Until it was Dangote's turn to produce Tomato Paste suddenly fresh Tomato had to become scarce and federal government has said nothing concerning this wicked. He(Dangote) brought in GMO Tomato seeds which infested our local tomato this happen during crossing pollination. He's motive is to sell this seeds and the tomato fruits every planting season because they are pest resistance and yeild well but the seeds of GMO Tom
ato cannot stay till the next planting season. Local farmers becomes slave to him and his Federal Government collabortors who refuse to ban the seeds and other GMO's product.

With the amount of information that has come to the fore by independent scientist, countries all over the world are placing complete bans on GMO foods, while citizens of America are fighting for the right to know if their food contains GMO's (Genetically modified Organisims) . Most recently Scotland announced outright ban on the cultivation of GMO's .6 out of the 8 countries that make up the G8 have outright bans on these companies and their products. Such countries include France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia and most of the EU.
The World health organization has recently declared MONSANTO's glyphosate as a carcinogenic, These chemicals are used in tandem with the GMO products.
GMO's & Environmental poisoning
Aside from false promises of higher yields, less pesticide use, etc, GMO’s are nothing more than patented pesticide delivery systems designed to increase the sales of poisonous agrochemicals such as Roundup, Glufosinate, Bt 2,4D,Astrazine and Neonicotinids. Such chemicals are sold under dubious labels of being bio-degradable which have since proved to be false.
Furthermore these chemicals have been shown to poison the water systems in cities talk less of rural areas were water simply flows to the streams.
In June 2012 company Syngenta announced a proposed $US 105 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by communities in six Midwestern U.S. states who claimed that atrazine a herbicide produced by sygenta had contaminated their drinking water.
Numerous studies have linked the chemical with hormonal imbalances and sexual irregularities in frogs and fish, which result in, among other things, males who produce eggs. In the Nigerian context. where most farming happens in the hinterlands, Nigerian citizens are not served water by a water corporations who consistently test the quality of water. They go to the streams or fetch water from wells. Does the Nigerian government plan for its citizens to drink from poisoned streams and water tables? These are some of the health concerns.
Health Concerns
In 2011, scientists in Argentina found long term effects of GMO in certain towns where these crops are grown and these include birth defects and a higher incidence of child cancer caused by glyphosate – a herbicide sprayed on GMO crops and marketed by Monsanto. The industrial agricultural practices of spraying these chemicals on farms creates an abundance of these toxic chemicals in the air
“The few scientific researches done on the effects of these foods on humans have showed stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially precancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshaped cell structures in the liver, pancreas and testicles, altered gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, partially atrophied livers, inflamed kidneys, less developed organs, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality as well. Repeated use of seeds like Monsanto’s Roundup-Ready soybeans results in vicious new super-weeds that need far greater amounts of stronger herbicides to combat. Their toxic residues remain in crops that humans and animals then eat. Even small amounts of these toxins are endocrine disruptors that can affect human reproduction adversely. Most recently, tests showed the presence of the herbicide glyphosate, widely used with Monsanto’s herbicide-tolerant GM soybean and maize varieties, in samples of mothers’ breast milk in the United States.”. Ify Aniebo (BSc, MSc, MRes, MPH)is a molecular geneticist from Oxford University, with a master’s in public health
Control of the seed by Patent Right claims
Seeds that have been genetically modified cannot be replanted. This is because they are either infertile or due to Patent rights these companies claim on the seed. What this does is lock the farmer in to dependency on these foreign-biotech companies for seed every year. In doing this a primary input of agriculture which exists abundantly is now monopolized and commoditized.
“We cannot be force-fed by a savage biotech industry that seeks to colonise African seeds and food systems. The fact that GMOs will not feed the world is well studied and documented. See the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report, for example. GMOs will enslave the world through the intellectual property rights that allows the biotech industry to patent their seeds, debars farmers from sharing or saving seeds and forces them to buy seeds every planting season. It seeks to overturn age long sustainable practices.” Nnimmo Bassey M.F.R,Chair of Friends of the Earth International 2008-2012
Contamination
A major disadvantage of this technology is the contamination of natural varieties due to wind and pollen drift. This was first noticed in the corn belt of Mexico prompting a federal judge to order Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture to immediately “suspend all activities involving the planting of transgenic corn in the country and end the granting of permission for experimental and pilot commercial plantings”. In delivering his verdict, Judge Jaime Eduardo Verdugo J. cited “the risk of imminent harm to the environment” as the basis for the decision.
National Economics
Proponents argue that GMO would boost exports but GMO’s are not allowed in to most countries. Our exports will close up to the whole of Europe. A case study is Japan which as soon as it found out its trading partner Thailand was growing GMO, promptly banned the importation of Thailand papayas. Thailand’s GMO woes were further brought to light when Thai canned tuna packed in soybean oil was recently rejected by the Netherlands and Greece after they allegedly found it contained genetically modified ingredients.
Since few other nations will accept our new GM export, Nigeria will be locked in to exporting our “potential new yield” to America and Canada. Yet America’s main interest will be bio-fuel. So all this really will have very little to do with feeding Nigeria. In Zimbabwe, the population was subjected to consuming tree bark during a food crisis in 1992, while their fertile lands were used for cultivating tobacco exports.On the other hand, now more than ever organic produce is in high demand with consumers willing to pay far more for such products. Countries such as Uganda are benefiting from the global high demand of ORGANIC products. Organic products can go in to all markets, GMO products can only go in to specific markets.
Corruption and legislation
With all the negative factors associated with this technology one wonders how responsible legislators and governments allow these companies operate. To understand this it helps to understand the Tobacco industry and how they lobbied and manipulated the truth for 40years pushing the idea that smoking was not linked to lung cancer. They did this by creating a revolving door between the senate /regulatory agencies/judiciary and their employees. In which regulators of the industry are former Monsanto employees or have strong links to the Bio-tech industry.
A speech made by US Rep Dennis Kucinich on the house of congress floor:
“In 1992 the Food and Drug Administration decided that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are the functional equivalent of conventional foods. They arrived at this decision without testing GMOs for allergenicity, toxicity, anti-biotic resistance and functional characteristics. As a result hundreds of millions of acres of GMO crops were planted in America without the knowledge or consent of the American people: no safety testing and no long term health studies. The FDA has received over a million comments from citizens demanding labeling of GMOs. Ninety percent of Americans agree. So, why no labeling? I’ll give you one reason: The influence and the corruption of the political process by Monsanto. Monsanto has been a prime mover in GMO technology, a multi-million dollar GMO lobby here and a major political contributor.’
“Ultimately, it is the food producer who is responsible for assuring safety” — FDA, “Statement of Policy: Foods Derived from New Plant Varieties” (GMO Policy), Federal Register, Vol. 57, No. 104 (1992), p. 229
“Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the F.D.A.’s job” – Philip Angell, Monsanto’s director of corporate communications. “Playing God in the Garden” New York Times Magazine, October 25, 1998.
“One thing that surprised us is that US regulators rely almost exclusively on information provided by the biotech crop developer, and those data are not published in journals or subjected to peer review… The picture that emerges from our study of US regulation of GM foods is a rubber-stamp ‘approval process’ designed to increase public confidence in, but not ensure the safety of, genetically engineered foods.” – David Schubert, professor and head, Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute, commenting on a comprehensive peer-reviewed study of US government’s regulation of GMOs.
Contrary to popular belief, the FDA does not have a mandatory GM food safety assessment process and has never approved a GM food as safe. It does not carry out or commission safety tests on GM foods. Instead, the FDA operates a voluntary programme for pre-market review of GM foods. All GM food crops commercialised to date have gone through this review process, but there is no legal requirement for them to do so.
The agricultural biotechnology corporations have lobbied long and hard on every continent to ensure that weak assessment models are the norm. The result has been the creation of models for safety assessment that favour easy approval of GMOs without rigorous assessment of health or environmental risks. For example, a report by the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) identified the Syngenta Foundation/FARA project as part of an “Africa-wide harmonisation of biosafety policies and procedures” that will “create an enabling environment for the proliferation of GMOs on the continent, with few biosafety checks and balances”. Having gone through the Nigerian Biosafety bill (which is available for all to see online), it becomes very clear that the bill was written solely for the purpose of enabling big biotech corporation grow GMO with very few biosafety checks and balances without the welfare of the consumers in mind.
Regulation
Nigeria is barely coping with the regulation of fake drugs, Does Nigeria have the capacity or the infrastructure to regulate GM products that it barely understands? Nigeria has not invested in its schools or research facilities to create independent bodies to look after Nigerian Interest. Instead as stated earlier these regulatory bodies are fronts and figure heads to ensure the interest of these Bio-tech companies.
We lack the scientific wherewithal of Russia, Japan or France Yet they banned GMOS and have strong bio-safety laws PREVENTING and INHIBITING the importation of GMO products in to their country. France and Manufacturing powerhouse Germany banned Monsanto cultivation and GMO products. Italy banned cultivation of Monsanto and GM products. England does not allow cultivation of Monsanto crops and only allows GM products in to the country as animal feed and even this is under scrutiny. Lastly, the world super power Russia banned all Monsanto products as well as GM products entering the country.
In the words of the Russian Prime minister, Medvedev
“If the Americans like to eat GMO products, let them eat it then. We don’t need to do that; we have enough space and opportunities to produce organic food,”
President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia in his speech at the State Opening of the National Assembly for the 2015 legislative year said "will never accept GM food". "I must emphasize here that despite our obsession with becoming a major food exporter after 2016, we will never accept Genetically Modified Organisms in our agriculture. The Gambia is strictly maintaining organic agriculture for both our consumption and export," It is worth noting that The Gambia in recent times has become food sufficient and aims to become a net exporter.
With the examples of these countries as a backdrop, Nigeria’s forced marriage with Monsanto et al is reminiscent of the proverbial phrase
“Fools rush where Angels fear to tread”
Recommendations
The current trend of Industrial agriculture is destroying the Bio-diversity of plants. Nature’s diversity and genetic uniqueness is what keeps it stable and resistant to diseases and pest. The mono-culture nature of farming as well as cloning of genes has lead to a huge decrease in Bio-diversity. The proliferation of GMO was the best way for these companies to maintain their current business model and expand to total control over food production. This is the reason our food chain has become sensitive to diseases and pest. Most bananas grown for commercial reasons are clones, having the same genetics, everywhere. Thus a single pest can decimate the entire world production of bananas. The only way to create a healthy sustainable agricultural system is by increasing the bio-diversity through the use of Bio-dynamic farming.
The UN in a report titled “Trade and Environment Review 2013: Wake Up Before It’s Too Late,” with contributions from more than 60 experts around the world. Asserted that Small-scale Organic farming is the only way to feed the world.
Nigerian land is fertile with hardworking farmers who feed this nation without the subsidies their counterparts in the EU and USA enjoy. What Nigeria needs are solutions to its peculiar problems. These include an accessible transportation and logistics system that incorporates storage and food preservation. Community shared tractor and mechanical systems that ensures food gets of the farm in a timely manner. The quality of Extension service to farmers should be increased to meet world standards .Nigerian farmers need REAL access to soft loans. Most importantly by simply improving the conventional farming practices that are already used around the world,We can feed the entire country by integrating companion cropping / permaculture techniques, reforestation of arid areas, alternative infrastructures .Alternatives to the industrialization of agriculture are being explored worldwide, and as the realities of climate change come to the fore, Africa is a place where new models of perma-culture could meet old models of sustainable farming in so doing create sustainable and locally owned solutions to nutritious food production. Our problems will not be solved by “magic seeds”, they will only be compounded.
DEMANDS
The Nigerian government places an immediate Ban on all GMO plants, livestock and food products.
The Nigerian government in partnership with NAFDAC places and immediate ban on all carcinogenic pesticides and herbicides sold by
Bio-tech companies in Nigeria, e.g Roundup by Monsanto
The Nigerian government probes NABDA to investigate the conflict of interest as regards whose interest the institution serves.
To read more on this issue, see links below.
GMO MYTHS & TRUTHS
RE-ENSLAVEMENT OF NIGERIA BY THE G8 & MONSANTO
THE GMO DEBATE WITH DR ADESINA ( FORMER MINISTER OF AGRIC)
NABDA, THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE & THE SENATE – unwitting pawns in the re-colonization of Nigeria by MONSANTO
This petition will be delivered to:
The Presidency Nigeria
President -Muhammadu Buhari
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC
Paul Orhii
Read the letter
Report a policy violation
Trending petitions

That wicked man. All for the money.

Plz summarize

A typical African Op. You people can't stop selling superstitions to the gullible. OP your post is a notice -me post. Find a better Job because a thousand of you can't confuse few of us that to know the facts about Tuta absoluta

A typical African Op. You people can't stop selling superstitions to the gullible. OP your post is a notice -me post. Find a better Job because a thousand of you can't confuse few of us that know the facts about Tuta absoluta

@ OP, I am with you in this fight against GMO being introdu ed into Nigeria. Whosoever that's against you in this matter is no doubt one of the enemies of the Nigerian masses. INDIAN farmers are now slaves to the company that sells GMO seeds in India, because they cannot plant the seeds gotten from their last season.
Let's assume you planted beans this season, you can not plant from your yields in the next season. You have to continually buying from the GMO supplier.
Thousands of India farmers committed suicide because of debt.

This is an eye opener, thank God for Social media

happybrother:
A typical African Op. You people can't stop selling superstitions to the gullible. OP your post is a notice -me post. Find a better Job because a thousand of you can't confuse few of us that know the facts about Tuta absoluta

What is superstitious in this write up?

Please Nigerians are Wiser now, we can't just take anything the whites throw at us, this guy has given more than enough proof why we shouldn't allow GMO in Nigeria. Besides we don't have good hospitals to care for our needs when the effects of using GMO starts to manifest.

Did you even read the post at all?
Though I slept off while reading it, but I woke up to continue reading it because of the importance of what the OP posted.

Thanks for the sleep on - reading. If these conspiracies are what you paint it to be ,then all the citizens in the USA ought to have died off.
From illuminati to 666 to GMO to HELL FIRE... don't you guys rest for a while?

happybrother:
Thanks for the sleep on - reading. If these conspiracies are what you paint it to be ,then all the citizens in the USA ought to have died off.
From illuminati to 666 to GMO to HELL FIRE... don't you guys rest for a while?

REALLY!

This na real epistle
Summary pls

feldido:


What is superstitious in this write up?

Please Nigerians are Wiser now, we can't just take anything the whites throw at us, this guy has given more than enough proof why we shouldn't allow GMO in Nigeria. Besides we don't have good hospitals to care for our needs when the effects of using GMO starts to manifest.

Did you even read the post at all?
Though I slept off while reading it, but I woke up to continue reading it because of the importance of what the OP posted.

It's a known fact that the dangers of GMOs supersedes its merits however, claiming the recent infestation of tomatoes by Tuta absoluta aka Tomato Ebola was a dangote/FG conspiracy is false.
Among the numerous effects of GMOs, tuta absoluta attack is found wanting.
T. Absoluta is a pest whose recent attack might be considered 'coincidental'.
Moreover, I strongly kick against GMOs

What’s the difference?

GMO – Genetically Modified Organism is as a very broad term. In its most simple terms, it refers to any living thing that has different DNA, no matter how slight, than its parent. This can happen in nature or in a laboratory. When you look in a mirror, you are looking at a genetically modified organism. The DNA of each of your parents has combined to make you who you are. You are not identical to either – you inherited some DNA from both. This also happens in the plant world; when insects or the weather moves the pollen from one plant to the flower of another plant of the same or similar species. The new seed from that plant ‘mating’ produces a new plant different from either of the parent plants. This is a type of hybrid* (and so are you). Traditional Plant Breeding is simply choosing the two parent plants that you would like to ‘mate’ and playing the role of a bee moving the pollen of one to the flower of the other. By saving the seed from that union, the plant breeder hopes to have a new plant that will incorporate the best qualities of each of the parents.

GE – It’s Genetically Engineered seeds, crops, fish and hormones that have been the source of concern in recent years. These are created in a laboratory. In genetically engineered plants, the ‘mating’ process is completely bypassed and often the DNA introduced is from a completely unrelated organism such as a bacterial pesticide or herbicide resistant protein (this is called a transgenic crop). These plants do not occur in nature. Because this new genetically engineered plant has different DNA than its parent plant, it is one type of a GMO.

In short, all crops have been genetically modified from their original wild state by domestication, selection and controlled breeding over long periods of time, but most GMO’s are not genetically engineered. By the continued misuse of the term GMO, we doom ourselves and condemn our farmers unfairly.

phranseeqz:


It's a known fact that the dangers of GMOs supersedes its merits however, claiming the recent infestation of tomatoes by Tuta absoluta aka Tomato Ebola was a dangote/FG conspiracy is false.
Among the numerous effects of GMOs, tuta absoluta attack is found wanting.
T. Absoluta is a pest whose recent attack might be considered 'coincidental'.
Moreover, I strongly kick against GMOs

How is it superstitious? It could be a conspiracy even if its not by Dangote, this post is to enlighten the masses if there is any possibility of conspiracy so we can resist it.

feldido:


How is it superstitious? It could be a conspiracy even if its not by Dangote, this post is to enlighten the masses if there is any possibility of conspiracy so we can resist it.

It is superstitious to think the T. absoluta invasion was a conspiracy, it's incidence shouldn't be related or linked with the GMOs. Though I won't disregard a Dangote/FG conspiracy in the offing, however, the tomato ebola case is out of it.

GMOs are bad and should be totally discouraged just as outlined in the article.

phranseeqz:


It is superstitious to think the T. absoluta invasion was a conspiracy, it's incidence shouldn't be related or linked with the GMOs. Though I won't disregard a Dangote/FG conspiracy in the offing, however, the tomato ebola case is out of it.
I
GMOs are bad and should be totally discouraged just as outlined in the article.

Superstition :

noun (plural superstitions)
A belief, not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, that future events may be influenced by one's behaviour in some magical or mystical way.
translations (a set of beliefs that future events may be influenced by one's behaviour in some magical or mystical way)

How is this superstitious from his explanation?

imagine if the south had produced tomato with adequate data on ground(demand data) we could cushion d effect of d disease but we are sleeping expecting tomato manna as usual.

note: let tomato revolution sweep SW,SE,SS that we might not repeat history as it has been our tradition.

happybrother:
A typical African Op. You people can't stop selling superstitions to the gullible. OP your post is a notice -me post. Find a better Job because a thousand of you can't confuse few of us that know the facts about Tuta absoluta

It not about confusion but that wen you especially start suffering from cancer as a result of these chemical, Used to enhance the organism. You May visit youtube and search GMO and watch dozens of videos illustrating how this organism are manipulated to yield well but the long term effect to humans who consume it is cancerous

If you want to talk about GM foods, it's ok. I also believe we should all kick against it. But I'm yet to see d relationship between GM, Tuta Absoluta which you call "ebola" and Dangote. Tuta is a tomato pest and has been existing for ages especially in Europe and South America. If fact it infested our farm here the in south west and some parts of the north in 2015, and we know what it is. It has only become worse of this year. It has nothing to do with GM and certainly has nothing to do with dangote. Please stop misinforming the public

Any food that is not naturally produce by nature, but consume by natural human being. That food as so many disadvantages on everything that make up a nature.

If you look very well into Nigeria market as a whole. You will understand the message Op is trying to pass out, or you are among the conspiracy of Monsanto.

Most of the imported and locally produced food we consume here in Nigeria are artificial plant, crops and animal produce by mosanto, they are all GMO products.

Mosanto is a very powerful organization that can do on do to any individual, organizations or government through corruption Pratice. The only way to kick out GMO products that are already available in this country is mass awareness to customers and local farmers to speak with one voices so that Nigeria government can here us. because many of Nigeria govt official and our scientists no GMO products and so many disadvantages to us but they keep mute no body what to talk. That is are powerful mosanto organization is.

To me Op just bring up what as being going on in this country call Nigeria for years. Most of the cancer and kidney failure case we see in Nigeria are caused by GMO

Any plant or crops been it beans, tomatoes, pepper, soybeans, potato, plantain, even chicken and fish, that can not be replanted or produce naturally without a help from chemical for activation is artificial GMO(genetic modify organism) is not good for human consumption.

If you want to no more about this GMO products and help yourself and love one Internet Google and YouTube can help you.

...

Kindly find out d difference between hybrids and GMOs. They are not d same. The gospel of GMO is an evil one & I'm totally against it. But let's stop mixing things up, d cause of tomato scarcity is not GMO nor Dangote, it's simply a pest called Tuta Absoluta. It multiplies at a dangerous rate. Last year it destroyed our 20,000 capacity Green House tomato farm in just 3 days

Olatunde26:
Kindly find out d difference between hybrids and GMOs. They are not d same. The gospel of GMO is an evil one & I'm totally against it. But let's stop mixing things up, d cause of tomato scarcity is not GMO nor Dangote, it's simply a pest called Tuta Absoluta. It multiplies at a dangerous rate. Last year it destroyed our 20,000 capacity Green House tomato farm in just 3 days

i sent u a pm, check ur email and reply sir

There's almost no food that isn't genetically modified. Genetic modification is the basis of all evolution. Things change because our planet is subjected to a lot of radiation, which causes DNA damage, which gets repaired, but results in mutations, which create a ready mixture of plants that people can choose from to improve agriculture.
--Nina Fedoroff

@Op, don't accuse sb without proof. Correlatn is not always causation. The fact that the disease came when dangote want to open a tomato compamy is not a proof that he's the cause. I'm anti-GMO, but I won't encourage this baseless accusatn.

RIDICULOUS!! Too many points to fault. I won't even try