‘Carry us along and you will see wonders’: COVID-19 pandemic and search for local cures in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined how the panic created by the advent of corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic led to the search for local cures, the responses and reactions of the government to the local cure as well as why the government preferred Western solution over local cures in spite of its investments and efforts to develop local cures in Nigeria. The study adopted the qualitative methods and thus relied on data elicited from books, journals, COVID-19 news reports, bulletins, and newspapers. The study finds a gap in the manner in which the government adopted the Western cures over its own in spite of its huge investments in local solutions. The rationale for reliance on western solutions were the lack of data, lack of replicability among others. The paper concludes that local search for the COVID-19 vaccine if encouraged would not have only saved the nation huge export of scarce financial resources but would have also created the take-off for novel therapeutic or prophylactic products for the prevention and treatment of endemic and emerging diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and other preventable diseases. One of the recommendations for the study is the need for adequate funding and political will to support local cures. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of African Identities is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)