Pertinent Knowledge of Medicinal Plants as Elucidated through National Newspapers Publications in Nigeria

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants provides a basis for problem solving strategies for communities in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Over the years, there has been information dissemination of indigenous knowledge of medicinal plant in Nigerian newspapers, though there are other media such as radio, television, books and magazines. The main conveyor of this information is the newspapers. Three (3) major Nigerian national Newspapers, namely, The Nigerian Tribune, the Guardian and the Punch were analyzed and inference made from them. The study spanned a period of thirty six months between January 2007 and December, 2009, inclusive. Newspaper coverage and reportage on medicinal plants were identified and enumerated using descriptive statistics. A total of 1086 newspapers editions were content analyzed. Nigerian Tribune had the highest number of articles 37 (47%), followed by the Guardian with 34 (44%) while the Punch had the least number of articles 7 (9%) in 2007.