BY MICHAEL BISONG, ABUJA – The board of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has lauded the agency for consistently discharging its constitutional duty of ensuring environmental and health safety in the practice of modern biotechnology amidst growing public outcry in Nigeria.
The board therefore pledged to work with relevant government organs to provide all necessary support required by the NBMA to facilitate the actualisation of her mandate.
Chairman of the board, Hon. Dasuki Nakande, who gave the assurance during an inaugural meeting held in Abuja, said controversies generated since the establishment of the Agency critically highlights its importance to Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
Hon. Nakande, who recalled his experiences in explaining the current situation of things, disclosed that he started receiving petitions from the public as soon as his name was announced as the Board Chairman.
“The fact that people are petitioning the Agency alone shows you are making progress”, he said, adding that, “If you are not working nobody bothers about you”.
He acknowledged that the Board is aware the agency was established to oversee a very complex and volatile sector of the economy, which is the reason why it was constituted to ensure the Agency operates effectively well without any form of hindrance or distraction.
The board’s helmsman hinted that he has embarked on many projects especially the issue of accommodation, which he identified as a very big problem, as one of his major milestone achievements since his ascension into office.
Hon. Nakande urged the Agency’s management and staff to be above board in their dealings and work towards guaranteeing the environmental as well as health safety of Nigerians at all times
President of the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN) and member of the NBMA board, Professor Benjamin Ubi, also praised the agency for its doggedness in the regulation of GMOs in the country.
After an inspection tour of the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Detection and Analysis Laboratory for on-the-spot assessment of its processes, the BSN president said; “I feel proud to be associated with the Agency”.
