Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
Sequel to an online media report that the federal government and a firm have flooded the Nigerian market with Genetically Modified (GM) rice purported to be poisonous, the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has described the report as false, insisting that no GM rice has either been imported or released into the country.
Its Director General, Dr. Rufus Ebegba disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja where he stated categorically that there was no iota of truth in the report.
He noted that there was nowhere in the world where genetically modified rice has been released commercially, while also recalling that government had already banned the importation of rice into the country, stressing that there are no indications that the ban has been lifted.
Ebegba stated: “the purpose of this press briefing is to inform you that the attention of the NBMA has been drawn to a certain spurious online post being circulated in the social media that a firm and government of Nigeria has flooded the Nigeria market with GM rice purported to be poisonous. This falsehood definitely is the product of the writer’s imagination who probably in using pseudo name.
“It will suffice to note that there is no GM rice that has been commercially released anywhere in the world. It should also be recalled that government has ban the importation of rice in Nigeria. This ban was widely publicised in the media and there no indications that the ban has been lifted,” the DG added.
Ebegba stressed that in a bid to cast aspersions on the modest efforts of the government towards adoption of safe biotechnology in Nigeria, the writer craftily and maliciously laced his post with poison to cause unnecessary public panic.
Responding to a question, the DG said the reason for the rumours was best known to whoever spreading it but affirmed that; “have said that there is a trade war between agro-chemical company, and biotechnology company and probably organic farmers, and have said severally that Nigeria should not be lured into this trade war, Nigeria will set it its standards and we have enough hands, enough human resources to set our standards to meet our national aspiration.”
He therefore urged Nigerians to disregard the rumour and join hands with the agency in its quest to ensure safety in the practice of modern technology in Nigeria in line with global beat practices.
