Education has no role to play here. CHIMA NWOKOJI, SEGUN KASALI, AKIN ADEWAKUN,
KEHINDE AKINSEHINDE-JAYEOBA and MATTHEW ASABOR gave a listening ear to a set of elite thinking differently about locally-brewed drink, derisively known as paraga.
DESPITE repeated caveat from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) that traditional medicine practitioners in the country should desist from using herbal drugs on patients, especially when such drugs have not been confirmed or approved by the agency, the herbal medicine market has continued to flourish.
Even some of the practitioners interpret some verses of the Bible to their advantage. They consider such verses of the holy book as divine endorsement of traditional medicine over the orthodox. They cite Genesis 1:29: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” They also cite Revelation 22:2: “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bear twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.”
Perhaps this and other reasons account for the wide patronage of herbal medicine by the elite, the rich and the poor, corporate and non-corporate Lagos residents.
A herbal mixture hawker in the Bariga area of the city, Foluke, told Saturday Tribune that her customers cut across all social classes and described certain brands of the drinks as selling more than others. She mentioned opa eyin, ale, jedi and afato as the most sought after, especially during holidays and festive period. Foluke expressed confidence that her herbal drinks are effective as the number of her customers has kept increasing.
“I make more sales during the Christmas period. My herbal remedies are effective opa eyin, ale, jedi, and others that are good for the treatment of typhoid, malaria, etc, and they can be mixed with alcohol or water. Opa eyin cures back ache; ale enhances erection during sexual intercourse, while afato helps men with low sperm count which has ruined many relationships and marriages,” she said.
A top banking executive living in Ikeja, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he liked his early-morning agbo jedi, “considering that a lot of food and drinks in the market today are full of sugar.”
Corroborating the banker, a certain Mr Olawaye, a graduate, said he was a big fan of herbal mixtures because they had proven effective in the treatment of malaria, typhoid and other diseases. According to him, there is no ailment that herbs cannot cure because they are natural in their forms and usage. Herbs, he said, were also time-tested like conventional drugs.
Olawaye said he preferred herbal drugs to orthodox ones. “I cannot, because of my level of education, shy away from the potency of the herbs. As a matter of fact, it requires a high level of education, not necessarily formal, to make effective herbal products,” he said.
But to a commercial driver, one Mr Abass, it all depends on faith. He said he believed in herbs usage in dealing with malaria, typhoid, paralysis and other ailments. According to him, there have been testaments to the effectiveness of herbs but they only work for those who believe in them.
“I am used to taking orthodox medicine and cannot allow my children to take herbs. If any member of my nuclear family is under the weather, I would rather go to the hospital than resort to herb sellers,” Abass said.
According to a lotto operator who gave his name simply as Akeem, herbs make the most effective drugs and he takes them every day, especially jedi, “which cleanses my body of excess sugar and gets me set for sexual relations.”
Riding rough with herbs
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has, on several occasions, warned that aphrodisiacs – foods, drinks or other things that stimulate sexual desire – have chemical substances that are dangerous to vital human organs such as liver and kidney. Once damaged, these organs can be difficult to repair and result in death. Yet, investigations revealed that such drugs are a delight of many men.
Other side effects of aphrodisiacs, according to experts, are stuffy nose, headache, stomach pain, upset stomach, nausea, diarrhoea, memory loss, back pain, inability to differentiate between colours green and blue, loss of hearing, ringing in the ears and dizziness.
A former NAFDAC Director-General, Dr Paul Orhii, said that while aphrodisiacs truly intensify and prolong sexual performance because of increased blood flow to the genitals, it could also result in hypotension — a drop in blood pressure. When blood pressure drops, physicians say it is even more dangerous than hypertension, as it takes quite a lot of efforts to restore it to normal level.
A top pharmacist who has a shop in Ikeja confirmed that sales of erectile dysfunction drugs increase as Christmas nears. According to him, we are all keen on having a very merry Christmas. For some, merriness means getting plenty of gifts. For others it’s about sipping mulled wine by a fire. And for others, it’s the ability to have fulfilling sex.
“For many, improving sexual performance is about relying on medication to get a full-on erection. It is thus no surprise that pharmacies report a massive increase in the number of prescriptions for erectile dysfunction medication they filled out in the immediate months before Christmas,” the pharmacist said.
According to figures released by Oxford Online Pharmacy, the highest peaks for prescriptions for erection boosting drugs such as Viagra fall in the last week of November and early December. The pharmacy revealed that on average, it sells 657 prescriptions for erectile dysfunction medication in an average month; but between 20 November and December in 2015, it sold 1,060 prescriptions – an increase of more than 60 per cent.
Last Christmas, the same time period saw the sale of 933 prescriptions – a rise of 41 per cent from the average.
The increase may also be down to the increased likelihood of spontaneous sex (think Christmas parties), as well as the additional stress that can pile on over the festive period.
Stress, along with alcohol consumption (which tends to increase around Christmas too), can have a severe impact on one’s ability to maintain an erection. And so it makes sense that stressy, “booze-fueled” months may see a rise in the number of people keen to take medication.
Meanwhile, doctors advise those planning to take erectile dysfunction medication for the first time – whether because they are feeling stressed, newly struggling with erections, or just plan to have a lot of sex over a festive period — it is wise to consult with a physician first.
They further advise that while erectile dysfunction is usually due to age and stress, any sudden changes in erection should be checked with a doctor to ensure nothing else is going on. Plus, no medication should be taken without the recommendation or advice of a doctor.
A former colleague introduced me to it —LG worker
Abolaji, a senior staff member of a local government council area in Lagos, could not really put his fingers on why he patronises the local herbs sellers. But he remembers vividly how he picked the habit from his former place of work, a bookshop in Ikoyi.
Now a senior official in the office of the chairman of the local government where he works, Abolaji said he did not believe the claim in some quarters that the concoction could be injurious to health. Such a claim, he stated, ran contrary to his reasons for making such drinks his favourite. For him, one of the reasons he takes the herbal remedies is simply because of their efficacy.
“For example, when I first started drinking this (paraga) about five years ago, it was because I needed something that could address my waist issue. I was actually standing all day at the bookshop I was working then, and a colleague of mine recommended it. “I tried it and it worked for me, and since then the local concoction has been my favourite drink. It is really working for me, so whatever anybody says does not matter to me at this point. The fact that something does not work for you does not mean I should not take it if it works for me,” he told Saturday Tribune.
‘They call it paraga to disparage it’
Adelosoye, a civil servant and director in a federal ministry, would not also see anything wrong in taking herbal drinks. He explained that he developed the habit from his youthful days. Describing as “spurious,” most of the health claims against herbs, Adelosoye argued that he had been into herbal drinks since he was young and he had not had any health issues as a result of this.
According to the 48-year-old indigene of Ondo State, he was nurtured on local concoctions while growing up in the village and there was never a time he had complications taking the local herbs.
“All these campaigns are nothing but sheer hypocrisy and a way of ridiculing this vital part of the African culture. It is just a way of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it. We have forgotten that those drinks and many others were some of those medications that sustained our forefathers in the past, especially before the advent of modern medicine. They call it paraga and other funny names, today just to disparage and make the local herbs less attractive. For me, it is part of the problems we have in this part of the world – disparaging anything African as being inferior to its Western counterparts.
“I know it is very easy for people to pretend now, especially those living in the city, but hardly will you see a Nigerian or any other African that did not, at one point or another, take some of these things while growing up. Besides, all these formed a vital part of our predecessors’ medication, and it worked for them, as evidenced in the longer number of years they lived, compared with what obtains today,” he said.
Alaba is not in a hurry to call it quits with this habit he believes has sustained him for more than four decades.
I do opa eyin and ale for my wife —Engineer
A chemical engineer (name withheld) working with an oil company recalled his introduction to the use of herbal concoction, especially ones that enhance sexual performance. He said the experience that led him to it was unpalatable.
Three years ago, on Boxing Day, after hanging out with friends, he felt his wife deserved to be treated to a nice time, too. So, getting home by 10.00 p.m. loaded with goodies for his wife and a year plus daughter, he gave his wife a nice treat, having intentions to cap it up for her in bed.
Unfortunately, he had difficulty gaining erection, which led to an argument with his wife who accused him of having extramarital affairs. All efforts to defend his fidelity to his wife fell on deaf ears. To avert crisis that night, he drove to a close friend at around 11.00 p.m. and explained his ordeal to him. His friend, also an engineer, was amazed but had no solution at hand.
Fortunately, his friend’s brother-in-law proffered a solution – herbs. While not trusting the usage, Muyiwa agreed to patronise the herbal concoction via the brother-in-law.
“The outcome was amazing. My friend’s brother-in-law gave me the mixture the following day and, indeed, all went well with my wife in bed – in fact, better than well. The alagbo told me I had taken too much sugar which resulted in erectile dysfunction. Since then, when I take too much of beer, I quickly ask for opa eyin with ale and other things to boost my sexual performance,” the man said.
It’s till death do us part —65-year-old user
A 65-year-old man, Pa Akinyemi Olajide, a.k.a. adura lebo, said: “I normally take the ones for malaria, typhoid and body pain and I find them more effective than tablets, which no longer work for me, anyway. Tablets are refined herbs, so why can’t I talk it raw? But the challenge is that if are not the kind of person that can endure bitter things, don’t try it at all because they can be very bitter.
“The herb for dysentery is very effective. When you take it, after eight hours, you will visit the toilet and push out all the ‘yama yama’ in your system. You have different mixtures, depending on how you want it. You can request herb for malaria, typhoid and waist pain, which is called opa eyin and everything goes for N50. But when you add agunmu, a powdery herbal substance, it is N100. But you must be ready to bear the bitterness.”
‘The stuff scares me’
For Mr Oseni Alabi, the lack of knowledge of the ingredients combined to make the concoctions is the real challenge. “I don’t take such herbs because I don’t have the idea of the materials used in preparing the concoctions. Also, I believe that medicine should be recommended,” he reasoned.
Some herbs can collapse kidney, liver —Medical practitioner
According to a medical practitioner, Dr Philip Shete, the use of herbs is good as most drugs contain an element of herbs, which has been clinically tested. However, most of the herbal concoctions being sold pose lots of danger to the consumer as there is no dosage to it.
He explained that the herbs might have an active agent effective for the symptoms for which they are being used but there might be other components which, if consumed inappropriately, endanger the health of the person taking them.
He added that most of the concoctions are combinations of active herbs which in most cases are dangerous to the human body and which the body reacts negatively to. He cited the example of a person who took jedi and began purging.
“The person might think it’s the herbs working, whereas it’s the body reacting negatively to the herbs.” According to him, the use of herbal concoctions is not outright bad but when not scientifically proven effective, the use is dangerous as there is no direction to its usage. “Even drugs, if taken outside dosage, are dangerous, not to talk of herbal concoctions which in most cases come in liquid form and can be taken at will,” Dr Shete said.
He lamented that the wanton consumption of herbal mixtures has led to increase in renal and kidney failures. “There are lots of young ones suffering from kidney and liver problems which are not related to any form of terminal ailment,” he said.
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