Abuja: Dr. Shakirat Ajenifujah-Solebo, a biotechnology expert, has affirmed that the ongoing multi-stakeholder review and validation workshop to update and strengthen Nigeria’s National Biotechnology Policy will directly address consumer concerns and enhance public confidence in the sector.
Ajenifujah-Solebo, Chairman of the Secretariat Policy Review Committee on Biotechnology, said this at a two-day multi-stakeholder review and validation workshop in Abuja on Tuesday.
Ajenifujah-Solebo, also the Director of the Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Department at the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA), said the revised policy would benefit biotechnology consumers.
She said that the validation workshop would also ensure a robust national biotechnology policy that incorporates contemporary innovations, research, and technological ideas.
She said it would equally ensure that Nigeria has a competitive edge in the biotechnology value chain in a bioeconomy worth about trillions of dollars.
The chairman noted that though the outdated policy document provided for consumer awareness on the technology, it was not adequately captured.
She attributed this to the fact that biotechnology products have entered the country and are being developed there.
“This makes it more important to ensure that the consumers are carried along, not just for agricultural biotechnology but all aspects of biotechnology encompassing medical, environmental, and other.
“That is why we brought stakeholders from Consumer Advocacy, Consumer Protection Board, and others to increase the awareness and get Nigerians more prepared to accept biotechnology, its products and services,’’ she said.
Ajenifujah-Solebo regretted that Nigeria had yet to take its place in the global bioeconomy and expressed optimism that, with the revised and validated policy, Nigeria would get there.
“We are hopeful that once we are able to integrate innovations and frontiers of technology into the policy, we are going to position Nigeria to benefit,” she said.
The director said the biotech policy update was long overdue, noting that the existing policy was over two decades old while the technology sector had undergone numerous changes.
She said it was important to raise the issue and have the revised, validated document ready as a reference point after incorporating future technologies and innovations to ensure Nigeria took its rightful place.
