By Olukayode Idowu
Thousands of stakeholders including farmers, CSOs, scientists/researchers, nutritionists, legal practitioners, medical practitioners, women and youth groups, among others took to the streets of some major states in the country to call on the Nigerian government to ban genetically modified organisms (GMOs) food and in it stead support and promote agroecology as the viable alternative for food sovereignty and climate resilience in Nigeria.
The rallies which were organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance across 10 Nigerian States Rivers, Edo, Katsina, Plateau, Oyo, Lagos, Cross Rivers, Enugu, Jigawa States and the FCT on Friday
As part of the rallies featured advocacy visits were taken to state government houses and relevant ministries where serious concerns regarding the deployment of GMOs in Nigeria were aired.
According to Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nigeria does not need GMOs to address food insecurity; he stressed that the design of those crops does not support local economic growth but promote dependency on corporate seed supply.
Bassey explained further that: “In September 2024, the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) were reported to have said that they did not record any significant increase in their yields compared to the local seed varieties but instead, since the introduction of GM cotton seeds over 4 years ago, yield per hectare has remained about the same.”
Also, the farmers noted that no other plant has been able to germinate on the farmlands where the GM seeds were planted, even after four years – confirming the concerns regarding loss of biodiversity and soil degradation due to release of genetic material (proteins) into the soil which would not ordinarily occur”.
Bassey further decried the fact that farmers are not able to replant the GM seeds after harvest due to declining yields. They are encouraged to continuously purchase the seeds every new season from corporate entities. This reflects neo-colonialism and corporate capture of our food system -something we shouldn’t take lightly.
A National Co-coordinator of the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance, Barr Ifeanyi Nwankwere, noted that GMOs approved in Nigeria, so far are not currently being labelled and more so, Nigeria’s socio-economic context will not allow labelling to be effective considering how food is sold in cups and basins in open markets where majority of our people shop from.
Nwankwere noted that the biosafety regulatory system in Nigeria is not designed in a way that assures safety with regard to GMOs – The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) Act has fundamental flaws including the lack of provision on strict liability, lack of adequate provision on the Precautionary Principle, inadequate provision on public participation in decision making etc.
“Another major flaw with the biosafety regulatory structure is the composition of the board of the NBMA with key promoters of GMOs e.g the National Biotechnology Development and Research Agency sitting on that board to decide on permits that agencies including the NABDA will apply for” he added.
Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, Deputy Director at Environmental Rights Action who coordinated the rally in the FCT cautioned that several other countries including Russia, Mexico, Uganda and up to 23 more have placed bans on GMOs – some partial bans while others have put in place complete ban.
She highlighted the recent ban of GMO corn in Mexico. “The courts highlighted the threats of the GMO variety to the country’s rich diversity of corn, stating that the genetically engineered corn posed the risk of imminent harm to the environment.” “Also”, she added: “in South Africa, after a nine-year legal battle, the Supreme Court agreed with the Plaintiffs that South Africa’s Executive Council of the GMO Act had approved Monsanto’s drought-resistant maize without fully assessing its safety for human health and the environment, disregarding evidence from other experts”.
The Director of Programmes at HOMEF, noted the presence of over 50 imported packaged food products containing GM ingredients. “These products are abundant in our market shelves – different brands including cereals, vegetable oils, spices, ice-cream, cake mixes etc as revealed by a survey which Health of Mother Earth Foundation carried out across 10 Nigerian cities in 2018, 2019 and 2023.” She added.
Furthermore, Brown added that GMOs pose serious health risks, highlighting a recent report by an Iranian researcher that GMO soy in a medium-term feeding test revealed significant damage to internal organ such as liver and kidney in rats. Brown noted that so far, there is no evidence that the NBMA has conducted medium or long term feeding tests to ascertain the safety of the products so far approved for use in Nigeria.
The unanimous demands of the rally across the 10 states include for a ban on GMOs, including products brought in for food and food processing and as packaged processed foods. The coalition also demand a nullification of all permits so far granted as they are not backed by adequate and certified (sufficient) risk assessment and an investment in agroecology that ensures food security. and food sovereignty while strengthening the Nigerian economy.