Biosafety DG says agency not promoter of GMOs

Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Biosafety Management Agency. Dr. Rufus E. Ebegba

Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, National Biosafety Management Agency. Dr. Rufus E. Ebegba  has said that his agency was never a promoter of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOS) as generally believed by many Nigerians. He disclosed this during an interactive session with editors of media houses on controversies surrounding the new improved technology in Abuja. 

He said that it was sheer ignorance on the part of many, because majority of the masses do not know the functions of NBMA, hence the mistake of seeing the agency as a promoter of GMO products rather as a regulatory body.

He explained that the agency was established by an Act of the National Assembly in 2015, with the primary aim to provide a regulatory framework to adequately safeguard human health and the environment from potential adverse effects of this modern biotechnology.

He added that GMO is a technology aimed at harnessing the potential of modern biotechnology and its derivatives for the benefit of Nigerians, noting that the agency was not established to stop them but to ensure that only GM products that are safe for humans and the environment are approved for release and use in Nigeria.

The DG stressed that the agency owed it as a duty to Nigerians to ensure that any product approved for importation or commercialisation was safe for humans and the environment, adding that the agency’s staff and families also go to the same market like other Nigerian and that “they all stand the danger of being affected if we did not do a proper job by ensuring approved products for the safety of everyone.”

He reiterated that the agency had never taken any decision in isolation but had always tried to carry the society along through the involvement of professionals in its decision making, especially during the review of application, adding that the agency had two committees, the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) and the National Biosafety Technical Sub-committee, (NBTS) which are involved in the processes. “These committees are made up of professionals and experts from the academia, line government agencies, civil society groups and other stakeholders, who painstakingly analyse the applications, and review the risk management and risk assessment plans before a decision is made’’, he explained.

Ebegba  said that the “GMO crops so far approved by the NBMA were not yet in the market. Even though approvals have been given for their commercial release, they still have to undergo other instant procedures such as through the Variety Release Committee and the National Seed Service. We have only granted permit for commercial release of Bt Cotton insect resistant and Bt Cowpea modified for resistance to Maruca insect pest. Other approvals given are for the importation of GM soybeans and GM Maize for food and feed processing.’’