Wife of Rivers State Governor, Justice Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, dancing with Rivers children during a special party organised for them at Government House in Port Harcourt, recently.

Naturally, girls and
boys develop quite differently during their early stage of growth. Not only that boys have broad shoulders, deep voices and whiskers in contrast to girls broad hips, feminine curves and soft skin. The development of the reproductive organs in a boy is such as to prepare him to be a husband and father while that of the girl prepares her for ultimate marriage and motherhood.
In this discourse, we are going to examine some certain functions in connection with the development of the female reproductive organs to understand what otherwise might seem to be peculiarities of womankind. Just as in a teenage boy, the reproductive organs of the girl begin to function much earlier than a young woman those of boys, keeping her ready to marry and rear children. The period between the age a girl’s reproductive organs actually begin to function and the time when she becomes a wife allows an opportunity for the young woman to become adjusted to the new role of womanhood. Understanding the functions of a girl’s reproductive organs comes when one relises that their functions are directly related to the possibility of the young woman becoming a mother.
The ovaries are the essential organs of a woman and they are comparable to the testes of a man in two ways. They include producing chemical substances that circulate throughout the body to maintain the feminine characteristics as well as the production of female germ cells. The ovaries are inside a woman’s body-one on the right and one on the left, low in the abdominal cavity.
The plan by which the ovaries produce at which female germ cells (ova) is fundamentally different from the plan by which the testes produce male germ cells (Spermatozoa). Spermatozoa are produced in tremendous numbers, while ova on the other hand, are usually produced at the rate of only one a month. In the ordinary course of events, the right ovary produces an ovum one month, and the left ovary, the next month.
A girl’s ovaries begin to produce ova early in her teens, just about the time her other reproductive organs develop and begin to function. Near each ovary is a tube called oviduct, which leads from the vicinity of the ovary to the uterus or womb. The uterus is a hollow organ about the shape and size of an ordinary pear. It is found in the mid-line of a woman’s body, low in the abdominal cavity.
The oviducts open into the uterus, one on each side, and in each month, as an ovum is produced, it passes through the oviduct to the cavity of the uterus. The lower and the uterus open into a delicate tabular passage called the vagina, which leads from the lower end of the uterus to the outside of the body. Its external opening is situated between the thighs. The principal function of the uterus is to provide protection and nourishment for a growing infant during the nine months that it remains within its mother’s body.
At this time, the unborn infant is fastened to the inside of the uterus in such a way that it obtains its nourishment from the mother. As the infant grows, the wall of the uterus grows and stretches so that it accommodates the unborn child even up to the time of birth. It is worthy of note that the child does not develop within the uterus unless and until a male germ cell provided by the man unites with a  female germ cell from the  woman’s ovary.
This union of germ cells occurs in one or the other of the oviducts. This means that under conditions where parenthood is in prospect, the man places his body in contact with that of the woman and implants seminal fluid in the vagina. The spermatozoa contained in the seminal fluid move upward through the uterus and out into the oviducts. If at this time a female germ cell has recently been produced by one of the ovaries, it unites with one of the spermatozoa, but if no female germ cell is available, all the spermatozoa simply perish.

Stories by Shedie Okpara