The federal government has said all its efforts in the area of biotechnology, especially regulation of Genetically Modified (GM) foods are in the best interest of Nigerians.
This is even as it dispelled allegations that GMOs are a drain pipe on farmers’ resources, as the seeds cannot be replanted, saying such allegations amount to a lack of information on the subject.
The Director-general, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Rufus Ebegba, gave the assurance in a paper titled “Nigeria’s biosafety regime for GMOs” presented at a Science Hangout organised by Alliance for Science Nigeria.
According to him, the agency, in line with the Act setting it up, has in the seven years of it’s existence, created guidelines and policies for biotechnology in the country as well as established a GMO detection laboratory to ascertain the status of foods and also check for gene editing.
On the safety of GMO foods, Ebegba pointed out that in testing and certifying them, no cultural laws are broken, just as the foods do not have any adverse effect such as allergies or negatively impact the incomes of farmers.
He said rather, they help preserve farmers’ health as they use less chemicals with GM crops and have better yield as the cops, which are disease resistant, do better, thereby guaranteeing more money for farmers.
Coordinator, Alliance for Science Nigeria,Opuah Abeikwen, in an address, said the event, which is one in the series, was primarily to sensitised the public on biotechnology, GMOs and the future of genetically engineered crops in the country.
He expressed regret that the benefits of biotechnology were still largely misunderstood in Nigeria, despite the recorded breakthroughs.
“Our hope is that at the end of this exercise, stakeholders understand biosafety processes and their importance to the successful application of biotechnology,” he stated.
In a goodwill message, the country coordinator, Programme for Biosafety Systems, Nigeria, Dr. Matthew Dore, commended the Alliance for its job in sensitising the public and providing science-backed information on the use of biosafety systems to enhance agricultural innovation.
Meanwhile, an Abuja high court has dismissed a case against the NBMA by 17 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
The CSOs had filed a case in 2017 about the issuance of permit for a confined field trial of GM maize and the commercial release of GM cotton, which they claimed were not safe.
Giving judgement in the suit which was struck out on the basis of being time barred but was re-filed in 2019, the trial judge held that since the issues raised by the plaintiffs in the previous originating summon were similar to the present suit, it was an abuse of court process to re-file the matter at a court of coordinate jurisdiction.
The court also held that the mode of filing the suit was wrong and that the suit was statute barred because the action complained of was filed in court outside the stipulated three months as provided by the public officers’ protection Act.
