The assertions by the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed that Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are only approved for field trial has being debunked as not true.
A statement by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, and Food Sovereignty Manager/Coordinator ERA/FoEN and FoE International, Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, and made available to journalists at the weekend said GMOs are officially approved to be grown in Nigeria.
They said the fact that GMOs are approved to be grown in Nigeria is not in doubt, but that what is disputed is why the approval was surreptitious, to the extent of being issued on a Sunday.
“We have issues with the press statement issued on the 20th of June 2016, and credited to the Minister of Environment, Amina J. Mohammed, stating that “What we have approved are for field trials.” She further stated that “All the GMOs in Nigeria officially approved are under experimental fields.” The statement further said that the insect-resistant cotton for commercial release will still be subjected to further processes for the next two years.
“We doubt that the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has a different understanding of a permit for commercial release and placement in the environment from what the permit document itself states in plain language,” he said.
They stated that Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Ltd did not apply for field trials of GMO cotton. They applied for a commercial release and placement in the environment.
“This means commercial planting of GMO cotton in Nigeria. Section 4 of the permit states and we quote “After a thorough analysis of the application dossier, Risk Assessment and Risk Management plan prepared in connection with the assessment of the application for the permit, it is unlikely that the proposed release will cause adverse impact on the environment and on human health. A permit is therefore granted to the Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Ltd as applied for.
“This was signed by the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NBMA on Sunday 1st May 2016,” they queried.
They further revealed that the permit does not leave room for further trials, adding that the requirement of the applicant is merely to make reports on their experience in their farms, saying this is very different from confined field trials as is the case with the permit for GMO maize – which, in any case, we equally object to.
“Indeed, the press statement directly contradicts the record on the Biosafety Clearing House’s (BCH) website and on NBMA’s official website. The official response to the concerns of Nigerians and massive rejection of the rushed offer of permits for failed GMOs appears to be calculated to obfuscate the issues and lull Nigerians into thinking that all is well.”
The group stated further that NBMA as conceived and constructed is incapable of objectively managing biosafety regulation in Nigeria. We cannot repose any confidence in an agency that never mentioned or let it slip that they had opened the doors to an influx of GMOs by issuing permits to Monsanto until we announced to the general public.
Asking how can NBMA really evaluate the efficacy of technologies like GMOs or assure Nigerians of their safety when officials of the agency in all their media appearances do better than GMO salesmen or spokespersons for the biotech industry?
“Surely the Minister does not expect us to believe that NBMA will do right by Nigerians. How can anyone say there is nothing wrong with a genetically modified crop, Bt Cotton, that just failed in neighbouring Burkina Faso, and the farmers are making claims of $48.3 billion CFA Francs ($83.91) from Monsanto? Are we having regulators or GMO traders making decisions over our destiny?” they questioned.
