A virologist and former vice chancellor of the Redeemer’s University Nigeria, Prof Oyewale Tomori, has faulted claims by anyone that they have found a cure for the coronavirus in Africa.
Speaking on the sidelines of his reaction to the profiling of the genome sequence of coronavirus by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Tomori said: “If the Chinese are saying it now, you can say yes, because they have had it for a long time and have tried different drugs on patients. If it is West Africa, forget it. I think it is a fat lie.”
It would be recalled that the former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and professor of pharmacognosy, Maurice Iwu, said recently at a meeting with the minister of science and technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu that he and his team had found a cure for coronavirus.
Iwu stated that he and his team had been working on the research since 2015, and that the United States and the United Nations had shown interest in the medication.
However, Tomori argued that only the Chinese could make such claims because they had been exposed to the virus longer than anyone else.
He said it was still too early to speak about a drug that could effectively cure coronavirus.
“Nobody has done drug trials yet, but they are trying it now, no doubt. They are doing it experimentally in many places and you should know there are different coronaviruses. They come from animals – goats, sheep.
“If anybody is saying, especially in West Africa, that he has found a cure for coronavirus, I think he is just deceiving us.
“The drug has to be tested. We can only check the drug against the patient. You cannot claim a cure for something you have not tested.
