Anselm Adodo

Adodo Anselm Gbenga (born 1969) is a Nigerian scholar who has advocated for alternative medicine. He is also a Benedictine monk and priest of the Roman Catholic Church in Edo State, Nigeria.

He founded Nigeria’s first alternative medicine and research laboratory enterprise, called Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories in 1997.

He also has written several books on alternative medicine, nutrition, health and epidemiology.

Education and career
In 1979, Adodo joined the St. Thomas Aquinas College Akure to begin his secondary school education. By the year 1985, he had successfully completed his secondary school education and was awarded a West African school certificate.When he visited the Ewu Monastery in 1987, it was the peace and tranquillity of the natural environment that really struck him, and so he joined the Monastery in November 1987.

He obtained a Higher Diploma in Scholastic Philosophy from the Ewu Monastery in 1992, and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1995.

In 1997 he obtained a Master's degree in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University, followed by a PhD in Medical Sociology from the University of Benin (Nigeria) in 2017.

The Da Vinci Institute from South Africa awarded him a PhD (Management of Technology and Innovation systems) in 2015 for his doctoral studies started in 2012.

He is an adjunct professor at the Institute of African Studies (IAS), the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (where he teaches African Transformation Studies and Traditional African Medicine) and is also Chief Executive Officer at Paxherbals, and director of Ofure (Pax) Integral Research and Development Initiative.

Philosophy
Adodo prefers the term "African Medicine" to "Traditional Medicine". He defines African medicine as a system of healing grounded in an African worldview, culture, and accumulated beliefs and practices, which uses herbs and other plants as solutions to physical and spiritual ailments. African medicine, he believes, is founded on indigenous, biological, and medico-spiritual theories and concept of the human body; the role of the individual as a member of the community; and their relationship with the community, with the environment and with nature.

Background
Adodo first began studying alternative medicine in the early 1990s. He traveled around Nigeria and spoke with traditional healers, and Adodo said he felt called to preserve their knowledge.

Personal life
Adodo is the third of five children of his parents. Bankole, Funke, Bandele (Dele), and Omotola (Tola) are the names of his siblings.

Honours

 * Fellow, Nigeria Society of Botanists

Works
Adodo has written books which includes:
 * Herbs for healing. Receiving God’s Healing Through nature (1997). Ilorin: Decency Printers
 * Nature power - A Christian Approach to Herbal Medicine (2000). Akure: Don Bosco Publishers
 * The Healing Radiance of the Soul. A Guide to Holistic Healing (2003). Lagos: Agelex Publication
 * New Frontiers in African Medicine (2005). Lagos: Metropolitan Publishers; Herbal Medicine and the Revival of African Civilization (2010). Lagos: Zoe Communications
 * Disease and Dietary Patterns in Edo Central Nigeria. An epidemiological survey (2013) Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing
 * Nature Power: Natural Medicine in Tropical Africa (2013 revised edition). UK: Author House
 * Integral Community Enterprise in Africa. Communitalism as an Alternative to Capitalism (2017) London: Routledge.