NAN-AE-5
Review
By Ebere Agozie
Abuja, Feb. 6, 2017 (NAN) Dr Rufus Ebegba, Director-General, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) said ongoing review of the agency’s guidelines would assist in strengthening its operations.
Ebegba made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
He said that the exercise was to ensure that its operations were in conformity with domestic laws and international best practices, adding that it would come with obvious advantages.
“The guidelines under review predate the establishment of the agency and played a very significant role in the passage of the NBMA Act 2015 hence the need for the review.
“It will also serve as a refresher course for most of the staff members, who were not part of the initial drafting process,” he said.
Ebegba stated that the review would also help employees to remain in tune with international best practices and further serve as a refresher for the participating staff to build their capacity.
“This capacity building will help them to thoroughly understand the rules and regulations governing our operations.
“The guidelines, among other things, will provide stage-by-stage process in the certification, handling and processing of permit for genetically modified organisms in the country,’’ he said.
“There are myriads of critical global challenges, which also affect Nigeria and addressing these challenges requires adoption of out-of-the-box workable measures and safe technologies,’’ he added. (NAN)
EPA/AO/OPI
Edited by Olisa Ifeajika