To reposition the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry in the global market and enhance economic empowerment, the nation must return to its roots and leverage its rich ecological base as a cornerstone of primary healthcare, says Professor Martins Emeje, Director General/CEO of the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA).
In an exclusive interview with Pharmanews, Emeje emphasised the need for Nigerian scientists to develop robust, home-grown protocols to validate the country’s rich traditional knowledge. He argued that relying on orthodox approaches alone is insufficient to achieve universal healthcare in Africa.
Emeje called for the involvement of all stakeholders—agriculturists, environmentalists, medical researchers, practitioners, regulators, policymakers, religious, and traditional leaders—in research and development efforts to standardise and globalise Nigeria’s herbal medicines.
The NNMDA chief also stressed the importance of documenting ancestral knowledge and combining it with modern evidence on safety and effectiveness. He proposed integrating this knowledge into school curricula as the most sustainable way to advance Nigeria’s natural medicine sector, aligning with the third vision of the Declaration of Astana.
Below is the full interview:
Congratulations on your first year in office as the director general/chief executive officer of the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA). Based on your research so far, which natural resources in Nigeria would you identify as the most promising for drug development, and how can these resources be harnessed effectively?
It is difficult to say which natural resources are the most promising for drug development because, within one year in office, my team and I have identified 115 very potent plant and plant-based resources, from which we have developed four oral solid dosage forms for the treatment and/or management of various diseases. These were launched by the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, on 8 March 2024.
I should note here that it was the first time a solid dosage formulation had ever been developed at NNMDA and the first time any government agency in Nigeria had launched four phytomedicines. The products are now ready for clinical trials. They are designed for the management and/or treatment of upper respiratory infections, anti-ageing, sickle cell disorder, and diabetes mellitus.
Additionally, we have received the NAFDAC assessment report on 18 of our products, with listing approval granted for five. You can see, therefore, that we are unmatched in this space when it comes to performance. Our herbal medicines for treating sickle cell disorder, ageing, immune enhancement, upper respiratory tract infections, hepatitis B, prostate, colon and breast cancers, malaria, erectile dysfunction, vaginal infections, diabetes, and skin infections are ready for uptake by serious pharmaceutical companies. This makes it difficult for me to simply name the most promising natural resource. However, our top three products in terms of demand are those for ageing, erectile dysfunction, and arthritis.
Researchers often mention several setbacks that prevent the integration of natural medicines into conventional medicine in Nigeria. What do you see as some of these bottlenecks, and how can they be addressed?
In my view, the problem lies with us as a people; our appetite for foreign products is unbelievable, and I can trace this to our colonial background, which we have unfortunately refused to shake off. It is not only Nigeria that was colonised, but Nigeria is among the few countries that buried its culture with colonialism.
You see, those countries whose natural medicines we now admire were developed by their scientists and professionals working together. In our case, it is even our own scientists and professionals who view our indigenous medicines as unscientific, dirty, and fetish. The irony is that many of those who condemn natural medicines have never seen any serious equipment outside of textbooks.
Thousands of years before the advent of colonialism, our people healed themselves using natural medicines, but today, we have completely surrendered everything about us to foreign medicines. Imagine if the bone-setting technology, which is peculiar to us, existed in the ‘oyibo’ (foreign) lands—we would be trooping there, not only to repair fractures but to even do PhDs in bone-setting because they would have developed curricula for it. But here we are, even ashamed to talk about it.
The best way to address this is through education, and my agency recently received accreditation from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in that respect. We have also inaugurated a national committee to look into this.
I’m sorry, but I do not support integration; let every sector develop on its own. Those who don’t understand what we are talking about should concentrate on what they know, leaving us to do what we know. So, instead of integration, I propose “co-occurrence”. Our colonial mentality and inferiority complex, seeking foreign validation, is currently our greatest bottleneck.
Much has been said about partnerships to drive the development of medicinal plants, but little is seen on the national scene. How can partnerships between academic institutions, research centres, and the pharmaceutical industry be strengthened to accelerate natural drug development in Nigeria?
As you probably know, I am the first scientist in Nigeria to have practically bridged the gap between academia and industry. My friend, Pharm. Ignatius Anukwu, and I, as national chairmen of industrial and academic pharmacists respectively, brought academia and industry together through a deliberate and well-designed process that eventually led to the launch of the first herbal medicine jointly owned by industry and academia in Nigeria. So, there is no better model for driving medicinal plant development—or any drug development effort, for that matter—than a partnership between academic institutions and the pharmaceutical industry.
The problem is that most of our pharmaceutical industries don’t seem interested in R&D for medicinal plants. The reason is not far-fetched; it is easier and more lucrative to import. Unfortunately, this can never lead to national development, and it exposes everyone to the dangers of medicine insecurity.
You have been in the research and development industry for years. What strategies can Nigeria adopt to position its natural drugs in the global market, and how can this enhance the country’s economic empowerment?
To position Nigeria’s natural drugs in the global market and enhance the country’s economic empowerment, we must return to our roots, which undoubtedly have a strong ecological base, so that we can make them the core of our primary healthcare delivery system. Secondly, we must design home-grown yet robust protocols to validate our traditional knowledge, rather than using orthodox approaches that may not be sufficient to support the attainment of universal healthcare in Africa.
Furthermore, we must involve all stakeholders—agriculturists, environmental activists, medical and health researchers, practitioners, regulators, policymakers, and religious and traditional leaders—in R&D. Another strategy is the documentation of ancestral knowledge of traditions, combined with modern evidence on safety and effectiveness. The best way to achieve this sustainably is to introduce it into school curricula, enabling the country to achieve the third vision of the Declaration of Astana.
In addition to existing policies, what other plans should the Nigerian government implement to support natural drug development?
It is very simple: make indigenous health research and development a priority, stop the importation of drugs into this country, and make natural medicine the core of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). One of the most significant advantages of indigenous medicines (herbal and traditional medicines) is their accessibility, affordability, and acceptability. However, as a nation, we have neglected the development of this natural heritage. We must agree to liberate ourselves, decolonise our minds, develop our own medicines, design our own “emergency authorisation” models, and reject our thirst for foreign products and our inferiority complex. Anyone talking about UHC in Africa without making traditional medicine the core of the strategy is either not being sincere, deliberately mischievous, or out of touch with the realities in Africa. The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA) is already implementing its roadmap towards solving this problem, and you will see the results soon.
How can the development of medicinal plants contribute to the economic empowerment of Nigeria, particularly in terms of job creation, revenue generation, and export potential?
Our modest in-house estimate shows that with the cultivation and full exploitation of just one medicinal plant for product development, 3.4 million jobs could be created, generating over 100 billion naira in foreign exchange. A brief description of the global herbal trade should help clarify this point, although Nigeria will not benefit from this significant revenue unless we deliberately invest in the development of our medicinal plants.
As I mentioned earlier, today’s commercial medications and pharmaceuticals contain active components derived from plants in about 40–60 per cent of cases. People across the globe are becoming more health-conscious, increasingly avoiding synthetic chemical products in favour of natural, organic items in their daily lives.
The acceptance of medicinal plants extends beyond Nigeria. For instance, the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 77 million acres of land are used to produce 330 million tonnes of medicinal plants worldwide. Even developed countries like Japan, the USA, and Europe are major consumers of medicinal plants, while India and China are the most important global suppliers. Over 70 per cent of the global demand for herbal medicines is met by China and India, with India alone exporting raw herbs valued at USD 330.18 million.
The global trade in value-added extracts of medicinal plants and herbal products reached USD 456.12 million in 2017–2018. The most significant suppliers of medicinal plants in Africa are Egypt and Morocco. This market is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.6 per cent from 2015 to 2025, reaching USD 35.4 billion. According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) forecast, the global herbal market is expected to rise from its current level of USD 62 billion to USD 5 trillion by 2050.
