Nature, it is said, abhors a vacuum. Guess famous herbal medicine practitioner, Prince Akintunde Ayeni has finally grasped the full effect of this Aristotlean fact. For so many years, this gentleman bestrode the alternative medicine sector like a colossus to the extent that he became a staple for international media organizations like BBC and CNN, who ran a documentary on his exploits. But as he turned a pathfinder to so many other interested herbal medicine practitioners, he unknowingly yielded the space and relaxed. While he was quiet, foreign herbal products took over and seized the market. In fact, at a time, there were rumours swirling the grapevine and suggesting that he had quit the business due to competition. But the growing concern on the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus globally, Nigeria inclusive, has jerked Ayeni, who is the National President of the Herbal Society of Nigeria, back into action for a research into a remedy to the virus.
Spotlight learnt that as many countries are looking at local solution to the pandemic, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, has called on Ayeni, through his company, Yem Kem International, for a partnership to seek a traditional herbal solution to build up people’s immune system against any viral disease. He’s said to have gone far in his research and will soon take his final product to the National Agency For Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, for testing before launching and putting it on the shelf for sale to the general public. And with a state-of-the-art herbal medicine manufacturing plant in Ogun State, coupled with his new retail marketing company, Organic Remedy, Ekiti State-born Ayeni is said to be working earnestly to produce a herbal solution that will deal with both COVID-19 and other viral diseases.