The director of Nigeria’s Federal Agency for Food and Medicine, Doctor Dora Akunyili is advising her countrymen to forego Viagra in favour of a measured dose of cocoa which will make one’s sex drive sizzle.
To back up her claims, made during a meeting with the vice-governor of one of Nigeria's states, Dr Akunyili cited a recently published study extolling the libidinal qualities of cocoa beans.
The report, produced by Nigeria's national committee for the development of cocoa, although a little skimpy on double- blind scientific tests, does refer to the marketing campaign of a British trade association making similar claims.
Baptized "Feeding Your Imagination", the campaign will soon launch a product line of six energy chocolate bars containing essential oils said to enhance one's mood, and especially one's sexual appetite.
Costing about US$6 (A$8) per 100 grams, the bars are fetchingly named Sexy, Beautiful, Dreamy, Fantastic, Sensual and Lovely, according to the website foodnavigator.com.
For Dr Akunyili, chocolate is the obvious choice, Viagra, she said, can have unwelcome side effects, but chocolate is all good: it is the best anti-oxidant known and beyond its sexual virtues can help prevent heart attacks, hypertension and diabetes.
The vice governor, who also happens to head a committee for the promotion of chocolate, is even more enthusiastic about cocoa's curative powers, claiming it can "cure breast cancer, get rid of chronic coughs, and enhance brain power".
Dr Akunyili did caution, however, that any new products containing chocolate will be thoroughly tested before going to market.