The first sip is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine; after that, you just fall in love with ‘celestial water.’ Ask Sola Awoyale; to the electrician, herbal gin a.k.a ‘celestial water’, tastes like young love; hence his heartfelt sobriquet for the alcoholic beverage. Awoyale’s favourite, a local brew, supposedly stimulates him to withstand the rigours of his daily work and more importantly, high octane sexual tasks.
“It never fails me in the bedroom. It is also good for curing pile and dysentery. Whenever I am afflicted by acute pain in my lower back and waist region, I go for it. The pain disappears almost immediately after I take it. When the pain becomes chronic, I mix it with other brands and I get relieved sooner than any orthodox drug can cure me,” said Awoyale.
The father of one said that sometimes, he takes the alcoholic drinks for pleasure. “Even when I do not have back pain or dysentery, I drink them for pleasure and as a preventive measure. I prefer them to wasting my money on beer. These herbal beverages, besides charging up your system, prevent pile, sexual impotence and premature ejaculation.”
As he spoke, Awoyale opened a fresh bottle of the herbal gin; he placed it to his lips and downed his first gulp with practised aplomb. Almost immediately, he squinted his eyes like one going through some cruel and unusual punishment. He attempted a smile but the strain in his eyes belied his effort. As he took his third gulp, the content of the 100ml bottle of alcoholic drink began to take its toll; he started to gasp and exhale with his mouth every subsequent gulp he took. As he placed the bottle to his lips for the fifth time, Awoyale’s big gulp reduced to a sip. His eyes became bloodshot and he perspired like he was performing some onerous task. For one who supposedly enjoys herbal gin, Awoyale exhaled with relief at his last sip. “Normally, I will take two or three bottles at a go but this one contains too much gas,” said Awoyale as he struggled to belch for relief.
If herbal gin intoxicates Awoyale like young love, for John Agbontaen, it manifests like the seductive wiles of a temptress. The latter professed an abiding love for another local brew; oftentimes, he loves to “step it down with cold beer.” According to him, “Whenever I have a ‘match’ (sexual bout), I take a cocktail of two 100ml bottles of my favourite brand and any other, then I step it down with two bottles of cold beer. Any woman that I handle afterwards usually begs me to leave her.
“My wife often begs me to go easy on her because when I am fully charged, I can go 40 minutes non-stop. No wife or girlfriend of mine can look at another man because I keep myself fit for them at all times. I am like a boy scout. I am always prepared.”
Such a drinking culture like Awoyale and Agbontaen’s oftentimes manifests as a joyride to an early grave. It was what killed a staff (names withheld) of a Lagos-based university. Popularly called ‘Professor,’ the deceased, according to his colleagues, loved to drink herbal gin. He purportedly consumed an assortment of alcoholic beverages excessively until he met his waterloo one fateful day in November 2013. After a drinking binge that left him inebriated the night before, he collapsed suddenly, shortly after he got to school. Promptly, his colleagues rushed him to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos. By the time he got to the hospital, he could no longer speak coherently. He remained in that condition throughout the few days he spent on sick bed. Eventually he died on November 2, 2013 and an autopsy result revealed that a particular vein in his brain unexpectedly ruptured and cut off.
“His predicament was linked to excessive consumption of herbal gin and doctors said that there was no way he could have survived because the damaged vein actually conveys blood to the brain,” revealed a colleague of the deceased. The latter, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that he had consistently advised his late co-worker and friend to reduce his alcohol intake, particularly the ubiquitous herbal gin that has become the toast of many Nigerians, “But he refused to listen, now he is dead,” he lamented.
More of such sad incidents may occur if addicts to herbal alcoholic beverages continue to slurp up the local brews in careless abandon, according to Fadekemi Oguntoyinbo, a medical doctor. Oguntoyinbo warned of imminent health crisis if the increasing fascination with and addiction to the local brew by alcohol takers, the youth in particular, is not nipped in the bud.
Inside the world of herbal gin lovers
The Nation’s visit across numerous pubs within the Lagos metropolis and suburbs revealed widespread fascination with herbal alcoholic beverages. Alcohol lovers across societal divides freely indulged in excessive consumption of the now ubiquitous herbal gin packaged in 100ml and 200ml bottles. Babajide a.k.a Jendo, a park urchin in Sango Ota, Ogun State, disclosed that the drinks have gained prominence due to the numerous curative purposes they serve. Corroborating him, Folashade Ojo, owner of a roadside drinking stall in Agege and a dealer in the alcoholic beverages, stated: “Everybody has awakened to the power of local herbs. Before, the educated upper-class used to ignore and frown at the efficacy of local herbs but today, the reality has changed. Everybody has discovered the potency of such drinks and has consequently fallen in love with the beverages as you can see from my array of customers,” she said glancing at her patrons.
Teenagers, adults and the aged sat on the benches she provided or stood in clusters discussing politics, football and random sex while they downed herbal alcoholic beverages of various names and containers even as they consumed ponmo (cow hide) garnished with grilled pepper and onions.
They freely bought drinks for each other and recipients of such gestures relished the unabashed display of generosity and camaraderie.
According to Benjamin Popoola, a.k.a Okafor, he loves taking one bottle of herbal gin per day. “I actually started taking herbal drinks about five years ago following a disturbing pile. Herbal gin is good for the treatment of pile and erectile dysfunction. It also flushes the body system and gives you energy. However, I have my favourite. Although it intoxicates, I have discovered in it a good remedy for pile and premature ejaculation problems.
Personally I don’t think that the drinks are harmful except for their high alcoholic content. They are good as alternative treatment of pile and sexual weakness.”
Most of the beverages are presented and packaged as aphrodisiacs and the manufacturers’ curative claims span several other afflictions. For instance, a typical 100ml plastic bottle of herbal gin is presented with the following claims: “Distilled with herbal extracts to promote energy, fertility, virility, powerful erection. It cures menstrual pains and promotes blood purification.”
Several alcoholic beverages bear no proof of registration and certification by the National Food, Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), while many others bear NAFDAC registration numbers, thus indicating the regulatory agency’s certification of the products as safe and fit for human consumption.
But NAFDAC registration or not, the drinks are consumed by members of the public who care less about their certification status. “Who cares whether they are NAFDAC-approved or not? The drinks are very potent and dependable, and that is all that matters,” argued Bisi, a.k.a Kowope, a commercial transporter.
Death in a gin bottle
Herbal gin lovers like Kowope may need to exercise caution as The Nation investigations revealed worrisome truths about five popular herbal alcoholic beverages. Laboratory tests paid for by The Nation and conducted at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Lagos’ Department of Chemistry, revealed worrisome truths about five popular herbal alcoholic beverages.
Laboratory analysis of the selected drinks revealed the presence of arsenic, cadmium, zinc, lead, nickel and iron in the selected herbal gin products. More worrisomely, four of the alcoholic drinks had pH (potential hydrogen) values of 3.88, 4.33 and 4.49 respectively. What this translates to in layman’s terms is that the drinks, while containing heavy metals, are also too acidic and thus unfit for human consumption.
The four drinks with low pH values bear NAFDAC registration numbers, thus indicating that they had been tested and approved by NAFDAC. But NAFDAC, in a swift reaction, dispelled fears of toxicity in the alcoholic beverages, claiming that any food or alcoholic beverage containing harmful substances or metals below its statutory limit is fit for consumption.
The agency’s Director of Drug Evaluation and Research, Titilope Omowunmi Owolabi, argued that there are specified limits by NAFDAC for every metal compound in drugs and consumable food. According to her, if drugs and consumable food contain such harmful substances in quantities within permissible limits, they are safe for consumption.
What the doctors say…
Despite Owolabi’s claims, Dr. Dayo Ajibade, a medical doctor and public health consultant, stated that “lead, arsenic” and other heavy metals “are all minerals that will accumulate over time in our tissues and absolutely contribute to health problems.”
According to him, the compounds discovered in the drinks are known toxins and while the argument can be made that people have different capacities for dealing with toxins, the presence of the metals in large quantities will spell problem to the human body.
“In general, younger people, teenagers and people in their 20s are more able to detoxify than older people. The body is very good at detoxification, and at removing harmful substances from the body. But all the things listed we know are highly toxic, and damaging to the body if ingested at known toxic levels. So would a small amount that is below toxic levels in one dose or one drink, for example, be a good thing to put in our body on purpose?
“Really, the issue is this: because our bodies already have so many toxins in them from what we now eat, drink and inhale, it is getting harder and harder to get rid of all those toxins through the body’s normal detoxification pathways. And, therefore, these toxins are stored in the body, with the potential for unhealthy endocrine, hormonal, neurological or metabolic changes,” he said.
Uzamat Folasayo Akinbile, pharmacist and Managing Director (MD), Musaroq Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Lagos, argued that the presence of heavy metals in food or alcoholic beverage of any kind portends serious health issues to the consumer. “I do not see any medical benefits in the consumption of herbal gin that contains the aforementioned harmful or killer substances. Those who take it because of the claim by the manufacturers that it cures pile and sexual weakness are being deceived and toying with untimely death. Even if it cures pile, at what cost? Would you rather take a mixture that supposedly cures pile but in turn damages major organs of your body and eventually leads to death? The bottom line is that a little quantity of dangerous substance(s) is not good for the body or human consumption,” she said.
A producer’s defence
Ademola Oludare Okufuwa, producer of Ogidiga, argued that his beverage portends no threat to human life and well-being. “Before I began production, I received certification from NAFDAC, after presenting my product to comprehensive laboratory analyses at the Ogun State University Teaching Hospital (OSUTH) and a NAFDAC-recognised public analyst. After that, NAFDAC took my product into their laboratory and submitted it to rigorous tests to determine its safety for consumption. Afterwards, my product was approved and registered by NAFDAC.”
Okufuwa stated that it would be unfounded for anyone to allege that his product is unsafe given the great care he took to ensure that it was certified fit for consumption. Corroborating him, Monday Onyekachi Ubani of Ubani and Co. law firm, Okufuwa’s attorney stated thus: “People are faking his (Okufuwa’s) product. I am handling a lot of cases for him in Lagos and Ibadan; a lot of people are counterfeiting his products. I have some of the products in my chamber. I have a lot of them that were impounded to be used as exhibits in court. They are called Ogidiga too and they are packaged in the same bottle, same colour and with the same label. And you will get them at the same price as the original. You won’t even know that they are counterfeit. They are supposed to be used as evidence in court…The person manufacturing his (Okufuwa’s) bottles was also the same person manufacturing for those that were faking his products.”
On another note, when XTYZ Nig Ltd, maker of Koboko was contacted on telephone, a male voice who refused to disclose his name, even as he acknowledged that he is the producer of the product, stated that his product, unlike the analysed herbal gin samples, contains no harmful substances.
According to him, “I have not produced Koboko since the beginning of this year because of the activities of those who are faking my product. I have so far arrested about three fakers of Koboko. Koboko is duly registered with NAFDAC and is not harmful. My children, wife and I take it. I also give it out as gifts to people. Do you think that if it is harmful, I would be taking it and give it to my wife and children? Do you think that I would want to kill myself, my wife and children by deliberately taking a substance that I know is harmful?”
Shady offices, unidentifiable factories
With the exception of few manufacturers like Okufuwa, producer of Ogidiga, that have identifiable office locations, several producers of the herbal alcoholic beverages produce from obscure locations. The Nation’s visit to the alleged corporate offices of analysed drinks was a bit frustrating.
For instance, after a long search for one of the addresses, The Nation was directed by a middle-aged woman to a shopping complex. At the building, a trader in one of the shops directed them to a law firm saying: “The place you are looking for is a law firm on the first floor.” At the law firm, a female Front Desk Officer told her boss of our mission and he ushered us into his office. After listening to the team, he redirected us to an adjoining office for explanation to our enquiries. At the office, two female representatives disclosed that the actual factory is located somewhere else in town, a location they refused to divulge.
The addresses of some of the manufacturers of the advertised products are fictitious, even as some of the products do not bear their manufacturers’ addresses on their labels. Efforts to ascertain the actual production facilities of the analysed products proved futile and interviews conducted with a cross section of the manufacturers’ supposed neighbours yielded little result as they denied the existence of such facilities in their areas.
