Regina Otokpa 
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero has urged the Federal Government to explore the huge financial gains exportation of herbal medicines could attract to the nation’s economy by legalising and exporting it.
Ajaero noted that herbal medicine has capacity to generate trillions of Naira, when he received the newest member of the NLC, the National Association of Herbal Medicine Employers (NAHME) in Abuja, stressed the importance of integrating herbal medicine into the country’s mainstream health system to boost access to healthcare services.
The Comrade President who expressed concerns over Nigeria and Nigerians over reliance on imported pharmaceuticals amidst foreign exchange challenges, urged the country to look towards advancing local herbal remedies as a sustainable alternative.
While calling on the government to
legitimize traditional medicine, the NLC President said there was need for the establishment of herbal hospitals to bridge the existing gaps in quality healthcare delivery, following the efficacy of herbal medicine in
tackling indigenous health challenges.
He said: “We understand the importance of herbal medicine but it is still a vague area that we need to explore especially for a country like Nigeria, where the economy is not booming.
“Ordinarily, we should explore this herbal medicine or alternative medicine as they will call it, to the extent that it will be a revenue earner for the country, that we will be exporting our drugs to other countries, and that people can be coming into the country for treatment with our own drugs.
“That this issue of herbal medicine and alternative medicine is being regulated was part of the problems we inherited from the whites.
“When they came in here, our religion, our way of life, our way of dressing, everything went down. But, from independence, Nigerians have started going back to their roots. And I do not see why we should not go back to our roots.
“If herbal medicine or alternative medicine is explored in Nigeria, Nigeria will be making trillions through exports of these drugs, and that is an area that I would tell the Nigerian government, that since they are thinking of ways of diversifying the economy, they consider exploring it adequately.
“The potency of herbal medicine is not in doubt. There are elements that you can not trace their genealogy to English culture.
“It is rooted in Nigerian culture. And it is clear that we know the solution. Because those illnesses are indigenous to this place.”
President of NAHME, Yemi Areola who formally presented the union’s certificate of registration and officially declared the union’s affiliation to the NLC, noted that herbal medicine has great potentials including an immense contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) if properly harnessed.
“Herbal medicine can help our country in many ways. It can contribute to the GDP and growth of the economy as it is with countries like China, India and many others.
“It can equally help the save the lives give many people who cannot afford orthodox medicine. We need government intervention to move forward.
General Secretary NAHME, Oluyori Francis, urged the Nigerian government to consider herbal.medicine as an alternative to orthodox medicine and a means of generating more revenue to boost the nation’s economy..
“Like other countries of the world, we have capacity to heal our sick people and contribute to economic growth of the country. We are a registered union today by God grace. We need more recognition and support from the government.”
