Old Testament measures for quelling resource wars : Panacea for the Nigerian experience

DATA AVAILABILITY : Data sharing is not applicable to this article, as no new data were created and only secondary data used in this study.In human history, there has always been one form of war or the other, including resource wars, leading to the wanton destruction of lives and property. Nigeria is not an exception to this ugly global phenomenon. For instance, there are two major resource wars in Nigeria – war over oil and farmers and herders wars that have taken more deadly dimensions in recent times. In fact, the much talked about insecurity in Nigeria is basically about the herder and farmer clashes and the insurgency in the North-East. While acknowledging the political measures deployed to contain the situation, this article presents solutions from the religious perspective, to complement the existing measures that have largely proven to be inadequate. Resource wars occurred during the time of Abraham. However, he averted the violent consequences by the peaceful mechanism he adopted. Therefore, this peaceful mechanism modelled from Abraham and compensation approaches can be applied to the Nigerian situation, especially among Nigerian Christians while interfaith dialogue will accelerate discussions with non-Christians. Thus, this biblical and pragmatic model outlined in the Bible can be implemented in the search for peace and reconciliation. To achieve the aim of this article, historical and hermeneutical methodology was engaged. INTERDISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : This article moves between Old Testament and measures for quelling resource wars. It is therefore by intention interdisciplinary. There are implications for the understanding of Old Testament narrative text and how it could be deployed to address the issue of resource wars.http://www.ve.org.zaam2024Old Testament StudiesNon

Deploying the theology of maggots on the excess manna (Ex 16:20) in the fight against corruption in Nigeria

Corruption has undoubtedly become a familiar concept that has almost paralysed the whole gamut of our private and cooperative lives. The rate at which it occurs is described as unprecedented. There is no gainsaying that corruption is one of the severest social threats to society, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. In this article, the authors appreciate the efforts of the Nigerian government in curbing corruption but note the prevalence of this menace despite all efforts. The authors wish to provide a model with which the trend of corruption can be reduced to the barest minimum, if not entirely eradicated. This model was styled out of the theology of maggots on the excess manna amassed by some misguided Israelites during their wilderness journey into the promised land in Exodus 16:20. The method adopted was a secondary method of data collection, which was a library source. Also, as this was a biblical study, hermeneutical tools were employed to interpret the concepts and analyse the text properly. It was discovered that corrupt people are not people in need; rather, they are driven by greed. In addition, the authors discovered that when this model was employed, corruption was reduced drastically, at least within the period of the wilderness journey of the Israelites. This model comes from a biblical background and will go a long way in redirecting the Nigerian populace towards shunning corruption and the people perpetrating it. This is because a great percentage of the Nigerian population adheres to this biblical faith or religion. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : The article contributes to theology and ethics. It investigates the pericope found in Exodus 16:20 and directly deploys its approach in solving the menace of corruption bedevilling Nigerian society. The article is apt because the pericope of Exodus 16:20 provides a lucid response to the problem of corruption.http://www.ve.org.zaam2023Old Testament Studie

Manurial amendments and source of water for supplemental irrigation of sawah-rice system influenced soil quality and rice yield

Soil and water management research on adapting the promising sawah ecotechnology for lowland rice farming in West Africa has largely focused on the abundant inland valleys; floodplains which too represent a huge agricultural resource in the region have not been so involved. Sawah refers to a bunded, puddled and leveled basin for rice, with water inlets and outlets for irrigation and drainage, respectively. In conventional sawah, soil fertility is augmented using mineral fertilizers, with an option to harness lowland water resources for use in small-scale irrigation to create the so-called sawah typologies. In this study, we evaluated the effects of three manurial amendments (rice husk, rice-husk ash and poultry droppings, each at 10 t ha–1) and NPK 20:10:10 at 400 kg ha–1 interacting with source of water (spring or pond) used for supplemental irrigation of three sawah typologies in a floodplain in southeastern Nigeria. Plots amended with poultry droppings and supplemented with spring water recorded the overall best performance of the sawah-rice system; the control being the unamended non-supplemented (solely rainfed) plots recorded the worst. Rice-husk ash and rice husk enhanced soil pH and soil organic carbon, respectively. The three sawah typologies showed a consistent trend thus spring-supplemented ≥ pond-supplemented ≥ non-supplemented sawah. Rice grain yield was influenced by soil total nitrogen and the sum of the three plant-nutrient basic cations (K+ , Ca2+ and Mg2+), with the influence of K+ alone being the greatest. To enhance rice performance including grain yields in floodplain sawah, farmers should utilise poultry droppings as soil manure and spring water for supplemental irrigation

Soil fertility indices of tropical loamy sand as influenced by bambara groundnut variety, plant spacing and fertilizer type

Agricultural sustainability ensues when cultivation of field crops and associated techniques improve not just crop yields but also management-responsive soil properties. Bambara groundnut as an underutilized crop lacks research-based information on its agronomic requirements. This paper reports the key fertility indices of a loamy-sand soil in southeastern Nigeria as influenced by soil and agronomic management practices involving factorial combinations of two bambara groundnut varieties (Caro and Olokoro), two plant spacings (30 cm × 75 cm and 45 cm × 75 cm) and four organic/inorganic fertilizer options. These fertilizer options were NPK 15-15-15 (NPK), single super phosphate (SSP), poultry manure (PM) and Control. The plots under Caro variety spaced 30 cm × 75 cm and grown with NPK or SSP fertilizer showed the highest CEC (8.40 cmol kg–1) and exchangeable K (0.15 cmol kg–1), respectively. Olokoro variety spaced 45 cm × 75 cm and grown with PM or SSP gave the highest total nitrogen (0.14%), soil pHwater (6.35), available phosphorus (107.60 mg kg-1) and exchangeable Ca (3.70 cmol kg-1). The interactions plant spacing × fertilizer type and crop variety × fertilizer type affected all the soil fertility indices studied, while crop variety × plant spacing affected soil pHwater, available phosphorus, CEC and exchangeable Ca and Mg. Generally, as main factors, Olokoro variety, NPK and 45 cm × 75 cm improved soil properties better than their counterparts