The paper highlights oil palm as a multipurpose tree crop symbolizing nature's endowment to the people of South East, Nigeria, and presents available evidence that the center of origin for the palm is within the area. The structure of the natural habitat of the oil palmthe groves, from where several genetic collections have been made for the improvement of the crop worldwideis described. The oil palm is viewed as closely interwoven with the people providing their requirements in terms of food, medicine and materials for infrastructural development. In a wider context, the ecological, socio-economic, and socio-cultural and traditional values of the palm are discussed. The history of efforts to exploit the potentials of the crop through domestication and genetic improvement is given. Because the potential of oil palm is yet exhausted, the action plan for further development in the natural habitat and plantations is also given, highlighting the prospects of increased oil palm production as well as some of the constraints on the way to realising this all-important project. The paper identifies areas needing action research towards the sustainable development of oil palm. Among other suggestions in this direction, the paper recommends the creation of a center of excellence in oil palm studies within the South East, Nigeria to expand the scientific exploitation of the natural groves and encourage plantation establishment for the benefit of not only the people whose God-given gift is now a highly valuable crop in the world, but the entire country and even beyond.

This paper analyses the reasons for I-turn migration and the actual economic situation (measured by their income level, savings and expenditure) as well as their true social situation (assessed by the nature of relationship that exist between them and the villagers) in these communities as compared to those conditions they had while they were in urban areas. The study was conducted in some selected rural areas of Nara and Kyoto Prefectures. A structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to I-turners in the research areas and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the responses of the I-turners. The study revealed that the main reasons why I- turners moved to the rural areas are; preference to quiet and relaxed rural life (51.1%), to be engaged in agriculture (31.9%) and strong desire to raise kids in the rural environment (29.8%). The economic situation of the I-turners was not so favourable as most of them earned a lower income (59.6%) after moving from the cities. They also have to cope with decreased savings (44.7%), and some I-turners (27.7%) indicated that they do not save at all. At the same time, majority of them (60%) indicated that their expenditure was higher in the city compared to now that they are in the village. One of the reasons they gave for reduced expenditure in the rural area is as a result of a bilateral and close relationship that exist between them and their neighbours via various direct helps and indirect helps they receive from them. Nevertheless, these I-turners were often resisted by the influential village elders and old residents who were reluctant to accept innovative ideas from them. I-turners were expected to close the gap between them and the uncooperative members of the community by actively involving in village works and other social responsibilities. Based on the research findings, this paper concludes that the I-turners being faced with harsh economic condition and other uncomfortabilities, can be sustained in the rural areas where they perform a wide range of roles in solving rural problems if the attractions that the rural areas hold for them (which motivated their migration into these areas in the first place) are not tampered with. Also, the sustainability of these I-turn migrants in the rural area is highly dependent on the quality of relationship that exist between them and original members of each village community. This conclusion is based on the fact that the I-turners, though currently confronted with diverse economic and social challenges, still display a level of contentment in the rural life as a result of various gains of living in these areas (including their original reasons for migration) and the rich social relationship that exist between them and some of the cooperative villagers.

Utilization of primary health care services among settled Fulani agro-pastoralists in Ogun State was assessed in this study. Sixty (60) respondents were purposefully selected and interviewed using an interview guide. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 35.82, 68.3% of the respondents were females and majority (80.0%) of the respondents have no formal education. The results showed that friends and relatives were the main sources of information on primary health care services. About 90.0% of the respondents had positive attitude towards the use of primary healthcare services. The study also revealed that respondents visits primary health facility for pharmacy/dispensary (95.0%), maternity (98.3%) and vaccination/immunization (86.7%). The result of the study revealed that the most pressing constraint faced by the agro-pastoralists was the distance of health facility from their settlement. Regression analysis showed that income, distance from home to health care center, information, attitude and constraints face influenced the utilization of primary healthcare services among the respondents. The study recommends that government should build health centres close to the agro-pastoralists to reduce the cost of medical services accessed by the pastoralists.

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