Incredible! In spite of the official recognition shown in last week’s column, that the Federal Government has given to Pa Aliyu Giwa, as a herbalist with proven records of curing prostate cancer, diabetes and the other diseases he treats, some readers still have doubt that the old man is capable of such medical feats through herbal medicine. For such people I have a few questions. One, would the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, a first class Ph.D. degree holder in chemical engineering, and an Ebonyi State – born prince of uncommon integrity and one of the few credible and highly – respected politicians in Nigeria, have visited Pa. Giwa if he did not have the evidence and was convinced that the old man had cured many a people of the diseases he specializes in?
Secondly, would he have promised that the Federal Government would build the nonagenarian herbalist a four – bedroom bungalow clinic in his village, provide him with a vehicle to enhance his herbal practice and help in marketing his medicines in Nigeria and abroad? In addition, would Dr. Onu have said that the Minister of Health had agreed that the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development would be involved in helping Pa Giwa in the process of producing and upgrading his medicine for use locally and internationally? And that the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency would co-operate with the old man in enhancing his herbal practice.
Now to the crux of the matter and the incontestable evidence that Pa Giwa cures prostate cancer and other diseases and which was the reason for Dr. Onu’s visit to him in July, last year. The Minister got to know about the old man from Nze Stephen Ebeneme, a traditional leader in one of the states in the South – East and who I was told was diagnosed with prostate enlargement in 2008 and which became cancerous last year.
But he was saved from undergoing surgical operation when he met someone who knew Pa Giwa. He got relieved on the third day of drinking the medicine he bought from the legendary herbal guru. When he went for Prostate Specific Antigen test, the result showed that he was free of prostate cancer.
According to Pa Giwa’s assistant, Yakubu Abdulazeez Adeiza, when I called and spoke with him on phone on Sunday, patients usually got cured of prostate enlargement or cancer within three days to one week of taking the drink the old man prepares for them. But at times, he said, some may need a second bottle, and very rarely a third bottle, before getting cured. But the original fee of twenty – five thousand naira paid for the first bottle is reduced when a second one is needed. Mr. Adeiza said patients are not expected to keep a bottle for more than six weeks, as it develops bad smell thereafter.
But he explained that the powder – preparation has no time – limit, and that the person who buys it is told how to mix it into liquid form. It is the powder – stuff that is sent to people who live outside Nigeria or in other parts of the country apart from Lagos and Port Harcourt.
There are three means of patients getting Pa Giwa’s medicines anywhere in the world. Some readers who live in Abuja or a town or village in Kogi State or those in nearby ones in Ondo and Edo States travel to the old man’s village to collect it. An example is Madam Margaret of Ikare who got papa’s number on Friday and phoned me on Saturday when in Adavieba to collect her medicine and have spiritual consultation with the old man. A reader in Port Harcourt phoned me on Monday that he too would travel today to meet Pa Giwa to purchase his medicine for prostate cancer.
To be continued next Wednesday, with the compelling reasons why unlike during the Dr. Odeyemi and Mrs. Folarin’s series, I am now demanding five thousand naira before releasing Pa Giwa’s telephone number to anyone.
Colonel Clark, here is my CV (9)
The first thing I did when I received my letter of appointment as the Chairman of the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja was to go to Dr. Franklin Adejuwon, who was then the Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Tourism and the late Chief Samuel Alamutu, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Ikoyi Hotel for advice. They and I in the late 1970s were members of a committee set up by the Federal Government on tourism development in the country. I was then Acting Controller of Current Affairs, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.
I invited Dr. Adejuwon to undertake a tour of the hotel to see the situation and be in a position to let me know what was to be done precisely. He found the place so nauseating that he called off the tour in less than twenty minutes. Saying, Sina you have a lot to do so in this seedy hotel. As he advised, during the second meeting of our board we undertook a two – day official tour of Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Ikoyi Hotel and the Victoria Island – located duo of Palace and Eko Hotels to see and learn how they were being run. It was during the visit that we found out that the money being spent on refurbishing Lagos Airport Hotel was about a third to a fourth of what each of the four utilized.
Instead of a Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer assisted by highly qualified graduate professionals, the Lagos Airport Hotel was headed by a General Manager on Grade Level 16 or 17, with the next officer to him being on Grade Level 09. Instead of a Chief Accountant the hotel had only a senior accounts clerk. Thus the General Manager behaved like an autocratic Emperor and all the staff feared him.
With the direct access I had to Governor Olabode George of Ondo State, who facilitated same for me with the late twain of Colonel Adedeji Sasaeniyan Oresanya, the Governor of Old Oyo State and Navy Captain Mohammed Lawal, the Governor of Ogun State, I was able to get them to provide the money needed to refurbish the rooms and suites in Lagos Airport Hotel and repaint all the buildings. Interviews were conducted to appoint a Managing Director to replace the General Manager and have a Chief Accountant and other senior management officers not provided for in the old system.
Once the hotel was upgraded and met international standards, the patronage improved considerably, to the extent that Sheraton Hotel which was nearby in Ikeja started sending lodgers there when it had no rooms for them. In other words, the Board of Directors I headed did the turn – around of Lagos Airport Hotel and began its success story as one of the best hotels in Lagos today.
Next week: My stewardship as the Chairman of the Akure Local Government (now Akure North & South Local Governments).