Category: Science
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Elegba S.B. is the Nigerian professor of physics, who in 1987 installed, commissioned and operated the first Neutron Generator in West Africa. Elegba was trained in Ukraine of the former Soviet Union and in the United States from where he acquired his doctorate degree in Theoretical Solid State Physics from the University of Oregon in…
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Elephant species native to Africa, Loxodonta Africana, is the largest terrestrial animal, celebrated in Yoruba Ijálá chant thus “Erin abiikúnlè pelemomo,” translating as; “O’ elephant, huge as a hill, even in a crouching position.” Unlike other mammals, elephants continue to grow throughout their life, although the rate at which they grow slows after they reach…
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Emmanuel Olubomi Beckley was a distinguished Nigerian medical doctor of the 19th Century. Born in Apongbon Street, Olowogbowo, Lagos in September 1881 to Thomas Elliot Beckley and Jane, a Sierra Leonean returnee in the class of C.B. Moore and Ajobo Coker. After his elementary education at the neighbourhood Wilton House School pioneered by his older…
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Fertilizer, called Ajile in Yoruba (awakener of the soil), occurs in the form of solid, liquid or gas, supplies nutrients in known amount, to the plant. Since the 1937 demonstration of the efficacy of the Single Superphosphate (SSP) on cereal crops, coupled with several fertility studies at Ibadan, fertilizer had been used in Nigeria. Before…
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Forest Cobra, Naja melanoleuca, called Oká in Yoruba, is an agile, diurnal species that climbs well and is more aquatic than other true cobras of genus Naja. They are big arboreal, aquatic, nocturnal and very fast snakes that can move quickly on land in the water and in the trees. They can grow to 2.5…
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Forest Genet, also known as Panther Genet, scientific name; Genetta Maculatta. This Viverrid, formerly belonging in same taxonomic subfamily with terrestrial civets and linsangs, is a large spotted, carnivorous animal endemic to the rainforest zone of southern Nigeria, and also widespread to a great part of sub-Saharan Africa. In southeastern Nigeria, sightings are not common…
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Forest Hog, Hylochoerus meinertzhageni is the largest wild member of the pig family, Suidae. It is most common near permanent water sources, especially where there is a thick understory cover. The rimator subspecies is found in the highland forest in the Cameroonian border of Nigeria. Standing approximately 1m high and 190 cm long, adults have…
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Giant Forest Squirrel, Protoxerus stangeri, is a species of rodent in the Sciuridae family typified by their slender bodies, bushy tails and large eyes. Squirrels, called Òkéré in Yoruba, are noted for its undying love for the palm-fruits, and are used as a metaphor for dexterity in Palm Oil production in verbal salute known as…
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Four-toed Hedgehog, Atelerix albiventris, oval bodied nocturnal insectivore with long snout, short limbs, and short tails, called Túrùkú oraya in Yoruba, belonging to the Erinaceidae family of placental mammals. Their body is covered in over 3,000 short spines, which are simply modified hairs made from keratin. Only this spike is exposed, offering protection against predators…