A professor of medical biochemistry at Ekiti State University (EKSU), Anthony Awoyinka, has advocated the need for people to embrace the use of local foods and plants to cure and address the increasing non-communicable diseases in society.
Awoyinka, who lamented the increasing cases of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, colon cancer, and others, said research has shown that the use of local and natural fibre is key to eradicating them from society.
The professor spoke while delivering the 80th inaugural lecture of EKSU titled ‘Exploring Underutilised Local Fibre: Panacea for Economic and Healthy Foods’ in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, noting that a proper diet by the people would, in no small measure, help tackle health challenges.
According to him, federal and state governments should invest more funds in empowering more farmers in local agriculture production to guarantee healthier food in society.
“Positive results obtained from my studies with other scientists prove that well-controlled diets with the use of probiotics and prebiotics from neglected, underutilised local plants can serve as a major non-pharmacologic option for the treatment of non-communicable metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.
“Nigeria and other African countries need to do more to properly identify, recognise, and position underutilised plant food in our disease control strategies.
“The future of disease management has been directed towards the development and use of natural products combined with medical methods as well as other health sciences and biotechnology such as diet and nutrition.”
On how best the government could encourage the use of local content, Professor Awoyinka said, “If you could recall, in 1988, during the regime of Ibrahim Babangida, there was a ban on the importation of foreign cereal.
The ban could now be enforced by the federal government and inject more funds into agriculture production, especially local production.
“There is a need to encourage our farmers to produce more local beans such as otili and pakala, and I believe if we eat more of this, these diseases will be far away from us.”
He called on the people “to be local in our consumption instead of foreign content. The truth is that some of these foods from foreign countries have negative effects on our health.”
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edward Olanipekun, commended the lecturer for his deep understanding and well-researched presentation of the topic, adding that intellectuals must be ready to proffer practical solutions to the myriad of challenges confronting humanity in the country.
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