How my ancestral gods forced me to quit the Army to become native doctor –Dr Bakaida

From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu

 

When herbal doctor, Chinedu Okeke, popularly known as Dr Bakaida joined the Nigeria Army after his secondary education through the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), it was with great excitement and joy as his dream was to become a General in the Army.

But divine intervention truncated his vision and brought him to a level where he now feels that he is a better General and fulfilling greatly the purpose for which he had wanted to be an Army General. 

Dr Bakaida’s  first appearance in national dailies was when Daily Sun carried a publication on him as the youngest Nigerian newspaper vendor at age 13 in 2004. After that period he expressed strong vision of becoming a General in the army which he worked hard for and eventually got admission and passed through the NDA, but shockingly he left the military to become a herbal doctor.

In this interview with Sunday Sun, the 34-year-old Ezirra, Orumba South, Anambra State-born herbal medicine practitioner opened up on the forces that pulled him out of his first love profession to herbal medicine, where he is now making waves, his experiences, exploits and health tips for Nigerians. Excerpts:

You were in the military, how come you are now talking herbal medicine, are you now a military herbalist or what?

By God’s grace my vision or dream initially was to become a General in the Nigeria army. So by God’s grace when I finished my secondary education, I attended the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), so I was in the military for about four years before I started getting some visions and revelations that I should go back home to do what my ancestors were doing. My grandfather was a very powerful herbal doctor and in Igbo land it is a thing that runs in the linage and it’s kind of gift people inherit, so it is something that I inherited and it somehow has spiritual connotation. I never wanted to be a herbal doctor, my dream and vision was just to be a General in the army, but at a point the thing started giving me problems in the army work,  I could no longer concentrate, I was seeing myself in dreams, different kind of dreams, they would be asking me to leave. At a point I started having different kinds of sickness, I started having problems with my colleagues, my seniors, my juniors, hatred everywhere to the point that sometimes my right shoulder would pullout. Even when I am sleeping by the time I woke up I would observe that my shoulder is no longer joined together. I faced different kinds of problems that at a point I found myself out of the Nigeria army and I had to start this work since there is no other thing I can do that can go well except I do what I am asked to do.

So, you left the army, did you resigned?   

No, no, no. I had an issue and that issue was as a result of too many excuses as to how the thing was pushing me, so the army had to discharge me for that.

So, you returned home?

Yes, I came back home to Anambra State to start the work, though I started the work right from Kaduna because I was in Kaduna then NDA, so immediately I left the army, that very week I came out of the military, I was in my house when I woke up one early morning and my neighbour told me that his wife was having tooth problem and her mouth was swollen as a result of the tooth problem. Already I used to see in my dreams different kinds of herbs and what they can do. I remembered I’ve had a dream about tooth problem, I said okay there is one medicine I will give to you that once she uses the medicine the tooth problem will be over. The guy said okay, how much is the medicine? I said just N1,500. He gave me the money, this is as at 2014, so I used that N1,500 and went to the market, bought the herbs I wanted and other stuff, came back and mixed them, got a little bottle and poured it, just packaged it and gave to the guy and when he gave it to his wife, just within 20 minutes the woman took the herbs, the swollen mouth, the pains, everything came down immediately, I said wao! This is really working, so that triggered me to use the balance of the money to go to the market, get more of the empty robbers and get some of those herbs and other things I added to it, I produced more and I bought bell and other stuff. I carried the medicine to the market, I started ringing bell, magani chewa akwuri, that is Hausa language, meaning tooth medicine. And people started coming for it, I told them I don’t collect money, if you test it and it works you will pay. So, people were testing it and it worked instantly, they rushed the medicine. That first day I went to the market I made like N15,000, so I was selling products of about N15,000 as at 2014. So, naturally I saw it as God’s miracle and this is what God wants me to do. I used that money to buy more quantity of those things I needed to get those herbs mixed, in less than one week, although I am the kind of person that has vision and I move very fast with whatever I am doing, so I started getting workers, my sisters, I told them, come and help me sell these drugs, they started helping, brought their friends and the company started to grow immediately. At a point I had to give it a name though that name came with an inspiration as well, Bakaida. In that first month still at Kaduna, that’s where I got the name Bakaida, because I like doing things that are good, so they gave me the name that it is what I should answer. I said what is the meaning of Bakaida, which language? God said to me that this is His own language that Bakaida means: “I am God the Almighty healer.” So, I started using that name. I went and printed label, put on the medication, I started selling it there so that it will have the name – Bakaida Super Wonder Dental Solution. That was the name I gave to it then and it was moving with the speed of light and from there I raised money, rented house in Abuja, relocated to Abuja started doing the business in Abuja. I started employing people; doing the business before later in 2015 I had to move back home and I came to the East so that I can stay closer to my home. So, I came to Aba, Abia State that was when I started planning to get a factory, planning to get my business registered. We started doing registration first of all by joining the Herbal Medical Association, NTMP, joining other unions that have to do with herbal medicine. Then registering my trademark, Bakaida is trademark now, and then started registering my product and now my product is registered with NAFDAC. So, everything was working smoothly because every single medication I have by the grace of God Almighty works very well.

How do you mass-produce your herbal drugs as it seems they are everywhere now?

One of my biggest challenge is getting raw materials. Because of that since I’ve done extensive research, most of the herbs they show me in Igbo language, I’ve been able to get to know their English names, botanical names, and with that it becomes a little easy for me. There are countries you will get those herbs in abundance and they have already refined them, powdered it what I just need to do is order for the particular herb I want in powder form. There is a herbal market where you can get any kind of herbs you want. Another way I get those raw materials is that I have started planting some of them you can’t get in the market. There are also people we employed, gave them samples of the kinds of herbs we want, they go to the forests in search of them, harvest them, bring them to us and we process them into the drugs we want.

You mentioned 48 products which mean you treat about 48 ailments. Now you are in Aba, do you go outside Aba to attend to patients or they must come to Aba?

One thing that makes things easier for us is the Internet, initially when I started developing these medications I was opening offices in different places, but with the Internet I found out that it is not too necessary having too many offices. What we do now, our products are mainly online and with it I’ve been able to send my medication to USA, UK, China, Israel, my medications have gone round the world. I send my medication to different countries, different states, we do waybills to people within Nigeria every single day and we send to different locations. Then for people who want me to touch my hand on them because many people who have heard about me or encountered me, they call my hand a miracle hand; so people who want me to touch my miracle hand on them like people who are having joint issues like rheumatism, arthritis, all those joint problems, mobility problem, I have a programme where they come to my clinic to see me every Friday, but sometimes due to certain challenges some may not be able to come. So, when I get too many demands in some states I make out some time to visit states just like I just came back from Abuja two days ago. Recently I went to Port Harcourt, I went to Anambra and I am still on tour as I have many more states and places I will visit. So my medications have reached every nook and cranny of Nigeria.

Any plans to meet up with the demands of you and your products across the country and abroad?

Yes I have. It is one of the challenges I have, challenge of meeting up with the demand. The demand for our treatment is too much that I alone cannot meet up with it; hence I have come up with a Foundation, Dr Bakaida Foundation. In this Foundation I intend to have about a thousand staff that I will arrange in different groups and we intend to move them into states and communities. They will move into communities to help old women, men and others who are having joint issues, rheumatism, arthritis, eye problem and various diseases. The Foundation will be officially inaugurated this month and they would start work, moving to every nooks and crannies of Nigeria delivering quality healthcare with our herbal medications to both the young and the elderly.

Are you encountering any problem with government or regulatory bodies? 

Thank God that herbal medicine was in existence before even Nigerian government existed. Our great grandfathers were doing it, also Nigerian government and constitution recognized natural medicine and that is why there is a body that supervises the activities of Nigerian herbal doctors known as National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners which I am a member. There is no problem except your product is not registered. If your products are labeled it should be registered and all my labeled products are registered so I don’t have any problem and I make sure that I meet up with standard and regulations of the government. Our products are registered with NAFDAC and my products are trademarked.

Your vision as to be a General in the army, if there is an opportunity for you to go back to the military will you grab it?

The truth is that my dream was to become a General in the army, but today I am God’s General. I am already a General because my essence of joining the military and fighting to become a General is to change the narratives, affect people’s lives positively and God has made me His own General and now I am the kind of General I want to be because I have affected human lives and with what I’m doing I’m still going to affect more lives than I could have affected in the military. So, my vision, I’ve already achieved it, I just want to expand the scope of my vision. That General I want to attain, I’m already there as a civilian General, but I still want to affect much more lives positively. So, even if I’m given the opportunity to become an Army General no matter the incentives that follow it I will decline because what I am doing currently gives me joy and I am happy people are testifying that my products have helped them solve their joint problems, their eye problems, their diabetes problems and others.

Was it difficult leaving the military for herbal medicine?

The truth is that leaving the army to become a herbal doctor was one of my hardest decisions, biggest challenge and test of my career. Because when I left the army I hid it from my parents, my friends and relatives, in fact, for one good year, I did not speak with my parents because they love the fact that I am in the military. I entered NDA as number one candidate in whole of Anambra State that year, after the exam and screening my name came first as a cadet in NDA and my parents were so proud of me that I have achieved that peak. So, me leaving and telling them I’m no longer in the military, I know they would be heartbroken, so I decided to keep away and work hard so that when they see the progress in my profession they will have no choice, but to accept it. Today, my parents are over proud of me because I’ve made them proud, I’ve built a house for them, I’ve done a lot of things for them, even my community I built a market for them, so everybody in my community who knew me as an army officer then are now happy that I am a herbal doctor because the blessing God has given to me currently I don’t think there is any other place I would have got such a blessing.

What health advice will you want to give to the people?

I will just say it in a simple language, if you want to live long, get closer to nature. The closer you are to nature the longer your lifespan, the farther you are to nature, the shorter your lifespan. The great ancient doctor, Hypocrite, said let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food. If you follow that principle, there won’t be any sickness. If you eat 90 per cent natural food you will have a healthy life.

Did your time as a vendor contribute anything to your present position?

At six years old I left my family to join my aunty who is a newspaper distributor in Awka and I started selling newspaper just to help myself to attend primary and secondary schools. The money I realized from the sales of newspaper was what was used to train me in primary and secondary schools. So, from my young age I learnt to be independent and it helped me to shape my mentality and the personality I am today. It also helped me to know that there is nothing impossible in life. Being a newspaper vendor then helped me to meet a lot of dignitaries and they shaped my vision that one day I am going to be like them. Also my love for newspaper helped me learn that business is all about creativity and publicity. That shaped my mentality in building my business.