NBMA boss says modern biotechnology regulators need training

Dr Rufus Ebegba, the Director-General, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), says the training of regulators of modern biotechnology is necessary to enable Nigeria to benefit maximally from biotechnology applications.

Ebegba said this in Abuja on Tuesday while declaring open the four-day training, organised for the workforce of the agency in collaboration with M and A Global Projects, a biotechnology consulting firm.

He stressed that the evolving nature of the technology had made it imperative to train and retrain workers who oversaw the regulation of biotechnology products in the country.

“The training is part of the Federal Government’s strategic efforts to build the capacity of staff to ensure effective regulation of modern biotechnology in the country,’’ he said.

Ebegba said that the agency was not established by the Federal Government to stop Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) or promote it, adding that its mandate was to ensure that GMOs were safe for human health and the environment.

“Biosafety is very crucial to our national economic efforts, as it will bring about more agricultural yields for food sufficiency and profits for Nigerian farmers.

“The issue of biosafety has been on the front burner, to the point that some people are opposed to it, to the extent that even the permits granted by the agency last year have been criticised by many environmentalists.’’

Ebegba said that although some environmentalists had taken NBMA to court, the agency would not be deterred in its efforts to fulfil its mandate.

He, however, underscored the need to expose the agency’s staff to the extant regulations on biotechnology so that Nigeria would not be a dumping ground for unsafe GMO products.

“Our key responsibility is to serve as an unbiased umpire to ensure that the practice of modern biotechnology is safe for the people, while boosting the economy,’’ he added.

Also speaking, Chinyere Nzeduru, the Director of Environmental Biosafety and General Release, NBMA, said that the workshop was meant to equip the staff with the relevant skills that would facilitate their efforts to discharge their duties effectively.

“This agency is a very sensitive one, as issues of modern biotechnology are very technical and require people who are up-to-date and knowledgeable to carry out biotechnology regulations in the country; hence the constant training of staff,’’ she said.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the workshop is: “Capacity Building for Effective Biosafety Management in Nigeria’’.