Mercy Johnson in trouble for patronising fake medicine dealer in Glo’s Professor Johnbull
By CHIKA CHIMEZIE
The gullibility of Mercy Johnson-Okojie (Caro the househelp) gets the better part of her in the latest episode of the entertaining TV drama series, Professor Johnbull, sponsored by Globacom, as she abandons a registered pharmaceutical shop to patronise a “one-drug-cures-all” peddler. This unsettles the household of her employer, Kanayo O. Kanayo (Professor Johnbull), as the drug jeopardises the health condition of his son, Churchill (Jnr. Pope Odonwodo).
The newest episode of the Series, entitled Street Doctors, exposes the activities of orthodox medicine practitioners, who claim that a single drug from their stock is capable of curing all forms of ailment, and cautions members of the public on the consequences of patronising such quacks.
The episode uses the household of the cerebral Professor Johnbull to demonstrate that even the top echelon of the society is not totally immune to the threat of “one-drug-cures-all” syndrome, and urges the public to make conscious efforts to patronise only registered and government approved health facilities. It also urges pharmaceutical personnel to dispense only medications duly prescribed by doctors.
The episode does not totally discountenance the potency of orthodox medicine or its relevance in Nigeria. However, it advises against the notion that there is a “one-stop drug” which cures all ailments including “curiosity”, as claimed by quacks.
Street Doctors which airs on NTA Network, NTA International on DSTV Channel 251 and NTA on StarTimes on Tuesday at 8.30 p.m. with a repeat broadcast on Friday on the same channels and at the same time, resonates with the thematic slant of the sitcom as moral conscience of society.
Besides the lead character, Professor Johnbull (Kanayo O. Kanayo) other regulars of the sitcom such as Olaniyi (Yomi Fash-Lanso), Caro (Mercy Johnson Okojie), Flash (Stephen Odimgbe), Samson (Ogus Baba), Abadnego (Martins Nebo) and Churchill (Jnr. Pope Odonwodo), also feature in Street Doctors, where Samson continues his role as an unrepentant street boy. He is full of adventure and his street sense always lands him in trouble. In this edition, Samson lures Flash into peddling orthodox medicine.
One major highlight of the episode is the cameo casting of Marvin Records star, Reekado Banks, who plays the role of a “registered pharmacist”. Globacom encourages Nigerians to tune in to the episode to know whether his role as a“registered pharmacist” changed the course of events. Viewers will determine at the end of the episode if the music icon lives by the rules governing the practice of medicine, surgery and drugs as a pharmacist.
