The Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB) hosted a delegation from the Rivers State Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine Board (TCAMB) during a one-day working visit at its Lagos headquarters.
EpeInsights gathered that the landmark visit focused on enhancing regulation, training and integration of traditional healing practices into mainstream healthcare frameworks across both states.
Registrar of the LSTMB, Prince Babatunde Adele, welcomed the delegation with a call for deeper national collaboration, highlighting Lagos State’s achievements in licensing over 10,000 practitioners and establishing structured apprenticeship, certification, and monitoring systems.
“Our mission is not just to heal, but to professionalise traditional medicine,” Adele said.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, our collaboration led to a local remedy that supported public health efforts. That proves what indigenous systems can do when well-structured.”
A presentation by Deputy Director Mr. Hakeem Bello detailed the Board’s evolution since its establishment in 1980, its legal foundation under the Health Sector Reform Law of 2006 (revised in 2015) and its growing emphasis on research and digital monitoring.
Practitioners, he explained, undergo a rigorous four-year apprenticeship, followed by a six-week formal training before licensing and annual proficiency renewals.
“We are building a system that protects both practitioners and the public,” said Bello.
“Through our digital register, any name not found will be declared unlicensed, our strategy to drive out quackery.”
In response, Professor Anastasia Akpebe, Secretary of the Rivers TCAMB, applauded Lagos’s institutional reforms while making a compelling case for recognising indigenous education systems.
“You say I’m not educated because I didn’t go to Harvard?” she quipped. “My education began at age three, when my mother taught me to pick Ocimum gratissimum. That’s generational wisdom. That’s our Harvard.”
The Rivers delegation expressed interest in replicating Lagos’s licensing protocols for traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and adopting the state’s “Helping Babies Breathe” initiative, which aims to reduce infant mortality through emergency training.
Lagos has trained 50 TBAs so far and plans to scale up to 3,000 by 2026.
Discussions also included the development of an interstate digital practitioner database, the signing of MOUs for cross-border recognition of licensed practitioners, and technical support for Rivers’ upcoming training and conferences.
Both states agreed that formalising traditional medicine is not just about preserving cultural heritage—it’s about saving lives, creating jobs, and improving health outcomes in communities often underserved by conventional healthcare.
The visit marks a growing consensus that Nigeria’s traditional medicine sector, if well-regulated, holds powerful potential in the country’s journey toward universal health coverage.
