Over 22 million Nigerians live with chronic kidney disease — Expert

A Molecular Biologist and Public Health Expert, Dr Casmir Ifeanyi, has said that available data from the Nigerian government revealed that over 22 million Nigerians live with one form of renal disease or another.

Dr. Ifeanyi, who stated this at a two-day media training on Biosafety and Agroecology in Nigeria organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), themed: “Nigeria’s Food Future”, said what is being consumed in one way or the other by Nigerians contributes greatly to preponderance of renal conditions and cancers in the country.

He said the high rate of processed food being sold in Nigeria contains bioengineered ingredients which are not suitable for human consumption and can lead to health implications.

According to the public health expert, it is high time the Nigerian government took immediate and drastic steps to increase awareness of the environmental, socio-economic and health implications of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Nigeria and also develop policy recommendations and actions towards ensuring biosafety and food sovereignty in the country.

He said: “Animal studies in literature abound that mentioned the impact of GM diets on the hepatic, on the renal. The hepatics is the liver, the renal, the kidney. And now we’re grappling with, I don’t want to use the word epidemic. We’re grappling with outrageous cases and number of Nigerians that are living with acute and chronic kidney disease.

“And data available, even from the Nigerian government, shows that well over 22 million Nigerians, that is almost 10% of the population, live with one form of renal disease or the other, chronic or acute. And you are asking we should relate to GM. My answer is simple. For every disease, we have what we called a theological cause. With this number can we say this is the cause? We can’t rightly say this is the cause.

“We have very many suspicions as per the risk factor. Some blame it on the use of alcohol. Some blame it on smoking. I, would think that our diet contributes to this our preponderance of renal condition and cancers. And I say this without equivocation, because literature supports the fact that consumption of highly processed food is a risk factor for cancer. And most of the highly processed food, vended in our country today, if you take them and read the label, you will see, made from bioengineered ingredients.”

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Dr Ifeanyi also called for a 20-year moratorium on genetically modified crop approvers and adaptation in Nigeria, saying it will allow the country to explore and exploit its agricultural production potential to the benefits of the citizens.

He added, “In effect, I want a moratorium on genetically modified crop approvers and adaption in Nigeria, not less than a 20-year moratorium. Why I am saying this? If we must achieve or exploit our agricultural production potential as a country, which was our mainstay economically before oil, we need that moratorium. So that we can give resources, time and energy and research to conventional breeding of our traditional crops.

“Do you think that the seed companies are stupid? They know what they are doing. They come here, they take our staple food, the thing we normally would eat and were eating before they brought GM. They will now go genetically configure it and have patent over it. So if you want to plant it, you buy the seed from them. If you buy the seed from them, can you supply me?”

Also speaking with Tribune Online, HOMEF director of programme, Mrs Joyce Brown, said the training was organised to address pertinent issues relating to disadvantages of GMOs and how critical and urgent actions should be taken to restore Nigeria’s food security and for necessary things to be done by every stakeholder. She added that HOMEF is more concerned about the long-term and short-term implications of GMOs on human health in relation to environmental sustainability and the economy.

She said, “A number of reasons (for the training) and one is that we want to keep the conversation going until a definite is made with regard to GMOs. We seem to be at a crossroad in Nigeria and largely in Africa as to what pathway to take in responding to food insecurity and of course climate change challenges. There are some efforts towards promoting agroecology in Nigeria. There’s a draft policy in places. On the other hand, some actors are pushing GMOs, so we’re advocating for a concrete decision. We can’t be on the fence and we can’t be in both ways. Of course, we’re promoting biosafety and that means we are campaigning against GMOs owing to the long-term and even short-term implications they have not just on human health but also on environmental sustainability and even on our economy.”

“In March, there was a report by the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) that the Variety Released Committee or Agency approved four varieties of transgenic cotton and that went starkly against the provision of the NBMA Act, that is the mandate of the Agency. And we have another agency which has gone ahead to approve transgenic products. So the question is, Are we safe? Do we have biosafety in Nigeria? Is biosecurity being respected in the country? And I think we all know the answer. Because, if we have that agency bypassing NBMA to approve these crops, it also tells us that other GMOs may have come into the country unnoticed. So, it’s one of the issues that inspired us to come again with this conversation with the media,” Mrs Brown concluded.