Govt pledges strict regulation, assures Nigerians on health concerns
The Federal Government has announced plans to introduce mandatory labelling and traceability of all genetically modified (GM) products in Nigeria to ensure safety, transparency, and public trust.
Director, Food and Drug Service, Federal Ministry of Health, John Atanda, disclosed this at a GMO sensitisation workshop in Abuja, organised by the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB).
He said the ministry will collaborate with agencies such as NAFDAC and the National Biotechnology Management Agency (NBMA) to enforce the regulations.
Atanda stressed that products derived from modern biotechnology would undergo rigorous risk assessments—including checks for allergenicity, nutritional content, long-term health effects, and environmental impact—before approval.
Supporting the initiative, OFAB Country Director, Dr. Rose Gidado, noted that GM crops have been safely used in over 45 countries for more than three decades.
She dismissed fears about GMOs destroying local crops, insisting that scientific evidence supports their safety.
Similarly, the Director-General of NABDA, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, revealed that Nigerian farmers who planted GM maize, known as TELLA Maize, recorded a 50% yield increase, while pod borer-resistant cowpea also significantly boosted returns and reduced the use of insecticides.