Acta Balneologica, 2011,LIII,3; 164-168

Perspektywy dla baleneoterapii w Nigerii

K’tso Nghargbu1, Irena Ponikowska2, Ewa Kurowska3

1Department of Geology and Mining, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria

2Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicholas Copernicus University of Torun, Poland

3Department of Fundamental Geology, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland

  • Fig.1. Thermal Saline Spring Locations in the Middle Benue Trough
  • Phot. 1. Tangarahu Cold Spring, old Awe town, Middle Benue Trough
  • Phot. 2. Ruwan Gishiri, Thermal Spring of Ribi, Middle Benue Trough. An example of ponded spring
  • Phot. 3. Ruwan Gishiri, Keana, Middle Benue Trough. An example of ponded spring
  • Phot. 4. Saline Borehole-Bitrus, old Awe town in Middle Benue Trough
  • Phot. 5. Satellite image of the Niger Delta revealing its vegetation and shoreline
  • Table 1. Formation Water Analysis from oil fields in Niger Delta Laboratory analysis done by Central Mining Institute, Katowice. Note: Except for pH all readings are in mg/l, unless indicated otherwise. Source: Nghargbu K. (2008)
  • Table 2: Some parameters of water from Saline Springs in the Middle Benue Trough Analyzer: Milwaukee Eh, pH, TDS and Temperature Meter, all measurements done insitu

Ze względu na swoje walory w postaci różnorodnych wód złożowych zawierających cenne pierwiastki, korzystnemu klimatowi oraz farmaceutykom Nigeria jest potencjalnym miejscem, gdzie mogłaby się rozwijać medycyna uzdrowiskowa. Populacja tego kraju licząca około 120 milionów tworzy rynek dla turystyki związanej z balneoterapią.

Dziś balneoterapia nie jest jednak praktykowana ze względu na brak wiedzy o tej dziedzinie medycyny. Jednocześnie w Europie i Ameryce zostały okryte bogate zasoby balneologiczne i balneoklimatyczne i są one szeroko wykorzystywane. Tymczasem w olbrzymie zasoby wód w okolicach delty rzeki Niger liczone w kilku miliardach sześciennych wód w tworzą wręcz idealne warunki do praktykowania balneoterapii. Co więcej, zróżnicowany klimat panujący w Nigerii stwarza idealne warunki do rozwoju klimatoterapii – np. w Nigerii praktycznie nie występują schorzenia reumatyczne ze względu na korzystny tropikalny klimat.

Celem tej pracy jest dokładne przeanalizowanie zasobów Nigerii, które mogłyby być użyte w balneoterapii, zwiększenie wiedzy o tej dziedzinie medycyny, a także zachęcenie międzynarodowej społeczności do udziału w odkrywaniu balneologicznego potencjału tego kraju a co za tym idzie w późniejszym praktycznym zastosowaniu balneoterapii w leczeniu schorzeń.

Aby dokonać analizy właściwości wód pobrano dwie zagregowane próbki z wód delty rzeki Niger (pola naftowe Olo i Obagi). Zostały one wysłane do Centralnego Laboratorium Górczniczego w Katowicach, gdzie przeprowadzono wiele badań m.in. skomplikowaną spektometrię (ICP-OES).

Jeśli chodzi o warunki balneoklimatyczne Nigerii to okazuje się, że różne zakresy temperatur, opady deszczu, pory suche ze względu na swoją stabilność i przewidywalność (określony okres) między latem a zimą tworzą doskonałe warunki do leczenia schorzeń wodą. Dla większego obszaru kraju średnia roczna temperatura waha się między 22°C a 28°C.

Wody złożowe pochodzące z nigeryjskich pól naftowych mogą być wykorzystywane do celów leczniczych. Obfitość ciepłych wód, wśród których przeważają wody alkaliczne, chlorkowo-sodowe, jodkowe, bromkowe, fluorkowe, borowe, litowe, lekko siarczkowe mogą może sprzyjać rozwojowi balneoterapii. Także liczne słone źródła w stanach Benue i Bornu wskazują na duży potencjał Nigerii jeśli chodzi o zasoby balneologiczne. Dobry klimat delty rzeki Niger, rozległe plaże wzdłuż wybrzeża oraz dobre nasłonecznienie sprawiają, że kraj ten ma także olbrzymi potencjał jeśli chodzi o rozwój klimatoterapii i psychoterapii.

INTRODUCTION

Balneotherapy is not practised in Nigeria, basically as a result of the non-existence of the knowledge of balneology and medicinal hydrogeology. Meanwhile, in Europe and America vast balneological and balneoclimatic resources have been discovered and are in use. The need to discover same and put to use is pertinent, given the goal of the 21st century medicine which seeks more of preventive than curative health care delivery. Endowed with several billion m3 of formation waters in the Niger Delta area, several cold and warm to hot saline and non-saline springs, it is convenient to conclude that tremendous prospects abound for these resources in Nigeria. In addition, the very rich and diverse climatic conditions are great assets for climatotherapy. For instance, rheumatism is little or non-existent in Nigeria as a result of the good tropical climate in the country. Sun bathing will also thrive here because of long hours of sunlight in Nigeria. In this paper, only water and balneoclimatic resources shall be discussed.

AIM

This research paper was carefully put together so as to outline likely resources for balneotherapy in Nigeria, enhance the knowledge of this aspect of  health care delivery, as well as stimulate the participation of the international community in the  discovery of Nigeria‘s balneological resources and their subsequent application.

METHODOLOGY

Two aggregate samples of formation water were picked and stored at 40C in PVC bottles from separation platforms at offshore oil fields of Olo and Obagi in the Niger Delta, totaling about 100 wells. They were then shipped to the Central Mining Laboratory in Katowice, Poland for analysis using the high sensitivity inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Insitu measurements for PH, EH, TDS, and temperature using the 4 in 1 MILWAUKEE meter for the saline springs of the Middle Benue Trough. Climatic factors were assessed from the published sources.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Medicinal Waters

Determined and speculative occurrences of mineral waters of medicinal value are discussed as indicated on figure 1 below:

The Niger Delta Area

Here are the deep seated connate waters accompanying hydrocarbon deposits, by drillers called formation water, of the stagnant belt, which may have tremendous therapeutic value resulting from their high temperature and mineral composition. They are available from thousands of abandoned exploration and production boreholes. Analyses of two aggregate samples from Olo and Obagi as indicated by the result of analyses on table 1 below, confirm their tepid, alkaline, chlorosodic, iodinated, brominated, fluorinated, lithic, borous, and slightly sulphated egress. The balneophysical and chemical composition of these waters suggests they are likely resources for balneotherapy.

The Benue Trough and Calabar Area

The Nigerian Geological Survey Report no. 1492 of 1971 has documented sixty four (64) brine or saline water locations in Nigeria. Over 95% of these occurrences are within the Benue Trough while the rest are within the Calabar area. However, many of the reported salt springs are heavily ponded and as such could not be sampled for analytical purposes. For this paper, the Middle Benue Trough warm to hot salt springs were sampled and analysed as presented table 2 below respectively. The Ruwan Zafi in Akiri, Tangarahu in Awe, Bitrus in Awe, Ruwan Gishiri in Keana and Ruwan Gishiri in Ribi, all saline springs in this area are shown on photos I, II, III, IV, V on the next page. The preliminary insitu measurements carried out indicate that they are warm to hot, mineralized, alkaline, chlorosodic waters. Meanwhile, more pharmacodynamic properties of these springs could be underscored upon further analysis. In the Upper Benue Trough for instance photos 1,2, 3, 4, 5 (pp. 164 a, b), alkaline, chlorosodic, ferrous, and sulphurous waters are highly favoured to occur because of the rich layers of shale, limestone, and salt deposits within the basin.

The Jos and Mambilla Plateaux Areas

Although tests for radonic waters is  yet to be done in Nigeria, there are  strong  indications that radonic waters are likely to occur  in the  groundwaters here because of the radioactive potentials of the  crystalline rocks (granites) within these geologic provinces.

The Chad-Bornu Basin Area

Though no analysis  is yet to be  carried out for medicinal waters in this basin, the rich geologic deposits of sandstone, clays, gypsiferous beds, and calcareous beds suggests likely occurrence of chlorosodic, chlorosodic iodinated, bitter, ferrous, and sulphurous waters.

Balneo-Climatic Resources

In Nigeria the different temperature, rainfall, dry conditions which are well defined and stable over a long period of time between winter and summer are great assets for the water cure industry. Mean annual temperature varies from 220C to 280C for most parts of the country, ever noted minima of 160C before sunset on  the Jos-Plateau, Mambilla Plateau, and Obudu Hills, and ever noted maxima of 420C  in the far north of the country during afternoons. The daily diurnal temperature variation is quite stable and hence suitable for climatotherapy.

Rainfall in Nigeria reduces in depth from the South to the North with values of over 4000 mm/a to 600 mm/a respectively. The rainforest region witnesses rain almost on a year round basis with only a short dry period of one to two months (December to January).

In the central areas of Nigeria, particularly in the savannah grassland there is a relatively long wet and dry season periods (six months each on the average). In the Northern Sudan and Sahel Savannah region rainfall on the average lasts only for about four months with a longer dry period over the year. In spite of the low rain fall amount in the region (≈ 600 mm/a), it still has more rainfall than many temperate climate, for example Warsaw in Poland has only depth of annual rainfall of about 540 mm/a.

In a nutshell, the southern part of the country has more rains than the northern parts, with attendance high relative humidity of up to 80%.

From the comparison of these two meteorological stations, the first representing northern-, the second southern part of Nigeria, it is evident that the rainfall in the south is distributed more evenly throughout the year, while in the northern part of Nigeria is concentrated more around the peak of wet season in August.With over seven beaches and a long shore line, thalasso-therapy has a good prospect in Nigeria. Some of the prominent Nigerian beaches include the Calabar, Ibenoe, Lekki, Bar, and Badagry beaches.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Formation water from the oil fields in Nigeria, at least based on current work, can be useful for medicinal purposes. The abundant tepid, predominantly alkaline, chlorosodic, iodinated, brominated, fluorinated, lithic, borous, slightly sulphated waters can be used for balneotherapy. Likewise the numerous salt springs within the Benue Trough and Bornu Basin hold a lot of promise as balneological resources .

The good climate of the Niger delta and the extensive beaches along the coast hold a lot of promise for associated therapies such as climatotherapy and psychotherapy. Elsewhere in the country, the good daily sunlight, relatively stable weather conditions are interesting features for climatotherapy. Worthy of note is the rapid nature in which the Nigerian vegetation is fast depleting. If left unchecked this could enormously affect the completeness of the balneo-therapeutic industry in Nigeria since psychotherapy is an affiliate activity in health resorts.

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Corresponding author’s e-mail: nghargtbu@yahoo.com
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