2.3 Importance of Traditional Knowledge in Nigerian Society
In the assertion of Erik (2011) the term traditional people is in itself a contested category of people. The former refers to “culturally distinct ethnic group with a different identity from the national society draw existence from local resources and are politically non-dominant. Rural communities, people and nations are those which having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them
More so, traditional peoples of the world possess an immense knowledge of their environment based on centuries of living close to nature. Living in and from the richness and variety of complex ecosystems that they have an understanding of the properties of plants and animals, the functioning of ecosystems and the techniques for using and managing them, that is, particular and often detailed in rural communities in developing countries, locally occurring species are relied on for many, sometimes all foods, medicines, fuel, building materials and other products. Equally, paper knowledge and perception of the environment, and their relationships with it, are often important elements of cultural identity. Furthermore, the traditional knowledge is more than simple compilation of facts drawn from local and remote environments. It is a sophisticated system of knowledge on centuries of wisdom and experience. It grows and changes with new information. Indigenous knowledge varies in its content and style which have a great deal in sustaining the planet. (Margara Burkivan and Kayiku 2011)
African Indigenous Knowledge can be used in resolving current developmental problems. For example, the United Nations (UN) and its organs such as UNESCO, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank have since recognised the place and relevance of Indigenous Knowledge in development and have been advocating for its use in modern practices. Moreover, it was due to the recognition of the value and relevance of Indigenous Knowledge that the UN adopted Agenda 21 of the Rio Earth Summit to cover indigenous practices and knowledge in natural resources, environmental management and healthcare services (UN:1992). Similarly, Arowolo, (2012) maintained that the modern challenge to humanity is to adopt new ways of thinking, new ways of acting, new ways of organising itself in society, in short, new ways of living. According to him, the new way is in the use of traditional knowledge to promote the paths of development. To this end, documentation of traditional knowledge in Nigeria is important because it plays important role in identifying traditional practices that are useful with the view to make the knowledge accessible so that all can benefit.
In addition, traditional Knowledge in medical practices is gaining attention because it has value in solving health related problems of many communities in the world. (Tilburt and Kaptchuk, 2008) reported that in China, traditional herbal medicine played a prominent role in the efforts to contain and treat of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). They also noted that 80% of African populations use some form of traditional herbal medicine. The worldwide annual market for these products approaches US $60 billion. This resulted in worldwide interest among countries and industries on investment in traditional medicines where industries are investing millions of dollars on promising medicinal herbs and novel chemical compounds. This suggests the need to document and make accessible the knowledge with a view to enhance its use in healthcare delivery services so as to improve the life and living standard of the people.
2.4 Methods of Acquiring Information for Traditional Medical Practice
Information acquisition presupposes that knowledge already exists and that there is a desire to capture that knowledge because of some perceived benefit for the acquirer. An organisation might, for example, want to capture the knowledge of another firm by acquiring the firm, hiring employers from that firm, request engineering one of their products, or reconstructing information by examining papers and articles published by the firm because it is perceived that there is important information to be acquired (Umoh and Amah, 2013).
The major sources of professional knowledge in traditional medical practice are through their fathers, masters, healers, relatives and mothers. Other sources are through friends and colleagues of traditional medicine. This implies that, all the practitioners claimed that knowledge of traditional medicine handed down through transmission from generation to generation Mafe, (2015). Informal communications are also frequently used for obtaining information. This means that, people tend to use readily accessible sources more than other sources. Knowledge may not be acquired by naturalistic trial and error, but through direct revelation through conversation with the creator, spirits or ancestors.
