Nnadiebube Journal of Philosophy

Before the advent of cosmopolitan or orthodox medicine, traditional medicine held prominence as the primary healthcare system accessible to millions of individuals residing in African rural and urban areas. The Igbo indigenous/Traditional medicines and other traditional medicines in Africa had existed before the arrival of the Europeans, who were in scramble for Africa. The arrival of the Europeans to Africa had direct implications for the Igbo and their history. First, their arrival gave the impression that they had come for our good and not for our goods. In the process, the indigenous values (including the traditional roots and herbs which had medical constituents and capacity in curing some illnesses) were destroyed, and Euro-centrism was imposed. Nevertheless, the advent of the Europeans brought about a momentous shift in the trajectory of this longstanding tradition and culture. The Europeans made Africans (the Igbo) to belief that their values were useless and inadequate to meet the challenges of survival and development. The incursion of colonialism has even affected the social structure of Africa (Igbo) society so much that those factors, which necessitated the spread of values in western societies, are now present in other parts of the world. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the insufficiencies of the Eurocentrism. No culture or group of persons would have thought that The COVID-19 pandemic would subject Europe and America to a point where there medical sophistication became ineffective in curing the pandemic. We argue, therefore, that since there is no proof on the cause of the pandemic, no cure yet for the pandemic, since both Europe and America (and their orthodox medicine) are still test running which vaccine could cure and prevent COVID-19 pandemic, the Igbo indigenous or traditional medicine (TM) which had and is still capable of curing malaria, and other illnesses should not be known only within the Igboland but should be made available to the WHO for experiments and recommendations.

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