From Taiwo Oluwadare, Ibadan
The Baale of Ekotedo in Ibadan, Elder Taiye Oyerinde has allayed fear over novel Coronavirus also known as COVID-19.
Ayorinde who was Assistant Information Officer to British government and adviser on Commonwealth Africa programs spoke to LiveTimesNG on arrangement to find lasting solution to the dreaded disease affecting world over.
According to him, Yoruba from South West Nigeria has achieved some medical feats in the past and overcoming the new pandemic will not be a difficult task.
He made mention of diseases like Smallpox and other dreaded diseases that traditionists in Yorubaland had found solution to noting that Europeans won’t believe we have such cures in the country.
He said: “I knew we have been colonized to stupidly believe anything Europeans tell us. I want to let you know that I was born blind for my first three years of my life and I got cured by traditionalists and not orthodox means. And I want to tell you we should stop condemning traditional religions.
“What the people are condemning here are practiced over there. Do you know there’s a witches festival in England, and why our own are bad?, he queried.
Ayorinde noted that it is time everybody wake and let people, professors from various fields make research into our homegrown products. “There are Nigerians abroad coming up with innovations in various industries and they were able to achieve these because they were given opportunities.
“But here, our political leaders instead of given such opportunities rather, they prefer stealing the money and take abroad to develop their economy”.
Speaking on what prompted the decision to come up with the homegrown solution to tackle the pandemic, Ayorinde said: “a young man called Victor Taiwo tickled me up to call the traditionalists to find lasting solutions to novel COVID-19 pandemic and we recommend them to the government to fund them.
” COVID-19 is similar to a disease called Lukuluku in Yorubaland and was discovered during Kiriji war which was killing people and yet a cure was found for it.
“Another one was Igbona (Smallpox) and cure was found for it in Yorubaland. All these cures are from our native research and herbs. Here, we are not talking about incantation but practicable and possible inventions.
” We have our own sciences and in this wise, we wrote a letter to the Oyo State Government, University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan that we have got all these herbal traditionalists who are brave enough to come with their drugs to be tested and used after approval.
“We had first meeting with the UCH at the CMD’s Conference Hall but wasn’t solid enough because they didn’t accept to bring in herbalists. As a result, a new meeting will be called but we have also gotten call from the state government as Gov. Seyi Mankinde is ready to look into it and act on letter written to them.
“This is a government ready to put aside protocols that can delay solutions. Gov. Makinde has instructed one of his aides, Rev. Idowu Ogedengbe to take action and invite people concerned in our letter. Now, Rev. Ogedengbe has invited us and we had held meeting online and was interesting”, Ayorinde revealed.
Meanwhile, the state government and the management of the University of Ibadan on Friday met with the herbal practitioners in the state with a view to finding a solution that would have scientific validation for the cure of COVID-19.
Speaking with newsmen at the end of its second meeting at the University premises, Rev. Idowu Ogedengbe, the Executive Assistant to Gov. Seyi Makinde, said that some of the herbal practitioners have samples and mixtures saying they don’t want to take it on the surface and start promoting it, but subject them to scientific validation.
He added that the reason is that by the time their virologists, chemists, botanists and other relevant professionals within UI community look at those solutions; they will come up with something that the global community would benefit from,”.
