Reactions from trado-medicine practitioners in Edo State have been coming to our news desk since the Obaseki-led administration indicated its willingness to integrate the practice with orthodox medical arena, the latest being from an Uromi-based traditional medicine practitioner and vice president of Modern Traditional Medicine Practitioners of Nigeria, Chief Dr Patrick Ebason, who also is known as the Atalakpa of Uromi Kingdom, besides the accolade of Oba Ogboni aborigenes of Edo State.
Chief Ebason in an interview said for this laudable development to succeed, traditional medicine practitioners should be made ministers and commissioners of health at the federal and state levels, respectively.
According to him, “If government is really serious about interrogating traditional medicine with the orthodox medicine, all the health ministries should be headed by traditional medicine practitioners because the present system whereby only orthodox doctors occupy such positions is not only selfish but also lopsided.”
He argued that the orthodox medicine practitioners will only ensure that only their views and submissions are upheld while they would also block the chances of letting people know the efficacy of their prescribed curative herbs.
He opined that if the World Health Organization (WHO) is really serious about the possibility and desire to integrate traditional medicine with the orthodox medicine, traditional native doctors must also be part of the policy making in health institutions.
According to him, “The issue of regulated dose of trado herbs has no basis for traditional medicine being rejected as any drug prepared and meant for consumption by the native doctors also has specific dosage instructions. There are always instructions on the usage of traditional medicine even though oral.”
Like what the Oduma of Ugbezanzan said, Chief Ebason stated that most of the traditional medicine practitioners of Edo origin usually do not advertise their prowess because they believe that whoever seeks their services always tells others if they know what they do.
He said, “Even in the good old days of our fathers from whom we learnt this trade, they never had signposts or billboards. When they treat, those treated will be the ones who go about to tell others. Therefore, we are very diligent in our work.”
Continuing, he claimed for example, “the Ishans are the rulers of the night” and “witches and wizards originate from this land”.
However, in the recent past, the problem has been the lack of unity among traditional medicine practitioners and herbalists. It was against this backdrop that the Federal Government was approached for due recognition. Perhaps this was why Alhaji Dada Nakowa was elected to lead the body of the present group of traditional medicine practitioners when the Federal Ministry of Health refused to recognize and work with the former body headed by the late Chief Dr Omo Olibheale, then life president of the now defunct Association of Traditional Medicine Practitioners.
This was due to the numerous litigations by the group against the Federal Ministry of Health and its subsidiaries. Because of this, Alhaji Dada Nakowa changed the name of the body. Presently it is known as Modern Traditional Medicine Practitioners of Nigeria (MTMPN). With the birth of this organization, quacks who parade themselves as native doctors as well as those who are not duly registered with this body are considered as impostors and fake. This set of persons, when they are discovered and arrested, kind of bring the practitioners to disrepute, hence they are committed to working with the federal and state governments.
Chief Ebason also stated that a task force has been set up to fish out such quacks for possible prosecution.
On the apathy of young men and women towards the practice of trado medicine, he said it is the reason why he is determined to ensure the continuity by making all his children get involved in his trade even at the very tender age so that when he joins his ancestors they will continue from where he stopped.
On the issue of morals, he maintained that importation and wrong perception of the culture of the whites should be addressed, saying some of the programmes on television contributed largely to the moral decadence.
“They corrupted our culture, hence you see the children of nowadays behave waywardly. Besides, our polygamous family system is also another problem especially in situations whereby the children are greatly influenced by their respective mothers,” he said.
Chief Ebason has an “Aro edion shrine” where his followers worship every Sunday. While calling on the Edo State government to be focused on this integration process, Chief Ebason also called on his colleagues to face whatever they are doing very well and not forget to teach their children traditional medicine practice. He appealed to both the federal and state governments to build traditional hospitals and schools so as to enable Edo children to learn and practice the art because it is part of heritage.
Stroke, epilepsy, pile, diabetes and problems with the liver are what he boasted about being a specialist in curing, though he was quick to mention that spiritual problems also have solutions in his domain.
