Senator Garba Maidoki, who represents Kebbi South, has called for native doctors to be formally recognised within Nigeria’s healthcare system, arguing that traditional medicine remains vital for many communities and can address conditions that conventional medicine does not.

Maidoki made the remarks on Tuesday during Senate deliberations on a bill sponsored by Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar to reform Nigeria’s food and drug regulatory framework through a single law covering medicines, vaccines, medical devices and other public health products.

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The proposal centred on the absence of provisions for traditional medicine in the bill, despite its widespread use across rural Nigeria.

“I rise to also support this motion ably sponsored by Senator Suleiman Sadiq. This motion, as my colleague said, is apt, is timely, and is in good faith to modernise the practice of food and drug registration in Nigeria,” Maidoki said.

The senator argued that the proposed legislation should also provide a legal framework for traditional medicine practitioners.

“Most of our rural dwellers rely mostly on this traditional medicine. And I think it is high time that we have a law that also allows traditional medicine to be implemented,” he said.

Maidoki maintained that formally recognising indigenous medical practice could reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported medicines by encouraging the use of locally sourced herbs and traditional remedies.

“Holistically, if this is done, we will also reduce the cost of importation of drugs from foreign nations, and we will rely mostly on our own indigenous herbs and medication by our own native doctors,” he added.

He urged the bill’s sponsor, a pharmacist, to include traditional medicine practitioners in the proposed regulatory framework to create a more inclusive healthcare system.

The senator also said some lawmakers turn to herbal medicine when conventional treatment does not provide solutions.

“Even some of us that are senators, sometimes we rely, we go to herbal medicine to help us with one ailment or the other, which sometimes the modern medicine has no answer,” Maidoki said.

He drew laughter in the chamber after adding: “Like if your ancestors decide to talk to you, you need a native doctor to intercede on your behalf.”

Responding humorously, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said, “Thank you, Distinguished Senator Garba. The native doctor will intercede between you and the ancestor.”

Akpabio added that African traditional religion had historically recognised ancestors before the arrival of Western religious influences, prompting further laughter in the chamber.

The comments came during debate on legislation aimed at modernising Nigeria’s food and drug regulatory system.

While the bill focuses on strengthening oversight of medicines and other health products, Maidoki’s intervention has renewed discussion about the role of traditional medicine in the country’s healthcare sector.

Traditional medicine remains widely practised across Nigeria, particularly in rural communities where access to conventional healthcare services is limited.