Prescription Drug Abuse In Nigeria

I like roaming. When I roam, stories find me. I like it better when I am in Nigeria. I like it because I have the street cred. I mingle unnoticed in my Iro and Buba. I have excellent mastery of my native language - Yoruba and I can blend in elsewhere with my good mastery of pidgin English. After having fun with the Palmwine tapper on Saturday, I left for Ibadan. We had a good meal of Amala at my favorite Bodija joint, my sister and I went into the market to buy "Agemawo", beef with the skin on. I'm not good at downward bargaining of the Yoruba. I'm more comfortable with the upward Hausa model. For this reason, I left my sister to do the haggling while I survey the surrounding and interact.

She came by my side and brought down the tray on her head. It was piled perfectly like a pyramid. She lifted the cloth wrap she shields her wares from the blazing Sun and dust pith. I saw a few powdery stuff in several bottles. Then, tablets, caplets, capsules, gels, syrups etc. she took out the scissors and cut many different medications which she handed the butcher next to my "customer - Egin butcher". He exists as Egin butcher on my phone, it is the way many of us keep tab. Put the name, nickname, job or company all as part of the name so you can search on any keyword you can recall to pull the name from your phone. He popped the pills one after the other on his left hand and downed it with about 350ml of Shepe ("herbs" steeped in alcohol) in one fell swoop. I was dazed! What were those meds for? I asked! "That's how he takes it every other day mummy" said Egin. Ehn! I recovered quickly knowing this is a good story. I turned to the itinerant patent medicine seller and asked to be given the same medicine. She demurred. I saw confusion and suspicion on her face. I worked to put her at ease by trading useless banter and jokes. She brought out all the meds and showed me their expiration dates perhaps under suspicion I might be working for NAFDAQ. I told her, I don't care about the dates. Just give me what you gave him. She gave me the meds, and tied it up in plastic as shown in the picture below. I asked for their names and uses.
The red/yellow is amoxicillin and it is for well being
The white tablet is Prednisolone, for joint pain
Blue caplet is ibuprofen, for back pain
Black/red capsule is multivitamin for stress
White caplet is bunn(her pronounciation) for body pain

Ladies and gentlemen, I put up a charming smile but I was seething with anger within. I'm angry at the system that has reduced my people to this. This is ignorance! This is poverty! All in a deadly combo, carefully packed to kill given our ugly circumstances. I will not go into how politics and leadership has reduced us to this pitiful mass. I will dwell on the symptom - prescription drug abuse.

These meds are a dangerous combo. I am not a doctor but as an educated consumer of medical information, I know this is deadly. Amoxicillin is an antibiotic! Since when did it become a "we'll bring drug"? What this guy is up against, is enormous! He is using broad spectrum antibiotic without indication and in small does every other day. By now he must have built resistance to this powerful antibiotic. If he's infected today with any bacteria, doctors will justifiably reach for amoxicillin, which will not work. It will take some time for them to notice it is not working. If he survives that, they will have to go for a higher and more expensive antibiotic to cure him of the infection. Oral Prednisolone is a powerful steroid used to treat inflammatory conditions. As an asthmatic, I have been prescribed this drug twice since I was diagnosed in 1997. The first time I took it, it worked so wee, I went to my doctor that I should be put on it permanently. He laughed and educated me on the side effects. It takes inflation away in an instant. It is often prescribed in graduated doses. It should never be handled like this. The blue pill is ibuprofen, a painkiller (the two is 400mg). Same for the white caplet which is 1000mg combined. 200mg of ibuprofen is enough to dull any pain. This guy swallowed 400mg ibuprofen and 1000mg acetaminophen in one dose! He capped it with a multivitamin and alcohol. What about the herbs and their mind altering effects?

This is one of the reasons why people are dying young in Nigeria. It is the reason why kidney and liver problems are on the rise. Most of these drugs are broken down in the liver. Sometimes, I don't know where to start. It is important to know this problem is systemic. The seller told me the women dose is available. She warned me not to take the combo I purchased and she told the butcher it is dangerous to take meds with alcohol but who cares? This is how the poor and the uneducated treat themselves. They resort to self help and rely on people like them for help. She sold me the meds for only N70.00

Tomorrow - my encounter with Tramadol as a sex enhancer and an important component of self made energy drink.

Post written by: Sheriff Fakunle.