Driven by the passion to make people live a healthy life, Chizuo Obiwuru, the Managing Director (MD)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Biotrend Organic Herbs, first went to China to explore how to manufacture pharmaceutical products.
That was in 2007 when the war against fake drugs was at its peak with the then National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Director General, Dora Akunyili, leaving no stone unturned to sanitise the drug market.
Obiwuru’s mission was accomplished when he started producing the Biotrend range of pharmaceutical products in high demand in the country. He had registered the company in 2007.
Despite success in orthodox pharmaceuticals, he veered into herbal medicine manufacturing in 2010, driven once again by the same passion to alleviate the suffering of many whose poor health defies orthodoxy.
Ignorance leads to major health problems
He told TheNiche that most people lack knowledge of the little foxes that spoil the vine healthy living.
“People are ignorant of even the little things that result in serious break down; from little things it gets to major health challenges,” Obiwuru said.
Four years on, after extensive research, Biotrend has rolled out a range of 14 herbal products that promise to take the world by storm considering their efficacy. The company currently has about 10 workers in direct employment but Obiwuru hopes to create hundreds more jobs soon.
The jobs figure rises to thousands when prospects in other herbal product companies are added.
“For the past four years, the result has been tremendous; it has been a win-win situation, not in terms of making money but in terms of bringing relief and succour to people who go overseas for medical treatment without good result.
“In some cases, people would be diagnosed with malaria and typhoid but it was all wrong diagnoses. Many orthodox doctors would diagnose them with typhoid and malaria but surprisingly to them, when I diagnose them it turns out to be something else.
“I treat them with our products and they get well without spending much or travelling overseas.
“Where some patients are diagnosed as having kidney or liver disease and are billed for kidney or liver transplant overseas, we have been able to treat them without them spending fortunes or going overseas to spend hard earned resources, and the patients get well.
“People with some life threatening conditions have travelled abroad and come back without result. But we treat them and they become alright.”
Biotrend emerging household name among govt officials
Chinyere Nwoke, the State Coordinator of Industrial Development Centre of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (IDC SMEDAN), Ikorodu, Lagos, testified to the efficacy of Biotrend products.
She confirmed at the public exhibition of the products of members of the Association for Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (AMEN) in Ikorodu, Lagos on Thursday, December 4 that Biotrend T&M for the treatment of typhoid and malaria and general feverish conditions worked for her in a surprising manner.
Nwoke recounted that she was diagnosed with malaria and typhoid, took the drug according to prescription and was healed.
NAFDAC officials also use Biotrend products even as they are yet to conclude the registration, according to Obiwuru, who added that Biotrend is a household name among the officials, as well as among Army and Air Force personnel.
“I am like their family doctor. Quote me, because I am certain about what I am saying.”
He narrated how some doctors of the Air Force came to find out from him how some of their officers who were on moderatics for hypertension were treated and healed.
“They said some of their men who were hypertensive and had been on moderatics for the past 10 years or thereabout were no longer coming for treatment and when we tried to find out they said they had been treated and were ok. That is why we wanted to find out how.”
Obiwuru explained that hypertension is not a disease but a symptom of a dysfunction of the heart – and when the condition is treated, the hypertension or hypotension (low blood pressure) will go completely.
“The visit of some Army doctors was the third or fourth in the series by orthodox doctors who come here on fact finding.
“Their colleagues in the Army also brought them because the doctors were worried that their patients stopped coming for medications. Since they lacked words to explain in clear terms, they decided to bring their doctors to see for themselves.”
A senior official of a federal government agency in Lagos was diagnosed of having a kidney problem. He had been booked for possible transplant before he went to Biotrend.
He started getting better within 72 hours of treatment with Biotrend herbal drugs. He had not been about to carry out officials functions for over a month, but after his medication, he resumed fully at work and even travelled to Abuja for official duties.
Training
Obiwuru is not a pharmacist by profession; after secondary school, he trained as alternative medicine practitioner in China and Nigeria. He has also attended several workshops related to his career.
He is licensed by the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board to produce herbal medicine and to practise herbal treatment.
He had gone to China to manufacture Biotrend products after he had registered the company and begun production in 2007.
But along the line, he veered into herbal medicine products, inspired by personal research and training.
“Everything I have been doing is based on personal research, training and development, which is lacking in the country. The authorities are not interested in funding research and development, which is the bedrock of improvement.
“If the country invests in research and development, we will record breakthroughs in invention in many areas. I spend a lot of money on research. It took me over N300,000 to do research on coconut oil and make product samples. After that, I started producing.”
He said coconut oil is good for both medicine and cosmetics.
According to him, it cures heart disorder, high blood pressure, and is used to build up the immune system of HIV patients. It is also good for treating Alzheimer’s disease (loss of memory), burning of body cholesterol, and many other diseases.
Self as guinea pig
Obiwuru tests his products on himself, relatives and friends to determine efficacy before selling or using them for treatment. This is in addition to initial research carried out to determine whether the product is good or not.
Asked why he uses himself as guinea pig for his products, he replied: “Why not? If I can’t use it, why give it to others? I have confidence in what I am doing, otherwise I won’t test it on myself.”
He said none of his products can be regarded as the flagship because any of them can be used at any appropriate time.
Fourteen Biotrend products manufactured at the IDC SMEDAN factory in Ikorodu are undergoing tests in NAFDAC laboratory for approval.
Winding up China outlet
Obiwuru disclosed that he is based in China, and has office and factory and workers over there. But he plans to return to Nigeria permanently and has acquired a spacious property at 36, Church Street, Oshodi, Lagos.
Fidelity Bank provided funds to purchase the property, where the company will locate its clinic to treat patients.
Treatment method
Obiwuru uses quantum analyser to test and diagnose patients. He is the sole importer of the machine, which he also sells to the marketers of herbal products and food supplements.
After diagnosis, he prescribes herbal medicine suitable for treatment. According to him, the machine is highly accurate but some users do not adhere to the procedure for using it.
“For instance, a patient coming for test is not supposed to eat food or take cold water. He may take ordinary water. It is best to come on empty stomach. It is also important that the patient does not wear any metallic object around him while undergoing test. “If a patient’s footwear has buckles, he has to remove them.
“But network marketers trained in the use of quantum analyser misuse it. Besides, what I interpret in quantum analyser, most of them cannot. And medical doctors look down on the machine because the majority of them do not know how to utilise it.
“In actual fact, it can detect anything in over 35 areas of the human system, brain, eyes, teeth, heart, neck, tongue, ear, marrow, gastrointestinal cases, and so much more.
A patient need not register
“One wrong thing Nigerian medics do is that they make things difficult for patients. Someone who is in difficulty already, why bothering him or her with having to pay for cards and other processes.
“You can give a patient card for data recording and it should be free of charge. He does not need to pay money, for God’s sake. I conduct comprehensive tests for a patient for N1,000 only. Then I recommend medications for him, if he likes he will buy.
“If he allows me to treat him, we must come out with good result. It may take some time in some cases, because, as we know, body chemistry is not the same in everyone. What works fast for one patient may not work as fast for another.”
Experience with banks, taxation
Obiwuru said from personal experience, it is very difficult to grow businesses in Nigeria because banks and financial institutions do not respond to the needs of entrepreneurs.
“I wouldn’t say why. But abroad, like in China where I am based, it is easier to grow in business. Policies in Nigeria have not been fine-tuned to suit everybody. They favour the government and those in position of authority or individuals close to them.”
He insisted that failure to pay tax is like overthrowing a government; it should be compulsory for all citizens economically engaged.
“It is a punishable offence in China. If you are found to have failed to pay tax, it should attract at least 21 years in jail. In China, the penalty is death. Over there, if you cause the government to lose $1, you get up to 14 years imprisonment.”