Unregulated GM products dangerous for Nigeria – NBMA

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Rufus Ebegba has said if modern Biotechnology and its products (GMOs) are not regulated, the nation will be in food chaos as it will lead to dumping of unsafe GM products.

He said with this, developers can produce unregulated GM products, flood the market with them and mislead Nigerians that they are not genetically modified.

Dr Ebegba who stated this at the weekend in a briefing to counter the claim by a Radio station that there are GM mangoes, grapefruits, cassava in the country, said the claim was completely false and an indication of their ignorance.

He said regulating this sector is very key for the development of the economy and for the sanctity of safety of GM products in the markets.

He said the absence of a Biosafety system will amount to the dumping of unauthorized GM into the country with its attendant adverse effect to the human, animal, environment and the economy.

He maintained that the commercially approved GM crops globally are Cotton, Eggplant, Corn (Maize), Poplar, Maize, canola, Soybean, flower colour Carnation, flower colour Petunia, flower colour Rose, Papaya, RR Canola, and potato.

“These GM crops are not currently officially in the Nigeria market/ environment,” he said.