We have developed local herbs to fight terminal illnesses ―​​ Mamora

We have developed local herbs to fight terminal illnesses ―​​ Mamora

says Nigeria's low ranking by WEF worrying

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Olorunnibe Mamora

The federal government on Monday said that the implementation of various policies by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and its parastatals to drive research and development has yielded immense dividends including the development of remedies from local herbs to fight terminal illnesses.

The Minister in charge of the ministry, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, stated this when he was featured in the 10th edition of the media briefing series to highlight the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration from 2015 to 2022.

He said the policy implementation has yielded positive impact on the socio-economic wellbeing of the nation, improved wealth creation and employment generation “with clear evidence of ample savings from reductions in importation especially of items where we have comparative advantage in the global supply chain.”

According to him, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation’s scientific research and development breakthroughs/findings and related impacts are in Medicare & Health, Food Security, Energy & Power, Manufacturing and Business, National Defence and Internal Security, STI Funding and Global Competitiveness.

On the use of local herbs, plants and traditional medical technology in the production of drugs for treatment of terminal illness and diseases, Mamora noted the production of Nutraceuticals for the management of diseases like Sickle Cell Anaemia, and the development of Antilipemic/Hypolipidemic snacks from selected fruits for the management of Obesity.

Others are the utilization of Neem extracts for the production of Neem Skin Care Oral Hygiene products, the development of Antihypertensive Drinks from selected local raw materials, and the development of Anti-Sickling phytodrugs from selected local raw materials.

The Minister also cited the development and production of Lovastatin from Oyster Mushroom as a pharmaceutical raw material.

“This is a novel research work, the first of its kind in Nigeria, as the yield of Lovastatin was over 76%. Currently, the country imports this drug to treat high incidence of cholesterol and other heart diseases,” he stated.

On the response to Covid-19 pandemic, he said the Ministry embarked on non-pharmaceutical products development including various Models of Environmental Disinfectant Sprayer Tunnels, Multi-Surface Disinfectant Spray and Nano-enhanced Disinfectant & Sanitizer Products.

Others are Alcohol-based and Non-alcoholic hand sanitizer Gel and Fabricated hand sanitizing kiosks, Solar Powdered Smart hand washing machines and pedal-operated hand washing machines, and Three-dimension (3D) Face Masks and Ventilators.

Mamora affirmed that as part of government desire to improve food security in the nation and reduce the pressure on conventional food sources, the

Ministry developed improved varieties of certain crops to serve as alternative sources for the industrial sector including the use of Tacca (false yam) for the production of starch and glucose syrup, which he said, would reduce pressure on the use of Yam, Cassava and Maize for the production of these industrial materials.

He added that technology has been developed for the extraction of glucose syrup and ethanol from Sweet Sorghum while improved seeds/seedlings have been

developed and distributed to farmers across the federation.

On food security, the Minister noted that to stem incidences of recurring post-harvest losses in onion and garlic, the Raw Materials and Research Development Council (RMRDC) in collaboration with Afri-Generic Synergy Farms Limited, Sokoto, facilitated the design and fabrication of a standard processing machine to process onion and garlic into flakes, thereby preserving them from spoilage.

According to him, the Ministry through RMRDC’s Programme on Development of the Dairy sector, introduced the technology of “increasing the daily milk yield of our cows from a meagre 1-1.5 liters of milk per cow per day to over 15 liters of milk per cow per day.”

He regretted Nigeria’s low ranking in the Global Countries Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) especially on issues related to Institutional Development indicators under Basic Requirements Parameters, Technological Readiness indicators under Efficiency Enhancers Parameters and Innovation and Business Sophistication indicators under Innovation and Sophistication Parameters.

He stated that to address the issues of this poor ranking associated with the three indicators, the Ministry is making frantic efforts to change the narrative and has made some of the major achievements made include the “Production of Jet Engine; Collaboration with a Belgium Helicopter Company, on Made-in-Nigeria H3 Ultralight Helicopter. (NASENI, 2015), developing and producing Rotary furnace; Bricks Moulding Machines, acquiring Advance Manufacturing Technology (AMT) Equipment for the production of Industrial Machine parts and components; and development and Production of Non-Metallic Vehicle Parts Using Kenaf Fibres Reinforced Polymer Composit