AKWA UTD YOUNGSTER BAGS UNIVERSITY FIRST CLASS DEGREE

Akwa United attacking midfielder Paulinus Okon has made history becoming the first student to graduate with a First Class Honours in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in the faculty of Engineering from University of Uyo.

Paulinus graduated with a Cumulative Grade Points Average CGPA of 4.50 and was awarded the 2021/2022 Best Graduating Student in the department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering during the institution's 29th/30th convocation ceremonies in Uyo.

The left-footed attacking midfielder previously played for FC One Rocket in the Nigeria National League after shining for his local government area, Nsit Atai in the 2023 Akwa Ibom State Governor's Cup before joining the 2021 league champions Akwa United at the start of the current 2024-25 football season.

The youngster, a product of Eagle Eye Football Academy who has been described by coach Muhammed Babaganaru as an exceptionally gifted player is yet to feature for Akwa United in a competitive game but has been part of the team's training programmes since he signed a professional contract with the club.

In an exclusive interview with the club's website www.akwaunitedfc.com, Paulinus revealed that the journey to his academic achievement was rough and tough but his determination was the driving force behind his success.

"The desire to play professional football has always been there but I didn't know it would be that challenging combining higher education with football. The pressure wasn't that much when I was in secondary school but when I got admission into University I realized that it was a different thing entirely. Having to attend football training sometimes twice a day and also attending lectures in school was very stressful.

" I have been involved in an accident at least three times because of rushing to meet up with lectures. I have slept in class many times and my colleagues usually make jest of me, even some of my lecturers told me that I was embarking on a suicide mission by trying to play football while also going to school.

"I still remember in my first year in school when I asked about the possibility of graduating with a First Class Honours, I was told that the department has never produced a First Class graduate since it was established, and even if someone will make First Class that I shouldn't dream of being that student because of combining education and football, but I have always believe in myself and I was determined to succeed.

" I'm very happy and I thank God that all the hard work has paid off and today I have graduated with First Class Honours and my football career is also improving especially since I joined Akwa United and I know that my time will soon come and I'm confident that I will make significant impact as a professional player".

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Hello guys

How to start beans farming in Nigeria

The following steps should be taken when starting beans farming in Nigeria;

1. Get a farmland:
To start beans farming, you need to get a farmland. You can acquire, rent or lease your farmland. It is pretty easy and cheap to get farmland in rural areas of Nigeria. In some areas in Nigeria, you can rent one hectare of farmland for as low as N10,000.

It is a fallacy that beans can do well only in the northern part of Nigeria. Beans or cowpea can be cultivated in all regions of Nigeria. If a farmer implements sound agronomic practices, he will get a good yield from his beans farm in any location in Nigeria.


2. Soil Preparation:
Cowpeas grow well in good soil that is fairly loose. This crop does not do well in compact soil. Cowpea can grow in poor soils. This is one of the advantages of cultivating this crop.

The crop can even improve the quality of your soil. After getting your farmland, you will need to remove the weeds. A tractor with plough can be used to bury the weeds in the soil. The buried weeds can improve the quality of the soil.

The soil should be harrowed after ploughing, then a ridge or bed should be done on the soil. Having ridges or beds on the farmland is not a must but it can increase the yield while doing beans farming.

3. Engage people as members of staff:
You cannot do beans farming alone except if you want to cultivate a very small area. If you want to make good money, you need to cultivate at least one hectare of farmland. You will need to recruit people who will work with you on your farmland.

Employing people around the location of your farmland can be advantageous. You can also employ labourers who come from neighbouring countries into Nigeria

4. Get the right seeds:
You should use good beans seeds. Do not buy beans seeds from the open market, patronise only accredited seeds dealers.

Hybrid seeds are usually higher yielding than open pollinated seeds. They also resist a lot of diseases and pests.

5. Get farm inputs needed:
Your beans farm needs farm inputs like fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides and nematicides. To plant beans, the type of fertilizers needed should have high phosphatic content. Examples are Single Super Phosphate (SSP) fertiliser or Diammonium Phosphate (DAP).

You can also use a little bit of Muriate of Potash (MOP) at the flowering stage of the cowpea. Avoid high nitrogenous fertilizer and this can negatively impact your beans crop.

6. Manage the farm:
You need to efficiently manage your farm. Do not rely on your unskilled members of staff as they can be funny. Make sure that all your instructions are fully carried out. Your staff can make or mar you chances of making money from your cowpea farm.

7. Harvest:
Sow cowpea varieties have a short growth time. There are 40 days variety and also 100 days variety. The creeping variety has a longer duration time and higher yield. The erect type has a short duration but a slightly lower yield.

You should harvest when the pods are dry and slightly brownish in colour.

8. Market the harvested beans:
After harvesting, you can store your beans for a while and sell when the prices peak. The prices of beans in Nigeria peaks around March – April every year.