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FG To Regulate Indigenous Drugs

Prof. Olatunde Ajagbonna of University of Abuja (UniAbuja) has called on the Federal Government to provide adequate legislation and regulation of local drugs capable of curing diseases.

Ajagbonna, a professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, made the call at UniAbuja in a lecture delivered at the 24th inaugural lecture of the institution.

The lecture was titled: “’Ethnopharmacology in the Triangle of Man, Animal and Disease’’.

According to the don, some Nigerians are dying between ages 30 and 40 years because of synthetic drugs.

He said that toxins in human bodies were on the rise, but lamented that the various natural medicinal plants the country was blessed with were being neglected.

“We have plants we can leverage on for almost all diseases of man and animal. These plants medicine is cheap, easily accessible and is tolerable to most of us.

“Our forefathers lived on these plants and they lived long in a state of wellness.

“But today, there are many drugs, yet men and women die at early ages of 30 to 40 and this shows that something is missing, and we must get back and develop these plants,” he said.

Ajagbonna said, for instance, that the Fulanis in the country use natural herbs for their wellbeing, adding that that they are very strong and agile.

He disclosed that apart from medicinal benefits of these plants which can be leveraged on for sustainable development; there was a huge market for it which other countries are already making huge amounts of money from.

“It is something we can leverage on for sustainable development because other global markets are in tune of almost 90 to 100 billion dollars and it is rising to five trillion.

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“Whereas, Nigeria is the hot spot, we are not matching our word with action. It is a huge market and especially as we are talking of diversification, we should be able to look at this area,” he said.

Ajagbonna stressed that for government to improve the health and wellbeing of the citizenry, it must recognise that plants can be leveraged on.

He also underscored the need for the improvement of research and development, as well as regular building of capacity of scientists in the country.

“Many of us have gone outside the country and we could see most of the work we have done, we have done much work, but have not been able to take it to drug development due to the lack of infrastructure,” he added.

He said that without adequate legislation and standardisation of indigenous drugs, Nigeria cannot have the best of it and cannot enter into the world market.

“We need to wake up to develop these plants and be in the same state with China and India who are the two key players in this area,” he stressed.

Ajagbonna is a foundation staff of the Veterinary Department, Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto.

He was appointed a Professor in 2003, and is the first Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology in UniAbuja.

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