Coalition demands NASS intervention to ban GMOs in Nigeria

A coalition of over 200 individuals and groups on the platform of the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance have called on the National Assembly to ban the use of Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs), noting that they do not serve the interests of Nigerians.

The coalition made the call in a memorandum presented to members of the House of Representatives at the Investigative Review of Impacts of Genetically Modified Crops in Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.

In the memorandum signed by Johnson Ekpere, an independent consultant for the coalition, the group recognised the government’s efforts at improving food security in Nigeria, noting, however, that the adoption of GMOs as a silver bullet to agricultural challenges is an error.

Ekpere argued that GMOs do not improve food security but rather pose risks to human health.

“GMO is a threat to Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability, GMOs are not currently being labeled in Nigeria and Nigerians are consuming imported processed foods bought from supermarkets without any idea that they are made from the genetically modified organisms (GMOs),” the group said.

The memorandum called on the National Assembly to ban GMOs in Nigeria and to invest in agroecology consisting of organic agriculture, regenerative agriculture, agroforestry and other practices that can transform the Nigerian food system to sustain-ability.

“Across the country, farmers have complained that with GMOs, productivity reduces in the second planting season, meaning farmers cannot replant these seeds but have to continuously purchase the seeds every new season.

“While some GMOs are designed to have increased levels of some nutrients, studies have revealed that other essential nutrients or functions can be reduced in the process,” they said.