The assurance of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), that Nigerians should feel free to consume TELA maize, to be candid was not expected at this time. It is laughable that anything goes here, and suddenly the country and her people have become a dumping ground for anything food and vaccines because the people are hungry, as such go cap in hand begging from other rich nations of the world. The body, according to reports, reacted based on the concerns raised by Nigerians about their safety, following the approval and launch of TELA maize in the country which government says would boost food security, and help the country save as much as $256m annually from pesticide importation.
Artificial maize known today in the country is funded by Bill Gates Foundation. Genetically modified foods for all we care is not common in Africa, let alone in Nigeria. Sometime ago, the Ukrainian government, currently at war with Russia also donated tonnes of grains to Nigeria. The question then was, how is it possible for a country that is at war with one of the most powerful nations in the world to have enough grain to feed her population and still donate to a country that is not at war, but cannot feed her own people? As ridiculous as it is, that is exactly where the country is at present! The utter neglect of the plights of farmers across the country who for many years have been at the mercy of herders is now telling on everyone.
Up till now, the leaders in the country have not realised that the food crisis Nigeria is facing currently is largely caused by cattle herders who go about destroying farms and killing the people in the process. They have failed to realise that the plight of displaced persons who left their villages at the height of Boko Haram insurgency is yet to be addressed, and criminals who are still wreaking havoc in the north east and other parts of the country need to be stamped out, once and for all. Rather than face the issue of insecurity squarely, most politicians are busy, playing politics with the lives of the people and toying with the future of the country, even as some lawmakers make mockery of the issue, equating the movement of cattle to that of human beings, and still opposing the ban on open grazing.
No doubt, food is one of the low hanging fruits the government can provide for the people, but whereby the things we can grow here cannot be accepted and protected by our leaders, the people will continue to doubt the sincerity of government in all things. Let the government stand tall on the issue of insecurity and ensure that farmers return to their ancestral homes. Nigeria is blessed with fertile lands where all kinds of food crops are grown all year round. Resorting to the consumption of TELA maize when we can grow what we consume is rather too early in the day, given the kind of diseases people are suffering from, which experts blamed mostly on synthetic foods that was alien to us prior to this time.
The Ministry of Agriculture should save Nigerians from consuming synthetic food and boost the production of local maize. The government on its part should try its utmost best to ensure that farmers sacked from their farms by bandits, herders and other forms of security threat in the country are made to return home to resume their normal lives. No amount of TELA maize can be enough to feed a population of over two hundred million people no matter its safety and nutritional value, according to NBMA.
