the public book launch in Abuja, where he launched Rev. Fr. Dr. Anselm Adodo and Prof. Maurice Iwu’s book, titled HEALING PLANTS OF NIGERIA (Ethno Medicine and Therapeutic Applications). To further improve the country’s pharmaceutical industry, he stated that Nigeria needs to have an adequate supply of medicinal plants for research and manufacture.
The minister stated that herbal plants have the potential to make Nigeria a significant global manufacturer of pharmaceutical products, noting that if countries like China can achieve a deal within 30 to 35 years, Nigeria has all the resources it needs to surpass China’s feat. According to the guest speaker Prof Olabanjo Kunle, traditional medicine is alive and used only in rural areas, and hence, he urged the government to implement policies to encourage the elite to adopt it as well.
According to Onu, Nigeria’s recently revamped Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) strategy will make the country into one of the world’s most scientifically sophisticated nations. He highlighted that prostate cancer and breast cancer are among the most lethal cancers among Nigerian men and women. As a result, he urged the Director General of the Nigerian Natural Medicines Development Agency (NNMDA) to devise cures for this scourge.
