Abuja: The Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN) has advised countries to embrace modern biotechnology.
Professor Sylvia Uzochukwu, President of the BSN and a professor of Food Science and Biotechnology, advised in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
While expressing delight that Nigeria embraced the technology, Uzochukwu said biotechnology was not just about providing food security and revolutionising healthcare but also about charting the course of international trade and diplomacy.
According to her, challenges of population growth and climate change will continue to require bioengineering of plants to improve attributes such as drought resistance at a much larger scale.
She said that, in accordance with an international treaty requiring a regulator to ensure the safe use of genetic engineering, the Federal Government established the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA).
She said that this was to ensure the safety of biotechnology products.
“I call on the NBMA that regulation of new biotechnology products should become more and more product-based rather than process-based.
“What this means is that the agency should concentrate on the product’s safety, irrespective of how it was made,’’ Uzochukwu said.
She said that since the NBMA had been mandated to ensure the safety of genetically engineered food products before commercial release, there should be no cause for alarm among the populace.
The BSN President said that the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) were also mandated to promote technology in Nigeria.
She said that the NBRDA was also required to midwife the regulation of biotechnology products after twenty years of consistent work with various partners.
“Some Nigerians worry that apart from personnel costs, these agencies are primarily left to fend for themselves and rely on donor funds for the actual execution of their mandates.
“Now that donors are withdrawing funds from projects, it is hoped that our governments will channel funds to science and technology,” she said.
