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By

Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
Executive Director,
Nigerian Law Society (NLS).

On 23rd January 2025, it was reported that:

“…about 1,300 (medical) consultants left Nigeria in the last five years.

On Thursday, the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) said only 6,000 consultants are left in the country.

The association’s president, Muhammad Mohammad, said this during the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting in Ilorin, Kwara State.”

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) “ratio of medical doctors to population varies by country and can be used to determine how many physicians a service area needs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a ratio of one doctor per 1,000 people.”

Going by the current population of Nigeria, which is approximately 230,000,000 (two hundred and thirty million persons), it means that the ratio of medical doctors to the Nigerian population is three medical doctors to one hundred and fifteen thousand persons (3:115,000).

So assuming that a medical doctor takes two days to attend to one Nigerian citizen or resident, it would take the said medical doctor one full year (without taking any holiday) to attend to the said quota of 115,000.

This ratio (3:115,000) is 100 times above the WHO recommended standard ratio of one medical doctor to 1,000 population (1:1000).

As bleak as these statistics may appear, it presents an opportunity for both the receipt of foreign exchange and development of indigenous traditional medicine manufacturing.

Medical cannabis (popular known as Indian hemp or “Igbo”, “weed”, “ganja”) is now the new “crude oil” and foreign exchange earner for many African countries such as the Kingdom of Lesotho.

As far back as the year 2008, Lesotho amended it’s laws to comply with the relevant United Nations legislation to decriminalise and permit the cultivation and sale of the species of cannabis that is known as “medical cannabis”.

“Following the December 2, 2020, vote by the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the removal of cannabis and cannabis resin from that Schedule entered into force in 2021. Since 2021, cannabis and cannabis resin remain listed in Schedule I of the Single Convention, alongside extracts and tinctures of cannabis.”

In a nutshell, the implication was that: “At that time, the ECDD, a Committee of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes advised that certain cannabis-derived medicines like cannabidiol (CBD)have no potential to be abused or cause dependence but have significant health benefits for children with treatment-resistant epilepsy, and therefore should not be placed under international control.”

With this re-classification of cannabis, “In the 2019 African Cannabis Report, Lesotho’s industry was projected to be worth at least $92m (£76m) by 2023.”

Revenue in Lesotho’s Cannabis market is forecasted to reach US$3.77m in 2025. The revenue is anticipated to demonstrate an annual growth rate (CAGR 2025-2029) of 1.17%, leading to a market volume of US$3.95m by 2029.”

The BBC reported that:
The high altitude combined with fertile soils, untainted by pesticides, enables growers to produce a high-quality crop, valued all over the world.

Last year, (2017) Lesotho became the first African country to legalise the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes, spawning a new sector in a country where the economy struggles to create employment opportunities.”

Going by the foregoing, Lesotho has increased it’s foreign exchange earnings through the sale of medical cannabis to Canada and other European countries that utilise it for the manufacture of medicines for treatment of cancer and epilepsy.

Let it be repeated here that Lesotho legalised the cultivation of MEDICAL CANNABIS for production of medication. This is different from cannabis that is used for recreational use. This species is not legalised.

This distinction is very important considering that some law-makers frown at the idea or even the mere mention of cannabis (Igbo, weed, ganja, skunk, etc.).

About the year 2022, or thereabouts, I still recall the difficulty of convincing my wife (who is a lawyer not to mention others) about why I was involved as a legal consultant for the drafting of a Bill to Legalise the Cultivation of Medicinal Cannabis in Nigeria. The said Bill was sponsored by Hon. Miriam Onuoha of the House of Representatives, National Assembly of Nigeria.

During my legislative advocacy, to promote the said Bill, the current majority leader told me point-blank that his constituents would not be happy that he is supporting a Bill to legalise the cultivation of MEDICAL CANNABIS, which he kept referring to as “Igbo” (the pidgin English language name) instead of the botanical name (cannabis sativa), which sounds more refined!!!!

I also approached a very popular human rights lawyer who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria-SAN to support the advocacy by filing a public interest lawsuit to compel the National Assembly to enact a law to give effect or “domesticate” the said UN legislation that de-classified cannabis. He “diplomatically” turned it down because of the risks to his reputation.

However, the current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Assembly who had taken his time to read about the medical value of medicinal cannabis is on record as giving 100% support to the said Bill.

Several medical doctors provided myself and other members of our team with results of scientific studies that support the medical and medicinal benefits of the species of cannabis known as medical cannabis. It was an eye-opener for me.

It was based on those tangible, empirical evidence that I supported the drafting of a Bill for legalisation of cultivation of MEDICAL CANNABIS.

And it is on that basis that I now support the opportunity for Nigeria to increase it’s foreign exchange earnings through the cultivation of MEDICAL CANNABIS.

This has to be done under very strict regulations.

As the Government of Lesotho is doing, they enter into a direct partnership agreement that allows the foreign companies to be involved in the cultivation and processing and exporting of the medical cannabis.

It is not safe to allow indigenous Nigerians to be involved directly in the cultivation and processing and packing and exporting (“make them no come smoke am, or steal am finish”-as we would say in pidgin English language).

From the foregoing, it is obvious that the dearth of medical doctors in Nigeria present a golden opportunity for the growth and development of indigenous traditional medicine industry in Nigeria.

The Nigerian soil and tropical climate supports the growth of plants and trees that are the raw materials for production of medicines that can cure a lot of ailments.

Growing up as a child, I inherited asthma, as my grandfather was always with an inhaler. On one of the boat rides from ogoniland to my village (Opobo town) in the year 1987 or thereabouts, because of the exposure to cold breeze, I suffered an asthma attack and I was rushed to the local hospital upon disembarking from the boat. My mother who witnessed the whole incident told me that it was an elderly person with knowledge of local herbs that boiled some plants that was used to revive me after I drank it. And that was the last time, I experienced any sort of asthma attacks not even when I was resident in the United Kingdom, which has a colder weather than Nigeria. Till today, I have not used any inhaler, since the year 1987.

So this is a testament to the potency of our traditional medicines.

However, we are not paying attention to it as an alternative source of medicine and foreign exchange earnings.

It is hoped that this current dearth of medical doctors in Nigeria will open our eyes to the golden opportunity.

As the saying goes: “God never closes a door, without opening a window somewhere else”-Sound of Music (1964)!!!