Two prominent Nigerian research institutions, the Centre for Food Safety and Agricultural Research (CEFSAR) and the Centre for African Policy Research and Advocacy (CAfPRA), have jointly called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to impose an immediate ban on the importation and cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Nigeria, pending the outcome of a comprehensive, independent national assessment.
The appeal was made during a media sensitisation workshop held on Friday at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
Addressing journalists and stakeholders, Qrissturberg Amua, Executive Director of CEFSAR, and Segun Adebayo, Director of CAfPRA, described the unchecked proliferation of GMOs in the country as a looming national crisis.
“This is not just about food—it is about survival,” Amua said. “If we lose control over what we eat, how we grow it, and who controls our food systems, we have already lost a fundamental part of our national sovereignty.”
The organisations raised concerns that the widespread adoption of GMOs—without thorough biosafety risk assessments and clear regulatory oversight—could expose Nigeria to biological warfare, economic manipulation, and long-term ecological damage.
Citing examples from global history, the researchers drew parallels with past incidents of bioterrorism, referencing Japan’s Unit 731 and the Soviet Union’s extensive bioweapons programs as cautionary tales.
They warned that modern warfare is no longer restricted to conventional battlefields but includes more covert tools such as biotechnology and food systems.
“Nigeria must not become a dumping ground for rejected biotechnologies,” Adebayo added. “The very corporations lobbying for GMO adoption in Africa are banned in their home countries. Why should Nigeria open its borders to products others have deemed unsafe?”
The groups also criticised the current structure of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), claiming it is compromised by conflicting interests, particularly through the involvement of the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) in regulatory oversight.
To address these concerns, CEFSAR and CAfPRA proposed several sweeping reforms, including: Dissolution of NBRDA’s membership on the NBMA board to eliminate conflicts of interest, reorganisation of NBMA under the Ministry of Defence to form a new Strategic Bio-Defense Program (SBP), implementation of a covert, multi-stakeholder biosecurity strategy involving public, private, and military intelligence, protection of Nigeria’s agricultural and biotechnological data from foreign access.
The researchers emphasized that food sovereignty is a matter of national security, warning that inaction could turn Nigeria into a testing ground for experimental technologies, potentially endangering public health and agricultural stability.
“Nigeria must act now to defend its biological integrity and future,” they concluded.
The workshop was attended by members of the press, civil society representatives, and policy analysts, with calls for urgent legislative scrutiny into Nigeria’s biosafety protocols and greater public engagement on the issue of GMOs.
