In the absence of strong antibiotics, people now drink camel urine and milk to cure typhoid, other ailments

In many parts of Jigawa State sellers of camel urine and milk are smiling to the bank as they make loads of money selling the products which many people believe could cure series of ailments, writes ADAMU AMADU.

There is a new trend in northern Nigeria, especially in the North-West and North-East parts, where people now live on camel milk and urine which they believe have strong antibiotic properties and can cure several diseases.

Sunday Tribune gathered that despite the fact that these claims about the healing properties of urine and camel milk have not been supported with scientific facts, the two items currently attract high patronage and high financial returns. vendors of these “recipes” have flooded the state and can be seen at major streets, markets, motor parks, public and private buildings and venues of events and ceremonies, with a large number of people patronising them.

Initially the vendors were mostly Nigerien women who were the owners of the animals, but in the recent times Nigerians have also joined the fray.

Camel as a domestic animal is not only popular as a means of human transportation and carrying of their load, it is also a source of meat. But how its milk and urine came to be seen as cure for ailments is a recent phenomenon which Sunday Tribune learnt was hyped by foreigners.

Though commonly reared in northern Nigeria, many of the camels there, it was learnt, are sourced from Niger, Chad and Sudan, including the Middle East where the animal is generally used not only for its original purposes of transportation, farming, drawing of water from deep wells and for human consumption but also as a source of antibiotic.

In spite of lack of proof those who take the urine and milk of the animal believe they are free from diseases such as typhoid fever, ulcer, hepatitis, sickle cell anaemia, digestive system disorders, cancer and skin diseases among others.

To find out the veracity of the assertion, Sunday Tribune visited Maigari market, one of the most popular and the biggest camel markets in the country, located in Jigawa State where the commodities are among the most traded items.

One of the vendors of camel milk and urine, Muhammad Sallau, said the supply comes from camel herders who are both from within and outside the country. He said the greater proportion of their supply comes from the nearby localities and from neighbouring Niger Republic.

“The supply is usually no more than two jerrycans from a herd of camels,” he said, adding that “the urine is supplied by those contracted to take care of the animals while in the market for sale.

“They buy a gallon of camel milk from the herders at the cost N1,000 and sell for N1,200 while the urine goes for between N700 and N1,000, depending on one’s haggling skills.”

On patronage, he said the volume of sales depends on the market, adding that when business is booming, vendors could sell as many as six jerrycans of the two commodities but where reverse is the case they sell as low as one jerrycan or two.

Sallau told Sunday Tribune that supply of the products is all- season, as such there is no running out of supply and customers are rarely disappointed. He said further that most of their patrons come from all over the north with only a few from the southern part.

Asked how they came about the knowledge of the medicinal powers of camel and urine, Sallau said he was informed by some scholars that Islam spoke emphatically about the medicinal power of camel milk and urine.

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Secretary of Camel Dealers Association, Babandi Ahmed, while also speaking on the issue, told Sunday Tribune that during the dry season, camel milk is usually scarce in supply because the young ones depend largely on their mothers’ milk as grasses are not available to feed on. According to him, it is therefore at this period that those in the business make very high profit.

On whether any expert had ever told them that the milk and urine of camel were medicinal, Ahmed said it has never happened but since when the news went viral about seven years ago, there has been an increasing demand on a daily basis.

He noted that several teams of professionals had visited the market but none had spoken on any medicinal value of the products.

However, an Islamic scholar, Malam Salihu stated that many literatures on Islamic medicines narrated the use and usefulness of camel milk and urine in treating illnesses. He said Prophet Muhammad prescribed camel milk and urine to some people who complained to him of skin diseases.

He also said that Islamic medicine books, such as Dibbun Nabawi  by Shiekh Ibn Qayyum Al-Jauzi mentioned the health benefits of camel milk and urine.

The Executive Secretary, Jigawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Kabiru Ibrahim, speaking on the medicinal value of camel milk and urine said ?recently the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia ?presented a paper on the medicinal value of camel milk and meat.

Dr Ibrahim said, according to the paper, camel milk and meat are good sources of nutrients for people living in the arid and urban areas. He added that both products are unique and different from those of other ruminants in terms of composition, as well as claimed health effects. He said camel milk has low cholesterol, high minerals (sodium, potassium, iron, copper, zinc and magnesium) and high vitamin c when compared with those of other ruminants. Camel milk, according to him, contains various fatty acids, enzymes and protective proteins and has potential therapeutic effects such as antibacterial, antiviral, anti-diabetic, anti-ageing and anti-carcinogenic.

The medicinal properties of camel milk he noted can be attributed to the presence of protective proteins, which may possibly play a pivotal role for the enhancement of immune defence mechanism. Not only camel milk he said, but also camel meat in general which is considered a functional food for cures and remedy for many ailments such as seasonal fever, sciatica, shoulder pain, asthma, removal of freckles and for improved performance, in many cultures around the world.

Ibrahim maintained that the paper stated further that camel milk is still the most important nutritional source for pastoralists in many African and Asian countries.

Quoting copiously from the research paper, he said “Camels produce more milk of high nutritional quality and for a longer period of time than other species in an environment that may be rightly termed as hostile in terms of extreme temperature, drought and lack of pasture (Yagil and Etzion1980; Valérie2007).

“The milk has many properties that make it a very useful choice, as camel’s milk is used in some parts of the world to cure certain diseases (Attia et al. 2001). The medicinal property of camel milk was reported three decades back by Yagil (1982).”

Unfortunately, while the use of camel milk and its cure of some health issues had been proved, the urine aspect has not met with the same success. Dr Ahmed while speaking on it said “I am yet to come across any research or medical recommendation on the camel urine,” and that perhaps put a seal on any hope of any scientific validation of its acclaimed potency.