By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
The Chairman House Committee on Environment and Habitat, Honourable Obinna Chidoka has said that the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has the full support of the National Assembly (NASS).
He stated this while addressing the management team of NBMA during an oversight visit by the Committee to the Agency in Abuja on Monday.
Chidoka also said that all those working against the NBMA must keep in mind that the Agency was acting in accordance with the law and was completely backed by the National Assembly.
“We have and will continue to give full support to NBMA as it is a very important Agency which was established by law and acts accordingly,” he said.
He commended the Nigerian biosafety system as being strong compared to that of many countries who also practice modern biotechnology.
Chidoka also invited Nigerians to a public hearing on the amendment of the NBMA Act 2015 to include new and emerging technologies such as gene drive and gene editing, which will hold on 27th March, 2019 at NASS.
Director General of NBMA, Dr. Rufus Ebegba gave a brief of the recent activities of the Agency and applauded the efforts of the committee in ensuring a holistic biosafety framework by proposing an amendment to NBMA Act 2015 to include emerging technologies such as gene drive and synthetic biology.
“We have a great responsibility in an ever expanding sector and we must fine-tune the law to regulate emerging technologies in the biotechnology sector,” he said.
A member of the committee, Hon. Aishatu Dukku commended the staff and management of NBMA.
“Farmers are desperate to find solutions to insect attacks on their beans farms. While they are offered solutions in the form of more pesticides which are used excessively, recently, a new beans variety which is genetically modified was developed promising to reduce the insect attacks while reducing the use of pesticides.
“Your activities as a safety and regulatory agency, which has confirmed this variety safe for Nigerians, are in the interest of the common man and I must commend that,” she said.
Also, the Head, Planning Research and Statistics, Mrs. Scholastica Bello, declared that a country without a biosafety law will be a ground for the dumping of GMOs which haven’t been confirmed safe and that is a fact every Nigerian must keep in mind.
The Committee also visited the upgraded state-of-the-art Genetic Modification Detection and Analysis Laboratory and interacted with the acting Head of the laboratory, Ms. Ngozi Miracle.
She took time to explain the workings of the various equipment in the laboratory.
