Deep Thought

 Re: Jimmy Carter- Adieu to the Champion of Downtrodden - Nigeria, Nay Africa By Prof. M. K. Othman   President Jimmy Carter stood much taller amid the giants.  His aura of influence may continue to touch the lives of the underdogs years after his demise. We cannot but continue to mourn the death of the African hero, the American president who advanced human rights and alleviated human suffering. We grieve the death of Jimmy Carter for spearheading the campaign to eradicate dracunculiasis, onchocerciasis, trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria across over eighty countries in Africa and Asia. We will continue to cherish and immortalize President Jimmy Carter, who passed on at the Centurian age. As part of the mourning, I lifted and edited (for clarity) Dr. Wumi Akintide’s comment on my article published two weeks ago to further enlighten my readers on the excellent job to humanity performed by Jimmy Carter during his 100-year journey on earth. Happy reading. Dr. Akint...

 Chinese Insatiable Desire to Mechanize African Agriculture, Nay Nigeria By Prof. M. K. Othman In February 2024, a Nigerian-based Chinese agricultural machinery and equipment company, Chinige Technology Services Limited, invited me to speak as the keynote speaker at a high-level agricultural mechanization sensitization workshop for policymakers and managers of agricultural institutions. I used the NAERLS results of the 2023 wet-season agricultural performance survey (APS) to present the abysmal level of farm productivity and the vast unexplored and untapped agricultural potential that needed investment. The primary factor responsible for agriculture's appalling and disappointing productivity level is inadequate, inaccessible, and unaffordable farm machinery and equipment for small-scale farmers, who constitute about 90% of the Nigerian farming population. NAERLS survey revealed that in the 2023 farming season, 80 percent of the farmers used hand tools – cutlass and hoe to carry out...