Piles are inflammation of blood vessels which are generally found close to the anal canal. Piles are produce when the anal cushions are disrupted during defecation. The importance of the knowledge of indigenous remedial medicinal plants in curing piles has not been fully acknowledged from rural, folkloric background of Nigerian society. The present study attempt to document indigenous knowledge and curative plants used in the treatment of pile in Akinyele Local Government Area, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Eight villages were purposively selected and respondents stratified into four strata in each of the villages. Semi – structured and open-ended questionnaires was used to obtained information from local herb sellers, hunters, herbalists and aged. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The result showed that a total number of 25 plant species belonging to 19 families, were recorded and enumerated along with their botanical, family and local names. Fabaceae sub family of Caesalpinioidea, Mimisoideae and Palpilinoideae contributed the highest number of 4 plant species used in the treatment of pile. The plant part used includes leave, bark, seeds roots, vines, rhizome, bulbs, cobs, and bunch with high frequency of leaves been used. The method of preparation of recipe, mode of administration, dosage and shelf life of the recipe used for the treatment of piles were discussed. Many of the medicinal plants used in the treatment of piles are rare and found in the wild, the study concludes that there is need for domestication and sustainable conservative efforts from the researchers, government and community to safeguard the loss of these important medicinal plants. There is need for further studies on the phytochemical and pharmacological properties of these plants.

This study was carried out to analyzed the resource-use efficiency of maize production in Lere local government area of Kaduna state. Data were collected from a sample of 100 maize farmers selected through multi-stage sampling procedure using questionnaire and data collected were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics, production function and marginal value productivity analysis. The result showed that 82% were in their working age of between 21-50 years, majority of the farmers 53% were married, 91% had formal education, in terms of farming experience, majority (68%) of the respondent had farming experience that is above one year. The linear function gave the best fit with R2 of 70.2%. Production inputs such as fertilizer and agrochemicals significantly influence maize output in the study area.  Maize production in the study area has an increasing return to scale from the sum of elasticity of production (20.439). Land, labour, fertilizer, seed and agrochemicals were underutilized in maize production. Profit could be enhanced by increasing the quantity used of land, labour, fertilizer, seed and agrochemicals inputs, as well as their timely supply. It is also recommended that  financial support  in term of accessibility to credit facilities at low interest rate be given to farmers to allow them increase output and total revenue.

This study examined male adolescents' self-report of rape of adolescent girls and the socio-demographic variables that correlated with self-report of rape. Descriptive-correlational design was used and the study was conducted in five public senior secondary schools in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Three hundred and thirty-eight male adolescents participated in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Findings from the study revealed the mean age of the adolescent males to be 16 years, with the majority (73%) of them in the middle adolescent stage. Six percent of the adolescent males reported they had raped an adolescent girl in the past. Among the boys who reported rape, 55% reported they had raped their sexual partners, and 55% reported they had perpetrated gang rape. Smoking (p = .0001), alcohol consumption (p = .001), and birth order (p = .006) predicted self-report of rape. The coefficient of birth order showed that odds of self-report of rape by first-born male increases by 6 times compared with other children. Study findings also provided evidence that adolescent males are moving from lone rape to gang rape in intimate partner relationships. Male adolescents are important group to target in rape prevention programs.

Background Studies in many developing countries have shown that community health workers (CHWs) are valuable for boosting contraceptive knowledge and usage. However, in spite of the evidence, studies in Nigeria have rarely examined whether in the absence of skilled health personnel such as doctors and nurses in rural and remote communities, the health service contacts of non-users with CHWs drive the intention to use modern contraceptives. This study, therefore, examines the extent to which health service contacts with CHWs are associated with the intention to use modern contraceptives among non-users in rural communities of Nigeria. Methods This study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. Data were extracted from the most recent Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). The study analyzed a weighted sample of 12,140 rural women. The outcome variable was the intention to use modern contraceptives. The main explanatory variable was health service contacts with CHWs. Statistical analyses were performed at three levels with the aid of Stata version 14. Three multivariable regression models were estimated using an adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) with a 95% confidence interval. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results Findings showed that more than a quarter (29.0%) of women intends to use modern contraceptives. Less than one-fifth (15.9%) of the women had health service contacts with CHWs. In Model 1, women who had health service contacts with CHWs were more likely to intend to use modern contraceptives (aOR =1.430, 95% CI: 1.212–1.687). Likewise, in Model 2, women who had health service contacts with CHWs had a higher likelihood of intending to use modern contraceptives (aOR = 1.358, 95% CI: 1.153–1.599). In Model 3, the odds of intention to use modern contraceptives were higher among women who had health service contacts with CHWs (aOR =1.454, 95% CI: 1.240–1.706). Conclusion In rural areas of Nigeria, health service contacts with CHWs are significantly associated with the intention to use modern contraceptives. Family planning programmers should leverage the patronage of CHWs for the purpose of family planning demand generation in rural areas.

Agro-forestry trees enhance food and nutrition security, increase income and help solve land management problems. This study assessed the determinants of farmer’s attitude to plant agro-forestry trees in Giwa Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State. Six (6) districts were purposively selected from the eight (8) districts in Giwa LGA. Two villages were randomly selected from each district to give a total of twelve (12) villages. Ten agroforestry farmers were selected from each village to make a total of 120 respondents. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics - Chi- square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and regression analysis. The results revealed that the mean age was 40.12 years. Chi-square analysis showed that age (χ2=18.487, P=0.001), educational level (χ2=9.656, P=0.04) were significant to farmersꞌ attitude. PPMC showed that income (r=0.181, p=0.049), membership in organization (r=0.214, P=0.02) were significant to farmersꞌ attitude. Regression analysis showed that years of experience (β=0.330, P=0.001) and constraints (β=0.246, P=0.11) were the determinants of farmers attitude. Farmers (59%) have unfavourable attitude towards tree planting. It was concluded that age group, educational level, income and membership in organization are very important and paramount in enhancing planting of agroforestry trees while years of experience and constraints faced by farmers were major determinants of famer’s attitude to planting agro-forestry trees.