Lagos and the craze for herbal options

herbal medicine on display

During the strike period by Lagos doctors, in which government-owned hospitals shut their doors against patients, many patients
resorted to use of herbs to treat ailments.
Even though the over 700 sacked doctors have since been replaced by the state
government, many Lagosian still patronise herbal clinics.
In many parts of the city, herbal medicine men boldly come out en masse into the streets promoting many products, which seem to have gained new heights in
patronage by people of different ages, gender, education and income levels.
At Mushin, Agege, Ojo, Badagry and Mile 12, areas which Daily Independent
visited, scores of herbal drug marketers were seen displaying processed and
semi-processed medicines which they claimed could cure pile, hypertension,
diabetes, malaria, hernia, diarrhoea, gonorrheoea, infertility and many other
ailments.
Sule Wonaka, indigene of Kano State, who has been marketing herbal drugs in
Lagos since 2002, boasted the power of herbs to cure all ailments. According to
the 30-year-old man, who said he inherited knowledge about traditional medicine
from his grandfather, “herbal remedies are a good option for irregular
menstruation, ovarian cysts, tooth ache, deafness, skin diseases, fibroids and
barrenness.” Confidently, he added: “I can use the root of plantain, extracts
from cabbage leaves and bitter leaf to treat obesity and diabetes.”
All the herbal medicine traders have bottles loaded with pieces of wood and
medicinal powder which they stated if blended with water, lime, lemon juice,
citrus or strong spirit become therapeutic wonder.
A co-trader, who plies his trade at the popular Mile 12 Market, is Ibrahim
Borno. He explained that the bark, wood and latex of Iroko, a popular tree in
the rain forest of Nigeria, can be used for the treatment of hernia while its
powdered bark is used as antiseptic or for wound or dressing. Bark of oak, tea,
acacia, bramble, nim, shea butter and rubber trees are said to be raw materials
for health-giving drugs.
Middle-aged Fatimo Salawu was holding a jar of herbal drug bought at Iyana
Oba, Ojo, Lagos, when Daily Independent accosted her a fortnight ago. The mother
of four disclosed that her ailment was painful monthly periods which western
medicine could not alleviate satisfactorily. “But since I started taking this
herb about six months ago, I enjoy comfort and peace whenever my ‘visitor’
arrives,” she said.
But the medical challenge of 38-year-old Queen Okafor, who lives at Idi-Oro,
Mushin, Lagos, is not related with body pain, but infertility, an emotional
trauma, especially in an African society that cherishes children and considers
infertile women almost as social misfits.
“I have been married for eight years now, but I have never been able to
conceive despite visiting many hospitals and doing many tests which have proved
that my general condition was satisfactory, my pelvic examination normal; even
my husband’s semen analysis showed no abnormality,” she sadly told Daily
Independent.Some herbalists have also claimed that the seed of cherry can be
useful in curing impotence.
Though doctors believe in the curative potential of herbs, nephrologists
however implored Nigerians to be wary of abuse of herbal medicine because it
could result in kidney damage.
According to them, management of kidney disease usually attracts huge
financial burden. For example, dialysis costs about N80, 000 per week while
kidney transplant costs about N7 million.
They also warned that many herbal medicines abused or blended with strong
alcohol are toxic and could result into heart failure or seizure, lower
breathing rate and ultimately cause death.
Two out of the six men, who said they patronize herbal medicine traders, said
they suffer from relapsing typhoid fever and acute dysentery.
They complained that the cost of hospital treatment of their cases was
exorbitant. The other four stated that their challenge was piles, which are
expanded blood vessels in the anus. They noted that they have lost hope in
western medicine as solution to their ailments, and would rather prefer
anti-piles herbs which cost almost N2,000 per bottle.
Doctors explained that piles are caused by excessive pressure in the
rectum.
One of them, Ayodele Eshinola, a carpenter, said the drug also functions as
aphrodisiac because it corrects erectile dysfunction or failed manhood erection,
a widely believed consequence of chronic piles.
Eshinola, who confirmed that herbal medicine is more effective for piles’
treatment than western medicine, confessed spending a fortune in hospitals
without improvement or cure to his health.
Another piles sufferer, Ayobami Omoyajowo, corroborated Eshinola, saying “the
disease makes manhood turgid during sexual relations.”
These men’s reasons could have informed why those who trade in piles-treating
herbal drugs in the metropolis – at roadsides, on train and public buses, local
markets and bus stops – lace their advertisement messages with lewd phrases and
sensuous images that evoke erotic feelings.
Although no woman was seen demanding piles herbs, but Mustapha Ilyasu, a
street herbal products seller at Ipaja Road, Agege, said some women also buy it
mostly for their “husbands and “to facilitate mutual sexual pleasure.”


culled from dailyindependentonline, may 22, 2012