The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) says it has applied for 5,000 hectares of land to grow medicinal plants, roots and leaves that are local to Kwara environment.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, (Kwara Central) made the disclosure in Ilorin on Monday during a training conference for phytomedicine practitioners.
The conference was tagged “Developing Nigeria’s Phytomedicine for Healthy Population and Assured Economic Prosperity.”
He said that the conference was to assist the country in its research and quest to develop phytomedicines and vaccine to fight diseases and COVID-19.
He added that the benefit would not only be useful to Kwara, but to other NIPRD state offices in a bid to develop quality and economic phytomedicines in the country to fight various diseases.
Oloriegbe said that the objective of the phytomedicine training in Kwara was to ensure the safety and health of Nigerians who patronise locally produced medicines.
He said “it is our duty as policy makers to ensure quality medicines; see to how we can empower our local medicine practitioners and ensure they use what are of quality to produce their medicine.”
He explained that producing medicine locally would help to save the country’s foreign exchange.
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