Nigeria’s vast medicinal flora remains an unexploited treasure that could transform the nation’s pharmaceutical landscape if paired with modern nanotechnology, says Jude Onojah, a researcher in pharmaceutical nanoscience.

Onojah, who studied Chemistry at the University of Ilorin and is pursuing a PhD in nanomedicine at Howard University, USA, argues that merging indigenous herbal expertise with advanced nanoscience could create affordable treatments, reduce reliance on imported drugs, and position Nigeria as a global biopharmaceutical contender.

Nanoscience is the study of materials at the nanoscale – a size so small it is measured in billionths of a metre while nanomedicine applies these tools to healthcare, using nanoscale particles or delivery systems to make drugs more effective, stable, and targeted.

According to Onojah, this cutting-edge approach could give Nigerian herbs the scientific precision needed for global recognition.

“There is no doubt about the therapeutic potential of Nigeria’s ecosystem. The challenge is to become proprietors of our own future in medicine by prudently using nanoscience to perfect and provide our natural heritage,” Onojah said.

He noted that Nigeria’s healthcare system has long relied on two parallel tracks: imported, controlled pharmaceuticals, and widely used but informal traditional medicine. Nanotechnology, he says, provides the missing platform to integrate both into standardised, globally competitive therapeutics.

Scholarly literature, he added, has already underlined the promise of Nigerian biodiversity and advances in nanoscience. But in practice, these two fields often operate in isolation. A multidisciplinary approach, Onojah argued, would allow nanoscale delivery systems to enhance the bioavailability, stability, and selective delivery of bioactive compounds from local herbs.

“This will make it possible to take traditional knowledge through a systematic pipeline from ethnobotanical discovery to regulated pharmaceutical output,” he said.

He pointed out that India and China faced a similar crossroads decades ago. By investing in scientific validation and technological modernisation of their indigenous medicines, both countries created industries now worth billions of dollars annually.

With Nigeria sourcing more than 70 percent of its medicines from abroad, Onojah said failure to act comes with steep financial costs, while success could mean foreign exchange savings, job creation in high-tech industries, and export-driven growth.

He recommended a four-pronged plan: building interdisciplinary teams of herbal practitioners, phytochemists and nanoscientists; investing in research facilities focused on nano-encapsulation and preclinical studies; supporting commercialization pathways; and enacting policies to protect indigenous intellectual property while encouraging AI-assisted drug discovery.

He cautioned that delay could erode Nigeria’s biological sovereignty and allow other nations to seize the first-mover advantage in this emerging field.

“This is not just about making drugs in Nigeria. It is about making Nigerian drugs for the world,” Onojah said.