Hope O’Rukevbe EGHAGHA
The immediate trigger for this intervention is the reckless manner in which herbal ‘solutions to all ailments’ are routinely and insultingly advertised on radio and social media platforms across the country. The adverts have misled very many people to the grave. Judging from reactions to my Facebook post on the subject, the malaise is deeply cancerous and malignant across the country, and as someone observed, I should travel to Ghana to see for myself. The impression the person gave is that the situation is worse in Ghana. The major question is: who regulates practitioners of herbal medicine?
Let me state from the outset that if I had my way, if our traditional herbalists can perfect their art and skills, I would rather go with them than with the big names and medications which the pharmaceuticals parade with aggressive propaganda. I believe in the efficacy of herbs if we understand and know how to use them as our African progenitors did. Also, as a man of the Christian faith, I believe the revelatory verse by Prophet Ezekiel when he says, ‘Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not fail… their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for MEDICINE! (The Book of Ezekiel 47:12). ‘Agbo’ in Yoruba or ‘obe’ in Urhobo language, has a biblical basis!
For the record, our African progenitors asserted that for every ailment there is a cure in the bush, as quoted by Nigerian dramatist Ola Rotimi in his play The Gods Are not to Blame! For effectiveness, they added the spiritual dimension to herbal treatment. This, most Christians object to. The cure is in the herb. Not in the incantation! So, let no one assume that as a professor I denigrate herbal medicine because it is practiced by the no-so-educated!
By extant regulations, ‘herbal medicine in Nigeria is primarily regulated by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), alongside complementary oversight from the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA).
How effective are these safeguard bodies in their supervisory and policing roles? Do they have capacity to vet the claims made in those adverts? Apart from NAFDAC registration numbers which can be faked, does the monitoring agency have the facilities to monitor and establish the authenticity or otherwise of the claims? Do they have functional laboratories and equipment to do the job? What about the NBC? As the statutory body charged with licensing, monitoring, and regulating radio and television stations in Nigeria, has it lived up to its duties?
Most of the herbal medicine practitioners make bogus claims. They promote fear by describing certain symptoms and claiming that you should pay them a visit before the disease will ‘kpai’ you. ‘Staphylococcus’ is frequently mentioned by almost all of them. I asked a doctor friend about the disease and she said it’s an infection. I followed it up with a search on yahoo engine. Staphylococcus ‘is a group of spherical, Gram-positive bacteria that commonly cluster together like bunches of grapes. Some claim to cure all diseases. No specialization. No boundaries.
I am particularly concerned about radio adverts. The medium seems to give the product and its advertiser some credibility. ‘Baba’s shop is at Udu junction or behind Uduaghan bus park’, is a radio jingle in the Warri area of Delta State. This is the first contradiction I would like to point out. If medical doctors are not allowed to advertise their hospitals why should herbal medicine practitioners be an exception? If lawyers are not by convention and the ethics of their profession precluded from advertising their products, why are herbal medicine practitioners allowed to flaunt their bogus claims? I am aware that the religious programme ‘Atmosphere for Miracles’ was banned by the Nigerian media regulatory authorities because it ‘advertised miracles!
Herbal and traditional medicine is very popular in Nigeria. Not too long ago, that is, before contact with Western medicine, herbal medicine was the only health care choice that was open to Nigerians who took ill. Meta AI says that ‘before western biomedicine arrived, healthcare across Africa was driven by diverse, deeply rooted indigenous traditional medical systems tailored to local ecologies, cultures, and social structures.
For example, herbs effectively treated malaria and other fevers. There were herbs to aid childbirth, to stop bleeding, to stop stomach pain, to aid sleep, and other ailments. The bone doctors were also very effective though they got it wrong sometimes. It was a small, close group. Tightly knit like a cult. They let out the treatment secrets to their chosen acolyte. They did not practice herbal cure to be wealthy. Often, some would ask their patient to take the herbal medicine and return to say thank you once they got better. As young as I am, I met a few back in the Delta.
There are recent studies which ‘show that awareness of herbal and traditional remedies (often called Maganin Gargajiya in the north or local root mixtures/bitters (agbo) in the south) exceeds 97%, with active usage rates ranging between 65% and 82% across various demographics and patient groups. There is hardly anybody in the country who is not aware of ‘agbo’ or ‘roots’ made from different barks of trees and leaves from the bush. Dogonyaro is very popular. Moringa. Efirin or scent leaf. Obokoiyeke.
Herbal medicine is both cultural and social, deeply embedded in the consciousness of the average Nigerian. Of course, the typical elite look down on ‘agbo’, mainly because one is not sure of its chemical composition.
It is popular all over Africa too. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over 80% of the ‘continent’s population relies on it for their basic health care needs. It is also reported that “90% of the population in Ethiopia and over 70% in countries like Ghana use herbal remedies as part of their primary healthcare.
The reason for this continuous patronage is the high cost of receiving medical attention in hospitals (both government-owned and private). Medications have been priced out of the reach of the common man. Herbal medicine is cheaper in the short run. It can be costly because by the time the health condition deteriorates and the patient rushes to the hospital it is often too late. Sometimes, agbo destroys body organs. Doctors say that kidney failure rates in the country have increased exponentially.
This is not to disparage traditional herbs at all. I know some have been very efficacious. Someone I know visited a masseur/traditional birth matron in Ketu area of Lagos when she had her last pregnancy for a massage. The old mama would position the baby if it had shifted. Just before delivery, the lady was told that the baby was breech, and they would have to do surgery. Mama re-positioned the baby before D Day and there was no surgery! As an elite wife, she couldn’t say to the elite doctors at Island maternity that it was traditional birth mama that performed the miracle. During one of her visits, when the mama saw that madam kept spitting, she asked: when a hen is pregnant does it spit? Madam said no. She brought out a powder and gave it to her to lick. The excessive spitting stopped immediately.
As for the media houses, they smile to the bank because of the easy money which the adverts and jingles bring into the broadcasting business. But we cannot because of expected income endanger the lives of citizens. The government needs to regulate such broadcasts.
NAFDAC should step up its regulatory activities. Only NAFDAC-verified and approved claims should be broadcast. ‘Regulating herbal medicine in Nigeria is mandatory to protect public health, ensure product safety and efficacy, and stop the circulation of unregistered or toxic remedies. While I was working on this essay, I saw a TV footage of a NAFDAC raid on a filthy facility in Lagos where some miscreants were producing fake herbs. Such persons must be brought before the law and punished in accordance with extant laws.
In fact, there ought to be a strong link between NAFDAC and NBC on this subject. Also, the National Association of Nigeria Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP) ought to be worried that its members are making preposterous claims on radio. Our traditional medicine practitioners should internalize their products the way the Chinese have done. You can walk into a shop in London and buy Chinese herb for hypertension. This is because their products have been tested through the British system. Let us put on our thinking cap and codify our herbals! Through a collaboration between ministry of Health and the relevant departments in the universities, something revolutionary can be achieved.
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