Alhaja Taiwo Egberongbe Subair comes from a family of traditional medicine practitioners. Her maternal lineage in Ibadan, Oyo State, is reputed for knowledge and skill in diagnosing, preventing, improving and treating physical illnesses. For many decades now, the family has maintained this line of business and also availed their children, both male and female, learning opportunities in the field of alternative medicine.
Naturally, Alhaja Subair’s journey to natural medicine began early through her mother, Mrs. Halima Egberongbe, a well-known practitioner. However, her professional growth only expanded and deepened after she obtained her Ordinary National Diploma, OND in the late 1980s. According to her, after rounding off her secondary education in 1984, “I proceeded to Sight and Sound, a secretarial school opposite Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin in Lagos. But shortly after graduation, my mother pleaded with me to join her in her business, with the promise of paying me better than what any employer who may require my service would pay. So, with my love for the profession and the promise of a fat salary, it was not difficult for me to make up my mind”.
So, the journey began in earnest.
Apart from Sundays, Block E, Shops 4 and 5, Munira Baruwa Market, Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos, where Alhaja Subair’s outlet is located is always a beehive of activity from Monday to Saturday. On a daily basis, she plays host to many people seeking solutions to baffling health challenges from different parts of Nigeria and even beyond. She told us that African medicine has answers to many health conditions and that there could not have been a better time than now for the people of the continent to start harnessing all the benefits. Subair’s repertoire boasts of remedies for the treatment of such illnesses as malaria, hepatitis, high blood pressure, typhoid, tuberculosis, fertility, gonorrhea and drugs that boost blood, among others.
For this female natural medicine practitioner, business is good. But above all, her fulfillment and deepest desires come from dispensing her drugs and helping people in need. Part of what endears customers to AlhajaSubair is her ability to speak the three major Nigerian languages: Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. In fact, this woman and her siblings have the gift of language and they all seem to be following in the footsteps of their mother who spoke fluent Hausa, Igbo, Efik, Yoruba and other Nigerian languages. So, language is a major factor in Subair’s modest achievement because according to her, people are generally more relaxed when you speak their language. “I was born in Eastern Nigeria, so the Igbo particularly are very comfortable with me because they see me as one of them. Again, my ability with Nigerian languages also eliminates any form of barrier especially for those who may not be able to communicate in English”, she said. She also revealed she supplies roots, herbs and other kinds of medicine to many people across Nigeria and even to other Nigerians living in the United States, United Kingdom and other parts of Europe and Asia. For those living abroad, she uses EMS, a courier service of the Nigerian Postal Service and in eight working days, the patients receive the parcel.
However, the downside to Subair’s traditional medicine practice is that none of her children, unlike her siblings, has shown interest in continuing with this family business that has brought relative comfort and fame to their family. But she says that she prays daily to God to touch the heart of one of her sons in medical school to consider combining orthodox and traditional practice when he eventually graduates.
All over the world, many people now consciously work to achieve a state of total physical, mental and social well-being. But as important as complete wellness is, it is well known, particularly in Nigeria, that patients oftentimes take different routes to the same goal of good health. This divergence is usually predicated on belief and cost, which is the financial well-being of patients who are usually at the receiving end.
Annually, Nigeria spends one billion dollars on medical tourism.
But in today’s Nigeria, this is a lot of money and the reality is that many people, especially the poor, are excluded from seeking medical attention abroad for obvious reasons. However, Alhaja Subair and many other traditional healers are providing services and saving lives in their own little ways in Nigeria for those who cannot afford the prohibitive cost.
Like Alhaja Subair, Morufat Odubote, another female practitioner is also pulling her weight at Arifanla, a community in Akute, Ogun State. For many decades now, she has been providing traditional medical services to a wide range of clientele in her community and different parts of Ogun State. Unlike Subair, she did not inherit her trade, she learnt under other practitioners who exposed her to the power and the many health benefits of herbs and roots. She believes the effectiveness of roots and herbs are undeniable especially in the tropics where orthodox medicine has its limitations.
“The reason traditional medicine is effective in our part of the world is simple. Western medicine works temporarily, it does not provide total cure. People come here every day with stories of how they only receive short-term relief after seeing an orthodox doctor as the illness usually comes back stronger after a while. But when we give herbs and roots, the combination does three things: the patient sweats it out, urinates it and excretes it and there are no side effects because there are no chemicals and addictives”, she said.
However, critics of African traditional medicine insist that it is unhygienic and has no standard and scientific proof. But those less charitable, link traditional medicine to idol worship and unwholesome practices which may not be in agreement with the belief or faith of would-be clients. But the beat still goes on for the practitioners even with this perception that refuses to go away, especially among the elite.