The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) and Covenant University (CU) on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the strategic development of Natural Medicine in the country.
The Director-General, NNMDA, Prof Martins Emeje, said during his presentation at the signing of the MoU in Lagos that the strategic partnership would immerse opportunities in the country.
Emeje said that Natural Medicine had the potential of creating jobs, increasing the country’s revenue as well as making NNMDA, the best research institute in West Africa.
He said that the partnership would involve Covenant University bringing in its human capacity while the NNMDA would bring in research and development.
According to him, if you want to have functional partnership or collaboration, you must be intentional about it.
“This partnership is going to get us to that level where research institutes will be rated more than investors as it’s done in other climes.
“When we talk about human capital development, Covenant University is very good in it so they will be doing that for us.
“When it comes to research and development, we are very good in that, so we are complementary, they bring what they know best, we bring what we know best, and both of us will be winners.
“And our country is ultimately the best winner, while our people are, ultimately, the best beneficiary,’’ he said.
Emeje highlighted the successes of NNMDA and its impact on income generation and job creation.
According to him, earlier in the year, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Mr Uche Nnaji, had helped launch four of its new products, which included the first oral dosage formulations from the agency.
Emeje said the agency had, in line with its promise, produced 11 more products which will become available by October.
“These 11 products are available and have been submitted to NAFDAC and are undergoing assessment.
“We have, at least, 27 products ready to go into the market, and one of these products in the full spectrum will generate at least 3.8 million jobs, so multiply by 27.
“So, I tell people that we do not even need crude oil, what we need is our natural plant biodiversity,’’ he said.
Emeje said that the agency was not a research institute for researching plants, rather for research on natural medicine, which was obtained from plants, animals, oil, and marine lives.
He said that in a few years, precisely six to seven years from now, natural medicine is expected to generate $347 billion to the global economy by 2030.
The director-general said that, by 2050, the projection by global mart would be five trillion US dollar market for plant-based natural medicine alone, without the animals.
Emeje said that plants, which is herbology, are the major components of traditional medicine used in communities the world over.
He said that Nigeria would not earn or have a share in revenue from that market, if natural medicine was not developed.
He stressed that natural medicine had multiple benefits for the country such as creating jobs on farms where medicinal plants are produced, making medicine available and also producing food.
He called on private organisations in the country to invest in research development.
Also speaking on the partnership, the Vice-Chancellor, Covenant University, Prof. Abiodun Adebayo, said that the institution was excited to partner with NNMDA.
Adebayo said that it was time for government to understand the role and value of the indigenous content provider.
He said that there was a saying that health was wealth, adding that the country had the indigenous products, the indigenous medicinal plants, but these had not been tapped over the years.
According to him, it is time that the nation begins to pay attention to it because this collaboration will also help to foster new discoveries, creativity and innovation.
Adebayo noted that harnessing the opportunities in these indigenous products would also help to build capacity, particularly in the area of medicinal plant research.
According to him, China is, today, one of the leading Asian countries that has combined conventional medicine with complementary alternative medicine and Nigeria will need to also follow suit.
He said that in fact, the revenue that could be generated if the nation fully tapped into healthy plants in Nigeria, could run the entire government and national budget of the country annually.
Adebayo stressed that there was huge investment that could be obtained from the sector, saying that it was recommended that nations begin to adopt some of the models that were working globally.
According to the vice-chancellor, one of those models is the need to pay attention to our agencies and research institutes.
‘’Now having had a pinch of this during my training in China, I can let you know that even the institutes in China, and there are several hundreds of them, are more highly rated than the universities where they produce postgraduate training.
“So, I want to admonish and recommend that our government begins to pay attention to this; let us fund the institutes, let’s fund the agencies.
‘’This is to see how we can begin to harness the full potential that is inherent in our natural products, particularly medicinal plants.
The vice-chancellor noted that it was the desire to harness the potential in our natural products that had fostered the relationship it had started with the NNMDA today.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the NNMDA was established in 1997 to enable the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, actualise its critical and strategic mandates.
The mandates are to research, develop, document, preserve, conserve and promote Nigeria’s Natural Medicine.
