Environmental groups have faulted the Federal Government’s proposed merger of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) to be known as the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA).
Reacting to the development, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) urged the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to review the planned merger of both agencies and highlighted concerns about the conflicting roles of the agencies, while describing the fusion as “dangerous for the country’s biosafety.”
They argued that to enhance efficiency in the Federal service and reduce the cost of governance, the FEC decided to implement the recommendations of the Steve Oronsaye panel on the restructuring and rationalisation of federal agencies, departments and commissions, adding that the implementation would involve merging, subsuming and scrapping some agencies with similar functions.
HOMEF commended the government’s effort at restructuring and rationalisation of some federal agencies and others which will address the long-standing issues of regulatory overlaps and foster implementation and accountability, noting however that the functions of NABDA and NACGRAB do not overlap.
It maintained that while NABDA was established under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology in 2001 to implement the policies aimed at conducting research, promotion, coordination and development of biotechnology for Nigeria, NACGRAB was established in 1987 by the Ministry of Science and Technology with a mandate to collect and conserve valuable genetic resources for food and agriculture and ensure that they are used sustainably with a genebank located in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Furthermore, the NACGRAB’s website states: “The Centre, backed by Decree 33 of 1987 regulates the seed, livestock and fisheries industries through its Varietal Release Committees.”
Executive Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey pointed out that the NACGRAB has a robust and distinctive role in regulating the seed, livestock and fisheries industries, adding: “This means a clear conflict of mandates with NABDA. Also, the NACGRAB coordinates the activities of the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breed and Fisheries.
“How then would the proposed NBRDA for example, ensure the development of new varieties of crops through genetic manipulation (part of NABDA’s role) and approve same for commercial release (as NACGRAB)?, he asked, insisting that NABDA is one agency that should be scrapped.
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Bassey further stated that in the implementation of the FEC’s decisions of Monday, February, 26, 2024 there was the need for a critical review of the current mandate of all agencies, parastatals and commissions to be merged to ensure adequate institutional support, including budgetary allocations and concrete implementation plans.
“Where a merger is required, it is important for the operational details of the new agencies to be clarified and made public,” he stressed.
Also speaking, HOMEF’s Director of Programmes, Joyce Brown, noted that although both agencies have a research mandate, their focus of research is different.
Brown recommends that instead of merging NABDA with NACGRAB, both agencies should collaborate with the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) with a similar regulatory role (in this case) to regulate modern biotechnology activities and the release into the environment, handling and use of genetically modified organisms.
“These are products of modern biotechnology to prevent adverse impacts on the environment and human health. Better still, the NBMA can become a unit under the NACGRAB, which would ensure institutional support and oversight for NBMA to address the current lax biosafety regulatory system.
“However, within the NACGRAB, there needs to be a clarification of mandate, it is ironical that a center that prides itself in its commitment to the conservation of the rich Genetic Resources of the nation is the same in charge of approving the release of genetically modified varieties which threaten this very mandate,” she said.
On her part, Food Sovereignty Activist and Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje, noted that the proposed merger is rife with conflict and will set the stage for NABDA to subsume whatever little traces or semblance of regulation of its activities that remains. Already, NABDA ‘the regulated’ acts more or less like ‘the regulator’ and exerts its influence.
Orovwuje, who insisted that if the merger pulls through, “we can as well say goodbye to any form of GM regulation in Nigeria, which will be a recipe for disaster,” however, enjoined the government to, at this time, consider setting up a policy on agro-ecology, which is proven to address food insecurity, strengthen our local economy and ensure climate change adaptation.
“In addition to reducing governance cost, a critical review of the mandates of these food-related agencies and establishing linkages, as well as clearly defined operational details are expedient for ensuring biosafety, biodiversity conservation and food sovereignty for the nation,” she added.
