The Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, has called on the academia to make good research and explore new grounds that will provide solutions that will help protect the environment.
Jibril who stated this in Abuja at the 3rd National Biosafety Conference, themed “Biosafety: Paving the Way for Safe and Sustainable Environmental Management, Agricultural Development and Economic Recovery”, said the academia plays a great role in the development of the country.
He said the NBMA is to safeguard the environment, human health of all Nigerians, taking into consideration national interest and socio-economic issues from potential adverse impacts of modern biotechnology and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
He maintained that the only way to achieve economic growth, food security and sufficiency and sustainable environment is innovation of safe, smart, scientific and technological means of maximising available land resources to increase food and fibre production.
The Director General of NBMA, Dr. Rufus Ebegba, said the agency is in place to protect Nigerians from any potential adverse effect of genetically modified organisms and also protect the environment and the health of the people.
He said, “We do not have genetically modified food, what we have are only genetically modified plants under experiment and they are in confined space and not in the general environment. They are kept in a way that they do not all mix with other plants.”
He however, urged Nigerians to stop listening to information that is not authentic, noting that the media is awash with negative news. He said there is no need to create fear in the minds of Nigerians.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment, Senator Remi Tinubu, who was represented by Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, disclosed that the National Assembly’s door is open and that it is willing to go into the aspect of any form of modification and amendment of the existing act of the biosafety agency to perform its responsibility better.
“The NASS remains a willing tool for the Ministry of Environment and Nigeria and willing to partner to push the agency to the next important stage of development,” he said.
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