Chidiebele Obika | I-Witness News
Anambra state government through the office of the special adviser on Pharmaceuticals, Ministries of Culture, Entertainment and Tourism and Information and Public Enlightenment earlier today hosted an interactive session with traditional herbal medicine practitioners in the state at Jerome Udorji Secretariat, Awka.
Opening the session, the SPAD to Governor Soludo on Pharmaceuticals, Dr Godwin Nnadozie stated that there were so much misinformation out there and that the session would afford them the opportunity of asking questions and getting clarifications.
Honourable Don Onyenji, the Commissioner for Culture, Entertainment and Tourism while making his remarks informed that misinformation on the social media were not the stance of government.
” Our culture and tradition are being eroded due to some practices. We are happy as a government that there’s relative peace now. Everywhere is calm. We thank Governor Soludo for his proactiveness and forthrightness in fighting the criminal elements in the state.
” If you are into our pure igbo traditional worship, keep it up but whatever you are doing that is not good, stop it now. At some point, we lost 8 LGAs to criminals and whoever was rescued point to some native doctors as people that prepared charms for them. Selling of human parts for rituals was rampant then.
Some said that government said that there’s no more traditional worship. But its a lie. Governor Soludo accepts the co-existence of all religious worhsips in Anambra state.”
Further speaking, Chief Onyenji stated that Governor Soludo had directed that all native doctors must be profiled in the state. According to him, the exercise was aimed at knowing the real native doctors and ndi ezenwanyi in the state.
” It costs nothing for profiling. We just want to know exactly what you are doing. Whoever that arrests you on the road because you bought goat is a thief. You are free to do those things but don’t litter Anambra with sacrifices. We need decent Anambra”, he said.
For the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Dr Law Mefor, there was no time the governor or the law stated that there won’t be “ndi omenana.” “Omenani ga adi. The law intends to chase away fake native doctors. We all are products of omenani, odinani.”
While calling for government’s support in the fight to sanitize traditional worhsip and practice, Dr Mefor charged them to do their ‘omenani’ but in a pure traditional and progressive way.
Said he, ” If you introduce criminalilty in it, we will arrest you. Governor Soludo said that the big will coexist alongside the small. There’s nsoani and there’s aluluani. Any alu you commit has repercussions. All that government is doing are aimed at your personal gain and that of Anambra state”.
Barr Ononiba, the Mayor of Njikoka LGA who represented the 21 LGA Mayors in the interactive session announced their support to the governor in the fight against fake native doctors and ezenwanyi in the state.
One of the participants, Chief Dike Nwugbaja who is the leader of Ozioma OdinanI Igbo Movement while commenting called on the governor to move clause 18 out of security law and put it into Environment law because according to him, water pollution was an environmental issue and formation of a central odinani body for easy coordination of the activities of native doctors and ndi ezenwanyi.
The national president of Anambra state Association of Town Unions (ASATU), Barr Titus Akpudo, Special Adviser to Governor Soludo of Culture and Entertainment, Chief Bobmanuel Udokwu, Dr Ramas Asuzu (Akajiofo Igbo), Innocent Okwundu (Igwe Njema, Nkiruka Uzuegbu and Ikechukwu Obumneme Okoye were some of the persons that contributed their thoughts during the interactive session.
