Views: Visits 6 By Prince Okafor The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) in collaboration with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Bill now, stressing that it will unlock potentials across Nigeria’s Agricultural ecosystem while protecting farmers. Speaking during an Expert review webinar with the theme “Expert review of the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Bill: Significance and Constraints,” NESG Board member and Co-Founder/Managing Partner of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd, Dr. Ndidi Nwuneli said the PVP bill has an important role to play across Nigeria’s Agricultural ecosystem.
By Prince Okafor
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) in collaboration with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Bill now, stressing that it will unlock potentials across Nigeria’s Agricultural ecosystem while protecting farmers.
Speaking during an Expert review webinar with the theme “Expert review of the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Bill: Significance and Constraints,” NESG Board member and Co-Founder/Managing Partner of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd, Dr. Ndidi Nwuneli said the PVP bill has an important role to play across Nigeria’s Agricultural ecosystem.
The Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, has condemned the call for the ban of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and repeal of the Act establishing the agency by a coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations.
The coalition led by GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance and Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) had in a protest insisted that Nigeria does not need GMOs.
“Nigeria does not need GMOs. They are promoted on false premises. Research has shown that GMOs do not give higher yields and are not more nutritious than normal crops. They do not use less herbicides and pesticides. With the many problems we are contending with as a nation, GMOs should not be allowed to compound our situation. We must not accept a technology simply because it is available. We must as a people determine what is good for us,” the coalition had averred.
Nnimmo Bassey
Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, has cautioned African governments anticipating that Africa will develop through crude oil exploration and investments in dirty energy to brace up to the fact that the continent will soon become a dumping ground for obsolete technology, as the world moves away from fossil fuels.
Bassey said beyond the health hazards associated with extraction, the African continent had become replete with exploitative markets, militarised communities and contract labour that keep the people in bondage and the continent under-developed.
He made these remarks in his presentation on Fossil Fuels Industry and Climate Change at a virtual training for journalists from Nigeria, Cameroun, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and South Africa on Climate Change Reporting in Africa, organised by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).
A coalition of civil societies, under the aegis of GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance and the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), on Thursday, called for the urgent ban on genetic modifications of food crops and animals.