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NAFDAC Assures Of Efforts Against Use Of Hazardous Pesticides
Joel Ajayi
Amid concerns about the influx of toxic pesticides into Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has assured citizens of its zero tolerance for using unwholesome chemicals.
The assurance is coming on the heels of an investigation conducted by the Heinrich Boll Foundation and published by the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), which revealed that some hazardous pesticides banned in Europe are being used in Nigeria despite attempts by NAFDAC to clamp down on the importation of harmful chemicals into the country.
NAFDAC’s Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr. Leonard Omakpariola, gave the promise during an anti-corruption radio programme, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja.
According to Omakpariola, the agency makes painstaking and rigorous efforts to ensure hazardous chemicals or pesticides don’t get into the Nigerian agricultural space, stressing that “NAFDAC does not register banned pesticides.”
Speaking on modalities and processes pesticides are subjected to before being certified for use, Omakpariola said: ”NAFDAC as an agency is an international agency. We use best international practices in all our operations.
“MDAs, the British Food and Drug Authority, the Indian Food and Drug Authority and many others train our officers. Coming to pesticide registration issues, we have our processes for registering pesticides. Whatever pesticide wishes to be registered, we first have to ensure it is not hazardous.
“Before a pesticide is registered, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture must come in, and they must do what is referred to as a field trial in conjunction with research institutions, and after they are done, we commence the registration process. If the pesticides are produced here in Nigeria, we carry out inspections, we review all their documents, analyze submitted samples in our laboratories – that’s what we do,” Omakpariola explained.
He, however, faulted the European Union (EU) for slamming ban on some pesticides, noting that most of the actions by Western countries are based on economic reasons.
On his part, the Programme Coordinator of the Sustainable Nigeria Programme, Heinrich Boll Foundation, Donald Ikenna Ofoegbu, called on the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to rise to the occasion in the fight against the influx of harmful pesticides in the country.
Ofoegbu urged the Ministry of Agriculture to sensitize farmers on the risk associated with using pesticides while pointing out that “despite a lot of budget allocation going in favour of conventional pesticides, there is the issue of standard, a lot of adulteration, no tracking, no monitoring of qualities of chemicals that come into the country.
“NAFDAC is trying their best regarding registration regulation, NESREA is doing their best in the environmental side, but the middle where the chemicals are being used is a big problem. It’s a big Lacuna, so the Ministry of Agriculture needs to wake up and see how they bridge the gap on how pesticides are used in farms.
He warned that the use of harmful pesticides in the country exposes the citizens to serious health dangers besides the economic loss, noting that a long list of Nigerian cash crops is being rejected globally due to their high pesticide residues.
“Our common beans, Which is highly exported, are rejected. We have sesame, cocoa, cassava; there is a long list of them, even yam – all because of pesticide residue,” Ofoegbu stated.
Towing the same line, Engr. Prof. Simon Irtwange urged NAFDAC to work with related agencies to better regulate the use of pesticides in the country, warning that Nigerians are at risk of getting sick more frequently if they continue consuming foods with high pesticide residues.
He noted that there’s no law in Nigeria at the moment regulating the use of pesticides, adding that it is also abnormal that NAFDAC, as the agency that regulates agro-based pesticides, does not have a single agronomist in their ranks.
“I expect NAFDAC to work together with every other person and agency in that space and see how we (Nigeria) can regulate pesticides for the health of our people,” Irtwange.
Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
Featured
NAPTIP Restates Commitment To Fighting Human Trafficking
Joel Ajayi
… decries corruption in law enforcement, weak legislation
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, has pledged the agency’s commitment to fight human trafficking.
Waziri-Azi gave the assurance during an anti-corruption radio program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, in Abuja.
The commitment by NAPTIP follows an investigative report by Human Angle Media exposing how many Nigerians trafficked to Egypt are inhumanely treated and exploited by their sponsors.
Represented by the agency’s Director of Public Enlightenment, Mrs. Kehinde Akomolafe, decried the rising number of Nigerians who are victims of trafficking, pledging that “NAPTIP is fighting on all sides to curb human trafficking.”
Akomolafe disclosed that the agency is aware of the report of Nigerians trafficked to Egypt and has already commenced interventions to rescue them while warning citizens to be wary of “offers that are too good to be true.”
She identified weak legislation, lengthy judicial processes, and corrupt law enforcement officials as factors aiding and abetting trafficking in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world.
“Corruption is endemic and cuts across other countries of the world, and that’s why trafficking is easily perpetrated in Nigeria and around the globe. You find law enforcement officials aiding and abetting traffickers. Some of them know these traffickers from their operations either at the entry or exit point. They give them something or become too familiar with them.
“Apart from the bribery aspect, we also have officials turning a blind eye to trafficking activities, and that’s why for us at the agency (NAPTIP), we are not resting.”
According to her, the agency, from inception, secured 672 convictions, 67 in 2023, and 35 persons so far this year (2024). She added that “NAPTIP is winning the war against trafficking but still wants stiffer punishment for traffickers and the support of the judiciary in hastening cases.
“weak legislation is aiding trafficking. That’s why the agency continues pushing for amendments. Currently, NAPTIP is pushing for stiffer punishment against traffickers that will lead to confiscation of their monies and property.
“NAPTIP Director-General (Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi) is fighting on all sides against human trafficking.
“Where law enforcement officials are found complicit, NAPTIP Director-General does not take it lightly; she doesn’t compromise her anti-corruption stance even when a staff is involved,” Akomolafe stated.
According to the Editor of Southern Operations, Human Angle Media, Kabir Adejumo, many Nigerians trafficked to Egypt engage in forced labour. They are also living in fear as authorities go after illegal immigrants.
Adejumo said victims interviewed during the investigation are willing and interested in returning home, but their sponsors refuse to release their travel passports and threaten to implicate them.
He also revealed that the NAPTIP and Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) are aware of the plight of Nigerians trafficked in Egypt and have currently rescued one person.
On her part, the Programme Manager of the Human Angle Foundation, Angela Umoro-David, expressed satisfaction at NAPTIP’s response to trafficking cases while urging the agency to stay on course with their mandate.
Umoro-David called on Nigerians to use a Freedom of Information platform (foi.humananglemedia.com) to help citizens navigate requests for public records from different government parastatals and agencies.
She stressed that the platform “is a website where people can submit their FOI requests to us (Human Angle), and we’ll submit it on their behalf to the particular agency. So we act as middlemen, connecting these government parastatals to the citizens”.
Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program PRIMORG uses to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation
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