The adverse and damaging effects of popular local herbal concoction, àdìmẹ́nu, is of increasing concern in Nigeria, particularly in the South-west region. ALAO ABIODUN writes on the horrific experiences of Nigerians who have had a taste of the mixture and have suffered injuries to their body organs.
By Alao Abiodun
For 56-year-old Mrs. Bolatito Akanni, consuming the local herbal substance ‘àdìmenu’ is an addiction. She has been drinking it for more than five years and it has begun to tell on her body organs.
Mrs. Bolatito, who is now experiencing failure with one of her body organs after medical diagnosis, recalled that “when I am sick, especially when I’m down with pains in my body, I just go to my herbs sellers’ shop in Isheri, Lagos and complain about how I am feeling. They will give me different herbal combinations like àdìmenu, among others.
“I have never entered any pharmacy to complain about my medical issues because I strongly believe in herbs. I will just tell them how I feel and they will give me àdìmenu to use.”
Just like Mrs. Bolatito, other proponents and sellers of àdìmenu see it as a panacea of a sort. It is commonly referred to as gbogbo-nì-se in local dialect — one-drug-cure-all.
The spread of àdìmenu is undoubtedly aided by the fact that the substance is largely and ignorantly misconstrued as an effective and efficient herbal mixture. However, numerous researches have shown that there are health-threatening short and long-term effects on one’s health after consumption, especially for those addicted to it.
For many who have tasted the mixture, when it is taken, the substance sometimes causes sudden, violent, irregular movement of the body and contraction of muscles. It leaves users weak, severely dehydrated, unconscious and in a few instances, dead.
Nicotiana tabacum is an herbaceous plant mostly known as tobacco. Locally, people do extract this plant and mixed with cow urine, they call it “àdìmenu”, claiming it is effective in managing various ailments, even with just a spoonful of the extract.
Another factor that has aided the prevalence of àdìmenu is its affordable price. The substance is readily available at local herbal centres at very cheap rates across markets. With a bottle sold between N600 and N1000, adimenu is affordable even for low-income earners.
Our correspondent visited some stores in Lagos, especially Mushin, Oshodi and Egbeda to ask for the herbal mixture, and the sellers in seperate reactions said they had many people patronising them for the mixture. Just like many other herbal concoctions, it is most commonly taken by indigent people.
At one of the shops, the adimenu concoction, composed of various shapes and sizes of the packaged concoction was neatly arranged. One of the sellers, Mrs. Barakat, said the product promotes wellness and helps to address various ailments.
While encouraging passers-by to try her products, she said: “Adimenu serve as preventive measures; take them to cleanse your body system and balance your hormones. They even boost your immune system.”
The bottle contains information on ingredients, a list of ailments it can cure, dosage, storage information, registration number, company details and telephone numbers.
If only Adeniyi Olumide had known that the herbal concoction would cause his father’s death, he would have advised him to seek help from a medical facility for treatment by a competent health expert.
Olumide lamented: “This was the concoction that killed my father. He had an accident and was bleeding from the nose and he broke his laps.
“Bleeding stopped and the leg was being treated by an orthopedic.
“When he got home the next day, he took this drugs and he started acting strangely.
“Before we knew it, he could not talk or breathe well, then he lost his life.
“We were told to rush him to the ICU because the viral load was just too rapid.
“He was okay and even made calls until he took the ‘adimenu’ again. What I read today made me believe that it was what killed him.”
Adimenu’s composition
A research conducted in the Biology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Kashere on the toxicity and adverse effects of the herbal concoction revealed damaging information.
The research recommended that the herbal mixture is hazardous for use in which ever form it is administered, hence should be classified as hard drug and thus proscribed.
According to the research, Adimenu is a local herbal mixture made from extracts of selected plants meant for medicinal purposes.
Adimenu means ‘hold it in the mouth’, typifying the mode of administering the local mixture. It is to be held in the mouth for 2-3 minutes and poured out.
The local herbal mixture was known to be produced in the South Western region of Nigeria, specifically in Oyo and Osun states. However, it has spread to some geopolitical zones of the country, like the North Central, in Kwara State; and North East, in Gombe State (Bauchi Park). It is believed to cure hypertension, severe body pains, stomach disorder, stroke among others.
The composition of adimenu (as listed on the herbal mixture container):
i. Nicotiana tobaccum Linn (1%).
ii. Zingiber officinale Roscoe (7%).
iii. Xylopia aethiopica Dunal (6%).
iv. Tetrapleura tetraptera Schum. & Thonn (6%).
v. Water (80%).
Product of rising cost of drugs?
As the prices of medications continue to soar, many Nigerians are opting for cheaper traditional herbal concoctions like adimenu to meet their healthcare needs without caring about the side effects.
The ridiculous increase in drug prices is driving the growing demand for these concoctions especially adimenu, which are preferred due to their affordability and perceived effectiveness.
For many, the only alternative is to run back to herbal medicine sellers like Mrs. Barakat for recommendation of adimenu concoction. The sellers of the mixture also promise cures for various forms of illnesses at affordable rates.
However, health experts affirmed that kidney and liver diseases are some of the likely consequences of prolonged adimenu consumption.
The regular and prolonged intake has been shown to cause kidney diseases through many forms like chronic and acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (swelling in between the kidney tubules). It has been shown to cause acute kidney injury, hypertension and capillary nephrons, and exposes consumers to some form of tumors.
Nigerians relive experiences
Recently, on social media platforms especially X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, others, the herbal concoction became a subject of discussion with many reliving their sordid experiences and the aftermath of gulping the mixture.
A viral video shared on TikTok showing a lady taking a spoonful of the concoction from her mother raised concerns.
Rafiu Ajakaye, Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, lamented that he saw hell after consuming the herbal mixture.
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He said: “I almost died in 2007 because of this ‘adimenu’ o. It worked for the purpose it was meant, but I won’t ever try it again. I spat it out after a few minutes.
“I saw hell. I slept for about 24 hours after! Prof Hassan Maruf of LAUTECH must be laughing if he sees this tweet.”
For some users, adimenu serves as an intoxicant. Using it as intoxicant, adimenu is harmful to one’s body system. Moreover, intoxicated individuals pose security threats to people in any community.
The prevalence of vehicle accidents on Nigerian roads cannot be disconnected from intoxicants consumption by drivers, among other factors.
Omo Akin said: “My mechanic gave me a shot of this substance sometime last year while he was fixing my car. I didn’t know how the car and I got home on that day.
“I woke up around 11pm and found myself in my sitting room.
“The substance is suicidal.”
Just like many other Nigerians, Ayo, a talented young man in his late 20s, went to a herbal store to complain about fever and headache, and he was given the concoction.
Ayo said: “I used it twice. While using it, you will feel a sensation all through your body to your brain and afterward, you will vomit and become extremely weak and probably sleep off for hours.
“Although it works, it is not healthy at all and it kills.”
Some users strongly advised against the concoction, noting that the after-effect is horrible, causing allergic reactions.
Oyebanjo Aderonke said: “I have heard of it before. My friend said it works for hypertension but someone needs to be with the person when using it because the user can collapse.
“And it must not be swallowed. But for the next four months, her BP will normalise.
“If mistakenly swallowed, the person can die.
“If you are talking to someone and they refuse to talk, the person has adimenu in their mouth.
“A close friend of mine lost her child due to abuse of this rubbish call adimenu. I warned her but she is too addicted to it. The child was born with a hole beside his stomach.”
Olamilekan Hassan said: “The day I used it, it was as if there was mint inside my brain and my entire body became cold.
“My eyes began to turn and I almost knocked my head against the water closet in the toilet.
“I ran to spit it out. I also hate the odour. It makes me to vomit.”
Elizabeth Ogumosu said: “The first time I took the mixture, it wss like I was going to die. My entire body was vibrating.
“I had to sit on a bucket because I couldn’t hold my pooh. I didn’t swallow it, yet I passed through the valley of the shadow of death.
“I ain’t taking that shit again.”
Another user, Sholly, said: “They said it cures all illnesses in the body. The first and last time I used this thing, ahhh… never again!”
Jubril Gawat, a Senior Special Assistant on New Media to Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, speaking against the consumption of the herbal concoction, said: “This rubbish stuff has destroyed a lot of our lives in the hood (with some leading to death) STAY AWAY FROM IT !!!!”
NAFDAC’s role in regulating herbal concoction production, sales
The regulatory authority, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has also taken steps to protect the health of consumers by drafting the ‘Guidelines for the Registration and Control of Herbal Medicinal Products and Related Substances in Nigeria’.
Three broad classes are defined in the Guidelines, and preparations will be considered under four categories, each of which has its protocol. Extemporaneous preparations are only to be listed and not registered or advertised.
Post-listing evaluation/monitoring is, however, mandatory. Herbal medicinal products manufactured on a large scale, whether imported or locally manufactured, must be registered and their advertisement messages and scripts approved by NAFDAC prior to their marketing.
Homeopathic medicinal products must be registered and their advertisement messages approved prior to marketing. Post-registration evaluation/monitoring is also mandatory for both large-scale herbal medicinal products and homeopathic products.
Our correspondent discovered many of the adimenu products have NAFDAC numbers, but even with NAFDAC approval and registration, it is not a mark of quality.
At NAFDAC, the regulatory authority gives the herbal medicines a listing status, which means they are not fully registered as it can only vouch for the safety and not efficacy of these herbal preparations.
Before NAFDAC can give a full registration of any herbal medicine, it must go through the rigour of clinical trials. Most of these herbal doctors do not have the necessary wherewithal to go through the whole process of getting the product fully registered.
Also, nowadays the sellers are only interested in making fast money, so, they improvise by substituting some of their ingredients with something else that is cheaper, which further makes the preparations more injurious to the health of the consumers.
Doctors, health experts warn against usage
Medical experts have advised those living with different ailments not to resort to herbal concoctions especially adimenu as an alternative treatment to avoid worsening their health.
A medical doctor, Ibraheem Iyanda, said: “Adimenu is a death in bottle, which a lot people need to abstain from.
“It is widely believed to cure hypertension, severe body pains, stomach disorders, and stroke, among others.
“So pathetic, many users are not alive to tell of their adventure. It damages kidney and liver!”
Co-founder, Priv Health, Doctor Olusina Mike, said: “I once did a thread on this deadly drug called adimenu. I’ll explain again so people can read and share.
“I saw adimenu kill two people and thought to talk about it after going through research & reviews.
“A research was carried out at a Federal University in Gombe. It suggested that adimenu should be classified as a hard drug.
“Adimenu is still sold today and people are still using it. Perhaps @NafdacAgency and @Ndlea_Nigeria needs to weigh in. Also the research noted that adimenu had some effects on division of cells which means it has a high potential to initiate cancer.
“Could it have been a coincidence that someone had a stroke and another person had organ damages? Studies have shown that smokeless tobacco increases stroke
“I found a research online that analysed adimenu to the botanical base. So the Adimenu was a combo of:
– Tobacco
– Ginger
– Xylopia aethiopica plant
– Tetrapleura tetraptera
– Water
“These appear to be plant based but how does it get dangerous.”
Another medical doctor, Dr. Olawale Ogunlana, argued: “Whenever this topic of herbal concoctions comes up you’d see Nigerians arguing until their dying breath about its effectiveness mainly because “their ancestors consumed it.”
“First, whatever your ancestors drank coupled with the rise of fake (and unregulated) concoctions and complete lack of research and development I can tell you that whatever you are drinking today isn’t half of whatever they consumed then.
“I mean you can’t even distinguish between which is fake or real because there is no single regulation in that space! Just trial and error.
“We are in the hospital and we see these daily cases of Kidney Failure and Liver Failure all traced back to reckless herbal concoction consumption whether it’s in young adults and even children.
“Ancestors in other countries started with herbal remedies but guess what, they evolved and improved. But what have we done so far? Why are we so interested in stagnation and non-innovation?
“Y’all think you live long, yet on average Africans have a lifespan that is not more than 60-65 years, yet we argue that agbo (herbs) is working. If we narrow down that stat to Nigeria, you will cringe.”
Governments and non-governmental organisations, as well as the pharmaceutical industry and health advocates, NAFDAC, must work together to address this urgent public health priority which has continuously be snuffing out lives of Nigerians.
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