Traditional Medicine in Nigeria: Current Status and the Future

Medicinal plants have played a key role in the world health care with about 80% of Africans depending on phytomedicine which has shown a wide range of uses in the treatment of diseases, especially priority diseases of Africa such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, sickle cell anaemia, diabetes and hypertension. The usage of plants, plants extracts or plant-derived pure chemicals to treat disease in Nigeria become a therapeutic modality which has stood the test of time. Today, several pharmacological classes of drugs include a natural product prototype. A team work amongst ethnobotanists, ethnopharmacologist, physicians and phytochemists is must for the fruitful outcome on medicinal plant research. Although, there are some problems limiting the development of phytomedicine such as lack of standardization, efficacy and quality control of plants used, extinction of some plant species and lack of funds and others. These problems when fully addressed will help the future development and harmonization of phytomedicines.