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Final Year Students’ Field Trip in the Department of Biological Sciences
FINAL YEAR STUDENTS’ FIELD TRIP IN THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (21st to 25th March, 2022) *Zainab Oiza ADEIZA
Introduction
The end of the four-year rigorous training for the degree in the Biological Sciences is concluded with a final year students’ field trip where the students get to spend a week in nature exploring some of Nigeria’s amazing biodiversity without the comforts of a proper classroom, accommodation, basic amenities or even food while dealing with inclement weather conditions for the most part. This year we had the pleasure of taking both our undergraduate and postgraduate students on this exhilarating adventure. Since the pandemic, our field trips have been restricted to Abuja and its environs which are blessed with an abundance of biodiversity just like any other part of the country. Join us as we take you on an exciting tour of the capital city, Abuja like you have never seen it before.
JABI LAKE
Our first stop was Jabi Lake, situated at the heart of the capital city. It is a manmade lake surrounded by trees, grasses and shrubs and serves as a water catchment for the city and a habitat for wildlife, especially birds, fishes, squirrels and small monkeys. It also performs other less apparent but very important functions like replenishing groundwater, and flood and pollution control while aiding in biogeochemical cycles and nutrient sequestration. It is a fantastic recreation site for residents. We spent the whole day exploring the habitat, bird watching and the dynamic relationships between the plants and animals. At the end of our expedition, we took both water and plant samples for lab analysis and storage in our herbarium respectively.
On the 22nd of March, 2022 we spent the morning at the National Parks Service Headquarters where we went through the whole departments which are representations of all our National Parks from the Animal orphanage where ill animals or those confiscated from poachers or donated are kept and rehabilitated before reintroduction back into any of our National Parks than to the Mini Park which houses several floral specimens, some herbivores, monkeys as well as porcupines, a dwarf crocodile and several species of bird, other reptiles and countless insect and invertebrate species just to mention a few. We also visited the arboretum where unique specimens from all over the country are preserved as well as the museum. All through the Park we were birdwatching and recording the species. At the end of our expedition here we took some plants and invertebrate specimens for our herbarium and labs.
The next stop we went to the National Children’s Park and Zoo where we started by birdwatching and then we explored the animals that were kept in cages. We took time to explore the whole park and took some water samples. Zoos serve to help preserve live specimens of animals that are otherwise too far away to see as well as for research and educational purposes in a world where biodiversity is rapidly declining. Animals confiscated from poachers or traffickers are also kept here and eventually returned into the wild or kept if habituated. We got to see a lion cub that was confiscated from wildlife traffickers by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA)
On the 23rd of March, 2022 we visited Sewage Treatment Plant, Wupa under the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). This plant is in charge of breaking down municipal liquid waste and treating it before the effluents are released into River Wupa so that it can be reabsorbed in the water system. Later that day, we paid a visit to NIPRD where we spent time in the botanical garden
On the 24th March 2022, we visited the Leventis Agricultural Training School, Yaba, Abaji where we learnt hands-on entrepreneurial skills in different fields like crop farming, fisheries, apiculture, snail and poultry farming and meal formulations. The training school is a subsidiary of Leventis Foundation Nigeria (LFN) and has been training youths and farmers (both men and women) in Nigeria and Ghana since 1988 and currently runs six schools in 6 different states in Nigeria and four centres in Ghana. This is achieved through the yearly recruitment of youths to participate in training on modern and sustainable agriculture in crop production and agroforestry, livestock production, enterprise development and farm mechanization. The schools have capacities to admit 100 to 150 trainees (male and female except Panda School which currently admits only male trainees) per year. The school has trained more than 27,000 youths under the one-year regular training since 1988. All trainees receive board and lodging, school and work uniforms free of charge including monthly stipends.
On our last day (25th March 2022), we visited the national seeds council which aims to build a market-driven seed industry for the production and distribution of high-quality and improved planting materials that are available, accessible and affordable to all farmers. As well as transform the Nigerian Seed System into a leading seed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa worthy of generating foreign exchange, key employer of labour and contributing positively to the country’s economy. The NASC is charged with the overall development and regulation of the national seed industry.
At the end of the week-long field trip, our students expressed appreciation for the knowledge and experience gained, through some practical and hands-on experiences otherwise impossible to achieve. It has also given them ideas for their research topics and equipped them with entrepreneurial skills they could implement after their degree. However, the complained of exhaustion to which I responded; No Pain, No Gain!
L-R Ms. Zainab Oiza Adeiza (Zoologist, Conservation Biologist & Fieldtrip Coordinator), Dr. Helen Negbenebor (HoD, Zoologist & Entomologist) and Taoheed K. Muftaudeen (Botanist & Plant Taxonomist). Hussein, Ididi & Raham are students putting some plant specimens in the plant press A cross section of staff of the National Park Services, and Baze University staff and students during the Visit.
