A lot of people associate natural medicine with psychic and spiritual science or outright juju practice. That is why when such people see me they begin to gossip. They say: “Dat man na Ebohon person. Na spirit man. Na wizardj E sabi juju medicine well, well….”
Indeed, so many untrue evil things are said about me. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, most of us are conservative individuals fixed with native minds. Invariably, they are not men and women with scientific disposition which would enable them to investigate whatever they hear, using logic and epistemology, so as to ascertain the truth about natural medicine.
Imagine, before the advent of Ebola, a person who ran a restaurant regaled people with the fable that I am a spirit man. Why? It was because I was extra –ordinarily very neat. I washed my hands with soap diligently before I eat. Also, I rewashed spoons, forks and table knives to my taste before using them. Each time I used the toilet, I clinically cleaned my hands with running instead of basin water. The restaurateur didn’t bother to understand the medical philosophy behind my behavior. Rumours spread by the restaurateur made the rounds that I was a juju person-nay, a spirit man.
However, later Ebola broke out. Hand washing and personal hygiene became a trend. Everybody began to cultivate the habit of washing his or her hands with due diligence. And, so, all the lies and rumours of the restaurateur came to thought. How you are! Ignorance and gossips are follies of weak mortals.
What this event demonstrates is that what people say about their neighbours in most cases are not based on facts but hearsays. What they say about natural medicine is totally wrong. Natural medicine is not witchcraft practice. It is the art and science of using the gifts of nature to heal the sick with comprehensive, optimal results.
For your information, note, natural medicine is not just herbal medicine involving the use of plants to treat. It is much more. Natural medicine, infact, includes the scientific deployment of honey, the sun’s energy/light, magnets, gemstones, heat, water, colours, exercise, massage, homeopathy, acupuncture, acupressure and deep breathing for managing health.
Historical evidence reveal that natural medicine is a hybrid child born of the wedlock of ethnomedicne and orthodox medicine. Invariably, natural medicine contains element of both types of medicine. Note, however, that there is a qualification here. Natural medicine does not just combine ethnomedicine with orthodox medicine in a riotous mix. Rather, natural medicine only took over the healing science of using the raw energy of plants and animals; as well as other elements in our world. Having done this, natural medicine then adopted the diagnostic procedures of orthodox medicine leaving out its reliance on synthetic drugs for managing ill health.
This explains why natural medicine is a derived product of what is good, not bad in ethnomedicine and orthodox medicine.
The health benefits which natural medicine offers mankind today is because of this unique characteteristic of this branch of medicine. Let me illustrate what I mean with this example. A woman once fell ill with hypertension and rushed to a home practicing ethno or traditional medicine with a bias for witehcraftt/juju healing. The home undertook “Ikpakpera” diagnosis and told the woman she was suffering from an attack from a jealous member of his family.
She was given sacrifices and rituals to perform. Also, the native doctor in charge of the home gave her some concoctions for use at home.
But her hypertension worsened. Hence, she scrambled to an orthodox hospital where a young medical doctor attendeded to her. He tried his best and was able to stabilize her condition. If he hadn’t done so, she would have died. Therefore, the doctor deserve tremendous praise.
However, there is a catch here. Orthodox medical doctors operate only within prescribed guidelines taught them in school and rigorously monitored by their association. Therefore, he is expected to manage an illness by following these guidelines or else the association will penalize him.
So, the medical doctor above worked within such guidelines in treating the woman’s hypertension. He stabilized her condition but couldn’t go beyond this to restore the woman to her normal life. Given this, he referred her to a cardiovascular consultant. Still, the woman didn’t get her health backfully. It was at this stage, she sought the assistance of a natural medicine practitioner. Unlike orthodox doctor, he engages in holistic medicine. He, therefore, began his thereapy with a thorough cleansing of the woman with herbs. Through this process, her body was detoxified All the toxins clogging up her cells, lungs, liver, kidney, blood and colons were eliminated.
After this, she was given anti-oxidants and specific remedies as well as placed on a strict diet. In natural medicine, you are not allowed to eat what you like but what your body needs. In no time, her high blood pressure crashed. Her normal life resumed, although, she was advised to adhere to natural lifestyle and nutrition regimen to prevent a re-occurrence of her blood pressure shooting up through the roof. She followed the advice. Today, she is as fit as a fiddle.
Trust, if you tell this woman that natural medicine is witchcraft practice, she will take a good look at you and silently question your civilization status. So, will all knowledgeable persons with global minds nartured by travel and wide life experiences. They know that natural medicine is a form of thereapy for managing ill health in a robust way with outstanding results. It is never witchcraft practice.

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