From Indigenous Protection to Therapeutic Science: A Pharmaceutical Reinterpretation of Odeshi
Keywords:
Odeshi, Indigenous Pharmacology, African Traditional Medicine, Igbo Epistemology, Pharmaceutical EthicsAbstract
African indigenous knowledge systems have historically contributed to medicine, healing, and therapeutic practice, yet they remain marginal within dominant biomedical discourse. Within Igbo society, Odeshi has long functioned as a protective and preservative system aimed at safeguarding life against physical and metaphysical harm. The problem addressed by this research is the persistent dismissal of Odeshi as superstition or occultism due to the dominance of Western scientific epistemology, which inadequately accounts for force-based and experiential systems of knowledge. Employing a philosophical-analytical and ethno-pharmacological method, the study examines Odeshi through Igbo epistemology, African traditional medicine, metaphysics of force, and contemporary pharmaceutical discourse. The findings reveal that Odeshi operates as a proto-pharmaceutical system grounded in preventive therapeutics, material substances, experiential validation, and procedural regulation. The study concludes that the future relevance of Odeshi lies in its scientific systematization, ethical regulation, and integration into modern healthcare frameworks, thereby affirming indigenous Igbo therapeutic knowledge as a legitimate contributor to global pharmaceutical science.
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