₦airaland Forum

NACOTAN REFUTES FALSE CLAIMS ON GM COTTON.

The National Cotton Association of Nigeria has denied the disinformation making the rounds, especially on Farmfoodnews, InfoFM Lagos, X (formerly Twitter), Business Day and a couple of other outlets which relied on a false interview on X to create fictitious stories around the association.

In the published disinformation in some mediums tittled, "GMO Cotton Fails Nigeria, Says President", falsely credited to Chief Anibe Achimugu the President of NACOTAN.

The association has come out to put the records straight, she denied that her President ever granted an interview on X or anywhere were such statements were made neither has he ever made such statements in private.

The National Cotton Association of Nigeria labeled the publications a "fabrication aimed at misinforming the public, tarnishing its leadership and undermining the credibility of Cotton Farmers and the Federal Government of Nigeria". She restated her commitment to continue to support national efforts to boost cotton production, at the same time protecting the integrity of farmers and variable information on the activities in the sector.

The association called on the public to disregard the malicious reportage as it is a calculated attempt to promote disinformation and damage the genuine efforts been made in the sector.

As partners in the development of Nigeria, the association called on the media to be weary of naysayers who would want to cause confusion in the society by using the outlets to spread falsehood. She further admonished the media to continue to uphold the principle of fair hearing by offering citizens the right of reply before going to press.


In furtherance of the above, NACOTAN demanded a retraction of the disinformation in seven days (7) and failure to do so would leave the association with no choice but to seek legal redress.

If Nigerians can recall the cotton subsector of the Nigerian economy
was a large employer of Nigerians and a huge income earner for the nation but a myriad of challenges such as
cheaper imports, snuggling, inadequate infrastructure and pest infestations torpedoed her growth.

At its peak in the 1960s, cotton production attained 480,000 metric tonnes (MT) but fall to 20,000 MT in 2020. In recent years progressive efforts has been made by NACOTAN under the leadership of Chief Achimugu to see to revival of the cotton value chain. To the credit of the association alot of progress has been made. The association now has data of cotton farmers, across the country for productive outcomes, it is promoting mechanized and contiguous farming for easy farming management and supervision, encouraged the cultivation of high yield varieties for bumper harvests, signed an MoU with security agencies for the consumption of local cotton fabrics, added to these are the pursuit of a CTG clearing house and the establishment of a CTG Board. So the disinformation flying around is unfortunate and a fruitless effort to drag the sector backwards.

Good. Awon GMO wan ti bere. Those who are against GMO should stop dragging others into their activism.

The comments of president of that association has been trending in media outlets. How can he give GM seeds to cotton farmers only to turn around to criticize it?

Moderators pls take this urgent public notice to the agriculture section. There are clarifications the president of that association needs to make because he has quoted by many mediums as saying GM is dangerous yet promoting it.

slivertongue:
Moderators pls take this urgent public notice to the agriculture section. There are clarifications the president of that association needs to make because he has quoted by many mediums as saying GM is dangerous yet promoting it.

The president of the association never criticized GMO cotton seeds,those peddling and creating such rumors should stop dragging the association into their activism.
Nigerian cotton farmers are after what will increase their yield which is expected to come from the scientist .

felicitywe:
The president of the association never criticized GMO cotton seeds,those peddling and creating such rumors should stop dragging the association into their activism.
Nigerian cotton farmers are after what will increase their yield which is expected to come from the scientist .

This is a general statement by the association and it didn't address GM issues. Is it harmful to land? Are seeds expensive? Is planting GM cotton profitable?

This watery clap back addressed no issue around the crop. Please style up if you are the President of the association or the association's publicists