Drought is a word that invokes strong emotions. This is not surprising as the...16...[A. ideology B. phenomenon C. idea D. component] is usually accompanied by a number of unpleasant developments. These developments have ……..17…..[A. feedback B. results C. implication D. outcomes] for all citizens, starting from the peasant farmers to the state and federal governments which may be plunged into emergency and crisis situation which, if not successfully ……18…..[A. managed B. manipulated C. examined D. studied] could result in social unrest.

  The timeliness of the onset of the rains in various regions of the country and their adequate distribution thereafter have become…..19…..[A. objects B. subjects C. issues D. topics] of considerable anxiety to all people. The fact, however, is that periodic reduction in the normal…..20…..[A. amount B. supply C. size D. flood] of rainfall in the country is not new.

  Since large areas of the country are drought prone, the consequence are ……21…..[A. effective B. disastrous C. evident D. inevitable]. Dry spells could be very severe. There are two aspects of coping with drought. One has to do with emergency measures and the other with ……22…..[A. routine B. organized C. urgent D. delayed] measures. An immediate consequence of any drought would be famine. In addition, where whole populations are forced to abandon their lands or pastures in search of food, there are bound to be other lasting and…..23…..[A. longitudinal B. objective C. simultaneous D. parallel] consequences such as distress, sales of cattle by livestock owners in order to buy food.

  Government should provide farmers with agricultural inputs and ensure that they have easy access to these inputs under the relief…..24…..[A. action B. process C. scheme D. plan]. Emergency measures will be much more……25…..[A. normal B. correct C. idealistic D. effective] if a mechanism is established to ensure adequate preparedness and defence against the occurrence of drought.

  In 1968 Nigeria was the world biggest producer of groundnuts (averaging 712,600 tonnes a year), the second producer of cocoa (203, 600 tonnes) after Ghana, the fourth producer of tin (13,264 tonnes) and the biggest producer of columbite. Oil palm, growing wild and in plantation in the south, supplied half the world’s export of palm kernels (407, 200 tonnes) and seventy per cent of the world’s export of palm oil (152, 700tonnes). Nigeria forests covered some 310, 800 square kilometres and produced about 1.132 million cubic metres of timber a year, for export as logs, sawn timber or plywood sheets. Rubber was grown by peasant farmers and, increasingly in plantation; and was partially processed in local factories. The ancient livestock industry of the north still supplies the whole country. About a million cattle are slaughtered annually, and the trade is now being modernized and expanded. As a by-product of the type of skin inaccurately called ‘Moroccan leather’ comes from Nigeria.