by Prof Iyabode Omolara Akewo Nwabueze
More often than not, the herbs used for health care in traditional Africa are said to have scientific names when African scientists identify them. However, a trend has been noticed: the scientific names of the plants or herbs identified tend to be Latin. The question is: Why is this so? Is it possible that the colonial mindset is responsible for this or simply that there are no befitting African names can be found for these African plants? If these plants have African roots, why are they given European names? If these plants are used to treat Africans for illnesses that may sometimes really be more rooted in their genetic makeup, why are they given names that are ‘alien’.
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IYABODE OMOLARA AKEWO NWABUEZE 
Comments
3 responses to “African Herbs, their Names and African Healthcare: The Place of Language in Finding Good Health for Africans”
This is awesome
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I doubt if all the plants will have corresponding in English language because, there could be some plant that does not exist in the foreign countries how would they have been able to get a for such plant?
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My dear, that is the whole point of this research. Giving African plants Latin names, called botanical names, is questionable. Thank you for your perspective. It adds to the reason that informed this study in the first place. It is noted for acknowledgment in the work. God bless.
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