COVID-19: Nigeria must look inwards to find solution to her problems - Rev. Fr. Adodo

Since the Madagascar experience with the COVID-19 Organic cure, many Nigerians have started to pay keen attention to alternative medicine, urging government to seek local solutions to the pandemic. Rev. Fr. Anselm Adodo of the Pax Herbal and Research Laboratories owned by the Benedictine Monks, Ewu, Edo State, speaks on the Catholic Centre’s clinical herbal drug. Excerpts by SEYI JOHN SALAU:

The world is currently suffering from the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and many have said the virus had no cure. How true is this?

Those who specialise in the study of viruses are virologists. It is a special field of study. Viruses have always been with us. Because they easily mutate and self-replicate, they are difficult to target for extermination. Regarding the issue of cure, at the end of the day, the body’s immune system is the real doctor.

HIV is one of the most prominent viruses known to man. Does it have any known herbal cure?

We have been managing people who have HIV, Hepatitis B and tuberculosis for over 25 years. We have kept accurate records of the people treated. As you know, HIV has the problem of stigmatisation, so it is a sensitive topic to discuss. I can count at least 150 people with very high viral load who came to us for treatment 20 years ago and who are still alive, well and active, and I know they are not using any western drug.

Just like some persons have made claim to discovering a cure for COVID-19; your laboratory recently made similar announcement; how factual is that claim?

What we said was that we have formulated an herbal medicine with a potential to treat COVID-19. People will then ask if you have treated anyone with it and how did you know it cures. There are procedures for drug formulation and application. You can easily test the efficacy of a drug first in animals to ascertain safety and also to develop the therapeutic dosage. We have done all of that, which is why we work with virologists, immunologists, parasitologists, clinical pharmacologist, pharmacognosists and many others. Coronavirus is not new to us. SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) is also a coronavirus. Recently, we had the EBOLA outbreak. COVID-19 is a less severe kind of coronavirus. Why it is shaking the world this way is strange indeed.

Many people are claiming to have found a treatment, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) protocol does not support such claim. Why is the WHO not supportive?

My opinion is that every country should look inwards to find solution to their problems. They do not need WHO’S validation. I still find it difficult to understand why African countries are always looking to international agencies to validate everything they do; in economics, agriculture, politics and health. Have you ever seen the EU or USA wait to get validation from African countries on any topic? That is why I like what is happening in Madagascar. They said they have discovered a cure, based on their own knowledge and validation system. And they are making use of what they have discovered. Maybe. it’s not a perfect cure. But why do they need WHO to validate their contextual solution? Rather than blame WHO, I prefer to blame our brainwashed local leaders.

Would you like to partner WHO and other foreign agencies on your findings?

Our focus is Nigeria and Africa. This is our home. If WHO wants to come here we will welcome them. In order to be global, one must first be local.

WHO protocol on COVID-19 seems to be supportive of a vaccine to combat the virus. What is your position on vaccine?

Well, that sounds more like a dogmatic statement rather than a scientific statement. If WHO said that then they need to open a theological unit in their headquarters. If some people in certain parts of the world want synthetic vaccine, they should have it. If some other people in other parts of the world prefer to have an oral vaccine, they should be allowed to have it. If they prefer phytomedicine instead of vaccine, so be it. From what I hear and see, majority of Africans prefer the latter. I hope WHO will respect their wish.

There are fears in some quarters that using vaccines to contain the virus might have some sinister religious and scientific implications. What is your take?

The mess in which humanity finds itself today was caused by a wrong understanding of knowledge and its role in human development. Firstly, we were led astray by the myth that with enough knowledge and technology (computers, digital machines, satellites, buttons, etc), we can rule the earth and control it. But the complexity of the earth and its life systems can never be safely managed. We can never master the complex functioning of atoms, protons, eons, viruses and electricity. I hope that our scientists, politicians and the world in general will learn from this experience of COVID-19. As Pope Francis warns us in his encyclical, GAUDATO SI, we should ask ourselves if this is the kind of world we want to bequeath to our children; a world of crass individualism and limitless greed. My take is that COVID-19 is not just a health issue. It also has a spiritual message for us.

Speaking on the spiritual message of COVID-19 to the world; as a Catholic Centre, what is the level of support you get from the CBCN and fellow clergymen?

A good thing will sell itself. I think the Paxherbal brand is very good and well trusted, and this has promoted trust among the people. The CBCN and the clergy will continue to support us so long as we make the Church proud.

Some experts have warned that the virus will always be with us; how true is this?

As I said, viruses have always been with us. They always remind us not to take our immune system for granted.

We cannot talk about drugs in Nigeria without the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); since your drugs are mostly herbal in nature, how do you subject them to scientific appraisal of the regulatory agency?

Once the drug gets the approval of NAFDAC, we will make it available to the public. But we will proceed with further research to isolate the active compounds and enclose them in soft gels. This will increase the efficacy. However, NAFDAC does not certify whether herbal product is efficacious or not. All they do is to screen your product and subject it to safety tests, after which they will give you a listing number. The listing number simply means that the product is safe for human consumption and can be sold to the public. That is why all NAFDAC approved herbal products bear a disclaimer, to notify the user that the claims in the product have not been verified by them. Verification requires clinical trials which takes many years and very expansive.

You have spoken about Pax Herbal; can you let our readers into what you do?

Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories is a Catholic Centre for scientific identification, cultivation, development and promotion of African Herbal Medicine. It is not my personal project. It is a project of the Benedictine Monks of Ewu, Edo State. The monastery was founded in 1979. It is however, true that I initiated it, along with Fr. Vincent Mordi of blessed memory and Br. Michael, who is currently the overall manager.

There are more than 15 other monks working hard to keep things going here. I often make jest of them that they are doing the work while I am getting the credit. We have over 100 full-time workers, comprising Microbiologists, Biochemists, Natural Plants Chemists, Pharmacognosists and Plant Biotechnologists.

Over 50 science students from eight universities undergo industrial training in our centre yearly. Let me tell you the truth: the standard and level of research here in our Centre is far more than people even know. When an American Ambassador visited the Pax Centre some years ago, she was surprised that such a place exists in Nigeria and wondered the Nigeria press has not been talking about it. So, as you can see, it is not just about my vision. It is the spirit of St Benedict urging us on.

If you initiated the Herbal Research Centre as a Rev. Fr.; are you trained medically or what is your connection with the centre?

Formally, I am trained as a philosopher and theologian. I also studied Ethnobotany, Ethnography and Anthropology. My Doctoral degrees are in Management of Technology and Innovation and Medical Sociology. Informally, I am a farmer, drummer, poet, and a wrestler.

Operating in this environment is tough; so, what operational challenges are confronting your centre and how do you cope staying in business?

In Nigeria, it is easier and cheaper to be an importer and seller than to be a manufacturer. The challenges are part of the Nigerian system: weak infrastructure, poor road network and lack of electricity. Electricity is an excessively big issue for us, because we have laboratories where interrupted electricity is vital. For instance, we bought an incubator from China some years ago. Each time it developed a fault, we were required to order for the faulty parts from China. So, we decided to dismantle the incubator and see what was inside. We were surprised that it was just ceiling fan and some elements to generate heat, and a temperature controller. Since then, we have been constructing most of our machines. We construct plant driers, conveyors, heaters and incubators. Most challenges are, for us, opportunities for growth. But there are other challenges that require external support, like the issue of further expansions to increase production capacity.

Should you get the green light from FG to commence mass production, how would you go about it?

It is not a matter of if, it is when, which should not be beyond June. To go into mass production, we will need bigger workshops, capsulation machines and full automation of our production process. We will do only what we can do and hope for the best until help comes.

How readily available are your herbal drugs across the country?

We have our sales outlets in many Catholic parishes across Nigeria, especially in Lagos. We encourage catholic parishes to open outlets in their parishes. It is an important service for the people.

In Nigeria, it is easier and cheaper to be an importer and seller than to be a manufacturer. The challenges are part of the Nigerian system: weak infrastructure, poor road network and lack of electricity