In Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital territory, many residents consume ‘Baba Aisha Herbal Medicine’, a low-end herbal product that sells for just N100 and is touted to cure common diseases. In this five-month-long investigation, KEMI BUSARI scientifically probes the content of the concoction while questioning regulatory frameworks that allow its supply to thrive.
Rafiu Isa sells Sacra Herbs in Lugbe, AbujaIn Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital territory, many residents consume ‘Baba Aisha Herbal Medicine’, a low-end herbal product that sells for just N100 and is touted to cure common diseases. In this five-month-long investigation,scientifically probes the content of the concoction while questioning regulatory frameworks that allow its supply to thrive.
With a flourish, shielding his apparent lack of fluency in the English language, Baba Aisha goes on to vaunt the many testimonies from satisfied customers while confidently listing the various maladies Sacra Herbs can cure: typhoid fever, malaria, stomach ulcers, rheumatism, waist pain, piles, and more. He urges his audience to take each of the 120ml bottles two times a day and to eat before consumption.
The bottle also contains information on ingredients, a list of potential ailments cured, dosage, storage information, registration number, company details, telephone numbers and a picture of the producer. In the 14 locations visited across Abuja, the presentation and details on the items are the same.One quick giveaway on each bottle is that the product carries not one, but two NAFDAC registration numbers.
In response, the agency said the herb was submitted for registration in January 2018 and the request was granted after “all the necessary procedures for registration were duly followed by the company and proper documentation provided.” “NAFDAC does not assign two registration numbers to one product”, the agency noted while disowning A7-2551L.We spoke to over 20 users of the “medicine”, and most of them gave positive reviews. They will continue to use the “medicine” so far the regulatory agency has approved. However, NAFDAC may have breached this trust, our investigation shows.
The law being referred to here is the Company and Allied Matters Act , which in section 863 declares that “a person or association of persons shall not carry on business in Nigeria as a company, limited liability partnership, limited partnership or under a business name without being registered under this Act.”We proceeded to find out if the company fulfilled the trademark criteria as required by law.
“They said the medicine they are shouting is working… It’s God but I trust this medicine,” she said, adding that she hasn’t visited the hospital since she started taking the concoction in June 2022.The advert, according to NAFDAC’s Herbal Medicine and Related Products Advertisement Regulations gazetted in 2021, ought to be approved by the agency before use.
“People are not going to double-check a product that has a NAFDAC seal on them,” says Lawal Bakare, a dentist and public health specialist. “Because Nigerians trust NAFDAC, the commission needs to know that it puts a lot of responsibility on them.” His condition is similar to that of Isa Ismaila, a tricycle rider who was prescribed a daily dosage of three bottles of Sacra Herbs mixed with salt to cure typhoid sometime in 2022. After taking the first bottle, Ismaila soon became heavily sweaty, drowsy and extremely uncomfortable. He had to resort to over-the-counter medicine for his condition to normalise.
“To do this , what we would do is an in-vivo experiment in which animal models of malaria would be established and the drugs will be used as an intervention versus a control, like chloroquine in this case, to check out the anti-malaria activity,” Omotuyi, who recently led a team of scientists to discover Virucidine Liquid, an approved cure for COVID-19, said at the beginning of the test.
● The plasmodium infection-associated loss of Packed Cell Volume was not reversed under both doses of Sacra Herbs tested. That is when the blood levels of the animals began to go down as a result of the actions of the malaria parasite, the herbal medicine did not reverse the trend as expected of a cure.
Although not outrightly established, users of Sacra Herbs such as Okai and Ismaila might have suffered from a breakdown of their vital organs, medical experts who analysed the situation say. Sometimes, this may lead to a total collapse of the kidney or liver, or even death, they add. Blurred image of the kidney of the mouse admistered Sacra Herbs turned dark a few days after, while that of the mouse not given any treatment remained normal
“According to the literature, tartrazine yellow dye is highly toxic to humans even at dosages considered safe,” the report notes. The scientists did not continue to check whether Sacra Herbs work for other ailments as ingesting the animals with the concoction creates an ethical issue since it is confirmed unsafe.For Saleh Ahmed, a commercial tricycle rider; Mohammed Sani, a commercial motorcyclist; Alice John, a banana seller; and over 20 other users of Sacra Herbs interviewed for this report, the herbal medicine remains a trusted substitute for modern treatment.
Other medical experts who analysed the situation gave the same feedback – the users are dying in instalments, unknowingly. They added that although the mixture might contain some potent ingredients, which explains why users get temporary relief, it is largely mixed haphazardly and constitute a health risk to users.
Back in the laboratory, Okeowo is worried Baba Aisha’s high-dosage prescription is very harmful to users. In the comment section, they bantered on how Baba Aisha could already be brewing something for COVID-19, how his grammar-blundered ad lights up their evening journey from work and the experiences of people around them taking it. A few were curious to know why the herbal products are everywhere but no one knew the origin.
Their insistence is easily understood; rather than an elaborate setting that guarantees standards and safety, the herbal concoction is produced in a residential building, which this reporter later found after locating the premises.A herbal product hawker in Tafa, who doesn’t want to be mentioned to avoid being tracked, said there is no elaborate demarcation of the residence for production. The hawker added that the medicine is usually produced in bulk based on request by retailers.
At different times, the authorities have made attempts to regulate the sector, but the proceeds of these attempts have not yet materialised. One of such latest moves is that by Ibrahim Oloriegbe, a senator, who believes all herbal medicine practitioners should have a minimum qualification which should not exclude their ability to read and write.
“For herbal hawkers, we want to know the content of the herbs you are selling out to the public. We will now bring them in to educate them on how it can be safe for consumption. We also want to know if the herbs are not contaminated. We also want to make sure these people are registered so that we can know their area of specialisation.”
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