By Omodele Adigun and Henry Uche
Madam Alice Oboh, Proprietress of Our Lady Health of the Sick Herbs & Roots Clinic, Abule Iroko, Ogun State is a traditional medicine practitioner. She specialises in using natural medicine to treat and heal stroke patients, among others.
She noted that since 2019 when the COVID-19 suddenly hit the world, Nigeria has known no rest from cardiovascular diseases, particularly stroke.
In a chat with the reporters, she noted that while stroke patients merely appeared occasionally in her clinic prior to 2019 were now storming the place in their numbers.
“In a month, at least 20 stroke patients are treated here,” she noted. “People from far distance come. I used to go to far places, but now because of my age. I tell them to bring the patients or I tell them what to do. Some people just called now that they are bringing someone, ” she said.
She said she came from Liberia to Nigeria in the 1990s during the Samuel Doe era in that country.
“Since I came, I have been practising until I went to Lagos State Board of Traditional Medicine to get licensed. I was resident in Lagos before, but I live here in Ogun State now. We built a house here. People bring patients to me here from all over Nigeria,” she said.
She said she uses the electric fish to revive nerves that collapsed when a patient suffers a stroke. “It is unlike the electrode that some physiotherapists use on stroke patients. This one is natural. We use it to shock the patients. It will revive the nerves within 16 weeks,” she explained.
Apart from stroke, she said she could treat as many as 28 ailments using herbs and roots, adding that she learnt the trade from her grandmother.
She said many things considered by Nigerians as spiritual attacks are nothing but normal health conditions, which roots and herbs can cure.
She said since she’s been practising, she has never got any support from the government beyond the licence to practise and the NAFDAC number. She said she had been rejecting awards, as she considers herself a Catholic health worker.
She said before COVID came, she was doing just a few stroke cases a month. “But after COVID, we have more than 20 stroke patients every month. In a month, at least 20 stroke patients are treated. People from far distance come here” she said.
How long does it take to heal a stroke patient, you asked. Her response: “If the person is just inflicted, it takes one to 21 days. But if the stroke had been long, it take six to nine months before they get well. They will improve. If they bring a fresh stroke patient immediately, within 21 days and one month of treating him or her, the patient will get well. But if the stroke is more than one month, it will go but it will take little time like three to four months. But a patient with about five-year stroke will take about ten to12 calendar months before he gets cured.”
To avoid having a stroke, she had a word of advice for Nigerians. “Nigerians should stay off stress. They should learn to rest. Take vegetables and fruits. Some people think fruits are meant for poor people. They should stay away from stress and fear. When I was in Liberia, we didn’t wait to get sick before we checked our health. We must check our blood pressure
“In the case of prostate cancer, from age 45 upwards, it’s common in men. Chronic infection can cause it, and accumulated sperm can cause it. Some men said their wives enter menopause they can’t make love again with their wives, the accumulated sperm can block their urinary tract. If there is chronic infection, it begins to block their urinary tract.
If you’re a man, and you want to avoid prostate issues, she advised that infections should be well treated early, you should go for regular check ups and you should be having sex at least once in seven days.
She also explained how Nigerians could avoid serious ailments. Hear her: “They should remove their minds from attacks, and give themselves some rest. Even on Sundays, Nigerians go to work. In most countries like Liberia, once it’s time for rest, everybody obeys the bell. More so, fruits help to build vitamins which fight against body invaders.”
And what about diabetes? “It’s a problem of pancreas. When the pancreas is covered with a lot of starchy food or infection, people develop diabetes
“Nigerians like junk food that does not help them. Instead of going for vegetables, they would go for soft drinks and other forms of food that do not help their bodies.”
She said she’s training people, including her children. “Most of my children know about this job. Some people who have this knowledge never wanted people to know it. They hide the knowledge. But for me, I train people so that the knowledge won’t die. I do not want this gift to go down like that. My grandmother died with a lot of knowledge.
“People think that herbal medicine is expensive. Some even think it’s devilish, but I’m a Catholic health worker. Like our rector, the priest, he’s a monk in the monastery. So because of these things, he goes out to treat people. More importantly, we should have faith in God, and Nigeria would be great again,” she said.