Herbal Humor Through The Tortuous Road
Written by Bolanle Alebede Friday, 03 December 2010 06:28
The title of this piece aptly represents the mood, nostalgia and laughter through the memory lane of pain and sometimes drama witnessed by the erstwhile pacesetters in traditional medicine towards the recognition of herbal medicine in Nigeria. The commitment, contribution and endurance of distinguished sons and daughters of Nigeria are worthy of note before we forget and sweep them away into the dustbin of history. It is of paramount importance that we do as we end the decade of the African Traditional Medicine as proclaimed by the African Union 2001-2010.
At a well attended celebration put together by the Nigerian National Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) the scenario was that of flashback and celebration, most of the speakers at the event were those who can write a book on the genesis of traditional medicine acceptance in Nigeria.
Although the road has been tortuous and the task tedious according to Dr Olu Ogunye, the first Director of the Department of Medical and Natural science which was the first act to be passed by the Alhaji Sheu Shagari's administration through the establishment of the Federal ministry of Science and Technology in 1982- this later metamorphoses to what is now known as NNMDA. “We can now justifiably hold our head high and tell our people and National Assembly members and law makers that we have now arrived.” In the past, the popular herbal medication was the smelly cow-urine concoction for the treatment of infant febrile convulsion. But every herbal medication must be subjected to the rigorous proof of science for it to be accepted and advocated.
Wonder how many people know that it a was during the tenure of Dr Ogunye as a Director of the department of Medical and Natural Science that Prince Julius Adelusi Adeluyi of Julie Pharmacy and Prof. Abayomi Sofowora forwarded a proposal for the establishment of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development(NIPRID) now in Abuja. Do you know that NIPRID was the only new parastaltal approved by the fearsome regime of Buhari/Idiagbon.
The story was told of how the late Honorable Minister of Health, the late Prof. Olikoye Ransome Kuti invited the two competing traditional medicine practitioners to his office for some mediation. Before they could take their seats after the customary greetings, and before you say Jack Robinson, one of them collapsed and had to be given mouth to mouth resuscitation and intravenous adrenalin. In the village setting where I come from it would have been a topic of joke after the rigor of the day farming, during the relaxation time later in the evening, over a calabash of palm wine. The main title of the gist for the evening would have been “Power pass Power”. As the story goes, that was the last time the late erudite Professor accommodated either group in his office- end of tournament!
Similar drama occurred when a resolution was passed to ban the Traditional Medicine Council, In a flashback to the incident, Dr Ogunye recalled- he had to go personal with the Minister at one of such meetings, Note-“The minister is a Pediatrician like Ogunye”. And so he said “ Honorable Minister sir, do you know how many times we Pediatricians have given the wrong doses of Digoxin to ailing infants in congestive failure, or how many obstetricians have left scissors and scalpels in the belly of pregnant women or how many times our trained surgeons have amputated the wrong leg at our prestigious Igobi? That passionate argument did the trick, the whole hall became silent, a committee was then set up to tour many institutions of the world where traditional medicine and alternative medicine were been practiced successfully. The house received a memorandum on it- their conclusion then was “that traditional medicine practitioners constitute a formidable force and their practice is part of our culture”
Suffice to say that the battle is still on, what has Africa and indeed Nigeria achieved since the decision of the heads of states and government in Lusaka Zambia 2001-2010? Summarily, there has been an expansion of traditional healthcare in Nigeria for over three decades now regardless of the decade proclamation. We thank T.F Okujagu for giving us an opportunity to hear many of the inside stories and remember to tell the legislator representing your village at the National Assembly in Abuja to ask for what happened to the bill on traditional medicine. Join in the crusade.
| ||||||
More articles by this author
Have You Done Your Medical Check-up
Traditional Birth Attendant To The Rescue