A group of researchers have urged Nigerians to consume made-in-Nigerian foods and fruits as most of them contain ingredients and nutrients that can serve as medicine in the body.
The call came as the organisers of the 2015 HERBFEST unveiled activities to mark this year’s herbs, health foods and Natural Products Expo billed to hold next month.
They also cautioned against consumption of imported food products as many may have been contaminated in the process of shipping the products into the country.
Speaking in Lagos to herald this year’s Herbfest with the theme: “Food as Medicine: Utilisation and sustainable Exploitation of African Medicinal Plants and Natural Products”, a professor of Pharmacognosy and CEO, Bioresources Development Group, BDG,Prof. Maurice Iwu, said foods like bitter kola, coconut oil, zobo, bitter leaf, Moringa oleifera, tomato, sour sop, African bush mango, among others are essential for the body.
Iwu who regretted that Nigerians do not eat enough of these foods, said his outfit developed dietary supplements based on these same local foods for managing chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, HIV, etc.
“It is dangerous for you to eat any fruit not produced in Nigeria. There is no way fruits from Ghana or any other country imported into Nigeria without being contaminated.
“Imported chicken is already preserved with chemicals, imported bananas, are not natural and not the best and that is why people are coming down with cancers.”
Iwu who noted the need for Nigeria to tap into the many benefits of herbs disclosed that while Nigeria has no records, the US statistics show that the global market value for herbal medicine is about $200 billion annually.
Iwu said the HerbFest, billed to hold October 7 to 9, 2014, at the Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency, NNMDA, in Lagos, is targeted at bringing different traditional medicine practitioners and the researchers together, would improve the herbal medicine sector.
“We will also see how much we can tap from the $200 billion global market value.
Speaking, Director General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, FIIRO, Dr. Gloria Elemo said the main goal of HERBFEST is to commercialised herbal products.
Elemo said FIIRO was established in 1956 to find out why Nigerian products are not commercialised blamed it at the fact that research development are not commercialised.
She said already, FIRRO has taken inventory of bioresouces and have undertaken research into some areas like sickle cell and plans are underway to address problems of packaging.
Speaking, Mr. Sam Oghene, Director –General, Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency, NNMDA, explained that HERFEST will attract varying investors and trade buyers from across African region as well as from the wider market in Middle East, Europe and US.
HERBFEST will showcase vibrant herbs, health foods and natural products from across the region. In addition to the exhibition, there will be a packed programmeof training workshops, meetings and seminars and sandwiched with about 32 abstracts of academic papers selected from numerous sent from scientists in various higher institutions in Africa.
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