Does biosafety law holds the future of Nigerian agriculture?

Jonathan signed the bill into law on April 15, despite stiff opposition from anti-genetically modified foods campaigners who believed that legalising biosafety practice would imperil the health of people.The sixth National Assembly had earlier passed the Biosafety bill in 2011, but the president failed to assent to it because of opposition from the anti-GMO campaigners. […]

Jonathan signed the bill into law on April 15, despite stiff opposition from anti-genetically modified foods campaigners who believed that legalising biosafety practice would imperil the health of people.
The sixth National Assembly had earlier passed the Biosafety bill in 2011, but the president failed to assent to it because of opposition from the anti-GMO campaigners.  
However, that did not distract the sponsors of the bill who introduced it again when the seventh Assembly convened.
The seventh Assembly eventually passed the bill this year and it was signed few days later by the president.
With the signing of the bill, planting of genetically modified (GM) crops, breeding of GM animals and consumption of GM foods are now legal in Nigeria.
A report released this year by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) has chronicled the global progress in the acquisition of biotechnology crops, saying that 18 million farmers, in 28 countries, have planted more than 181 million hectares in 2014, up from 175 million in 27 countries in 2013.  
A look at the gains of biotechnology cotton around the world showed that the United States lead in production of biotech crops globally with 73.1 million hactares (40% of global), with an average adoption rate of over 90% across its principal crops.
Brazil ranked second only to the USA in biotech crops cultivation per hectare in the world, with 42.2 million (up from 40.3 million in 2013).
Brazilian agricultural research and development organisation, EMBRAPA, which has annual budget of $1 billion (N200 billion) has been given approval to commercialise its home-grown   biotech virus resistant beans and soya beans for 2016.  
Canada grew 11.6 million hactares of biotech crops in 2014, up from 10.8 million hactares in 2013, as farmers planted more biotech canola and soya beans.
In China, the latest provisional data indicated that the economic gains of biotechnology cotton alone at the farmers level for the period 1997 to 2013 was $ 16.2 and $1.6 billion for 2013.
The total numbers of farmers that benefited from biotechnology cotton may well exceed 7.1 million.
In 2014, Africa has made progress with Sudan increasing its biotech cotton hectare to 90,000 hectare by 40%, with South Africa and Burkina Faso marginally lower, mainly because of uncertainty of planting conditions.
Seven African countries-Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda have also conducted trials on broad range of staple crops such as rice maize, wheat, sorghum, banana, cassava and sweet potato.
With Nigeria joining other countries that have legal backing for the production and commercialisation of biotechnology crops, a new chapter has been opened in the nation’s agricultural sector.
But the practice has continued to generate controversy on its safety or otherwise. Local and foreign scientists have, at various times, alluded to safety concerns or otherwise of GMOs.
Rose Gidado, who is the Nigeria’s coordinator of Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnlogy (OFAB) said that majority of countries that ventured into biotechnology, did so largely out of the desire to meet the growing food, clothing and sundry needs of their citizens.
And this is why, she said, Nigeria would gain big by embracing the technology.
The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) said, in a statement, that the signing of the Biosafety bill into law would boost economic development in Nigeria.
The agency’s director-general, Prof Lucy Jumeyi Ogbadu, said the law would create more employment, boost food production, put smile on the faces of farmers and reduce hunger in the country.
Ogbadu said Nigeria would now commercialise Biotech (Bt)-cotton, Bt-maize, Herbicide Tolerant (HT)-soya beans.
She also said the improved crops would lead to increased yield productivity and ensure food security and industrial growth, especially in the ailing textile industries.
Professor Lucy noted that the law will promote the quantity and quality of cotton that Nigeria can export.
“The Law will promote national security through the application of DNA finger printing for crime detection, paternity testing, identification. It will also promote active commercialisation of the research and development projects in our various universities and research institutes hence, improve our economy as well as support the country to become one of the leaders in biotechnology, particularly in Africa.”.
In the same vein, the Dean of Faculty of Science Federal University, Oye, Ekiti State, Prof Silvia Uzochukwu, told Daily Trust that multinational companies with bias for agriculture now have the legal backing to practice biotechnology in Nigeria.
She said once the companies set up businesses in the country, jobs would be created and food security would also be guaranteed.
“The signing of the Biosafety Bill into law is wonderful news to Nigerians. We would now be rest assured that agriculture’s contribution to the GDP would be increased and food security would be guaranteed. Those who were antagonizing the bill were ignorant and selfish individuals fighting for their pockets. The US and Canada have been eating and growing GMO since 20 years ago and to the best of my knowledge we have not heard of very serious negative reports about it from there.”       
In his Opening remark at the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology Netmapping Workshop held recently at Maizube Farms in Minna, Niger State, the former head of state, Abubakar A. Abdulsalami said: “Agricultural biotechnology has changed the lives of the rural cotton farmers in nearby Burkina Faso. It has also changed the lives for the better of poor farmers in Brazil and Argentina.”
However, a scientist known as Conway in a commentary published in Ecology and Society (a journal of integrated science for resilience and sustainability), noted that biotechnology has effect on soil and ecology, depending on how it is managed.
“Balance of evidence suggests that GM organisms have the potential to both degrade and improve the functioning of agro ecosystems. Depending on which GM crops were developed and how they are used. GM crops can lead to increase or decrease in pesticide use, the enhancement or degradation of ecological services provided by agro ecosystems, or even the loss or conservation of biodiversity, thus, providing cause for concern.”
Other scientists have also posited that while the technology might be beneficial to farmers in the interim, chances were that it could breed BT resistance, kill non target organisms.
Other highlighted risks include creation of new viruses (Hails 2000), movement of genes into non-agricultural ecosystems where subsequent increase could eliminate endangered species and preventing farmers from developing their own seed supplies best suited to local conditions.
All of these reactions are believed to hold grave consequences for humans.