By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja

Three years ago, I met a 70 year old grandmother.and widow in our congregation at Abuja, my family gave her a ride back home after our Sunday Congregation meetings.
During the ride, she told me that he husband was a staff of the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State. He was a laboratory assistant and worked there until his death.

She said that her husband’s father was a traditional herbs doctor, who taught her husband how to use different herbs from the local forest to cure different ailments.

Her husband’s father transmitted this knowledge to her husband who is an indigene of Plateau State.

About the year 1975, when the National Institute for Veterinary Research was established in Vom, Plateau State her husband gained employment at the said institute as a laboratory assistant since he did not attend any formal western style education.

However, with the help of the western trained medical doctors and veterinarians, he brought the leaves that he knew about to the laboratory for testing their efficacy to cure different ailments as taught to him by late father.

One of the herbs he brought was a herb that had the capacity to “cleanse” the blood. After squeezing and collecting the juice from the said herbs, the HIV infested blood sample was brought to the laboratory and a portion of the juice extracted from the said herb was infused to the HIV-infested blood. After waiting for 24 hours the HIV infested blood sample was subjected to test and it came out HIV negative.

Medical doctors from the United States of America were invited to witness this miracle and they confirmed that it was indeed effective and efficacious, the USA medical doctors took it, refined it and re-named it as “anti-retroviral” medication for HIV.

Because this local village man, did not know anything about patenting his intellectual property of the traditional herbs, his name has gone into oblivion and died in penury, his widow is now being sustained by her children.

Anyone can verify this story from the pioneer staff of the National Institute for Veterinary Research, Vom, Plateau State.

We should be thankful to President Donald Trump for this his ban on supply of medicines to Nigeria and other poor countries.

It is time and an opportunity for us to explore our traditional medicines now!!!