Angola in June 2000 had notable input from the Botswana
delegation.
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670 R.O Fagbenle
The Director of Energy Affairs has the responsibility for the overall
management of the nation's four major national energy programmes, viz.: the
National Photovoltaic Rural Electrification Programme (US$lm), the National
Rural Power Supplies Programme (US$32.2m), the 70 Villages Accelerated
Rural Electrification Project (US$48m) and the National Coal Development
Programme (US$3.6m). The Energy Affairs Division itself has an average annual
development budget of about US$6.lm and an average annual recurrent budget
of about US$5.4m in a nation of only 1.5 million people! The Botswana Power
Corporation (BPC), internationally ranked alongside South Africa's Eskom as the
two most efficient power utilities in Africa, reports through the Director of
Energy Affairs to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Minerals, Energy
and Water Affairs. The following projects were developed during my term as
Director and prepared in co-operation with other agencies:
1. Global Environmental Facility (GEF-UNDP) Proposal identifying and
overcoming barriers to widespread adoption of photovoltaic
electrification in Botswana. PDF Request: US$245,OOOwas approved
by the GEF early in 2001. Project was developed in cooperation with
the Botswana Technology Centre (BOTEC) and the Rural Industries
Innovation Centre (RIIC) of Botswana.
2. Wind Energy Resource Mapping in Botswana Proposal to the British
Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In co-operation with the AEA
Technology Environment, Harwell, UK, BoTeC and RIle. FCO
Contribution UK £82,000; First Phase Report approved and Second
Phase Funding approved in July 2000.
3. Developing Energy Efficiency and Conservation Standards for the
Building Sector in Botswana - Project approved for funding by
DANCED to the tune ofPula2.0m (approx. US$400,000), in September
2000.
4. The Development of an education and training needs analysis tool for
projects within the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto
Protocol- Proposal submitted to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth
Office for funding to the tune UK £58,900 by the Centre for Energy
Studies of South Bank University in cooperation with the Energy
Affairs Division of the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs,
Gaborone, Botswana. Status of linkage severed at end of my term.
5. Economic and Environmental Benefits of Energy Efficiency and
Conservation at the Bamangwato Concession Ltd. (BCL) Copper Mines
- Project funded by the African Energy .Policy Research Network
(AFREPREN), Nairobi, Kenya. Final Report submitted and accepted in
June, 2000. A PDF-B GEF Project Proposal arising from the study
report was submitted to the UNDP in May 2000.
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Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 671
6. Coal beneficiation plant cooperation agreement discussions and
negotiations with the Chinese government through the Chinese Embassy
in Gaborone, Botswana. By May 2001, indications were that the
Chinese government had agreed to set up a coal beneficiation plant in
. Botswana to the tune of about US$2.5m within the anticipated
agreement.
7. Initiation and concluding a co-operation agreement on energy between
the United States Department of Energy and the Botswana Ministry of
Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs, an agreement signed by the US
Secretary of Energy and the Botswana Minister of Minerals, Energy and
Water Affairs in Durban, South Africa in December 2000.
Exergy and the Environment
The use of energy, particularly conventional fossil energy resources especially in
the industrialized nations has continually grown since the industrial revolution
age. Developing countries have also witnessed relatively substantial growth in
their own conventional energy resource use over the past thirty to fifty years of
their nationhood. Nigeria, for example, has witnessed an increase in its electricity
generating capacity from under 2 TWh to about 15 TWh in the thirty year period
of 1970-2000, only about a third of which is from renewable hydro resources,
Fagbenle et al. [60]. Thus two-thirds of this generation is from the finite,
exhaustible primary or conventional fossil resources - mainly petroleum and
natural gas. Similar large increases in the use of primary energy resources are
found in the domestic, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors.
These conventional or primary natural energy resources of the world have
taken several centuries to form in the earth's crust, and we all know the expected
result of a spending rate that is greater than wealth accumulation rate. In the case
of fossil energy use, the result is even more serious than going bust: the natural
environment and its habitat are left worsened by the associated land degradation,
environmental pollution; human, animal and fauna health effects; global warming
effects, etc. - the so-called externalities.
The technical fix solution aims at identifying and focusing on the more
important energy resource conversion processes and technologies that can
produce the optimum resource use for the desired effect. Thus, we resort to the
science of thermodynamics and particularly its first and second laws to study the
use of energy resources in such processes in terms of first- and second-law
efficiencies. It is in the use of the second law efficiency that the word exergy has
been coined. Through the exergy analysis of sectoral energy resource use, aspects
of processes and systems where more efficient technologies can produce large
improvements are readily identified as in Reistad [63]. The first law of
thermodynamics is basically an energy accounting law, which observes the
principle of energy conservation. Thus the energy contained in all the input
streams to a process or system must be accounted for somewhere in the output
streams or accumulated within the system in which the process takes place, there
is no room for any ghost or missing energies. The second law of thermo-
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672 R.o. Fagbenle
dynamics, on the other hand, evaluates the inherent capability of energy and
matter streams to cause change, that is the quality of energy or matter streams
and it affirms that the quality of such streams is degraded or even destroyed due
to irreversibilities in practical processes. It is conserved only in ideal reversible
processes. As an example, Fagbenle and Karayiannis [65] have developed useful
thermodynamic expressions to evaluate the exergetic efficiency of a solar
absorption refrigeration regenerator.
To get an idea of irreversible and reversible processes, consider the electric
heater - the electric coil or kettle or bathroom geyser. Now the heater coil
element is at temperatures of the order of several hundred degrees or even a
couple of thousand degrees and yet the desired water temperature is only about
80°C for tea or coffee brewing and 30°C for bathing. Transferring heat across
large temperature differences is an irreversible process whose inefficiency can
only be uncovered with the second law exergy efficiency analysis, yielding an
exergy efficiencyof e < 10%. The first law would give a false picture of an
efficient heater at about II == 60 - 70% efficiency. In this example very high
quality electric energy is being used wastefully, degraded so to speak, in low-heat
applications. Heat can be transferred reversibly only across an infinitesimally
small temperature difference, .Iike stairway steps, until we get to the desired end
point.
Table 1 below indicates the first and second law efficiencies for several
processes (from Rosen and Dincer [65]). It is noticed that the exergy efficiencies
in the table are lower than the corresponding energy efficiencies, a result of the
irreversibilities of the process destroying some of the input exergy to the process.
Table 1
Comparison of energy (first law) efficiency and exergy (second law)
efficiency for selected processes. (from Rosen and Dincer [65]).
Efficiencv. %
Process I'Law 2na Law
Residential heater (fuel) 60 9
Domestic water heater (fuel) 40 2-3
High-pressure steam boiler . - i}() : 50
Tobacco dryer (fuel) . AO 4
Coal gasification (high heat) 55 46
Petroleum refining -90, 10
Steam-heated reboiler -1M 40
Blast furnace 76 46
The energy utilization efficiency of a country can be studied using exergy
analysis in order to achieve energy and hence financial savings. After its
pioneering application by Reistad in 1975 to the US, several other countries have
been similarly studied, e.g. for Canada by Rosen [66], for Finland, Japan and
Sweden by Wall [67], and for Turkey by Rosen and Dincer [65] as earlier noted.
Such studies of the major sectors of the Nigerian economy constitute part of the
directions my current energy research.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 673
Another direction of my current energy research, not too deviational, is the
externalization of the environmental and social effects of energy utilization. This
highly multidisciplinary research area came to prominence with the important
work of Hohmeyer [68] in 1988 and his later publications [69-71]. The effects of
interest are wide and cover such areas as economic, health, emissions to the air of
NOx, SOx, CO, particulates, etc. and their impact on human and animal health,
flora, fauna, buildings; emission of greenhouse gases CO2, N20, CFCs, methane
CH4, tropospheric ozone 03, and water vapour H20, all of which impede the
transmission oflong wavelength radiation away from the earth; etc.
An aspect of the energy-exergy-environment interrelationships was
considered by Fagbenle et aJ. [72] in their study of the technical implications for
developing countries of the 1987 Montreal Protocol which restricted the
production and consumption of chlorinated and brominated substances - the
ozone-depleting substances - such as the fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) and the halon compounds. The study, published in the International
Journal of Environment and Pollution, advocated the introduction of, and
education on, appliance efficiency indexing in developing countries in step with
the developed countries, otherwise inefficient and discarded domestic and
commercial appliances from the developed countries will be dumped in the
developing countries, worsening their energy and environment problems. This
warning has largely gone unheeded.
Energy and the Future
In the abstract to a 1975 paper on a survey of world energy resources, that great
research geophysicist, M. King Hubbert [73] succinctly focused the world's
attention to the exhaustibility time frame of fossil fuels - principally coal, crude
oil and natural gas thus: "The present large-scale use of energy and power by
human species represents a unique event in the billions of years of geologic
history. Furthermore, in magnitude, most of the development has occurred
during the present century. In the Unites States, the peak in the rate of petroleum
production occurred in 1970 and that for natural gas is imminent. The peak in
the world production of crude oil is expected to occur at about the year 2000 and
that for coal production at about 2150 or 2200. For other sources of energy and
power, waterpower, geothermal power and tidal power are inadequate to replace
power from fossil fuels. Nuclear power, based on the breeder reactor and
utilizing low-grade deposits of uranium and thorium, has a larger potential than
the fossil fuels, but it also constitutes a large perpetual hazard The largest source
of energy available to the earth is solar radiation. This source has a life-
expectancy of a geologic time scale, is non-polluting and is larger in magnitude
than any likely requirements by the human species .... "
Hubbert's assertion came from an application of the fundamental principle of
exploitation of any exhaustible resource, namely that its exploitation rate must
begin at zero, undergo a period of more or less continuous increase, reach a
culmination or peak, and then decline, eventually to a zero rate of production, as
shown in figure 6 below. On a cumulative production curve, this would be the
logistic distribution. Thus, if from geological or other data the producible
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
674 R.o. Fagbenle
magnitude of the resource initially present can be estimated, then, any curve
drawn to represent the complete cycle of production must be consistent with that
estimate. This implies that the area under the curve must equal the estimated
magnitude of that resource. The principle therefore affords a powerful method to
estimate the time scale for the complete production cycle of an exhaustible
resource in any given region or for the whole world. In the case of the world
estimates, Hubbert used "the absolute magnitude of the world's original supply
fossil fuels recoverable under present technological and economic conditions" to
conclude that for coal and petroleum, the time required for the exhaustion of the
middle 80% of the ultimate cumulative production is of the order of one or two
centuries.
o~~~~~~~~--~~~~~~~
1900I~S 197~ 2000 Z02$ 201~ 2100
YEARS
Fig. 6 Alternative complete cycles of world crude oil production.
(From Energy: For ourselves and our posterity [74], P ..88.)
Hubbert also dramatically presented the brevity of the "epoch of fossil fuels"
in terms of the longer span of human history. In the graph, shown in figure 7, the
historical epoch of the exploitation. of fossil fuels is plotted on a time scale
extending from 5000 years in the past to 5000 years in the future. It is seen
therefore that on such a time scale, the epoch of fossil fuels "can be only a
transitory or ephemeral event" as Hubert put it, although it is a momentous event
in the terms of the drastic influence it has had on the human species and
civilization during its entire biological history.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 675
\ ••
!,~ ~_. _~~~__J_'_ ~_IL_~. ~JTJ----"~--.~'---~~--~.'
r•••••••••••••••.•••••.
CJO'_
Fig. 7. Epoch of fossil fuels in a longer span of human history.
(From Energy: For ourselves and our posterity [74], p. 90).
A possible future for mankind has been suggested to rest on what is termed
the Hydrogen Economy. This is the future of exhausted finite fossil energy
resources of the world and yet with the lifestyle that the developed world is used
to and to which the developing world aspires. The hydrogen economy rests on
the huge water resource of the world wherein two-thirds of the earth's surface is
covered by water. Thus electrolysis of this water with solar electricity will .
produce hydrogen fuel and oxygen with little or no negative environmental
effects. Hydrogen is the fuel of the future, it is easily stored and can be used in
either the gaseous or liquid form. The storage factor is the main reason solar
electricity would need to be used for electrolyzing water rather than using
electrical transmission lines. Hydrogen can be distributed on a large scale
through gas pipelines.
In the domestic, commercial and industrial sectors, hydrogen can be
recombined with oxygen in what is known as the fuel cell to produce electricity.
In the transportation sector, hydrogen can be used as fuel in an internal
combustion engines (ICE) as has been demonstrated in government sponsored
research in the USA, Germany and Japan over the past two decades. Hydrogen
vehicles have very dose to zero tailpipe emissions, emitting only trace amounts
of CO and HC originating from the lubricating oil and of nitrogen oxides
resulting from burning any fuel in air. Alternatively, the electricity required by an
electric vehicle can come from either a fuel cell (FCEV) or the conventional
electric vehicle batteries (EV). For the fuel cell vehicle, the platinum-catalyzed
polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell is the prime candidate.
In the hydrogen economy, the hydrogen, could also be obtained in any
number of processes and from several sources - steam and plasma reforming as
well as pyrolysis of natural gas, partial oxidation of heavy petroleum oils at
refineries, coal gasification, etc., but the renewable source would be the vast
water resource of the earth. Thus, the Biblical beginnings of the world in Genesis
1:2 would have contained the end point also, wherein the waters covering the
earth would become its prime source of primary energy.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
676 R.O. Fagbenle
Energy, Exergy and the Environment: The Unifying Thread from Boundary
Layer Theory through Nuclear Reactor Research to Renewable Energy
Research.
It is clear now that energy, exergy and the environment constitute the unifying
thread for all the research contributions outlined above. The boundary layer
theory and analysis aims to establish contours of flows, steam and gas turhne
blades, airfoils, nacelles, ship hulls, automobile and train shapes, channels,
diffusers, nozzles, < etc; .that would minimize detrimental but unavoidable
frictional effects (form and skin friction drag) so as to reduce energy wastage
either in propelling bodies through fluids or in moving fluids through channel; -
resulting in higher exergetic efficiencies. The economy and the environmen; are
beneficiaries of this class of research effort spanning centuries and still
expanding in horizon, particularly in the class of turbulent boundary layer flows.
Nuclear reactor accident analysis research surely has the environment as its
main focus, the. prevention of coolant flow loss resulting in choking conditions
and reactor meltdown. Energy is of course the fundamental raison d'etre of
nuclear reactors, the controlled release of the enormous energy locked up by
nature in the. nucleus for power generation. Nuclear reactor coolant flow
dynamics benefits from the exergy gains of boundary layer ~research through
optimized pump impeller and turbine blades design, etc.
Finally, the energy-environment relationship of the renewable energy
research contributions discussed in this lecture is patently clear. Renewable
energy resources, unlike the primary fossil energy resources, are generally far
more environmentally benign than any primary fossil energy source. Of all the
various renewable energy resources, only solar energy has the potential to meet
the world's energy needs within any conceivable time spectrum of human
habitation on this planet earth.
Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future
To ensure that the energy future, indeed the future, of Nigeria is not
compromised, I humbly put forward the following recommendations emanating
from the various issues covered in this lecture:
1. An urgent stakeholder-wide review of the National Energy Policy of the
early 1980's, revisiting its objectives and priorities in the light of
national, regional and international developments in energy and its
interaction with the environment, particularly the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process.
2. Establishment of a separate Ministry of Energy and constitution of a
National Advisory Committee on Energy, reporting to The President
through the Minister, and consisting of all the main stakeholders of the
energy sector, to reflect the crucial importance of energy to national
development through the accepted linkage of economic growth to
energy and energy intensity. The Steel sub-sector of the present
Ministry of Power and Steel actually fits in very well into the Ministry
l' of Mines upon creation of a Ministry of Energy. Neither, the Energy
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy. Exergy, the Environment and the Future 677
sector nor the Steel sector is well under the present set up. Energy
deserves a hundred percent attention to be able to drive the nation's
economy positively. No one is happy with the status quo of the energy
sector in Nigeria of today. Indeed the name "Power" given to it is too
limiting of the broad range of energy options available and may tend to
narrow our collective vision on wider energy issues.
The importance of energy as a separate sector is underscored by the
establishment of both sub-regional and regional energy commissions.
The Energy Commission of the Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC) is in Luanda, Angola, coordinating all the energy
issues of SADC, including the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP)
which interconnects most Member States' electricity utilities. A SADC
Energy Activity Plan for 2000-2005 was completed as my tour of duty
in Botswana ended in 2001. The African Energy Commission (AEC)
has also been agreed by the OAU to be established and sited at Algiers,
Algeria and should commence operation hopefully this year. Nigeria
should be interested in the top management of that Commission.
Indeed, all talk of e-learning and long-distance education, amounts
to no more than a pipe dream and throwing good money, down the drain
given the unreliable energy base that currently plagues Nigeria.
Information Technology with such unreliable energy base is mere
frustration and it is next to worthless. We must get the energy base right
first, for energy -is the foundation of Information Technology. It must be
a solid, diversified, reliable and futuristic energy base that can only
come out of a purposefully restructured public energy sector.
3. Establishment of a National Centre for Clean Energy Technologies for
the demonstration of all energy technologies that promote a sustainable
environment, proven and prototype, new, renewable or conventional. In
this regard, mention could be made of such technologies as the fuel
cells, hydrogen technology, large-scale solar photovoltaic and solar
thermal power generation technologies, clean coal technologies such as
fluidized and air-circulating fluidized combustion technology, biomass
integrated gasification/steam-injected gas turbine (BIG/STIG cycle)
technology, etc. The Centre will also disseminate and diffuse these
technologies and would therefore have a strong Extension Division.
4. Instituting clear rural electrification policies that incorporate both off-
grid and grid-connected electrification systems through renewable
energy technologies into the overall national energy strategy, but
particularly into the mainstream poverty alleviation/eradication and
rural development programmes.
5. According very high priority to Energy Research and Development in
the annual budget and national rolling plans by creating an Energy
Research and Development Agency (ERDA). That energy and
economic development are strongly linked has been established through
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
678 R.O.Fagbenle
the energy intensity, economic growth and degree of industrialization
interrelationships. Many developed and some developing countries have
long-established National Energy Programmes that are indispensable to
their economic and social well-being. The following programmes for the
ERDA, are a necessity for 21st century Nigeria in my considered
opinion:
(a) National New and Renewable Energy Programme on solar, on-
and off-shore wind, biomass, energy crops, municipal and
industrial wastes digesters, bio-fuels, landfill gas, sewage gas,
mini- and micro-hydro, pumped hydro, wave, tidal, hydrogen,
fuel cells, energy efficiency and conservation - Demand Side
Management (DSM) of energy, etc. All developed and many
developing countries have had such programmes in place for
decades. If we have to live with NEPA unreliability, then at least
measures should be put in place for affordable and easy access to
environmentally friendly decentralized renewable energy systems
such as solar PV panels instead of those noisy fume-laden
generators in every other Nigerian urban dwelling.
(b) National Programme on Clean Coal. Technology to seek
environmentally benign ways of utilizing this significant national
resource and to benefit from useful international research on
clean coal technologies.
(c) National Programme on Nuclear Reactors for power generation
to seek the safest options among the several nuclear technologies
for the long term energy needs of the nation, particularly when
the fossil energy resources get depleted as they are sure to be at
current rates of exploitation. A second's thought of Nigeria of the
end of even this century - 2100 - is enough to get anyone 'to
, "begin -to give this vast energy source a serious consideration.
Successful nuclear technologies include the boiling water reactor
(BWR), pressurized water reactors (PWR), the advanced gas
reactor (AGR), or the modular pebble-bed reactor technology
under consideration by South Africa.
(d) National Programme on Petroleum and Natural Gas Resources
to include tar sands and oil shale. The research programmes here
would also include the optimal use of these energy resources in
appliances and equipment.in the domestic, commercial, industrial
and transportation sectors.
6. Improvement of the national capacity for energy research by adequate
funding of Research and Development under the ERDA. The process
must be open, transparent, result-oriented, well-monitored and
accountable. ERDA must ensure sustained public education and
awareness in energy-environment-economy inter-relationships.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Energy, Exergy, the Environment and the Future 679
7. Encouragement of collaboration of Nigerian energy researchers with
their international counterparts through government bilateral agreements
with other governments and regional and international energy bodies. In
particular, facilitation of the full use of environmental funding
mechanisms for energy projects, such as the GEFIUNDP and the
CDMlJI arising from the UNFCCC.
8. According high premium to the fulfillment of fiscal obligations of
national institutions to regional and international bodies through which
collaborative research work and academic exchanges are facilitated.
9. Facilitation by government of access by local researchers to Information
Technology gains through agreement, on behalf of Nigerian universities,
with international libraries online such as the US Library of Congress,
the British Library, the various other national and international libraries
on line; Only such a level of support can give the Nigerian researcher
any hope of surmounting the financial hurdle in the way of access to
online research facilities.
10. Encouragement of the development of local capacity to manufacture
renewable energy technologies through special incentives. For example,
the capacity for local manufacture of solar water heaters, solar cookers,
solar PV modules, panels and cells, inverters, wind turbines, gasifiers,
etc. should be developed sufficiently to enable international
competitiveness in this multi-billion dollar world renewable energy
market. This can happen only by government enunciating clear policies
encouraging the large-scale use of renewable energy thereby creating a
renewable energy market in which private sector funds can be invested.
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Perrine, R.L. and Ernst. W.G. ed. Energy: For Ourselves and For Posterity, Rubey
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Energy System by Mr. King Hubbert. .
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Reistad, G.M. (1975). Available energy conversion and utilization in the United States.
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Rosen, M.A and Dincer, I. (1997). Sectoral energy and exergy modeling of Turkey.
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Sparrow, E.M. (1958). The thermal boundary layer on a non-isothermal surface with non-
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Stigter, C.J. (1982). Sampling and estimation of better defined cloudiness for Dar es
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(2000).
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Index
Abdul, (Prof.) Musa. 115 cancer (and woman), 292-3, 295.-9
abortion389-90 : 'prevention and treatment', 298 - 300
Aboyade,O.(eited), 102, 104 'cassava nutrition', 184 - 5
Abumere, Sylvester, 81 - 105 cervix.291-2
abuse(s): 'water', 305 : 'andcancer(in woman), 292, 293
academia, v, 29, 387 : 'cytology',300
achiever(s): 'science and engineering' ,361 : risk factors, 294
Adeniyi, (Prof.) F.A.A., 347 - 59 'chaos', 371-4, 384-5
Adewole, (Prof.) l.F.. 287 - 302 chemical pathology (academic dept.), 347
adolescence, see chemistry (definition), 263;
'diet(s): adolescent' 'Christ', 5, II, 14-6,22;
Africa, north, see 'North Africa ' seep/so 'Jesus'
Agbedana, (Prof.) Oluyemi, 347 'cen;als',108-9.114
ageing(manlwoman),161-2 christianity, 5, 7, II, 18
agriculture (sustainability), 140, 171 / : 'inAfrica',6,20-2,23-4
agronomy (academic department), 169 'the church' ,11-2,24
Ajayi, (Prof.) Funke, 153-67 /r 'classical hydrodynamic', 649
Ajayi, (Prof.) S.S., 303 'classics', 253
Akinyelc, (Prof.) Isaac Olaolu, 153 clay(s),533-4
Akinycmi, (Prof.) Bolaji, 640 'theclaymatball',204;
Alabi, (Prof.) Babatundc, 361 - 86 'clinical sciences' (faculty), 287
'alley farming'. 140, 144-6; constitutionalism, 388, 391- 3;
see also 'fanning: system' see a/so 'governance'
Alonge, (Prof.) DavidO., 193-209 continuous assessment, 32, 52;
Amure, (Prof.) B.O., 553 see a/so 'educational evaluation'
'animal traction'.423-7,429; 'copper' (and human body), 349
see a/so' equine and ruminant' cropping, see' alley farming'
livestock: research activities'
antiquity historian(s), 254 - 5
aquaculture: aims, 59
: commercial, 341-2 ,economic development', 81
: definition, 57 - 8 : 'in Nigeria', 82 - \04
:development, 61,340 - 3 : states (Nigeria), 84-5, 87;
:Nigeria, 324-6, 334, 341; seea/so 'UNDPresults'(\ 996)
see a/so' fish' economy, 81 - 105
Arabic (and history), \l8, 123 : 'and recession', 235-6
: 'and ether foreign languages', 125-7 education, 29, 231
: 'language', 115, 116, 117-20, 125.127 : 'antonomy', 249
: literacy, 120-5; : benefits, 232 - 3
see also 'literacy: Islamic' : funding, 620
: purpose, 122 : governance, 245 - 9
Aristotle (a philosopher), 170, 171,214,611 : 'Islamic', 124
: 'nutrition', 164
: 'Nigerian', 240, 250
: 'professional practice', 418
: 'qualityissues',241-5
: relevance, 238 -40
Bagshawe, (Prof.) K.D., 290 : 'standards ofperfonnance', 241, 242-3
the bible, 1,4,5, 14-5; 'educational evaluation', 30-2
'bilingual reduction', 415, 417 : 'as gate-keeper', 33-5,
'bio-mass technology', 660; see a/so
see a/so 'solar energy: research and development' 'measurement and evaluation'
Bocke,l.H.,(cited),82,104 educational management (academic dept.), 231 - 2
Bolarinwa, (Prof.) Adeyombo F., 553 - 68 Egunjobi,(Prof.) Layi,211-29
botany, 139-52 'clastic vibration ',376-8,380
: as a career, 150 clectrieity ('photovoltaic (PY)', 664, 668 -9;
: concept, 139-40 see a/so .solar-energy'
: contribution to agricul ture, 140 - 3 'clements': 'iron ore bodies', 532
'boundary layer analysis', 649, 650, 656, 657 : 'nature; classification', 518 - 20.522
: 'Prandtl equations', 650, 651 - 3 : 'traee',348-55,356-7
: 'similar/non-similar', 653 -4; Elucze, (Prof.)A.A., 513-52
energy
: 'Botswana experience' ,669 - 71
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
,
: and the environment. 671 - 3. 676: ; : 'plant". 154
: 'thefuture',673-9 : pricing (effect), 157
: importance, 677 : supplements, 163:
: 'national and regional'. 667 - 71 .food exchange', 207
: 'wind', 665 - 6; 'foundation (vibration)', 378 - 81
see also' liquid natural gas' 'fractals', 367 - 71
engineering (spatial), see fruit(s): 'as foods", 164
'spatial engineering' 'fuzzy logic', 383-4
: 'superstars', 361
'the environment', 649, 671- 3, 676
: 'aquatic', 302
:'urban',220-1; 'gastrin', 553, 555 -60
see also 'fishery(ies)'; geography (as a discipline), 623 - 5
see also 'unnatural products' : academic department, 81
'equine studies': 'and babesiosis', 493 -502 geology (and the environment), 538 - 9
: 'drug evaluation research', 442- 50 : interdisciplinary nature, 513, 519- 20
: 'economic significance', 493 :Nigeria's situation, 524
: 'clinical cases', 460- 80, 493 - 503 : research, 522 - 3,542 - 3
: 'surgical restructuring', 455 -60,480; geomaterial(s): 'and humanity', 543-6
see also 'horses: polo' : 'composition; dcfini tion " 519 - 20
: 'national integration', 101 - 4 : research, 547
: 'policies'l'programmes', (Nigeria), 88. 95 - 104 : 'wealthofNigeria',540-I,
: promotion (equity), 102; 'gerrymandering', 626. 640
see also 'Federal Regional Commission' see a/so 'spatial engineering'
.eroded sediments' , 308 - 9; .gospel studies', 1,2,3,6- 13. 18
see also 'water pollution: pollutants' : 'forms/criticisms',8-13
'estrous cycle (animals)", 553 -4, 560 : 'synoptic', 8
evaluation (educational), 30 - 2 : variations, II
: 'nutritional problem during pregnancy' .613 - 4 governance (and leadership), 395 - 6
examination: 'bodies' (Nigeria), 33 -6, 53-4 :Nigeria's situation, 392-4
:malpractices, 51 - 2 : 'oligachy', 398
: 'representatives', 397, 399
: 'rural population', 583
: 'universities', 387 -40 I;
Fagbenle, (Prof.) Olayiwola, 649 - 83 see also 'university administration'
faith,4,5, 7, II, 16; grassroot (people), 583
see also 'christianity' 'growth', 165-6,218,612-4
see also' Islam' gynaecology (concept/purpose), 287;
Falayajo, (Prof.) Wale, 29 - 56 see also 'obstetrics'
Falusi,A.O.(cited), 157, 190
Famewo, (Prof.)C.E., 569
Fang, Wen,60;
see also 'agriculture: history' health (and city people), 218, 220-1
farming (fish), 58, 59, 60,61-2 'the hydrogen economy', 676;
Faturoti, (Prof.) E.O., 303 -45 see also 'energy: the furure'
Federal Regional Commission (Nigeria), 103 'high lysine maizc ', no-t
see a/so 'Nigeria: integration' history (andcIassics), 253
'fertilizer(s)', 169-91, 175, 186,189 .Human Development Index' (HDI), 84 - 5
: history, 172 human nutrition, 153, 155, 194, 6ll
:modern, 172, 173 : 'and placenta development' ,612
:production, 174-5, 177, 189,190 : 'engineering', 615 - 7
: research, 173 -4, 178 : 'maternal', 156-7, 158
: 'role in cropping', 182 - 3 : 'needs' (in pregnancy), 611
: 'use development', 171- 4, 176; : security (in infancy), 158-9;
see a/so 'Pace-setter Company' see a/so 'malnutrition'
fish (benefits), 59, 60
: cultivation, 60
species, 60, 61
: 'demandandsupply',311-2 'Igbo rcligion', 10
: feeds, 327 - 30, 334-40 Ikporukpo, (Prof.) C.O:, 623-47
food(s)(and,man), 153, 155, 170, 193 Ilevbare, (Prof.)J.A., 253 -62
: 'anduIcer',564 incarnation, 16,22, 23
: 'animal supply', 618 - 9 'industrial effluents', 308;
: 'forti fieation', 163 see a/so 'water pollution: pollutants'
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
. industrialized country' 154.d 62 myth (history). 254, 256 -60
"infcctitions diseases agents'. 307 nation(s): 'two-nation concept', 82
information (and governance). 396 national assessment (education), 33'-6, 54
Institute of Education (Univ. oflbadan), 29 'National Universities Commission' (NUC), V.
. integration' .see:Nigeria (a nation r 'natural product(s)', 264;
investment(s). 233, 234-5, 237. 238 see also 'plants' ,see also
Islam (a religion), 115,117.122: .unnatural products'
see a/so 'muslim(s)' 'the Navier- Stokes' (N-S) equations, 650-1
natural resources (aquatic), 304, 305
'neural tubcdcvclopment', 614- 5;
see also 'pregnancy: nutritional needs'
.Jesus'. I -25 Niger Delta region (Nigeria), 627, 628, 632
: 'historical', 9, 13-4, 20 : agitation for justice, 641
: 'life',6. 7-8 : solution to crisis, 644 - 5
:see also 'gospel studies' : under development, 640, 643
:message, 25 Nigeria (a nation), 81,82
: prophethood; teaching, 11, 12 : energy (power sector), 667 - 9,676-9
: ·thereal',23 : a federation, 627,638
: history, 97 - 101
: industries, 91, 102, 104
: integration, 81, 101
Ladipo, (Prof) O.A., 284 :medical facilities, 90- I
language (and Nigeria), 405, 417 : per capita income. 89.92
: 'in the education policy', 406- 7 : 'oil producing areas", 640
: learning,408,411,414,418 : political regions (schema), 631
: 'of instruction ',408 - 17; : school enrolment, 89 - 90, 94
see a/so 'bilingual education' : space and economic development, 82 - 104
: 'qualityofuse',418 : states, 628 - 34
'language education' , 407 :weather, 665
law (academic units), 387 - 8 'noise control', 362 - 3; see also 'vibration(s)'
'law rnaker v'brcaker ', 225-6 North Africa, 254, 256
'lead' (a toxic trace element), 352-5 nourishment, 194,206
'learning environment' (education), 49 - 51 nutrient(s), 169, 170,171-2,611
'life expectancy', 153, 154-5, 161 'nutritional engineering' 615- 7
: infants, 157 - 8
: 'longevity', 163
'life style' (effect), 163, 167
'Iiquified natural gas' (LNG), 667 Obigbesan, (Prof) G.O., 169-91
livestock (and research), 616-20 Obstetrics (history), 287,288
Longe, (Prof.) Remi, 231- 52 : 'academic department', 287
'Odulfa',13;
see a/so' Yoruba religion'
'Ogi': 107-14
Magbagbeola, (Prof.) JAO., 569 : advantages (a food), III - 2
magnesium (and human body), 352-4 : definition, 107, 108
Malik,(Prof)SayedH.A., 115-'38 : nutritional quality (contents), 108, 110, III
malnutrition, 614 :processing, 110
man (and development), 304, 305 : products, 107, 114
marriage (mythical), 260 Ohikhena, (Dr.)T.0.,23 I
meat, 193, 197 'oil spillage' ,641
medical education (training), 566 Ojo, (Prof.) J.D., 387 -401
menstural cycle (human), see Okorie, (Prof.)DA, 264-85
'estrous cycle' (animals) Oladosu, (Prof.) LanrewajuA., 421 - 511
Meritocracy, 398; Olatunbosun, (Prof) David, 347
see a/so 'governance: university' Olawoye, (Prof) Janice A., 584 - 608
mineral(s): economic use, 515-6 Olorunda, (Prof)A.O., 107
: 'economic potentials", 532 - 7; 540 Olufemi, (Prof.) B.£., 57, 77-8
: feature/classification, 514-6 Omololu, (Prof.) Adewale, 153
: formation, 517 - 8 'ore(s)',531-2
: resources, 530; organic chemistry, 263, 265
see a/so 'clay'; see a/so 'ore(s)' Osonubi, (Prof) 0., \39-52
'the mineral nutrient concept', 171 - 3 Osotimehin, (Prof.) Babatunde, 34 7
'rnycorrhiza', 140-3, 145; Osuagwuh (Prof)A.I.A., 609-n
see a/so 'soil microorganism(s)'
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
soil microorganismts), 140
'Pacesetter company', 186 solar energy ('phtovoltaic (PV) electricity'), 664
'pcntatcuch'{thc bible), 8 : reduction, 662-4
pestieidc(s), 273 -4, 307-8 : ' research and devclopmcn t' , 657 - 61 , 664
'petroleum products', 309 - 10 Soyanwo, (Prof.) Olaitan 0., 569- 82
see also 'water-pollution: pollutants' Soyinka, (Prof.) Wale, 133, 138
'pharmaccuucals', 275 - 6 space(s): 'economic', 634-43
'physical planning', 211- 2 : of':a nation', 82
Planning (concept), 211. : 'political',627-34;
: 'and indiscipline', 224 see a/so 'spatial engineering
: challenges, 227 - 8 'Spatial engineering', 625 - 32
: 'educational', 232 : accessibility, 626 - 7
planus): agro-chcmicals, 272 : concept, 626
: 'anti-cancer', 272-3 'state creation' (Nigeria), 628-34;
: 'anti-malaria',266-7 see a/so "Willink 's Commission'
: 'lcgininosac', 271 - 2 'stochastic models ... ', 661-2;
: 'medical', 264-74 see a/so 'solar energy: research and development
: nutrients, 307 Stress (and ulcer), 557 - 8
plant nutrition, 169, 170-1, 189 'students' /teachers' quality', 243 -4, 252
pollution (and environment), 649 'student unionism', 391
: 'noise', 221,363
polyscyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), 203 - 4
polymcr(s), 277-9 theology, 21 - 2
poultry production, 207 tilapia (fish specie), 60, 61- 2, 69
poverty, 42 I 'torah' (Judaism), 13
: 'aggregate', 506-7 transportation, 221 - 2
: alleviation, 206 - 8 Tyler, R.W. (cited), 31,56
: concept, 505 - 6
: statistics, 507
'power transmission line vibration', 374 - 6 'ulcer' (causes/factors), 557, 564
Pregnancy (and ulcer), 564 : 'duodenal', 556,558
: 'and overfeeding' , 612 : 'gastric', 556,seea/so 'gastrin'
: 'as a disease', 351,356 : 'induced',561-2
: 'childdelivery',572,579 : 'peptic', 556- 7,562
: 'nutritional needs', 611- 6; 'unnatural products', 275 - 9
see also 'nutritional engineering' 'Uncsco Technical Team'(1976), 231
product(s): 'natural'; 'unnatural', 263,275-9 'UNDPreports'(1996),83-5,88,105
proteinis), 108-9,195, 197 university(ies), v, 242,357 -9,398 -400
urbanization, 211,214,217
'utopia cities', 214 - 5
raw material(s), 175, 186, 189
'real fluids' 650,656 Vcgctarian(s), 154
Reproduction (and nutrition), 613-4 'vesicular arbuscular mycorhiza' (VAM), 141-3, 147
Research, 566, 616- 20 -9
revenue allocation (Nigeria), 636-40 Vetcrinary (a discipline): 'and thc economy', 421
'ripples', 304,305,343-4 : departments, 193
rock(s), 514, 517, 525 - 6, 535 : 'medicine', 609
: 'basement' 523 Vibration(s): 'and engineering', 362
: 'cataclassics', 530 : 'and human body' ,364 - 5
: 'granites', 536 : 'and loss of reliability' ,365 - 7
: 'metasedimentary', 527 - 8 : 'bladed disks', 383
'ruminant',455-60,481-93 : 'control', 379
: 'railway induced',381-2
: 'superstars',361
'Safe Motherhood Initiative' (SMI), 289 : types, 374-6, 376-8
'school development board' (SBD), 248;
see also 'education: governance' waste disposal, 220
science(s), 263,303,361 'water pollution', 305, 306- 10
'sea trip(s)', 303-4 'WestAfrican dwarf(WAD) goat', 613-4
'self-determination', 629; see also 'Willink's Commission (and Nigeria), 627, 629, 630
'state creation' 'the womb', 288, 291
Sheth, Sherish S. (President FIGO), 288
smoking, 20 1-2, 203, 205, 564
sociology, 81 'Yoruba rcligion', 10-1, 13
'soil fertility', 173-4, 176, 178, 179-82 youth(s), 150
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