Prof. Maurice Mmaduakolam Iwu is a Professor of Pharmacognosy. Recall that he was appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in June 2005, and left office in April 2010.
Lets tell you more. He was born on 21 April 1950 in Umuezeala, Umukabia, Ehime Mbano in Imo State. He attended Saint Pius X College, Bodo-Ogoni for his secondary education. He studied at the University of Bradford, England, receiving a Master of Pharmacy degree in 1976, and a Ph.D in 1978.
He was World Health Organisation (WHO) Visiting Scholar to Dyson Perrins Laboratory, University of Oxford (1980), Fulbright Senior Scholar, Ohio State University and won the U.S National Research International Prize for Ethnobiology in 1999. He was a Professor of Pharmacognosy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1984–1993).
Entering business, Iwu became Vice-President, Research and Development of Tom’s of Maine, a personal care manufacturing company, and member of the Board of Directors, Axxon Biopharm Inc. He served on the Board of InterCEDD, Fund for integrated Rural Development and Traditional Medicine, and Center for Economic and Social Justice. He was the United Nation’s Lead Consultant for the development of Nigeria’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Iwu has published more than 100 research articles and is the author of four books.
He was President of the International Society of Ethnobiology (1996–2002), member and ex-President of the Nigerian Society of Pharmacognosy, Member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and Member of the International Society for Medicinal Plant Research. He was the Executive Director, Bioresources Development and Conservation Program and a Senior Research Associate at the Division of Experimental Therapeutics of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington D.C.
Iwu was appointed INEC Commissioner for Imo State in August 2003, by President Olusegun Obasanjo. In June 2005, he succeeded Abel Guobadia as Chairman of INEC. On 28 April 2010, the acting President Goodluck Jonathan, who committed himself to pursuing electoral reform, removed Iwu from office. Lately, Iwu has been providing insights into the current Covid-19 pandemic and what should be done. Below are excerpts of his interview with Journalists Hangout on TVC.
Prof. Maurice Iwu is a different person to different people. He is a brilliant a Pharmacist. He is a Professor of Pharmacognosy. He was also the INEC Chairman a few years ago. But right now Prof. is in the news for his insistence that just like Madagascar has done, Nigeria also has a locally produced drug that can be re-configured to specifically treat COVID-19. But nobody is listening to him.
Last week, he spoke on Journalist Hang Out, a programme on TVC where he revealed the shocking detail that there is a drug currently in circulation and approved by NAFDAC that can be used to treat Covid-19.
On the recent TVC programme, Journalists Hang Out, he was asked if there was a herbal remedy for Covid-19, and Prof. Maurice Iwu confirmed that there were herbal drugs that can be used manage Covid-19. I completely agree with those who say we can get drugs locally to manage the pandemic. Many do not know that Coronavirus is not entirely new, that there was a predecessor to it, which is called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) The death rate of SARS was about 10% of people that got the infection. This one is technically know as Coronavirus-2, although we call it Covid-19 because it came out in 2019.
So, what we are actually surprised at is the fact that we do have virus in the air, that there are actually no cure, so to speak for the virus but what to do is to do the rectification. Based on the work we did with National Institute of Health we proved convincingly that the virus can be stopped by using some products that grow here in Nigeria. We tested several, but 3 of them were very active. We had to secure compound from them and we secured compound that we started then. What is so interesting in them was that we also rally round products from them that have been registered by NAFDAC. What we need to do now is that while we are waiting for the new drug to be developed as a drug, we should continue to use the medicine that is readily available and for which we readily have NAFDAC number for. So, some of us are totally surprised that some Nigerians believe that it was not possible that something that was new, so to speak, how can they have treatment for it?
The answer is that it is Science, and Science is based on Facts and nobody has been able to dispute our data. And the data is that the new compound from one of the plants, 7, 145 patients were tested in China of all places. It is a plant that also grows in India. So, what we contributed to science is to isolate the pure compound from where the plant is well known. I have the drug. I have the packet to show you. It is sold in Pharmacies and Chemist shops. All we are trying to do is to re-purpose it for a new issue. As a Pharmacognosist I was interested in developing a new drug. So, that purpose is still on. We are planning to have medical trials. So, a new drug will still be there as an active viral agent. It is active against several viruses not just the Coronavirus-2. It is a big opportunity that we have in our hands and we are glad that Madagascar and other African countries are using what they have to solve a problem that they have. I am glad that they did that. Other people are coming out with claims and so on. Those claims should be verified. They shouldn’t just be dismissed outright like that.
We have some innate advantages over others. Many don’t know why we are better positioned to fight Covid-19. First of all, what we eat in more nutritional and is backed up with a lot of immune enhacing properties than the West. 2ndly, our very humid, tropical environment has also made us to survive easier here than in the West, even when there is no Coronavirus. They die during cold season. So, it shouldn’t be that our neighbour is there we should die with them. All the death that we are having currently in Africa is unnecessary, avoidable and treatable. That is the whole issue. The fact that they say the Virus is global does not mean we should accept that and feel inferior in everything. Why must we wait for the white man for everything. Why must we wait for the white man to say he has found a drug to treat it. It is either we have the Vaccine or we have the drug and we chose to have the drug. We definitely have the drug in Nigeria that can be used to manage the virus. That is the area I am concentrating on and I am glad that Nigerians can see that it is treatable.
Interesting, one of the Governors gave us hope when he said I use Blackseed Oil and some other things to treat himself. There is nothing complex about it. Blackseed Oil is an anti-viral agent. Secondly, some people say they use Dogonyaro. That is good. Dogonyaro also contains some anti-viral agents. So, these things are simply commonsensical.
And so when people start doubting them, to me it is Self-doubt. Many people don’t have confidence in themselves. And that is the bigger problem that we have in Nigeria and that is undermining most things that we do. This is the lesson. This is the premium point here. The truth that must be told is that with all our money, with everything that we have. With all our Oil, our biggest problem is that of lack of Self-worth.
