GEGEMU drink is an infusion of the part of the plant called Gegemu which is an annual growing plant. The botanical source is Datura spp. Family; Solanacea.
Scientific name; Datura metel ( Syn.; Datura stramonium )
Common name; Devil's trumpet, Angel's trumpet
Yoruba name; Gegemu or Apikan
Hausa; Zakami
Igbo; Myaramuo

DESCRIPTION - It is an annual shrub or perennial herb.
- It has erect stem.
-It has a characteristic smell.
- It looks like Garden egg shape.
- It is green in colour and has spines all over the body.
- The colour of the plant flower ranges from white, cream yellow, red to violet.


CONSTITUENTS - Datura metel (Gegemu) contains tropane alkaloids Atropine and Scopolamine(Hyoscine) and Hyoscyamine which are antimuscarinic agents.b

USES - Traditionally, it is believed that the plant is used to scare away snakes. The constituents of Datura, tropane alkaloids are used as sedative, mydriatic and antispasmodic agent.
Research also said it has analgesic and anti-inflammatory action and Datura has long been used as an extremely effective treatment for asthma symptoms. A mixture of atropine and scopolamine is used an an anaesthetic during surgery to render patients unconscious.
Scopolamine is also used as a medication for treating motion sickness and post-operative nausea and vomiting.

SIDE EFFECTS - Sleepiness, blurred vision, dilated pupils, dry mouth, slurred speech, hallucinations, seizures, memory loss and so on.

RECREATIONAL USE AND ABUSE - Their recreational use is on the rise due to the psychoactivity they proffer and prevalence in Nigeria. Gegemu is commonly abused by users because it is recognized as one of the most popular and readily available as well as legal alternative to illegal or scarce psychoactive substance in the country. The experience of Gegemu is unpleasant, mentally, and physically dangerous. It produces hallucination and intoxication that can last for days.
No wonder why an artiste "9ice" also called "Alapomeji" prophesized in one of his old track when he said "Gegemu dey here?, mafi iku sere. Awon alakori bi tie won takiti sere". That is "Is that Gegemu? Don't toy with death".
The leaves can be smoked either in cigarette or in pipe. This is commonly practised in India. The seed can be ingested or the infusion of the plant part to make a concoction and is drank at parties and many occasions. It has been gathered that the youths abuse it and investigations revealed that it had caused serious health imbalance to users.
Youths also abuse it to help them save money on alcohol supply at parties.


TOXICITY - The tropane alkaloids responsible for the medicinal properties are fatally toxic in only slightly higher amounts than the medicinal dosage, and careless use or overdose often results in hospitalizations and death.

https://tribuneonlineng.com/one-dies-five-hospitalised-taking-gegemu/

Toxicity leads to unconsciousness, inability to tell reality from fantasy, violent behaviour, amnesia, blurred vision, confusion and hallucination. It can often lead to death.
Adult, Teanagers, workers, students please you are advice not to use this datura it has alot of negative impact in the body.

Substance abuse have become a global health and socio-economic challenge which places a huge burden on the healthcare system of Nigeria and the world as a whole. It has become a threat and pose a grave consequence to the life of young people who are believed to be the future of the country and leader of tomorrow.
As part of the effort to make our world better and have responsible future leader, we must join hands to wage war against abuse of killer substance.
My brothers and sisters. Not only you smoke, drinking alcohol is drug abuse. Ingesting, drinking Gegemu is also a drug abuse.

Say No To Substance Abuse

Written by; DF Muhyideen Abioye (Catalyst)
President, Drug Free Club OAU.

For more information and support;
Contact; Drug Free Club, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife.
Address: Block 1, Ground floor, room 103.5, Fajuyi Hall, OAU.
Facebook: Drug Free Club Oau
Twitter: DrugFreeClubOAU
Instagram: drugfreecluboau
Email: drugfreecluboauife@gmail.com

This hard leaf nearly send one of my firnd back then to his early grave.

My guy till Now can't feel his left hand.


Run ooo

The vawulence is LOUD

Those days we use it to do tyre for carton motor

Gegemu hmmm it brings back memories.
Thank God I'm alive today.

This is a FP material. Abuse of substances keeps increasing on daily basis with many not considering the negative effects they leave behind.

The rate at which substance is abuse in the society is becoming alarming. Pls let us fight against it to make our country a better place.... frontpage pls
Mynd44, lalasticlala, Sissy3, dominique

The 'gegemu' Party: A real life story

The 'gegemu' Party: A real life story

Birthdays during my undergraduate days in the university were always lit. From early morning beating rituals to late night parties filled with food and booze. Did I say early morning beating? Yea, celebrants always take some beatings for the culture. The break of dawn usually sees friends (and foes, perhaps) gathered to take their pound of flesh from the celebrants. Some go as far as pouring powdery flower and water on the birthday victim. Missiles of sachet waters fly around like its Syrian war while assailants render a line from a popular song:

We are getting old and getting high!


Afternoons are filled with little or no activities since everyone would be engaged in one or more academic activities. It is a university after all. Nights are the most interesting and are usually filled with booze, girls, music and a whole lot of fun. I am sure some of my Nigerian readers can relate and would give anything to have those days back.

Back then, alcohol seemed like the heart of any party. Without it, party rockers don’t come to play. Alcohol level tolerance differs among individuals. While some are already talking gibberish and confessing their sins with just two bottles of beer (usually of about 14O proof or 7% alcohol each), some are just getting started at one crate (a crate of beer is twelve bottles). Science has it that alcohol tolerance is hinged on varieties of factors such as body weight, age, sex, mood, ethnicity (?), rate of consumption as well as the food and drinks taken before the commencement of alcohol consumption. However, I am sure there were guys that defied all the hypotheses of science about alcohol consumption back then.

It was during one of those night birthday parties a friend (birthday celebrant) of mine got introduced to a stuff that could help him save money on alcohol supply for his party. After taking the beating of his life early in the morning, plans went underway to make the night the talk of the town. The bulk of the plan focused on alcohol supply which seemed set to suffer due to a shortage of funds. Unfortunately, a couple of the invitees would pass as those that would readily defy scientific explanation on alcohol consumption. Something drastic had to be done and indeed, something really drastic was done.


Suggestions started flying-in left, right, front, back and center. The idea of beer for the night was totally ruled out simply because of those that could turn beer into water; no amount of beer can inebriate them. We jokingly call them antichrist because their actions seem to be an antithesis of Christ’s miracle in the bible. He turned water intto wine, they turn beer into water. Infusion of weed (Cannabis sativa) into home-made punch drink was also suggested but quickly thrown out because of the illegality of weed. Guys did not want the school authority clamping down on them because of a birthday party. Finally, one popular guy volunteered to provide something that could be mixed with home-made punch, legal, safe and guaranteed to knock even the biggest alcohol-tolerant person off his/her feet. The idea seemed perfect and everything seemed set. The night came and dissolved quickly.

The following morning was quite melodramatic. As at 10:00 am, music could still be heard loudly in the party room without any sound of life coming-in or going out of it. This aroused the curiousity of the neighbouring students and a visit was made to the party scene. A couple of participants were found sleeping in the room, some were found sleeping in the toilet and the celebrant himself was nowhere to be found. It took quite an effort to bring them back to life and when they did, no sense could be made of what they were saying. Whatever they have taken the previous night is yet to disintegrate half of its half-life in their systems. Where could the celebrant be? Perhaps he has early morning classes and has left for academic area?

Majority of those around concluded the celebrant must have gone for classes. It took almost four hours for those that were woken from slumbering to start regaining their senses, albeit none of them could vividly recall what transpired the previous night. Whatever has been introduced into their drink must be extremely powerful. Six o’clock Post Meridiem: still, no sign of the celebrant.

After what seemed like an eternity, a call came through to one of the participants, a mutual friend of mine and the celebrant. The call was from Chief Medical Director of the University’s health center. The celebrant has been hospitalized and the attention of those close to him was needed. Ten minutes after, about ten of us were at the male ward of the university’s health center where our friend (the celebrant) was lying awake and looking at us like a total stranger. Something about him looked different and sinister. The doctor in charge of his case has a lot of explanation to do. What happened to him?

Your friend was brought-in about thirty minutes ago all the way from Benin. He was found sleeping by the road side along Ore-Benin highway and was brought here as a result of the university’s identity card found on him. We had to charge the phone found on him before we were able to contact you. He seemed to have lost his memories and reeks of alcohol………..

The doctor continued talking while all of us present kept looking at each other with a telepathic exchange of questions taking place. A lot of what the doctor is saying do not add up. If a driver moves at an average speed of one hundred kilometre per hour (which is almost impossible on Nigerian roads), it will take nothing less than six hours to get to Benin from the location of the University. It simply means our friend left for Benin long before the break of dawn, perhaps while his birthday party was at its peak. How did he get to Benin? What was his mission there and was he doing lying on the road? There are over a thousand questions with no single answer. Perhaps we should rather ask; what was present in the drink that they took at the party?

…..does anyone of you have an idea of what he happened to him?

The question from the doctor must have jolted us all back to reality. An explanation was made to the doctor about went down and how no one has an idea of when, why and how he got to where the patient was found. The doctor explained further that our friend needs urgent medical attention but what was mixed with the drink he took at the party needs to be identified first. Unfortunately, the supplier of the substance was not at the scene. A call was made through to him and he mumbled faintly on the phone;

"Gegemu"


WTF is Gegemu?
Those that are close to me know that I am a teetotaller; an attribute that is virtually incompatible with a typical birthday party in the student’s hostels within the university. Therefore, even though I participated in the early morning beating rituals for my friend’s birthday, I was deep asleep while the night party was going on. Hence, I knew virtually nothing about what they ate or drank during the event. However, the mention of the word ‘Gegemu’ reminded me of one of the songs that were reigning then:

"Gegemu de yen, ma fiku sere (is that gegemu? don’t toy with death!)."


It was later on after the whole incidence that I took my scientific self to research about the substance that was responsible for such an evil and dangerous reactions. The after-party experience observed was as a result of an infusion of a particular plant into their drink of the participants. Datura as the plant is botanically called is a genus of a flowering plant in Solanaceae family; the same family with the egg-plant. The genus is believed to be native to North America (Mexico to be particular) and exotically found in other parts of the world. It is made up of about nine species; D. stramonium, D. innoxia, D. wrightii, D. metel, D. discolour, D. leichhardtii, D. ferox and a host of others.

Out of the nine species, three are found growing in different areas in Nigeria including D. innoxia, D. stramonium and D. metel with the latter being the most popular among the populace, especially the youths (the reason is quite obvious). D. metel is popularly known as ‘gegemu’ or ‘apikan’ among the Yoruba tribe found in the Southwestern part of the country, ‘zakami’ among the Hausas found in the North and ‘Myaramuo’ among the Igbos which are predominant in the South. The plant grows as an annual shrub or perennial herb with erect stems and a characteristic smell. Depending on the cultivar, the colour of the plant’s flower ranges from white, cream, yellow, red to violet. It produces a green, knoby fruit.

The plant has a wide variety of application that has been investigated both scientifically and ethnobotanically. It has been shown in several types research to have antifungal, antibacterial, cytotoxic as well as hallucinogenic properties. Proximate, nutritional and phytochemical analysis of the seeds of the plant revealed a highly nutritious but phytotoxic potential. Tropane alkaloids and scopolamine have been reported to be present in the plant and both have wide application in the world of medicine.

The capacity of the plant and its component to cause memory loss as well as slurred speech has been investigated in rats under laboratory condition and results showed a modification to the brain frontal cortex, the portion of the brain associated with memory, verbal communication and reasoning etc. Several medical cases associated with deliberate or mistaken ingestion of the plant have been reported prior to this particular incidence. In fact, a majority of the population of a whole town have been reported to have run mad because they mistakenly utilized the leaves of the plant in cooking their food.


Report of abuse of the plant also abounds both locally and internationally. It has been recognized as one of the most popular and readily available as well as legal alternative to illegal/scarce/expensive psychoactive active substances in the country. According to several sources, fresh or dried parts of the plant are wrapped and smoked by youths and hoodlums as an alternative to marijuana.


Back to the health center scene
Those that participated in the bash that has regained some level of normalcy explained that a decoction of D. metel was mixed with punch drink that already contained a significant level of alcohol to make the birthday party go wild. The individual effects of alcohol and the active substances present in the plant is quite enough to provoke series of undesirable reactions, let alone a combined/synergistic reaction. They really invited it on themselves.

The mention of ‘gegemu’ helped the doctor in diagnosing what could be wrong with the now indisposed celebrant. He was placed under intensive care for close to 5 days before returning to a semblance of himself. However, up till today, none of those that participated nor the celebrant himself could recall what transpired during the party. How the celebrant got to Benin overnight remains an absolute mystery

Say no substance abuse!


Thank you all for reading.

Hmmn Gegemu... run o, kai !

"Gegemu dey here? Ma fi iku sere." - 9ice

Captain Jack,oni keh only

but i have seen where this leave was mixed with locally brewed corn drink called kunu in our place as a welcome kola at a jukum wedding although all attendees were chronic drug abuser they seemed to be fall at intervals


because the drink was brewed and kept at the river side when any of them comes he will open the basin and remove his own be it tramadol, or exol 5 or cough syrup and add to it use the cup to stir and take a swig then proceed to join the party they were even play football there and falling down anyhow


actually the wedding reception was held under the benue brigde because it was dry season and the man was a jukum man so there was alot of room to runabout and play because when the river goes down sand is very visible around and the place looks like a beach i sha stick to my weed and mac dowells i wont let anyone cajole me into taking what i dont know the beauty of drinking is been able to take yourself home and enjoy a nice sleep not sleeping under A brigde

Very dangerous...it has killed someone in eruwa during my stay there those days as a student.....they brought the gay back home from ibadan wen him and his friends has a bet of who would finish a certain amount of a drink laced with gegemu.......na so the guy form hard guy, he won the contest, but immediately started picking papers

Long story short.......the effect of the drink continued for 3days before they returned him to his family house in eruwa....but it was too late, he died 2 days after....

I even wrote a news story about the gegemu then ( I read mass communication in poly ibadan) and i scored the highest mark ... if u are familiar with that school and department, u will know that they write news stories every week, that is usually the continuous assessment marks

That is one of the reasons I dont drink in house parties...I always go with my own drinks and disposable cups.....I drink only wat I brought till l leave there.....I no dey try any thing new atall....I cant shout abeg

Omo. E get one plug, Dr Mummy, (God rest her soul) for one koro like DAT opp mofas hostel da year. She dey chill the gegemu inside fridge. Na when all men start to get yellow eyes and unexplainable symptoms we retrace our steps. That drink na die!!!!!

Drink it at your own risk.