Stakeholders oppose Amendment of National Biosafety Management Agency Act, 2015

Ene Okwanihe, Abuja.

Last updated Sep 1, 2022

Stakeholders in the Biotechnology and Biosafety sector in Nigeria have passed a vote of confidence on the existing Act setting up the National Biosafety Management Agency, while calling on the National Assembly to reject any call for its amendment.

The stakeholders made their stance known at a one-day public hearing on a “Bill for An Act to Amend the National Biosafety Management Agency Act, 2015,” organized by the National Assembly, Senate Committee on Environment in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

While making presentations, various stakeholders were of the opinion that aside from being obstructive, the act, if amended, would set Nigeria back in the progress it has made in attaining food security.

Prof. Mohammed Ishiyaku, the Executive Director, Institute of Agricultural Research, Zaria, Kaduna state, North West Nigeria.

In a submission, the Executive Director, Institute of Agricultural Research, Zaria, Kaduna state, North West Nigeria, Prof. Mohammed Ishiyaku, disapproved of the amendment being sought.

According to him, it has been made to look like it protects Nigerians, in the format it was presented, but in reality it seeks to tie the hands of experts and prevent Nigerians from benefiting from economic opportunities the sector offers.

“Together with my team I have just concluded the release of a Cowpea variety, that is highly nutritious and is bringing a lot in terms of improving the livelihood of Nigerians”

“If this amendment goes through as they are, having gone through all of them, I haven’t seen any value it’s adding to the Act establishing this agency rather it is discriminatory.

“It’s restrictive and also ties up the hands of scientists in domesticating the potential benefits of modern biotechnology to the Nigerian people and then making us more susceptible, more dependent on products of Biotechnology from elsewhere,” said Prof. Ishiyaku.

The Director General of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) in Nigeria, Prof. Abdulahi Mustapha, stated that the amendment is not necessary as it will limit the practice of science in Nigeria and negatively affect the gains that Nigeria has made from modern biotechnology practice over the years.

“Nigeria has enacted deliberate policies that positioned science and technology as the engine to drive the economy. So turning around to set up unnecessary roadblocks will limit science from taking us to our destination,” he opined.

He urged the Senate to jettison the proposed amendment, describing it as being anti-people and anti-development.

The DG/CEO @RufusEbegba while making his submission said the proposed new bill to amend the Act of the @BiosafetyNig is unnecessary as Nigeria has 11 research institutes, @nabdanig and others to drive the green economy in a new world for the development of the Nation. pic.twitter.com/c5SmUQQN2P

— NBMA, Nigeria (@BiosafetyNig) August 31, 2022

In his submission to the committee, the Director General of the National Biosafety Management Agency in Nigeria (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, stated that if the NBMA Act 2015 is amended, science and technology would no longer drive the Nigerian economy, while noting that the current law has been adjudged globally as the best Biosafety law in Africa.

“Science and technology are the drivers of modern world.

“This current law took 13 years to be actualized, took 2 National Assembly sessions – the 5th and the 6th assembly to actualize this law; and I’ll tell you today, Mr. Chairman, that this amendment is not necessary on the following grounds.

“This law has been adjudged globally as the best biosafety law in Africa,” said Dr. Ebegba.

He further stated that Nigeria would not achieve a green and bio economy, if this amendment pulls through.

On his part, The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology’s (OFAB) Project Manager, Mr Vitumbiko Chinoko, also shed more light on why the amendment of the 2015 Biosafety Act should not scale through, stating that Nigeria was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to make good progress in biosafety regulations.

Mr Chinoko said Nigeria’s biotechnology progress has seen the development of the PBR Cowpea, the BT Cotton and soon the BT Maize and is yet to witness negative or adverse effects from it.

He was, therefore, of the opinion that there is no need fixing what is not broken.

Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, President, All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN).

Also lending his voice, the President of the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria, Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, emphasized the importance of biotechnology to attaining food security in Nigeria and improving the livelihood of farmers.

The AFAN President said that Nigerian farmers need technology that will lift them out of poverty and that the bill seeking amendment of the current biosafety law does not appreciate the contribution of science to food production.

The Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment, who also chaired the Public Hearing, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, called on the sponsors of the bill to come forward and make presentations but no one stepped forward.

Senator Hadejia, however, disclosed that an anonymous person at the hearing sought confidentiality in making a submission in support of the bill but was turned down by the committee, as the platform was a public hearing and should be treated as such.

He added that the sponsors of the bill should be confident enough to come and defend it while noting that the objective of the hearing is to guide the Legislature in making informed decisions in the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.