NAN-AE-7
Confidence
By Ebere Agozie
Abuja, Feb. 8, 2017 (NAN) Hon Obinna Chidoka, Chairman, House Committee on Environment and Habitat, has expressed confidence that the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) will deliver on its mandate of protecting Nigerians.
A statement issued by Adanna Mgbojikwe on behalf of the Head of Communications Department of NBMA, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, stated that Chidoka, made the remark during an oversight visit to the agency.
He said that although the agency was barely two years old, it had been able to demonstrate its potential in safeguarding human health and the environment in the absence of adequate funding.
He charged the agency not to relent in the implementation of its mandate, with an assurance that the House would give it the necessary support to facilitate the implementation of its programmes and projects.
The chairman urged the agency to scale up its awareness and advocacy programme to allay the fears of Nigerians on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
“The committee was in the agency mainly to interact with the management and get first hand information on how it functions.’’
According to the statement, Dr. Rufus Ebegba, the NBMA Director-General, had earlier briefed the committee on the agency’s operations, noting that it had made some progress in the last one year.
Ebegba said that the agency had established a GMO detection and analysis laboratory, built the capacity of staff and carried out the certification of research institutes with genetic modification competence.
The director-general thanked the committee for the visit and called for synergy between the National Assembly and the agency, especially as it strives to ensure the safe application and use of modern biotechnology products in the country. (NAN)
EPA/NKO
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Edited by Nkechi Okoronkwo
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