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World Food Safety Day: CSOs Demand Total Ban On GMOs

Published

2 months ago

June 11, 2025

Editor

Civil society organisations have called in the Federal Government to place a moratorium or total ban on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their products in Nigeria.

The call was jointly made by Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, and the GMO-free Nigeria Alliance during a zoom press briefing as part of activities to mark the 2025 World Food Safety Day which is held 11 June of every year.

Speaking on the sub-topic: Science Needs Caution, the Executive Director, HOMEF, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, stated that a moratorium on GMOs, including a nullification of previous permits and approvals, was critical because GMOs are designed not to address food insecurity but to consolidate control of the food and farming system in the hands of a few corporations/seed industries.

Bassey, who raised the alarm that there is a calculated attack on Nigeria’s food sovereignty, said those who promote GMO do not care about people’s health rather all they are interested in is the profit.

The ED, while noting that the idea behind GMOs is not to solve the problem of hunger, said GMOs are tools of colonialism and aimed at promoting monoculture.

“When you bring in a system that destroys biodiversity, what you are promoting is hunger. Nature has given us crops that are useful to our body, so GMOs do not solve the problem of hunger” he noted.

He continued: “This is known by the patent rights enforced on the products, which prohibit farmers from saving, sharing or replanting the seeds. Even those without the patent restrictions, when replanted, yield poorly.

“This is a calculated attack on Nigeria’s food sovereignty and must be seen as such.

“Seed saving and sharing is an age-long culture in Nigeria, where farming is about 80% informal, with farmers being able to select and improve seeds using traditional methods and being able to exchange the same.

“It is worthy of note that the Cotton Farmers’ Association of Nigeria in 2024 noted that in about 3 years since they were given the Bt Cotton to plant, they haven’t recorded any significant increase in yields compared to the indigenous varieties; instead they have observed that their soils become unproductive after they planted the genetically modified cotton” Dr Bassey explained.

Also speaking on the sub-topic: ‘Undeniable Dangers of GMO, Dr. Ifeanyi Casimir, a molecular biologist and researcher, noted that there is no evidence of long-term risk assessment conducted by the government on the health impact of GMOs.

According to him, several studies link theconsumption of GMOs to diverse health disorders, including immune system dysregulation, increased allergic responses, chronic inflammation and organ toxicity, as well as tumour development.

Dr Casmir also noted that studies have found Bt toxins (Cry1Ab) in 93% of pregnant women and 80% of fetal cord blood, raising risks of birth defects, cancer, and allergies.

“The fact that our regulatory agency -the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) cannot show any evidence of independent and extensive risk assessment conducted shows irresponsibility and lack of concern for public health”. He concluded.

Tatfeng Mirabeau, a Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, who spoke on the sub-topic: Undeniable Risks Associated with GOMs (Health and Environment) noted: “Another critical reason why Nigeria should hold the brakes on GMOs is the impact on the environment. Bt Crops, for example, the Bt beans that were approved for commercial release in 2019 and 2024, respectively, contain proteins that, when released into the soil, destroy soil microorganisms, leading to soil degradation and reduced fertility.

“There have been reported cases of pest resistance leading to the development of super bugs and super weeds in the case of the herbicide-tolerant GMOs, which make up about 80% of all GMOs globally. The herbicides designed mostly by the same companies producing the seeds have been shown by studies to destroy not just the target weeds but also beneficial organisms in the ecosystem, including bees. GMOs pose a critical risk of genetic contamination of indigenous seed varieties owing to gene transfer.

“For this reason, Mexico and a host of other countries have placed a total or partial ban on GMOs. We cannot

overlook such a grave threat to our plant genetic resources especially as such contamination is irreversible.”

Barr. Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, ERA’s Deputy Executive Director, while speaking on the sub-topic: ‘Regulatory Oversight and Alternative,’ noted that Nigeria, currently does not have a policy on open market labelling and as such, the public does not have the right of choice as to whether or not to consume GMOs.

This, according to her, negates people’s right of choice and the right to safe food.

Barr. Orovwuje further noted that there are fundamental flaws with the current Biosafety Regulatory Agency, stressing that there is no provision on strict liability, which should ensure that the holder of a permit for any GM product takes responsibility for any negative effects that will ensue.

“Another major flaw in the National Biosafety Management Agency Act is the lack of attention to the Precautionary Principle, which simply advises a halt on any process where there are threats to health or environmental impacts from the use of GMOs,” she said.

She continued: “Nigeria needs to critically address waste, which accounts for about 40% of the food produced. In the same vein, Nigeria needs to critically address issues of insecurity/banditry that keep many farmers away from their farms, leading to reduced productivity.”

News

BREAKING: Tinubu Appoints New Federal Fire Service Boss

Published

7 hours ago

July 30, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Adeyemi Olumode, as the new Federal Fire Service, FFS, Controller-General.

The appointment was announced on Wednesday on behalf of the Federal Government by retired Maj.-Gen Abdulmalik Jubril, Secretary of the Civil, Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board, CDCFIB.

Jubril said the appointment followed the retirement of the current Controller-General, Abdulganiyu Jaji, on August 13.

Jaji is retiring upon attaining the age of 60 by August 13.

Jibril further disclosed said that Adeyemi Olumode is qualified for the position, having attended and passed all mandatory in-service training, Command courses as well as other courses within and outside the country.

“He brings a wealth of experience to his new role, having transferred his service from the FCT Fire Service to the Federal Fire Service and grown to the rank of DCG in the Human Resource Directorate of the Service Headquarters.

“He has served in various capacities and is equally a member/fellow of the following professional associations including Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, ANAN, Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria, Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria and Chartered Institute of Treasury Management of Nigeria.”

News

[OPINION] Northern Amnesia: Governor Sani, The Table Shaker

Published

8 hours ago

July 30, 2025

Editor

By Israel Adebiyi

“When truth is buried underground, it grows, it chokes, it gathers such explosive force that on the day it bursts out, it blows up everything with it.”
— Émile Zola

There’s a kind of silence that settles over the land after years of failure. A silence made of shame, denial, and carefully chosen half-truths. In Northern Nigeria, that silence has become an institution — polite, predictable, and profoundly dangerous.

Then came Uba Sani — with words that cut through like harmattan wind.

At a recent citizen engagement summit in Kaduna, Governor Uba Sani did what few northern politicians have ever dared. He faced the region and told it the truth: “We failed our people.” Not they. We. All of us who have held power in the North in the past two decades, he said, must offer the people an apology.

In that single moment, he shattered the convenient forgetfulness the North has grown used to. He didn’t call out Abuja. He didn’t drag the South. He didn’t blame some vague colonial past or “outsiders.” He pointed the finger inward — and included himself.

That is no small thing. That is not politics. That is an act of courage.

Because what Governor Sani spoke to is not just political miscalculation. It’s a generational betrayal. A betrayal that has left too many Northern children unschooled, too many women dying in childbirth, too many communities in darkness, and too many homes listening for the next gunshot.

Let’s stop for a moment and look at the evidence — not the emotion, but the math.

According to the 2022 National Multidimensional Poverty Index, nine of the ten poorest states in Nigeria are in the North. In Sokoto, over 90% of people live in poverty. Kebbi, Zamfara, Jigawa — same story. We’re not just failing; we’ve normalized failure.

And yet, this is the region that has held the most power in Nigeria since independence. Presidents. Military heads of state. Senators. Generals. Governors. Ministers. National Security Advisers. We’ve produced them all. But not the outcomes.

We’ve built palaces in Abuja, but not a working school in Shinkafi. We’ve padded budgets but abandoned hospitals in Birnin Kebbi. In some states, over 60% of children aged 6–15 have never seen the inside of a classroom. What kind of leadership allows this?

Northern mothers still die in delivery rooms at three times the national average, according to the latest NDHS report. Some rural health centres don’t even have paracetamol. The elites fly abroad. The poor bury their dead.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] BUHARI: The Man Who Missed Redemption

Security? Forget it. From Zamfara to Katsina to Niger, bandits have made homes out of forests. Whole villages are ghost towns. And yet, most of the top military chiefs in the last decade came from this region. Who, then, is to blame?

Let’s talk money. The North is land-rich but cash-poor. While Lagos alone contributes over 30% to Nigeria’s GDP, most northern states struggle to hit 1%. But the same northern governors go cap-in-hand for federal allocation and call it development. Where are the industries? Where is the productivity?

This is what Sani is shaking — a region that has grown comfortable with underdevelopment and allergic to self-reflection.

Some elites have pushed back, of course. Former senators and political juggernauts who built their careers on recycled loyalty have tried to downplay his remarks. They say he was too harsh. That he forgot their “service”. That he shouldn’t “wash dirty linen in public.”

But if that linen hasn’t been washed for 40 years, where should it be aired?

Let’s be honest — it is easier to blame Buhari, or Tinubu, or the South. But Sani refuses the easy route. He says: we, the North, are not victims here. We are architects of our own decline.

He refuses to play the amnesia game.

You can feel the discomfort in the air. He has stepped on toes — and many of those toes wear agbadas. But the truth is not about comfort. It’s about course correction.

This isn’t about just Uba Sani. It’s about whether the North still has the capacity to face its reflection. To see the rot — and clean house. To stop building dynasties and start building schools. To stop naming roads after ancestors and start giving roads to rural farmers.

Too many of our children are stuck in almajiri cycles while the children of the elite occupy UK universities. Too many of our mothers die in labor while wives of past governors set up foundations for photo-ops. Too many old names have stayed too long — and are grooming their sons for the throne.

That is what Governor Sani is fighting: not just silence, but the inheritance of silence.

He says, “Let’s apologise.” But apology alone is not enough. It must be backed with a plan. A Marshall Plan for the North — real investment, not campaign slogans. Functional education, not workshops. Security that protects, not retaliates. Jobs that empower, not enslave.

It must come with the rethinking of what power is: not title, not convoy, not prayer photos — but legacy measured in lives changed, not lives lost.

Governor Sani’s voice may be lonely now. But history listens to such voices. And perhaps, just perhaps, in that lone voice, the North might find a new beginning.

Because silence, when it becomes tradition, is nothing but consent.

And now, one man has dared to shout.

News

Edo Assures Pensioners Of Improved Welfare, Universal Health Coverage

Published

8 hours ago

July 30, 2025

Editor

The government of Edo State has assured pensioners in the state of improved welfare and universal health coverage.

The state deputy governor, Hon. Dennis Idahosa gave the assurance in Benin on Tuesday, during a courtesy visit to his office by members of the Edo State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP).

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Friday Aghedo, Idahosa assured the pensioners of Monday Okpebholo’s led administration commitment to improving on the welfare of all citizens.

Idahosa said that the government remains upbeat and committed toward representing the interest of pensioners.

“The Governor is committed towards the welfare of the pensioners of Edo State,” he stated.

Idahosa, who reacted to a request concerning the need to expedite payments of outstanding arrears to already screened pensioners cutting across local government and state level, pointed out, “The Governor is keen at clearing all outstanding arrears.”

Simirlarly, the assured that the pensioners of benefitting from the state universal health coverage.

He concluded with the assurance that the governor’s work would soon be visible to all across the state.

The State Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Comrade Samuel Okhuelegbe, who spoke on behalf of his executive, enumerated challenges of the union, which includes meager amount received as pension

He commended the state government for setting up a committee to review the Contributory Pension Scheme.

“The essence is to narrow the yawning gap in monthly pensions between counterparts, under the contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as well as define benefits of the scheme.

“Though the report of the committee has long been submitted, the final outcome of the report should be considered in the interest of affected pensioners,” he appealed

He, however, sued for improved benefits for retirees going by the improved minimum wage as applicable to workers in Edo State.