Dr Obafemi Jegede, an Ibadan-based indigenous medical expert and lecturer at the University of Ibadan, on Wednesday advised the Nigerian government to consider the efficacy of African medicine in the treatment of coronavirus.
Jegede spoke to Our Correspondent in Ibadan while reacting to the calls for consideration of indigenous African medicine in treating the coronavirus.
The Senior Research Fellow in ethno-medicine at the Institute of African Studies stated that he had personally developed two indigenous drugs that could cure COVID-19 and three other drugs that could prevent it.
He, however, expressed sadness that government had at various times in the past ignored the contributions of indigenous medical experts.
“I have said it times without number that the solution to the problem of coronavirus virus lies in the knowledge of African indiginous medicine.
“In African medicine, we don’t base our treatment on western scientific method, but purely on intuition.
“I have written the Oyo State government through the office of the Commissioner for Health to consider my research and discovery in the treatment of COVID-19 patients,” Jegede said.
He called on the health authorities and government to stop comparing western empirical standards to judge or invalidate African medical discoveries because they might be miscalculating in so doing.
Our Correspondent recalls that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, recently advised the government to consider how to harness native medicine in treating COVID-19.
