The Federal Government has promised to grow the nation’s biotechnology to enable it complement current efforts in bridging the vacuum created by falling oil price in the country.
Director-General, National Bio-safety Management Agency (NABMA), Dr. Rufus Egbegba, stated this in a statement recently made available by his agency to National Mirror.
The release said from the planned transformation, no fewer than 25,000 jobs would be created through bio-technology-related institutions in the country.
Egbegba said the jobs would be created along the value chain of bio-technology products which are regulated by his agency.
"With a well regulated biotechnology sector, up to 25,000 jobs can be created annually, and this wifi increase with time because more bio-technology products will be made available in the market and activities will be more. Job creation is critical in this sector.
"With an agency in place to regulate the sector, the biotech industry will be more vibrant. You now have people who will be employed in the biotech industry. The companies are in place, doing research, producing genetically-modified organisms and deploying the technology. So, along the line, there will be increased direct and indirect employment through the distribution chain of bio-technology products," the statement quoted Egbegba as saying.
The release further quoted the agency's boss as saying that modern bio-technology has great potential to develop products, materials and living systems that could be used to expand the economy, especially in the area of agriculture.
It maintained that with the establishment of more laboratories, more foods would be produced for domestic consumption and for export, and that the agency would generate revenue for the country.
The agency, the release noted, was ready to use bio-technology in achieving food security for teeming population in the country.
"We are looking at the situation where we have food in abundance in the Nigerian system. Now, you can have improved crops, improved animals and other organisms; you develop new plants that can have higher productivity and are disease and pest resistance and herbicides tolerant. So, with such stress on crops being reduced, you discover that these crops will attain their full potential,” the release furthered reads.
Arguing that the nation's textile industry had been comatose "simply because of inadequate quantity of locally produced cotton to drive the textile industry”, the statement explained that African countries like Burkina Faso had recorded success in producing genetically-modified cottons that are resistant to worms.
"With modern bio-technology that is safe, there will be more raw materials for the industry and diversifying the economy is now more feasible than ever. The National Bio-safety Management Agency will enforce rules to ensure that only healthy and environmental friendly products are produced in Nigeria,” the release reads in part.
Source: National Mirror
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