President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has been away since May 7th, 2017 on a medical trip to London but the National Association of the Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners has said that its members can cure the president of any ailment he is battling with if consulted.
Dr. Adesunmiboye Fawawo, a patron of the Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners, said this on Tuesday, July, 4, in Osogbo during an interview with a Punch correspondent on the sidelines of the inauguration of the new executives of the association.
According to him, many Nigerians die cheaply because the practice of medicinal and therapeutic use of plants was being looked down upon in the country while orthodox medicine was being promoted.
He said:
“President Muhammadu Buhari is our national leader and we must guard him with all jealousy. We are a national body which is recognised by the Federal Government. The association was established during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and he used our products. You can see how strong he is even at his age.
“We have been able to treat patients whose families had lost hope on their recovery. Unfortunately, we have not been consulted to treat President Buhari. We can treat him and the government must realise that travelling abroad for treatment may not solve the issue.
“If you get to mortuaries, many corpses found there are those of rich people because they don’t trust their health with local treatment. Many rich people believe in expensive drugs and treatment but this will go a long way to deepen recession.”
Speaking further, Dr. Adesunmiboye said those who were scared of the potency of herbs usually frightened others by saying that herbs caused kidney problems and other health problems.
This, according to him is false as long as the right dosage is used.
He went on to say that some herbal products were being exported to Europe and the United States while some were in hospitals, including seleru agbo which, he said, was at the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo.
Adesunmiboye revealed that the Nigeria Educational Research Development Council, in alliance with the Osun State Government, was working on how to teach pupils the use of herbs to cure common ailments like stomach ache and others.
In his remarks, the Dr. Ade Adeagbo who is the Assistant Secretary General of the association, lamented the neglect of traditional medicine in the country, saying Nigeria was wasting a huge amount on the importation of drugs.
He suggested that government should invest in local production of herbal mixtures instead of wasting money to import synthetic drugs which, according to him, has many negative side effects.