The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), Dr Adeleke Mamora, has promised to solicit for more support and funding for research in traditional medicine.
He spoke during his maiden visit to the Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) in Lagos.
The Minister, reacting to the challenges earlier highlighted by the NNMDA Director-General, Dr Samuel Etatuvie, said the research centre needed more funds as a knowledge-based economy to enable the agency carry out research on the integration of traditional medicine into modern medicine.
“As your parent ministry, we will continue to struggle and strive to get more funding.
“We need to put more money into research because we are talking about a knowledge-based economy. Knowledge comes through research; so if we want to get more, we should also put more.”
He explained that the ministry was looking forward to having a centre for authentic alternative medicinal plants market in Abuja and the six geo-political zones across the nation.
“Medicinal plant market, you will recall that some months back, I was still in the Ministry of Health. You recall that the First Lady, Dr Aisha Buhari, organised a two-day conference on Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Council Bill, which attracted a lot of stakeholders across the nation and one of the things.
“She put forward was alternatives for the medicinal plant market. We are looking forward to having that in Abuja and the six geo-political zones.
“Because before I left the Ministry of Health, I wrote a letter to the Minister of FCT. It will enable us to have authentic medicinal plants so that people can approach the market and see that this is it. Because it is not just in modern medicine that we have quackery, we have quackery even in traditional medicine.
“That’s where we need to separate the chaff from the wheat. I saw something like that in South Africa where you have traditional plant markets, people displaying their wares and you that what you are getting from this market original. It is good we are looking at that,” Mamaora said.
Commending the NNMDA Director-General, Mamora said he was impressed by what the agency had achieved over the years without much funding. “And after moving around and then capping it up with your presentation, I can only say ‘well done.’ And to your team, because you did it all alone. That is the joy of ‘we.’ That is the spirit of teamwork.You achieve more when you work as a team and there is a united purpose.
“In the spirit of innovation, you have also brought in some renovation because when we were going around, you were telling me you needed to invite some people that can make use of the laboratory, the hall and cause not for free. I have been to Freetown and in Freetown food is not free. That is part of thinking outside of the box so that you can increase your IGR,” he said.
On the lack of Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients (API) for research purposes, Mamora said that it was not enough in the country but that a bulk of it is imported from India and China. “You talked about Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), which come from the natural product, but you know we don’t have much of that in this country. We are getting the bulk from India and China; so that’s one area in which we can get a lot if we put in the work and I believe we can. So we need to explore and exploit what we have.”
He added that the integration of traditional medicine with modern medicine is important if Nigeria must achieve the universal health demand. “You mentioned the case of Senegal and that’s the goal of integration because the truth is we can’t achieve universal health coverage without that integration. Traditional medicine has been with us for ages and the truth is that it can’t be wrong. If it were wrong, it will not last over the centuries and whether we like it or not it is the first point of contact for our rural area dwellers. We need to modernise it where we need to if we want to achieve universal coverage. It is cheaper and safer and less complicated. So why are we not embracing it for the benefit of our people? We need to recognise and do the needful in that regard.”
On National Assembly passing a resolution for the agency funding, Mamora promised who to follow up on it. He said: “Resolution without appropriation is like a proverb without cash value. It is not enough for a resolution to be passed; it should go further to appropriate because they have the power for appropriation. It was when I got to the public service that I knew what was called approval without cash value. We need to work on that because it is desirable for you; you know what to do but you are constrained because of funding.
“You will not rely just on government funding, you will need to reach out to partners. You need to reach out to men and women of goodwill, people who are willing to assist provided you can justify and give assurance of effective use of whatever available funds. We will open our eyes and ears to look over the place where we can get additional funding for you to carry out the mandate and goals you have set for yourself as an agency. From what I have seen so far, I will say you have done very well but you can still do more and I know you will do more.”
Earlier, Etatuvie said NNMDA lacks funding to carry out its research. “We do a lot of ethno-surveys and veterinary surveys. We carry out researches and documentations. When the agency was established during the commencement of democracy in this country, the Senate set up a Committee to review the parastatals; they acknowledged the relevance of the agency in their report and stated that the agency is very important. Therefore there is need for adequate funding,” he said.
Etatuvie added that the agency is involved in the promotion of bio-resources. NNMDA promotes cultivation of bio-resources on a large scale, at least a minimum of 12 acres of land, in the six geo-political zones.