THE saying that “Every calling is great when greatly
pursued” sums up the life of Rev. Fr. Anselm Adodo, a man called by providence
to double as a monk and herbalist for the good of mankind. A monk of the
order of St. Benedict in Ewu, Edo State, Father Adodo, as he is popularly
called, has for years been involved in intensive research into the medicinal
uses of plants. The Executive Director of Paxherbals, a Catholic centre for the
promotion, development and utilization of African Medicine, Fr Adodo, has
established the first-ever natural hospitals and pharmacovigilance centres in
Lagos and has over 500 distribution and treatment centres both within and
outside Nigeria. He spoke with EBERE AMEH
What informed your going into traditional medicine
practice?
The interest has always been there, but my being in the
monastery helped me to reflect more deeply and see the need for the
preservation of our culture. My interest is more in the area of seeing herbal
tradition as a heritage that belongs to us, which we should not allow to die. I
was keen in preserving this heritage in such a way that we’d have something to
show and teach other nations of the world. It is not all the time we should go
to them, knowledge should flow both ways. I am happy that that is already
happening. We now have medical students from the United States coming to do
internship with us because they have seen something to learn. I mean
full-blooded white Americans who come and tell me, “we want to learn African
medicine.” I’m fulfilled because that was one of the things that motivated me;
that we should have something worth seeking for from outside. That is why, as
much as possible, I put them in writing for the sake of posterity.
Could your growing up have contributed to this? Did you
grow up in the village where you saw nature and the efficacy of herbs?
I grew up in the city, Akure in Ondo State. I was never a
village boy. I grew up in an ordinary family where we lived in close settings
and I went to the school that every young person attended. My school and church
were all in the same area but we all had a general knowledge of herbs.
Everybody knew what to take in case of malaria and minor ailments.
Though I was not born into the Catholic Church, I attended a
Catholic school. My parents were Anglicans and I was very close to my
grandmother and attended the Anglican Church with her.
I read a lot, just like my father who was a headmaster and a
voracious reader. My mother was also a headmistress and I was referred to as
the teachers’ son and so nobody dared touch me. I was always the best in
literature and poetry. I read a lot about Eastern Spirituality, about the
Buddhist Monks who used to go to the mountains to pray.
I was particularly happy when I read about Christian monks
too and I was impressed and said that I would like to be like them so I could
meditate and pray too. It was unusual for me to go to the monastery when I saw
my friends going into other interesting fields, but my mind was made. I was
only 18 years then.
Since then, my hobbies have remained reading, writing, and
listening to people’s stories, trying to see the mystery of life and see what
help I can render. I love reading biographies of great people and the history
of other nations to see how they developed and how they solved their own
problem.
What was the position of your parents, seeing their son
not only leave the family church but going into celibacy and becoming a monk?
At that time, people thought that when you enter into a
monastery, you would have no contact with the outside world again until you die
and get buried there. Regrettably, I had only been around them for just 18
years. That made them uncomfortable, but later, being enlightened people, they
said; “my son, think well, if you think that that is how you want to live your
life, we’ll see how far it goes.” That was all.
How do you juggle your monastic obligation with the
practice of herbal medicine?
Every monastery usually has a herbal garden and a little
herbal clinic. So at Ewu, we just did it in a big and modern way. I feel it is
simply continuing the tradition that has always been there. Nigeria being a
very good country, people are open and are very conscious of their culture and
they love new things. They are happy to see people who are doing something new
and genuine. Their response and the feedback have been encouraging.
How can you rate the acceptance of traditional medicine
in Nigeria?
Starting with the government, the acceptance has not been as
expected in our own opinion, partly because government has not regulated the
sector. Government has no organised approach or policy on traditional medicine
and that is affecting the practitioners. However, on the level of the public,
the acceptance has been very high because people all over the world prefer
natural herbs and they look for whomever they trust for herbal preparations.
Nevertheless, it would have been safer if the government
regulated the sector. Unfortunately, not much is happening now: no policy, no
direction but so much confusion because government has not come up with
something creative, something comprehensive and something that will not
sideline the local people in the village.
There is no plan to train those who are already practicing
and those who are now coming in are more of businesspersons who just want to
market their products. There is a huge difference between marketers and
practitioners.
How has the orthodox medicine practitioners accepted
traditional medicine?
I have always said that orthodox medicine practitioners are
not really against herbal medicine. We have to make a distinction between
herbal and traditional medicine. Traditional medicine always involves the
culture and traditions of the local people often involving some rituals among
others. Herbal medicine on the other hand is just a universal application of
plant and medicinal trees growing in a place without combining them with
rituals or fetish practices. This distinction is very important and I think
herbal medicine is accepted by orthodox practitioners and have always been.
What they worry about is the method and the standard. When they see a place
where the standard is met, they are happy. There are many Medical Doctors
working with us. In fact, we have resident doctors working with us full time
who are also trying to do some research.
Yesterday, when we had consultations here, we had seven
medical doctors among patients that waited to be treated. They felt at home
because they know that we are doing the right thing.
People have always associated herbal medicine with fetish
practices; can we say that the fact that you are educated and a man of God are
the reason for the wide acceptance of your medicine?
Yes, it is part of it. The fact is that we try to bring
everybody on board -— the pharmacist, traditional, herbal and orthodox medicine
practitioners—- because we are all pursuing the same aim, which is to bring
health to the people through using different approaches.
Traditional medicine is not bad, it only needs some little
improvement and enlightenment of the practitioners. What we try to do is not to
jump to rash conclusions on issues. It is better to study what they do, polish
and bring them up than to condemn them. That is what we have been able to do;
to explain what the traditional people are doing and to make them understand
that healthcare has the same approach and goal all over the world.
My position as a priest has helped because people know that
I am not going to consult any oracle. What they see is the way it is, we don’t
hide anything.
How has the patronage been like?
It has been wonderful. We do not advertise, but because of
the efficacy of our medicine, so many people have come to know about us.
How do you see the future of traditional medicine in
Nigeria?
I believe that the future lies with the private
practitioners such as PaxHerbals. So long as we wait for government, we may
wait forever. We need a strong private sector to drive the development of
herbal medicine, which would compel government to become more serious. That was
how development took place in other parts of the world. Government has so much
to do and if we are waiting for them, we will end up complaining for eternity.
That is why we tell other practitioners that we should come
together with one focus and stop being selfish, each person pursuing his own
interest. That is how it is done in Asia and the developed nations for the sake
of the people and those coming after us.
What do you advise Nigerians in relation to their health
I advise all to go back to nature. That is who we are and
where we came from. There is too much of artificiality nowadays all around us
that people have to get conscious of and be enlightened about the important things.
We have fruits and vegetables everywhere but people don’t take them, they
prefer canned foods.
People should take responsibility for their health. The
number of cancer cases is becoming alarming.
...Guardian
No comments:
Post a Comment