Ogun Trains Herbalists To Compete Globally

The Ogun State government has begun the training of herbalists across the state as part of its intention to compete in the world traditional medicine market, an official has said.

The Executive Secretary of Ogun Alternate Medicine Board (OGAMB), Dr. Kafayat Lawal, disclosed this on Friday in Abeokuta.

She disclosed this while declaring open a one-day workshop tagged “Intensive Training for Herbal Medicine Manufacturers on Safety and Efficacy of Herbal Products”.

Lawal said OGAMB was established to standardise and regularise the practice of alternate medicine.

“One of the major challenges in the practice is standardisation.

“The Board will partner with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to design a strategy for promoting indigenous medicine, thereby generating revenue for the state,” she said.

In his lecture, the Head of Department of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Prof. Alfred Jaiyesinmi, listed hygiene, dosage, referral and registration with government being germane to herbal practice.
“This will help to prove that the sub-sector is fully professional,” he said.

Jaiyesinmi urged government to invest in herbal plantations, as medicinal plants were going into extinction.

In his remarks, a representative from the
Commonwealth Traditional Healers Association, Dr. Olu Adeola, commended the present administration for its efforts to develop alternate medicine.

He requested the government’s intervention in NAFDAC’s conditions for herbal production.

Some participants at the workshop, the Oba Isegun Obada-Oko, Chief Sunday Ololade, and National President, Ewedayepo Traditional Healers Association, Dr. Adesina Odugbemi, appreciated the government and OGAMB for organising the programme.

They said it has improved their knowledge and level of orientation in line with international practices, using the opportunity to call for the sustenance of such training.