Osun: Huge risks as bone setting thrives

Kunle Ogunsayo was seen sitting on a wooden bench in front of a traditional bone setters clinic  near the Olu-Ode market in Osogbo, capital of Osun State. His crutches were placed by his side.The crutches have been his companions for some time, owing to the fracture on his right leg which was covered with  a […]

Kunle Ogunsayo was seen sitting on a wooden bench in front of a traditional bone setters clinic  near the Olu-Ode market in Osogbo, capital of Osun State. His crutches were placed by his side.
The crutches have been his companions for some time, owing to the fracture on his right leg which was covered with  a bandage. Kunle was compelled to sit outside to enjoy the natural air ,because of the heat in the poorly ventilated ‘clinic’. His condition is better than that of many other patients inside the clinic, he told this correspondent.
The 37-year-old artisan said “I’m getting better. I cannot start telling you how the accident happened, because I don’t want to remember it anymore. The fact is that I had a fracture and I’m receiving treatment in this clinic, because I was advised that it is better to treat bone fracture in the traditional way.”
Omolara Abiola’s case is worse than that of Kunle. She lay on an iron bed inside the tattered room at the same traditional bone clinic. She was also involved in an accident, and she had fractures in two legs.
Looking through the door, she watched as this correspondent was discussing with one  staff of the clinic, identified as Dangote.
Omolara was obviously not comfortable, hoping to return to her feet again.
“I was brought to this traditional bone clinic from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. A trailer hit me when I was standing at Nawa junction, Port Harcourt. Some people told my family about this place, and assured us that they would treat me well. I hope I will walk with my legs again. After the incident, I was taken to a hospital in Port Harcourt where I was treated and they later brought me here. I have been here for about two months and there is great improvement. The company where I work is paying my bills here.”
The excited proprietor of the clinic, Ekemoroti Abass Ojo was busy treating a man on a makeshift bed in the passage.
He told this correspondent that he has been doing the job for the past 25 years. Patients admitted in the facility address  him as Doctor, while his staff refer to  him as Chairman. Abass who hails from Kota, Omu Ekiti in Ekiti state, however told this correspondent that he has no formal education, and that his father taught him the job.
“My father taught me how to set bones, and I have been doing it as an occupation for the past 25 years. So, I inherited it ,and apart from the local way of setting bones that my father taught me, I did not have any formal education on bone setting. Though, I have attended certain seminars and workshops organised by the state government, to train some of us in this business on sanitation and hygiene.”
Abass said he usually refers his patients whose cases go beyond fracture to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Osogbo to avoid complications. Abass said “if any of my patients develops an ailment while on admission at my traditional bone clinic, I usually refer such cases to LTH so as to guard against loss of lives. I have trained four persons who have also set up their own traditional bone clinics in different towns in Osun State. I always advise them to refer any patient whose case is complicated to hospitals.”
The situation at another Traditional Bone Clinic known as Alfa Alajiki at Oke-Woru area of Osogbo, is rather disturbing. The operator of the clinic took this reporter to a room he was using as a  consulting room. At his clinic, the patients are treated on a mattress which is placed on the bare floor.
Alajiki said “in this business of traditional bone setting, I usually address cases of my patients from the spiritual angle, and tackle the evil being  that caused the accident leading to bone fracture, before I will then proceed to treat the bone. Once the evil is defeated, I will set the bone, put herbs , fasten the affected area with a bandage, and the bone will heal after some months.” Just then, Alajiki terminated the interview and proceeded to one of the rooms in the facility to treat a little boy.
There was a mild drama at Omo-Ekun traditional bone clinic at Isale-Osun area of Osogbo, when this reporter got there. The gentleman in charge of the clinic, Abolaji Jelili, who is popularly known as Afin-Osa thought this correspondent had brought a patient, and started making arrangements to commence treatment. He was disappointed when he later realised that his guest actually came to interview him, and it took the correspondent a lengthy explanation to convince Afin-Osa to talk. When he later agreed to  speak, Afin-Osa said the Omo-Ekun Traditional Bone Clinic has been in operation since 2002.
According to Afin-Osa, “It is only God that heals. We are only making efforts as human beings. The treatment in the hospital is different from that of the traditional bone clinics. There have been several occasions that families of the victims would evacuate the patient from the hospital, and ask me to take over the treatment. I have been doing it for long and the Almighty  has been helping me.”
Welcome to the world of the Wobble Traditional Bone Clinic at Idi-Omon area of Osogbo. A dilapidated building that once  evidenced much wear and tear was painted and converted to a bone clinic by Mr Kasali Wasiu popularly known as Wobble, who was a commercial driver before he decided to open the clinic when his transportation business was no longer flourishing.
Addressed as Dr Wobble by relatives of his patients on admission at the facility, the former member of National Union of Road Transport  Workers (NURTW) at Old Garage Motor-Park explained his journey to the  bone repair business. His words “a senior military officer hit me with his car some time ago. I had a  fracture and I was taken to hospital. After sometime, my people took me to a traditional bone clinic where I was treated eventually. During the treatment, the traditionalist who treated me told me not to return to my transportation business, and promised to train me to become a bone setter. That was how I learnt how to set bones, and I’m happy to tell you that I’m now a doctor, even though I didn’t go to school at all.” Wobble abruptly terminated the interview to attend to a patient.
Osun State Commissioner for health, Dr Temitope Ilori in an interview with this correspondent, said it was difficult to regulate the activities of the traditional bone setters, because of the belief system of the people. “I think our people take solace in the traditional bone setters for economic reasons. That perhaps to them is cheaper. Many times, people go back to the orthopaedic hospitals after they might have developed complications. As a government, we are trying to ensure that we intervene appropriately to ensure that the practice of  the traditional bone setter is safe. We are monitoring them to ensure that they are not mixing orthodox with traditional medicine. We ensure that whatever they are doing is purely traditional, and to ensure that the environment is safe for such practices. Also, we are trying to put up a traditional medicine board.  Efforts are on-going in this direction, and we are talking to relevant stakeholders. All these are in a bid to ensure safety. We will not relent in making them know their boundaries, and educate our people on the need to seek orthodox medicine.”