Civic society groups march against introduction of GMOs in Nigeria

Members of various civil society groups recently staged a rally at the main entrance of the National Assembly in Abuja to demand an end to the planned introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) into Nigeria's foods and farming scheme.
 
Olusola Saraki
Senate President
They carried placards inscribed with 'March Against Poison’ while their leaders entered the assembly grounds to submit a petition for a repeal of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) Act signed into law in April 2015 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The petition dated June 7 and addressed to the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives noted that the Act had become a law for permitting the entry of GMOs into the country rather than secure the bio-safety of Nigerians.

The petition was signed by Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Home of Mother Earth Foundation; Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Convener of Nigerians Against GMOs; Jackie Ikotuonye, Country Representative, Bio-integrity and Natural Food Awareness Initiative; and Marian Bassey-Orovwuje, Food Sovereignty Programme, Friends of the Earth Nigeria/Africa.

"We say this because barely a year of the Act coming into existence, the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) issued three GMO permits to Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited, with two of those permits being obtained jointly by Monsanto and an agency of government that sits on the board of NBMA," the activists said.

"That agency of government is the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), an agency whose penchant appears to be nothing other than the blatant promotion of agricultural biotechnology.

"We strongly object to NABDA sitting on the Board of NBMA, applying for a GMO permit jointly with a commercial concern and then presiding over the issuance of such a permit. This is a classic case of conflict of interest that cannot be permitted, especially considering the sensitive issue of biosafety and related biosecurity."

Last year, the National Biosafety Management Agency issued two permits for the Commercial Release and Placing on Market of genetically modified cotton, and the confined field trial of maize, to Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited.

The two permits were: 'Permit for Commercial Release/Placing on Market of Cotton (MON15985) genetically modified for lepidopteran insect pest resistance' with Permit No: NBMA/CM/IM/001 and 'Permit for Confined Field Trial (CFT) of maize (NK603 and MON89034 x NK603) genetically modified for insect resistance and herbicide tolerance' with Permit No: NBMA/CFT/001

The permits were issued despite objections and concerns about safety raised by activists and environmentalists.


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