A coalition of over 80 civil society organisations has criticised the Federal Government for issuing contradictory statements on the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Nigeria’s food supply.
The coalition—comprising the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Environmental Rights Action (ERA), GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance, and other groups—said the inconsistency from regulatory agencies, particularly the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), was unacceptable and raised serious concerns about public health and environmental protection.
They pointed to a reversal in the position of NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who in June 2024 warned that GMO foods were unsafe due to insufficient research, but recently declared that they were not harmful if safety protocols were followed. The groups questioned the basis for this change, noting the absence of independent, long-term studies by NAFDAC or the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) to prove GMO safety.
ERA’s Deputy Executive Director, Mariann Bassey-Olsson, warned that GMOs threatened Nigeria’s food sovereignty by contaminating indigenous seeds, creating dependence on foreign seed companies, and restricting seed exchange through patents. Other experts cited studies linking GMOs to health issues such as liver and kidney damage, tumours, asthma, and allergies, as well as environmental problems including soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and the emergence of “super weeds.”
The coalition urged the Senate to ban GMOs in order to protect local seed varieties, safeguard health, and preserve the environment. They called for government investment in smallholder farmers, providing them with credit, land, infrastructure, and security to address food insecurity at its roots.
