Traditional medicine, as is well known,
is a cultural gem of various
communities around the world and
encompasses all kinds of folk medicine, unconventional medicine and
indeed any kind of therapeutical method that had been handed down
by the tradition of a community or
ethnic group.


By the World Health Organisation
(W.H.O 1976) definition, traditional
medicine is the sum total of all
knowledge and practices, whether
expli cable or not, used in diagnosis,
prevention and elimination of physical, mental or social imbalance and relying
exclusively on practical experience
and observations handed down from
generation to generation, whether
verbally or in writing. With these
descriptions, various forms of medicines and thera pies such as
herbal medicine, massage, homeopa
thy, mud bath, music therapy, wax
bath, reflexology, dance therapy,
hydrotherapy, mind and spirit thera
pies, self-exercise therapies radiation and vibration, osteopathy,
chiropractice,aroma therapy,
preventive medicine, radiant heat
therapy, therapeutic fasting and
dieting spinal manipulation,
psychotherapy, etc. are a few elements of traditional medicine.
It does show
that a large country of the size of
Nigeria, with diverse cultures and
traditions, should be rich in traditional
medicine and should have eminent
and respected traditional healers to take care of the teeming population.

The traditional healer, as defined by
the W.H.O (1976), is a person who is
recognised by the community in
which he lives as competent to
provide health care by using
vegetable, animal and mineral substances and certain other methods
based on the social, cultural and
religious background, as well as on
the knowledge, attributes and beliefs
that are prevalent in the community,
regarding physical, mental and social well-being and the causation of
disease and disability.

CATEGORIES OF TRADITIONAL
HEALERS
For most countries of the world, just as
we have in Nigeria, a traditional healer
may be able to per form many
functions thereby becoming more
versa tile as a healer. The various
categories of tradition al healers, perhaps specialists known in
traditional medicine today include (A.
Tella, 1986; M. M. lwu, 1986). Herbalists: Herbalists use mainly herbs, that is, medicinal plants or parts
of such plants-whole root, stem,
leaves, stem bark or root bark,
flowers, fruits, seeds, but sometimes
animal parts, small whole animal —
snails, snakes, chameleons, tor toises, lizards, etc; inorganic residues - alum,
cam phor, salt, etc — and insects, bees,
black ants etc. are added. Such herbal preparations may be
offered in the form of (i) powder,
which could be swallowed or taken
with pap (cold or hot) or any drink, (ii)
powder, rubbed into cuts made on
any part of the body with a sharp knife, (iii) preparation, soaked for
some time in water or local gin,
decanted as required before drinking;
the materials could also be boiled in
water, cooled and strained (iv)
preparation pounded with native soap and used for bathing; such "medicated
soaps" are commonly used for skin
diseases, (v)pastes, pomades or
ointments, in a medium of palm oil or
shea butter, or (vi) soup which is
consumed by the patient. Herbal prepara tions may also be
administered as enema. The herbalist cures mainly with plants
which he gathers fresh. When
seasonal plants have to be used, these
plants are collected when available
and are preserved usually by drying to
eliminate mois ture. Herbs were the first medicines used by pre historic
man. They are, therefore, part of every
cul tural tradition and have helped the
development and growth of herbalism
in Nigeria.

Traditional Surgeon:
The various forms of surgery
recognised in traditional medical care
include:
(i) the cutting of tribal marks: traditional surgeons usually cut tribal
marks into the cheeks, bellies, etc. and
charred herbal products are usually
rubbed into these bleeding marks to
effect healing,
(II) male and female circumcision (Clitori dectomy): traditional surgeons carry out these simple
surgical operations with special knives
and scissors; blood-letting operations
and wounds that result from these
operations are usually treated with
snail body fluid or pastes prepared from plants. These practices are,
however, fast dvino out in urban
areas.
(iii) removal of whitlow: diseased toes or fingers are usually cut open
and treated. Piercing of ear lobes:
particularly in the youth to allow the
fixing of ear rings. Extraction of tooth:
infected teeth or teeth with holes that
bring pain to the mouth are removed and treated with herbal medicines
prepared in local gin.
Performance of
amputations: occasionally and very
rarely too, there are amputations per
formed with 'anaesthesia'; usually, the
patient is sent to sleep with a strong narcotic concoction and the
amputation done with a very sharp
knife. The excision has to be achieved
with the very first stroke. The stump is
packed with a suitable herbal
preparation and healing usually occurs within some four or five weeks.

Cutting of the uvula (uvulectomy); the cut ting of the uvula is widely
practised. It is believed that
uvulectomy can protect the patient
from various infections of the pharynx
and the respiratory system.

Traditional surgeons in the northern part of Nigeria are versed in cutting off
the upper end of the throat flap
commonly referred to as epiglottis for
the treatment of many illnesses. The traditional surgeon performs his
skill with out the aid of X-rays and with
only a little knowledge of anatomy.
While he may still be respected in some
local communities, complicated
surgery is better achieved with modern facilities and better trained
hands these days.

Bone Setters:
Bone setting or orthopaedic surgery is the art of
pairing fractures and other
orthopaedic injuries. It is recognised
to have attained a level of success
comparable to that in orthodox
medicine in Nigeria.
Traditional bone setters are those knowledgeable in
the art and skill of setting broken
bones in the traditional way, using
their skill to see that bones unite and
heal properly. There have been reported cases of
fractures resulting from motor
accidents or falls from trees. Such
fractures may be simple, compound or
com plicated. Wounds resulting from
such fractures are usually cleaned, the bones are set making sure that the
ends of the bones unite properly to
prevent any deformity. Bleeding is
usually stopped on application of
plant extracts, basil or cassava leaf
extracts or the giant snail's body fluid. It is common to use banana leaves as
lint.
Wooden splints made from
bamboo plants are used to immobilise
the fractures while fresh or dry
banana stem fibre (a fibrous plant),
have served as bandage. Various methods are known for applying
traction to fractured legs. Patients are
usually also subjected to radiant heat
treatment or hot applications of
peppers to reduce inflammation and
swelling. The occurrence of deformities or abnormal shapes of
post-treatment limbs is very rare. An interesting aspect of the bone
setter's approach is the selection of a
chicken whose leg would be broken
and re-set. The fracture caused on the
chicken is treated alongside that of the
patent at the same time and in the same way. This is usually used to
determine the time the patient's
fracture would heal, and the time to
remove the wrapped splints and clay
caste. It is particularly note-worthy that bone
setters are often capable of arresting
the deterioration of gangrenous limbs
that may lead to amputation. This feat
makes amputation rare. Situation s
have arisen when patients have had to be withdrawn from hospital for
treatment in the bone setters clinics.

Practitioners of Therapeutic
Occultism:
These practitioners include diviners or fortune tellers, who may be
seers, alfas and priests, and use
supernatural or mysterious forces,
incantations, may prescribe rituals
associated with the community's
religious worship and adopt all sorts of inexplicable things to treat various
diseases.
The practitioners are usually consulted
for diagnosis of diseases, their causes
and treatment. With their ability to deal
with the unseen, the supernatural,
they are usually held in high esteem in
the com munity. They are believed to have extra-sensory perception and
can see beyond the ordinary man. They can receive telepathic messages,
can consult oracles, spirit guides etc.
and perform well where other
traditional healers and orthodox
doctors fail. Their activities include
making prayers, citing and singing of incantations, making invocations and
preparing fetish materials to appease
unknown gods.

It is believed that
diseases which are caused by
supernatural forces will be readily
diagnosed and treated by these practitioners. This, in itself, sterns from the belief that
certain medical ingredients —
unusually large trees that are believed
to house spirits, astronomic herbs,
grave-yard plants like the physicnut,
protective plants such as the wild colocynth or Sodom apple or even
some reproductive herbs like the
sausage tree or the tree of life itself —
have occultic powers and can be
effectively utilised by these
practitioners for the good of all. The instructions which these
practitioners use include magic stones
which are usually thrown to the
ground. Sounds so produced are read
and interpreted. Some take replies of
messages in a pool or glass of water. Others depend on the throwing of
cowries, coins, kola-nut seeds,
divining rods, keys or sticks, etc.

Divination has come of age, its various
functions linked with religion,
creation myths, cosmology et cetera.
Its use as communication and for sto
chastic processes makes it unique and
beyond the reach of most traditional healers.
Specialists exist in the various
categories of traditional medicine
identified earlier.

Modern-day technology, innovations
and education, have however, made a
lot of impact on the herbalist and on
the practice of traditional medicine in
Nigeria. The general populace now
wants to compare the herbalist with the orthodox medicine general
practitioner. Herbalists are now being
encouraged to improve on the quality
of their out put and practice. Herbalists
are being encouraged to identify
correctly the medicinal plants and other ingredients used in the
preparation of herbal prod ucts. They
should be mindful of the sources of
theirraw materials and avoid
adulteration, all in the bid to ensure
safe medicines. Herbalists who normally would rely on
the collection of plants from the wild
are being encouraged to have their
own medicinal gardens and farms and
grow some plants especial ly those
facing extinction due to over-use, bush burning, drought, urban
development et cetera. Herbalists are
being encouraged to undertake toxi
city studies on their products, in
collaboration with scientists and
recognised institutions. As micro organisms and parasites
abound in the environ ment, herbalists
are being reminded of the need to
work in clean hygienic environment
and the need for good manufacturing
practices to prevent con tamination of raw materials and finished herbal
products, to ensure stable and well-
preserved proucts, to ensure
properly-labelled herbal medicines
and, probably most important, to
ensure standards as well as also uniform and accurate dosing.
Herbalists are also being encouraged
to register their proven and efficacious
standardised herbal preparations with
the National Agency for Food and
Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). It is an interesting development that
some states of the federation have
established traditional medicine
boards to monitor the activities of its
prac titioners, This development
should be encouraged throughout the country.

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