TRADITIONAL MEDICINE: RIVERS DELEGATION ON ONE-DAY WORKING VISIT TO LAGOS
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB) on Friday hosted a high-powered delegation from the Rivers State Traditional Medicine Board in what could be described as a landmark collaboration geared towards strengthening the regulation, education, and integration of traditional medicine practices in Nigeria.
The one-day working visit, which took place at the Board’s Headquarters in Lagos, saw both parties engage in a robust exchange of knowledge, policy insights, and operational strategies.
The Registrar of the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board, Prince Babatunde Adele, while welcoming the delegation, expressed delight at the opportunity to showcase the strides Lagos has made in legitimising and professionalising traditional medicine.
“We collaborated to create LSTMB, a local remedy that supported the fight against the virus during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “Our aim is not only to heal but to legitimise, train, and protect the integrity of traditional medicine.”
He disclosed that over 10,000 traditional medicine practitioners are currently licensed and actively engaged under the Board’s purview, highlighting the state’s robust compliance, certification, and continuous monitoring mechanisms.
The visit also provided an opportunity for the Board’s Research, Training and Development department to present a comprehensive overview of the structure and evolution of the LSTMB since its establishment in 1980 through its Deputy Director, Mr. Hakeem Bello.
He noted that the Board operates under the Health Sector Reform Law of 2006, revised in 2015, with a mandate to regulate, document, and promote traditional medicine for both health and economic benefits.
According to the Deputy Director, practitioners undergo a minimum of four years of apprenticeship before participating in a compulsory six-week training covering over 15 core areas. This is followed by a licensure process, after which annual renewals are subject to proficiency training to ensure continuous education.
“We want to use our register to start an advocacy campaign that drives quacks out of business,” he said. “Whoever’s name is not on our official list will be classified publicly as an unregistered practitioner. That is our way of protecting the public and sanitising the profession”, he stated.
The Board also revealed its ongoing partnership with the African Centre of Excellence for Drug Research, Herbal Medicine Development and Regulatory Science at the University of Lagos, which provides postgraduate training opportunities for Staff and Practitioners.
The Rivers State Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine Board (TCAMB) Secretary, Professor Anastasia Akpebe commended Lagos State’s efforts in institutionalising traditional medicine and defended the value of indigenous knowledge passed through generations via apprenticeship.
“You say I’m not educated because I didn’t go to Harvard?” she asked rhetorically. “My education began at age three when my mother taught me to pick Ocimum gratissimum. That’s generational wisdom. That’s our Harvard”, she said.
The Rivers delegation expressed particular interest in Lagos State’s monitoring strategies, licensing procedures for traditional birth attendants, and its “Helping Babies Breathe” programme – an initiative aimed at reducing infant mortality through specialised emergency training for birth attendants.
The pilot scheme, which trained 50 practitioners, is set to be expanded to cover over 3,000 traditional birth attendants across the state by 2026.
Further discussions centred on building a digital practitioner database that allows for real-time verification of licensed individuals and shared access across states. The Rivers team proposed the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to enable practitioners trained in Lagos to practice in Rivers without undergoing redundant certification processes. They also requested resource persons from Lagos to support their training programmes and future conferences.
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