FIRST, LET'S KILL ALL THE HERBALISTS!

She was carrying a big coffeemaker on one hand and a bag of plastic cups on the other. From the way she walked and darted her eyes around expectantly, it became apparent that she was a peddler of some sorts – maybe an itinerant beverage brewer, or one of those new-product canvassers. A workman in a nearby garage called her, she stopped at the front, laid down the giant flask, carefully brought out a cup from her bundle, poured out a fuming hot, dark liquid into the cup, and handed it to the customer, who gingerly took it from her and began to sip with total concentration. The lady, noticing that I was engrossed by the transaction, turned to me with a sweet smile, “This is herbal tea. It is very good for your health. It has authentic medicinal properties; many people now drink it every day. It is from China.”

Now, can somebody tell me the difference between what this herbal tea seller described above is doing from what the many Nigerian girls hawking bottles of herbal brews popularly called “agbo” are doing? Well, the difference might be in the fact that the Chinese herbal concoctions are masterfully packaged and marketed. In fact, even our elite are proud to consume them. But in contrast, our own herbal solutions are perceived as dirty and dangerous to health; and no member of the elite would like to be seen patronising any of those “agbo” sellers. But the irony is that Nigeria, and indeed Africa, has more raw materials for these herbal medicines than China and all other developed nations. We are blessed with so many bioresources that it is a pity to think of the money we are missing in the global herbal medicine market, estimated to be worth over $100bn. For the sake of definition, herbalism (commerce in herbs) means the growth, collection, and sale or dispensing of aromatic herbs, especially those considered to have medicinal properties.

It even goes beyond just herbalism; orthodox medicine depends on herbs. According to the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency, it is estimated that about 25 per cent of the drugs prescribed worldwide are derived from plants, and such active compounds are in use. Of the total 252 drugs in World Health Organisation’s essential medicine list, 11 per cent is exclusively of plant origin. Nearly 80 per cent of African and Asian populations depend on traditional medicines for their primary health care. In Nigeria, more than 80 per cent of the rural population use medicinal herbs or indigenous systems of medicine. A comprehensive review of African medicinal plants listed more than 2,000 plant species that are used in traditional medical practice in various parts of the continent. These rich arrays of plant species notwithstanding, Nigeria, like most other African countries, plays very insignificant roles in the estimated herbal medicine global trade. Laughably, China not only gives us technology now, they give us herbs too.

So, to mimic the popular Nigerian lawyers’ catchphrase, “First thing we do, let us kill all the (Nigerian) herbalists!” Well, it is also important to point out that the origin of the expression is in William Shakespeare’s book, “Henry VI”, where Dick the Butcher stated in Part II, Act IV, Scene II, Line 73, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Dick the Butcher was a follower of the rebel, Jack Cade, who thought that if he disturbed law and order, he could become king. Shakespeare meant it as a compliment to attorneys and judges who instill justice in society. On the same hand, I recognise the importance of herbalists in our world, and it is high time we utilised our own herbalists to attract some foreign currencies to Nigeria, and also to create the much-needed jobs.

Interestingly, earlier this year, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed that the ministry was working on the integration of traditional medicine practice into medical school curriculum in Nigerian universities. Against this background, it is noteworthy to remember that traditional medicine practitioners in Nigeria have been clamouring for formal recognition and acceptance just like the orthodox medicine practitioners. Therefore, at a first glance, this move by the Federal Government would seem like the veritable jump-start needed to push the country into a herbal medicine revolution. However, when we consider the fact that the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency, under the Ministry of Science and Technology, has been in existence since 1997, we can see that the Minister of Health’s plans might just be another manifestation of the unfortunate Nigerian federal fiscal waste syndrome, where a lot of moves are made without any action.

To be sure, the mandate of the NNMDA reads thus: “This is to enable government through the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to actualise its critical and strategic mandate to research, develop, collate, document, preserve, conserve and promote the nation’s indigenous (traditional) health care systems, medication and non- medication healing arts, sciences and technologies and assist facilitate its integration into the National Health care Delivery System, as well as contribute to the nation’s wealth and job creation, socio-economic growth and development effort.” From this, it is obvious that, had the agency, and in fact the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, been carrying out its gazetted functions creatively and proactively, the nation would have by now become a major exporter of herbal products. This is because we have all the raw materials, natural and human, needed to attain any global height in herbal medicine practice, also known as alternative medicine.

Granted, in developed countries there are schools and colleges that offer courses in alternative medicine; the practitioners have the title of Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine in front of their names. In 16 American states and six Canadian provinces, for example, the title refers exclusively to a medical degree granted by an accredited naturopathic medical school. But I do not think this is the time for Nigeria to complicate issues by incorporating traditional medicine into its medical schools’ curriculum. The poor students are already burdened with enough study modules and materials while struggling under our peculiar harsh academic environment; they do not need extra herbal lessons. What our government can do is to create special medical schools, or/and special degrees, for natural medicine practice; and then establish a comprehensive linkage with the NNMDA, which is basically a research agency. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control will then effectively team up with them in order to bring sanity to the herbal medicine sub-sector.

 

By Greg Odogwu