Dr Cyril Omisande is a professor of clinical magnetology and President of Cyrillic College of Technology, Igbeba, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. In this interview by SEYI SOKOYA, he speaks on the influence of alternative medicine on human life, among other issues.
As a professor of clinical magnetology, how do you think this aspect of the medical line is useful for humans?
Magnet therapy is very useful. It has been an age-long process; it is not new. It is only now that people have developed it for health purposes. In the olden days, in Egypt and other places, people have been using magnets. Even as we are, the earth we are in now uses magnets. All human beings have a magnetic influence. So, every sense of our body is magnetic. What I mean is that it has both a north and the South Pole. So, every cell in the body; your blood, flesh, everything in your body is magnetic. That is why the influence is bigger. Like I said earlier, the earth where we are now is magnetic, so, it will continue to emit magnetic rays into our body. So, anytime there is a lack of equilibrium. Diseases will set in when the magnet in and outside the body is not balanced.
With your wealth of experience do you feel Nigerians are aware enough of the influence of alternative medicine?
I’m an example of the success of alternative medicine in Nigeria. In November, it will be 28 years since I started my practice of alternative medicine in Nigeria. I started with magnetic therapy and when we first came into the scene, some people called me a magician, others called me other names. They thought people practicing alternative medicine are jobless.
Many orthodox doctors are not willing to study alternative medicine, they were saying it is magical but thank God for where he has taken us to today as well as helped Nigerians because we are the pioneer of magnet therapy and alternative medicine. I am a stakeholder in Nigeria today. It is always good to know what you’re doing; especially when you have confidence in it as well as impact lives and I have been doing this for 28 years.
What are the challenges faced as an alternative medicine expert?
We have come a long way, we have been able to put all these insinuations aside. They think we are diabolical, but now they eventually realize we are plain and that we are like every other hospital. What you see with me is from India, so, it is like bringing what is in India to Nigeria. I practice the way they practice in India. People can see that there is nothing diabolical. Alternative or complementary medicine is different from traditional medicine. In traditional medicine, there are incantations and some other unexplained things. But the alternative is academic. We have books on virtually all the subjects. Is it herbal medicine you want to talk about or acupuncture? Books and people are studying up to university level and even up to the Ph.D. level in alternative medicine now. So, I think Nigerians are becoming more aware. One thing I have noticed about Nigeria is that what happens in the outside world takes time to get to Nigeria. Take the phone, for example, they have been using it in India since the 80s when I went there. It was 30 years after that it came to Nigeria. The orthodox medical practitioners are not helping matters. I am not advertising, but people come to my clinic from all over the world. We have patients from Britain, and America, coming to Nigeria for treatment and not to talk about the West-African Sub-region and other areas in Africa. People come to Ijebu-Ode for treatments.
Are you saying alternative medicine is more valuable than orthodox medicine?
Yes, it is valuable. Go to India, today, 70 percent of Indians patronise alternative medicine. That is why their orthodox medicine is very cheap. That is why you see lots of Indian medicine. Nigeria is their dumping ground. I am just using India as a case study. I am an Indian citizen. I have lived there, I still go there; I have children there. So, alternative medicine is well-practiced and it heals. It eradicates diseases in the body.
You were in the news when COVID-19 was more threatening and you played a major role in alternative medicine. Was that a way to tell Nigerians the importance of alternative medicine?
Yes. I rose to the challenge when COVID-19 came. Some media men came to interview me during that time. I made people know that alternative medicine can take care of COVID and it was successful. I went to places, even the ministry of health and the federal ministry of health contacted me. I played a role during the COVID era and I thank God for that.
Would you say that this is one of the reasons that informed your decision to establish a college?
It is a way of giving back to society what I have been able to gain from outside. I see that Nigeria does not have enough schools of alternative medicine. All that you see are all these fake colleges, and that is cheating. More so, the stakeholders of the ministry of health in Ogun state, of which I happen to be a member, have been talking about how to inculcate alternative medicine. They see me as the father of alternative medicine in Nigeria. We have many of these colleges in India and with my experience, we decided to start something here. The collaboration of other institutions will be needed, and that is why we have started this college to teach people the real knowledge and the core course. We thank God that the college has come to stay as well as enjoying steady growth.
How has the experience been since the establishment of the college?
We thank God, many people are making enquires and we have started getting students. People are very happy with our commitment to creating such opportunities in Nigeria because the economic problem I’m the country cannot give more people access to travel out to India or China to study alternative medicine. We have lots of students and they are currently enjoying what the college is offering. We even have medical doctors and pharmacists that her students. So, we thank God that we are doing it to impart knowledge. We also have students doing online courses from outside the shores of the country. So, by God’s grace, we have started as well as moving well.
Would you say you have achieved your goal of propagating alternative medicine in Nigeria?
When I started my practice after I came back from India, I said after 25 years, I will start college and I am happy today, although it is a bit late, in my lifetime, I started a college where people can study complementary and alternative medicine. So, that is a dream that has come true. I am extremely glad, that even Indians are ready to collaborate with us. The Ogun State Ministry of health also wants us to impact people.
While achieving this sir, do you foresee any conflict with orthodox medicine?
What conflict? My own is an example. I have been doing my practice for years. I have one hospital in Ijebu-Ode and I have one in Ibadan, Oyo State. I have over the year contributed immensely to the growth of Nigeria’s health sector. Professionals in the industry are giving their best. As for me, I am setting the pace for others to follow.
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