COMPLETE SCHOOL PROJECT TOPICS & MATERIALS :
CHAPTERS: Chapter 1-5
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The use of herbs to cure illness is as old as man. This is because the existence of man is not without one form of ill health or the other. The evolution of man through pre historic, Neolithic, medieval and colonial and postcolonial times has been attached to one form of medical facility or the other.
In Africa, plants and herbs play major roles in addressing health challenges before the advent of the Arabs, Europeans, Christian missionaries and the eventual colonialization of the continent. The case of malaria, which saw to the death of many European visitors to Africa, did little harm to the people of Africa. The coming of quinine as drug for malaria was in actual sense not the first break through in addressing malaria. For example, dogoyaro, paw-paw leaf, lemon grass are used in preparing drugs for malaria before the discovery of quinine.
Unfortunately, the coming of colonialism altered people’s health practices. The colonialist in their racial superiority created the impression that presented orthodox medicine as superior to African medicinal sciences. During the colonial period, missionaries and colonial authorities worked hand-in-hands in the introduction of medical treatment e.g the construction of lyienu Hospital Ogidi, Mile 4 Hospital Abakaliki and RCM Hospital in Afikpo. This development provided a platform for people to seek medical attention in western built hospitals.
Inspite of the efforts to establish western medical care, no genuine effort was put in place to develop traditional medicine alongside the modern hospital. For example, Elizabeth Isichei captured the feelings of an Igbo native doctor turned Christian as follow:
In Igboland, as in other parts of the world, the history of disease and its treatment, and of epidemics, is an important and neglected variable in social history. The real achievements of pre-colonial African societies in the sphere of medicine are now generally recognized. Even today, traditional dibia include some superbly successful bone-setters, and pharmacologists in Nigeria (and elsewhere in West and East Africa) are conducting a scientific analysis of traditional herbal remedies.1
Furthermore, she continued:
In this connection we might well remember a certain Chive of Igbariam. Chive was a former dibia who had become a Christian, and suggested to the local missionary in 1921 that a university of medicine should be established, where Dibia could hand on their medical knowledge, in isolation from the corpus of traditional religious beliefs. The missionary snubbed the proposal, telling Chive how organized society regarded quacks.2
The reply of the missionaries is not different from that of the colonial administration since they are both propagators of western ideologies. For example, the recent increase in bone related cases calls for a revistation of the need for a synergy between orthodox and traditional medicine. This is because of the increase in modern transportation system such as vehicles, aero plane, motorbike, popularly called “Okada” have lead to increase in victims of bone related fractures. As will be discussed in this research, the traditional bone setting have proved itself viable more than western orthodox medicine in this regard. This is evident of few testimonies of peoples who got healed from the traditional hone setters. Unfortunately, in spite of its efficacy, the Federal, State and Local governments have not deemed it appropriate to integrate the bone setting industry into the orthodox medicine. However, throughout colonial rule, A report recorded as follow:
A closer examination of the Nigerian healthcare system sheds some light on why it has been particularly difficult to integrate contemporary western orthopaedics with indigenous practices. The first hospital in Nigeria was established in 1873. However, the hospital was established primarily by the European colonials with the intent to primarily treat “their own”. It took another 40 years until Nigerians could actually use that hospital and even then only select elite Nigerians were welcomed. Similarly, when the National Orthopaedic Hospital were established, they were intended solely for Europeans. Nigerian physicians only began to receive training in orthopaedic after the country’s independence from Great Britain in 1960.3
Traditional bone setting methods are systematic. First step is to identify whether a fracture is opened or closed. For closed fractures, the bone setters identify the fracture using palpation and clinical signs.4
This study is divided into five chapters namely introduction, the second chapter deals on the land and people of Enugu, the third chapter is traditional bone setting centers in Enugu, the fourth chapter is on the development of the health sector in Enugu and the fifth chapter is the summary and conclusion.
Scope of the Study
This study covers the period between 1975-2015. The take off date of 1975 is remarkable because it was on 4 April 1975 that Government of East Central state named after Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia as Haile Selassie Institute of Orthopaedic, plastic and ophthalmic surgery.
The terminal date 2015 was selected to re-examine forth years of the administration of the Orthopaedic Hospital Enugu and its service to the people. Furthermore, the dominant role played by the Goodluck Jonathan administration which came to an end in 2015 is worth examining by historians.
This study covers the geographical space of the Enugu urban, which accommodates many patients and practitioners in bone related challenges both orthodox and traditional.