Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
A coalition of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) have called on the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) to revoke permits recently granted for the commercial release of the Tela Maize.
The coalition of 79 groups led by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) expressed the displeasure in a statement yesterday made available to THISDAY.
In their resolution, the organisations believe that the maize variety which has been genetically modified for drought tolerance and insect resistance is a failed and an unwanted venture and that is only being pushed to Nigeria for commercial interest.
It would be recalled that the federal government had approved the environmental release and open cultivation of Tela maize, a new maize variety developed by researchers at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The coalition is demanding an urgent reversal of the permits for the commercial release of the Tela Maize.
They also clamoured support for small holder farmers and agroecological practices that play a crucial role in conserving crop diversity and developing varieties of plants that are adapted to a range of weather conditions including drought.
According to the Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, in the statement stressed that the genetically engineered Tela maize has failed to be as productive as conventionally bred drought tolerant varieties in both the United States of America and South Africa.
He said “Tela maize trial was discontinued and the varieties destroyed in Tanzania in 2018 for failing to confer the promised drought resistance and insect resistance. Regrettably, the giant of Africa has become the giant hole for dumping failed technologies thanks to our permitting regulatory agency.
“There is no reliable history of safe use of the GM variety to justify its introduction in Nigeria and the claim of drought tolerance and insect resistance remains unsubstantiated. Moreover, routine claims by Nigerian agencies that there are no risks with GM crops are fatuous.”
Bassey further stated that genetic modification is a false solution to drought and other environmental stressors.
He advised that “Our government must urgently support an agricultural system based on agro-ecological principles, which take social economic and ecological contexts into account and farmers, not corporate profit, as priorities”.
On his part, Dr. Ifeanyi Casmir, a Researcher and Molecular Biologist, stated that the process of approval for the maize variety was flawed as no data on the risk assessment conducted by NBMA was made available.
Casmir said, “This sort of ‘rubber stamping’ lacking in scientific and empirical evidence is unlawful, and amounts to an inhuman biological dumping with incalculable impact on human health and biodiversity.”
