Ban GMO Foods in Nigeria Now, Groups Tells FG

Ban GMO Foods in Nigeria Now, Groups Tells FG

By: Michael Mike

A group, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, and the GMO-free Nigeria Alliance have insisted that the Federal Government should ban the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their products in Nigeria.

This call was made yesterday, during a media briefing in commemoration of World Food Safety Day, organised virtually by HOMEF with the theme: Caution in Science -Communicating the Risks Associated with GMOs”.

In his remarks, the Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr Nnimmo Bassey stated that the idea of promoting GMO by the government was not to tackle food crisis, stressing that the organism promote monoculture and creating hunger in the system.

He said nullification of previous permits and approvals, “is critical because GMOs are designed not to address food insecurity but to consolidate control of our food and farming system in the hands of a few corporations/seed industries.

This is known by the patent rights enforced on the products, which prohibit farmers from saving, sharing or replanting the seeds. Even those without the patent
restrictions, when replanted, yield poorly.

This is a calculated attack on Nigeria’s food sovereignty and must be seen as such. Seed saving and sharing is an age-long culture in Nigeria, where farming is about 80% informal, with farmers being able to select and improve seeds using traditional methods and being able to exchange the same.”

Bassey however urged that “GMOs should be ban. They are just polluting our food system. We need to decolonise our food system, the National Assembly needs to ban GMO foods”.

In her presentation, ERA’s Deputy Executive Director, Nigeria, Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje regretted that while countries have taken serious action against GMOs, Nigerian leaders refused to consider the deadly implication of consuming foods produced with GMO.

She advised that decision made by the Nigerian government should not just be for the interest of the business stricken men and women but for the general Nigerians.

The ERA’s deputy executive director Orovwuje, noted that Nigeria, currently does not have a policy on open market labelling and as such, the public does not have the right of choice as to whether or not to consume GMOs, adding that “This negates our right of choice and the right to safe food”.

She further noted that there are fundamental flaws with the current Biosafety Regulatory Agency, including that there is no provision on strict liability, which should ensure that the holder of a permit for any GM product takes
responsibility for any negative effects that will ensue.

“Another major flaw in the National Biosafety Management Agency Act is the lack of attention to the Precautionary Principle, which simply advises a halt on any process where there are threats to health or environmental impacts
from the use of GMOs.

“Nigeria needs to critically address waste, which accounts for about 40% of the food produced. In the same vein, Nigeria needs to critically address issues of insecurity/banditry that keep many farmers away from their farms, leading to reduced productivity.”

Orovwuje stressed that Nigeria can transform its agriculture system in an inclusive and sustainable manner by adopting and promoting agroecology which not only ensures increased productivity by improving soil health and biodiversity but also assures
economic resilience for our farmers as well as climate change
resilience”.

In their separate presentation, Dr Ifeanyi Casmir, Prof Tatfeng Mirabeau noted the need for the government to ban GMOs, saying that the effect is killing Nigeria people’s health.

Dr Casmir, a molecular biologist and researcher, noted that there is no evidence of long-term risk assessment conducted by the government on the health impact of GMOs.

He highlighted that several studies link the consumption of GMOs to diverse health disorders, including immune system dysregulation, increased allergic responses, chronic inflammation and organ toxicity, as well as tumour development.

In his part, Prof Mirabeau revealed that GMOs pose a critical risk of genetic contamination of indigenous seed varieties owing to gene transfer.

He said “We cannot overlook such a grave threat to our plant genetic resources especially as such contamination is irreversible”.

Ban GMO Foods in Nigeria Now, Groups Tells FG