A coalition of leading civil society organizations has accused the Nigerian government of sending mixed signals over the safety of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), sparking fresh controversy over the country’s food security and public health policies.
The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Environmental Rights Action (ERA), and the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance are taking aim at top federal agencies for what they describe as “dangerous inconsistency” on the risks and safety of GMOs in the nation’s food chain.
In a statement released Monday by HOMEF’s Media Lead, Kome Odhomor, the groups blasted the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for reversing its stance on GMO safety. The outrage follows recent comments by NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who on August 8 declared that GMOs are not harmful to human health, provided safety protocols are followed.
Just over a year ago, however, Adeyeye had publicly warned that GMOs were unsafe for consumption, citing “insufficient research and data” to prove their safety. At the time, she insisted that without “very convincing data,” NAFDAC’s position would remain firmly against GMOs.
The sudden shift has left activists demanding answers. “Where is the rigorous, independent, long-term research to justify this change of heart?” the coalition asked.
Prof. Johnson Ekpere, convener of the GMO-Free Nigeria Alliance, said no Nigerian agency has provided credible evidence of safety, pointing to international studies linking GMO consumption to liver and kidney damage, tumors, immune disorders, and other health risks. Dr. Nnimmo Bassey of HOMEF warned that GMO cultivation also threatens irreversible soil degradation and biodiversity loss, citing Nigerian cotton farmers who say their lands have become infertile after planting Bt cotton.
The groups also raised concerns over the spread of herbicide-tolerant GMOs, which they say create “super weeds” and force farmers to use even more toxic chemicals, further harming human health and the environment.
Medical microbiologist Dr. Ifeanyi Casmir added that Bt crops approved in Nigeria release proteins that destroy soil microorganisms and have been detected in the blood of pregnant women and fetuses, raising fears of birth defects, cancer, and allergies.
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Beyond health concerns, activists like ERA’s Mariann Bassey-Olsson warn GMOs threaten Nigeria’s food sovereignty by contaminating indigenous seeds and locking farmers into dependence on foreign seed companies through patents. “Countries like Mexico have banned GMOs for this reason, we cannot ignore the same threat,” she said.
HOMEF’s Joyce Brown further accused NAFDAC and the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) of failing to properly regulate GMO imports and products, citing the controversial approval of GM maize imports by WACOT Ltd despite earlier customs seizures.
The coalition is now urging the Nigerian Senate to ban GMOs outright, protect indigenous crops, safeguard public health, and invest in agroecology. They say tackling food insecurity requires empowering smallholder farmers with better access to credit, land, infrastructure, and protection from the insecurity that keeps them from their farms.
