Introduction

Omode o moogun, o n pee l’efo meaning “A child who does not know herbs calls it mere vegetables” (A Yoruba adage)

The Yoruba are one of the most prominent, urbanized, and cultured peoples on the African continent (Udo 1980: 17). They number more than 30 million people in West Africa alone. Their major homeland is southwestern Nigeria. A sizeable number of them are also found in other parts of the world outside West Africa such as Latin American and Caribbean countries. In their southwestern Nigerian homeland, the Yoruba people are divided into a number of sub-ethnic groups such the Ife, Oyo, Ijesha, Ekiti, Ijebu, Egba, Awori, Okun, Akoko, and so on (Falola 1999: 1). A major significant aspect of the Yoruba existence is their possession of a common tradition of origin and eponymous father (Oduduwa), a generally acknowledged spiritual headquarters (Ile-Ife), a common language with is mutually intelligible to all the groups (with various dialects) and socio-political ways of life (Eades 1980; Olatunji 1996; Akinjogbin 2002).

The Yoruba, like other African peoples, have indigenous knowledge and conception of diseases and a well-thought out and defined system of indigenous medicine which is determined by their culture (Jegede 2002: 322). Yoruba medicine falls under what the World Health Organization (WHO) categorizes as traditional medicine. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2000): 1:

Traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skills and practices based on the various theories, beliefs and experiences, indigenous to people of different cultures, which could be used in the maintenance of health, as well as on the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical or mental illnesses.

This definition suitably describes the Yoruba indigenous medical knowledge and practices. In contemporary medical discourse in Nigeria, traditional medicine is interchangeably used with such terms as indigenous medicine, natural medicine, alternative medicine, unorthodox medicine, nonconventional medicine, complementary medicine, and other related terms (Amanze et al. 2007: 1). The suitability or otherwise of these terms in the description of Yoruba medicine is not the purpose of this paper. However, this paper will adopt the use of the term ‘indigenous medicine’ in its analysis of the nature, methods, forms, and dynamism of the Yoruba medicine. This is because, with whatever name it is called, indigenous medicine refers to all forms of medicine, indigenous to a people, other than modern western-imposed type of medicine, having been passed from one generation to the other.

Essentially, it must be stated from the outset that Yoruba indigenous medicine has all the basic characteristics of any well-defined medical system. These basic characteristics include systematic understanding and diagnosis of diseases, causes of diseases, names of diseases, methods of therapy, different forms of medications (curative/therapeutic and preventive/prophylactic) as well as dynamism of medical practices. Premised on these, this paper examines the nature and character of Yoruba indigenous medicine and its continued relevance in contemporary Yoruba societies.

Yoruba Disease Epistemology: Pathology, Etiology, Diagnosis, and Therapy

The Yoruba have a very good understanding of the nature and causative agents of human diseases as well as ways of diagnosing and treating them. It must be stressed that the hallmark of any medical practice is the ability to understand the nature and causes of diseases as well as their treatments. To the Yoruba, there are two forms of human ailments. These are “Arun/Aare” i.e., “Disease” and “Aisan/Amodi” i.e., “Illness.” Significantly, the Yoruba held, and still hold, that diseases and illnesses are caused by the presence of some tiny and invincible creatures in the human body. It is held that diseases arise when these invincible creatures become many and start to cause damage to the body. These tiny and invincible creatures are considered by the Yoruba to be Kokoro (germs/grubs/flies/insects) and Aran (worms) (Buckley 1985: 1). When these creatures grow and become powerful in the human body system, they result to malfunction of the affected body system and hence, a situation of diseases and illnesses arises.

It is important to emphasize that Yoruba’s conception of what causes diseases as described here has been handed down from generations to generations from time immemorial before the advent of modern western medicine. What is to be noted is that the position of modern western medicine that says that diseases result from the destructive activities of some viruses and bacteria in the body system has shown the correctness of Yoruba’s conception of the nature and causes of human diseases (Buckley 1985). It must also be noted that the Yoruba hold that driving out the disease causative agents from the body or minimizing their destructive influence is the goal of medicine and health care. This leads to the problems of diagnosis and therapy from which the Yoruba indigenous medicine has been greatly attacked by apologists of the supremacy and indispensability of modern western type medicine.

The Yoruba also have knowledge and understanding of the various diseases that afflict human beings. In fact, it is argued that there is no disease among the Yoruba that the people do not have names for. Interestingly, diseases are named by the Yoruba and other African peoples according to the parts of the body that they affect and according to their perceived causes. Some diseases are also named after their physical symptoms and visible damages to the affected body parts. There are other categories of names for diseases among the Yoruba. Examples of diseases named after the affected body parts are ori-fifo/efori (headache), jehin-jehin/eyin didun (toothache), inu rirun/aran (stomachache), jedijedi (piles/hemorrhoids), jedojedo (asthma, tuberculosis, phthisis, or other lung diseases), and a host of others. Diseases named after their perceived causes may include abiku (stillborn), sopona/obaluwaye (smallpox), afegun/afelu (illness brought by evil wind of sorcery or other spiritual agents), and so on. In the category of diseases named based on their symptoms and physical damages are atosi (gonorrhea), igbe orin (dysentery), igbe gbuuru (diarrhea), and so on.

The Yoruba also have some diseases whose names do not relate to their causes or the parts of the body they affect. These diseases include akokoro (toothache), sobiya (guinea worm), gege (goiter), oowo/eewo (boil), and a host of others (Dopamu 2004: 429–430). An additional naming category of diseases among the contemporary Yoruba is the curability or otherwise of such diseases. A typical example in this regard is the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) which has acquired the name Arun ko gboogun meaning ‘an incurable disease’ in the present Yoruba lexicon.

People have mostly attacked the African traditional medical systems in general and the Yoruba medicine in particular in the areas of diagnosis and therapy. For instance, it is alleged that diagnosis is totally lacking in Yoruba medicine and as such, blind medication without regulated dosage is a great demerit of Yoruba medicine. However, nothing could be farther from the truth than this allegation. The Yoruba medicine is characterized by systematic diagnosis of diseases before medication is administered. Admittedly, it is in the area of diagnosis that the spiritual dimension of Yoruba medicine becomes more apparent. The Yoruba believe in the natural etiology of diseases which holds that all the causative agents of diseases and illnesses such as germs, worms, viruses, and so on might have been a result of unhygienic food intakes or environment or as a result of unfavorable weather conditions and the handiwork of spiritual/evil machinations of enemies and adversaries (Dopamu 2003: 450–451).

The Yoruba equally believe that chronic diseases may result from personal mistakes or ignorance of a particular person in engaging in forbidden acts or family taboos and abominable acts (Okunade 2004: 444). In other words, the Yoruba, like other African peoples, subscribe to spiritual causation of some illnesses (Omonzejele 2008: 122). Due to these possibilities, the first aspect of Yoruba medicine in critical situations is divination which is aimed at finding/looking for the spiritual or supernatural cause(s) of the ailments. However, it is not in every ailment case that divination is carried out as the first resort. Similar ailments are attended to with regular medication associated with them from the past experience of the Yoruba medical practitioners. It is only when tested and recommended medications prove fruitless for normal symptoms of known diseases that resort is made to divinations (Dopamu 2004: 428). This practice of recommending medications based on symptoms of known diseases is also practiced by modern Western medical practitioners.

Also, in the area of therapy, Yoruba medicine exhibits some aspects of Yoruba indigenous religions. As it occurs in the diagnosis of the nature and causes of diseases, divinations not only reveal the roots of diseases which are beyond the normal physical experience of the practitioners, but it also gives the therapeutic solutions to it. These therapeutic solutions from the divinations are always in the form of rituals, propitiations, atonement, and appeasements (Ebo/Etutu) (Abimbola 1967). The practical experiences of some Yoruba people in modern western medical centers and hospitals in contemporary time whereby patients are advised to go and seek alternative medicine when orthodox medical doctors could not make meaningful diagnosis is a pointer to the spiritual dimension of diseases and ailments among Africans. Dopamu (2004): 429 has rightly explained the spiritual aspects of Yoruba medicine in these words:

Invariably, divination and ritual enter the practice of the Yoruba healer in his total management of diseases. What we know as divination in religion now appears to be diagnosis, while what we analyze as ritual in certain circumstances is nothing but therapy. Divination reveals the root-cause of the diseases and serves the purpose of etiology. What hitherto has not been known to patient is now revealed and he is re-assured of effective management. Ritual, on the other hand, is used to remove the mystical (spiritual agents) or supernatural (sorcery or witchcraft) causation of the disease while medicine is used on the level of practical therapy.

In essence, the Yoruba medicine can be said to be very rich in the knowledge of etiology, pathology, and diagnosis.

Nature of Yoruba Medicine: Practitioners, Pharmacology, and Therapeutic Methods

In general terms, every Yoruba adult man or woman who is well-grounded in the Yoruba cultures knows one form of indigenous medicine or the other (Dopamu 2004: 437). However, the indigenous Yoruba medicine is one of the traditional professions with different areas of specializations carried out by a number of professional practitioners who are skilled in their area of specializations. Some of these areas of specializations may be combined by an individual while some people may only have expertise knowledge in a particular area. The would-be practitioners of Yoruba medicine undergo a long period of apprenticeship under experienced and skilled practitioners after which they can begin to practice what they have learned (Rayfield 2010). In most instances, young people are exposed to this profession early in life from their parents and guardians who specialize in any of the aspects of Yoruba medicine.

One of the main practitioners of Yoruba medicine is called the Onisegun (medicine man/healer/herbalist) who specializes in diagnosing and giving medications for all forms of illnesses brought before him as well as healing the sick by counteracting the causative agents of the ailments. Another practitioner in Yoruba medicine is the Babalawo/Onifa (diviner/priest) whose main duty it is to unravel the mysteries and unearth the secrets behind the ailments particularly when all medicinal efforts have proved abortive. The third practitioner who is often confused with Onisegun is the Adahunse (casual or occasional herbalist) who would only render therapeutic aid to friends or at the earnest solicitation of friends to others (Aremu 2008: 2; Oyebola 1980: 23). It must, however, be emphasized that the works of a diviner and herbalist are usually combined in one person.

The Yoruba indigenous medical practitioners employ the use of several methods of therapy and a number of substances and items are used as medications. As indicated earlier, diagnosis is carried out on general observation of the visible symptoms of physical diseases while resort is made to divination and prayer in cases of nonphysical diseases which are believed to have spiritual dimensions. The methods of healing in Yoruba medicine are diverse. Perhaps, the most important, most popular, and generally acknowledged method of therapy in Yoruba medicine is herbalism, that is, the use of various forms of medicinal plants. However, it must be stressed that although herbs are central to Yoruba medicine, it is far beyond herbalism or herbal medicine alone because the Yoruba medical practitioners use other natural and nonnatural materials as well as animals for their medicinal preparations. Dopamu (2004): 432 has provided a well-embracing, but not exhaustive category of materials for Yoruba indigenous medications:

  1. (i)

    Religious objects—masquerade mask, Sango kola nut, the shea butter of Orisanla, water from Orisanla’s shrine, and various objects connected with religious cults.

  2. (ii)

    Plants—herbs, leaves, roots, barks, stems, seeds, flowers, fruits, buds, and sap or juices of trees or plants.

  3. (iii)

    Animals—various birds and their features, beak, gizzard, head, foot, toe, and bone; various animals and their skins, bones, skulls, heads, quills, and excretions; various reptiles like lizard, snake, iguana lizard, monitor, gecko, and chameleon; various insects like butterfly, fly, wasp, beetle, cricket, ant, and bees.

  4. (iv)

    Inanimate objects—these include the bulk of nature which is found in plant and animal kingdoms—sand, water, sulfur, iron, and gunpowder.

All these materials serve as ingredients in Yoruba medications, and the mixtures are carried out by the professional practitioners depending on the purpose for which they are meant. Yoruba medications produced from a mixture of these ingredients are processed into liquid and powdery substances which are to be consumed by the patients. The liquid mixtures are popularly called Agbo, the solid mixtures which are to be cooked or mixed with other things before consumption are called Aseje while the powdery substances are known as Agunmu (Dopamu 2004: 433). These medications may not be solely for consumption as they can also be applied to the affected parts of the body in case of wounds or injuries. They can also be applied to parts of the body after incision called Gbere among the Yoruba. Incisions are made by the Yoruba people for both prophylactic and therapeutic purposes.

Apart from consumption and application of medicinal mixtures of various kinds, there are other methods of therapy. These include such methods as actions relating to scarifications and incisions (Gbere) as well as verbal invocations, incantations, prayers, and so on (Jegede 2002: 330; Omonzejele 2008: 120–126). These are carried out mostly in cases of snake or scorpion’s bites or stings to remove the venoms from the body system of the concerned victims. There are also other activities such as atonement, sacrifices, and ritual offerings which are carried out to appease the spirits and the ancestors when some ailments have defied all forms of regular and physical therapies. As stated earlier, it is in the latter category of therapeutic activities that Yoruba religious and spiritual issues enter into their medicine. The Yoruba believe that it is not every disease that results from explicable and physical causes, but there are ailments which are caused by the evil of machinations of enemies or as a result of the wraths of the gods or spirits (Jegede 2002: 328). They hold that attention to this kind of ailments should not only be through the use of medicinal mixtures, but also through ritual sacrifices and appeasements (Jegede 2002: 328). Quite expectedly, this is the aspect of Yoruba medicine that is most criticized by people because of its secrecy, its use of oracular diagnosis, incantations, mystic activities, ritual sacrifices, and a host of others (Elujoba 2000: 6).

A prominent aspect of the Yoruba medicine that is worthy of mention here, but which does not relate to solutions to diseases or ailments, is that of protective charms popularly known as oogun iso/abo. This kind of charms was so popular and widespread among the Yoruba in the precolonial period when people engaged in the hunting of wild animals and during the period when interstate wars were rampant in Yorubaland (Aremu 2008: 5). Other aspects of Yoruba medicine which are not related to diseases are oogun itaja (charms for business prosperity), oogun arobi (charms for preventing misfortunes), oogun owo (charms to command respect and reverence from the people), and so on. All these and other aspects of Yoruba medicine are still very popular among the Yoruba in the contemporary period in spite of the advent of Islam, Christianity, and westernization.

Yoruba Medicine Since the Colonial Period: Aspects of Resilience and Dynamism

By the first decades of the twentieth century, the whole of Yorubaland had come under the colonial tutelage of the British government and was incorporated into the Nigerian project which was formalized in 1914 (Olaniyan 2003). The British colonial rule in Nigeria between 1900 and 1960 had socioeconomic and political impacts on the various peoples who constitute modern Nigeria. One of the major impacts of the British rule on the social ways of life of the Yoruba people was the introduction of western medicine on the Yoruba people. It must be emphasized that western medicine was introduced by the early Christian missionaries primarily to provide health care for the European missionaries who were dying of tropical diseases in large numbers. Later, it was used as strategy of conversion of the Yoruba people who were adherents of African traditional religions (ATRs) (Ayandele 1966; Ajayi 1965).

The Christian missionaries attacked and condemned the use of Yoruba medicine and equated it with magic, sorcery, and idol worshipping which are against the principles of Christianity (Babalola 2003: 273–274). The result of this was that some of the converts to Christianity during this period not only embraced western medicine but also rejected Yoruba indigenous medicine. The Christian missionaries commanded their new converts to burn down all their charms and medicines, and in most cases, these were done openly and publicly (Babalola 2003: 273–274). However, this is not to say that many of the early converts did not continue to visit indigenous medical practitioners for solutions to their diseases and ailments. The Christian missionary bodies built a number of modern hospitals along with their churches in all parts of Yorubaland. Examples of such hospitals established by Christian bodies included the Methodist Wesley Guild Hospital in Ilesa, the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Ile-Ife, and a host of others (Omotoye 2010: 118).

During the colonial period, the colonial government in Nigeria combined with the Christian missionaries to pursue a policy of wiping out all aspects of indigenous cultures and values among the peoples including indigenous medicine. In Yorubaland, just like other parts of the country, the colonial government illegalized the indigenous medicine and proscribed its practitioners. This had a great negative impact on the status indigenous Yoruba medicine among the people as Yoruba Christians began to look down on it as mere fetishism and occultism. While the colonial government was not interested in establishing hospitals at the early years, it supported the Christian missionaries not only in their efforts to implant western medicine in Yorubaland, but also in their bid to stamp out Yoruba indigenous medicine.

In spite of the opposition of the Christian missionaries and the colonial government to Yoruba indigenous medicine, it has remained resilient and relevant in the healthcare system of the Yoruba people. In contemporary Yoruba societies, the people still make recourse to aspects of indigenous medicine irrespective of their religious convictions—Islam, Christianity, and ATRs (Lambo 1990: 9). It is also to be noted most of the ailments which defy orthodox medicine are referred to indigenous medical practitioners who on several occasions are able to provide solutions to them. It is equally important to emphasize that the contemporary patronage of indigenous Yoruba medicine knows no bound as a good number of men and women, educated and non-educated, literate and nonliterate, old and young, and Muslims and Christians at home and abroad still make use of one or the other aspects of Yoruba medicine.

More importantly, the Yoruba medicine is also very dynamic and its dynamic has resulted in the modernization of its contemporary practice among its practitioners today. At present, there are some Yoruba indigenous medical practitioners who have modernized the packaging and branding of their medications to meet global standard and whose medications are endorsed and registered by the relevant government agencies. We now have Yoruba medicines in forms of tablet/pill, tonic, capsules, and so on. Examples of such people include Dr. Akintunde Ayeni of Yem-Kem International Ltd. (samples of his modernized herbal products are shown in Appendix 1), Alhaji (Dr) Fatai Yusuf of Oko Oloyun Worldwide (samples of his products are shown in Appendix 2), Dr. Felix Ogundipe of Awaye Herbal Home, and a host of others in many Yoruba cities, towns, and villages. These professional Yoruba herbal medicine practitioners even have offices and distributors in Europe, America, and other places beyond the shores of Africa where their products are available for sale. One important thing is that herbal medical products coming from these professional Yoruba medical practitioners are approved and registered by the National Agency for Food Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Nigeria and other regulatory bodies in the country.

Closely related to this is the fact that Yoruba Islamic and Christian clerics have succeeded in bringing aspects of Yoruba medicine into Islamic and Christian medical practices. It is not uncommon in contemporary Yoruba societies for people to visit Islamic clerics (Alfa) and Christian clerics (Alufaa/Wolii) for solutions to diseases and ailments. Some of these clerics actually combine Yoruba indigenous medicine with prayers and other medical practices endorsed by their religions. The position here is that Yoruba medicine has been very resilient and is still very much embraced by Yoruba people in contemporary Nigeria.

Conclusion

This paper has examined the various aspects Yoruba indigenous medicine. It explains its nature, practitioners, methods, resilience, and dynamism. It could be seen from the analysis in this paper that Yoruba medicine is a systematic, methodical, and professional endeavor which competes favorably with any form of medicine including the modern western medicine in all ramifications. It has survived the deliberate persecution of the colonial masters and the denigration of the western-oriented Yoruba people who deny its usefulness in contemporary healthcare. It remains a major force in the health care of contemporary Yoruba people. Yoruba medicine has been said to be the only true African healing system that is still intact in its original language of African terminology and practice (Sawandi 2002).

However, there is always room for improvement in any human endeavor. The Yoruba medicine would be better placed in modern times if its practitioners, academics, researchers, governments at all levels, and other stakeholders make conscious efforts to improve all aspects of its practice to conform to modern trends in medicine and health care. This would go a long way in placing Yoruba medicine in its proper place in healthcare programs in contemporary Yorubaland.