Readers Comments on Cowpea

Readers’ Comments

This is a continuation of the readers’ comments of 22^nd March 2019. Last Friday, 29^th March 2019, this Column was missing due to exigency of office with several commitments. Today, I am concluding the readers’ comments on the previous issues discussed here especially the controversial GMO. The piece written by Dr. Rose Gidado may clear doubts of readers that GMO is safe and it is the byproduct of biotechnology, a gigantic breakthrough of the 21^st century. The edited article is titled ‘BIOTECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION: NIGERIA IN PERSPECTIVE’. Happy reading

‘The rapid growth and application of biotechnology is widely attributed to the development of genetic engineering (the alteration of genetic materials) in the 1970s. Some of the products developed in this manner include human insulin, and human growth hormone. The techniques of genetic engineering also offer the opportunity for a number of heredity disorders to be corrected by manipulation. This has led to successes in the treatment of various diseases and the popular breakthrough in the genome project. Biotechnology revolution promises a future of unprecedented health and longevity. The DNA screening could prevent many diseases while the gene therapy could cure diseases. Thanks to lab grown organs, the human body could be repaired as easily as a car, with spare parts readily available. Ultimately, the ageing process itself could be slowed down.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), biotechnology holds great promise for agriculture in developing economies such as Nigeria. This has provided the opportunity for basic food crops as cassava, potato, rice and wheat to receive more attention by scientists.

 Given the challenges of population increase and its attendant problems of pollution increase, biotechnology remains the most reliable means of environmental sustenance. The world is currently endangered as human activities for survival continue to pollute the environment. In the process of converting raw materials into finished goods and products, for example, petrochemical substances are converted into polythene products; the environment correspondingly becomes littered with substances not needed in the course of production. Thus, in the process of creating products, problems are created in form of pollution either consciously or unconsciously. As a result, the most acceptable solution to the generated wastes in the environment is the one that can conveniently integrate them back into the environment. That method involves the use of microorganisms such as yeasts, bacteria, or fungi as whole cell usage production system or in the form of industrial enzymes. In many cases these microorganisms or their products are integrated into the substrates, which give us the products, desired in the industries.

Biotechnology tools have long been used in many developed countries such as the United States, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Japan, and others. Africa is still lagging from being integrated into these environmental sustainability best practices. Africa generally and Nigeria in particular is yet to imbibe maximally the benefit of using biotechnology in addressing issues associated with environmental degradation and sustainability. In the oil rich Niger Delta, the lingering problem of environmental degradation from crude oil productions has remained a dominant issue of public discuss and concern. Crude oil spill affects germination and growth of plants, which in turn affects the overall production of crops due to its negative impact on the chlorophyll content responsible for the yield of plants. Severe crude oil spill in the oil rich Niger Delta has forced some farmers to migrate out of their traditional home, especially those that depend solely on agriculture. The negative impact of oil spillages remains the major cause of depletion of the Niger Delta vegetation cover and the mangrove ecosystem.

The Nigerian major cities such as Aba, Enugu, Onitsha, Port-Harcourt, Kano, Ibadan, and Lagos are characterized by huge mounds of solid waste dumps (both bio-degradable and non bio-degradable) generated from households, industries, markets, schools, and street trading. This can be attributed to migration, population increase, urbanization, constructions, and industrialization coupled with inefficient and improper disposal of wastes.

Biotechnological techniques for treatment of wastes are components of environmental bio-tools. They sustain the environment and make use of bio-products as well as microorganisms for pollution reduction. They produce environmentally friendly products as well as maintain the natural environment for the benefit of man and other ecosystem components. Biotechnology can also be applied industrially for use in developing products and processes that generate less waste and use less nonrenewable resources and consume less energy. In this respect, biotechnology is well positioned to contribute to the development of a more sustainable society through a sustainable environment. Environmental biotechnology is therefore futuristic and limitless in application and usage. Examples of these Bio-tools use to remedy environmental pollutions and sustain the environment include bioleaching (bio-mining), bio-detergent, bio-treatment of pulp, bio-treatment of wastes (bio-remediation), bio-filtrations, aquaculture treatments, bio-treatment of textiles, biocatalysts, biomass fuel production and bio-monitoring. The products arising from the application of these bio-tools when discarded easily go back into the ecosystem. As such, they become reconverted into organic components of the environments. Moreover, their production is strictly biological instead of chemical that is largely responsible for introduction of pollutants.

Nigeria is the focus on how to begin to make use of biotechnology as well as these bio-tools for enhanced agricultural productivity and improvement of the badly degraded environment. Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology hold a lot of promise for the development of the agricultural/ industrial sector as well as ensuring environmental sustainability in Nigeria. Its role in national development includes providing the technology to transform the agricultural/environmental sector to enhance food security, ensure industrialization and sustainable environment, create jobs, reduce poverty and create wealth.

However, the growing concern on the safety of biotechnology to humans and environment has adversely affected the full domestication and spade of its revolution in the country. This arises because of misunderstanding and fear about what this technology really holds for Nigeria. The application of Biotechnology under a legal framework is a valuable tool for addressing these challenges. A win-win situation could be achieved with effective communication strategy between the scientist and the public. Scientist must be adequately trained in communication and adopt the best strategy to drive their message. This is why we must acknowledge the contributions of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Africa, Nigerian Chapter to enhancing understanding of biotechnology in agriculture for productivity; promoting targeted capacity development that will improve communication across all sectors interested in Biotechnology and contributing to informing policy decision making processes on matters of agricultural biotechnology through provision of factual, well research and scientific information.

OFAB is domiciled in NABDA and collaborates with other relevant stakeholders to organize workshops and conferences for increase advocacy and public enlightenment. The enlightenment is aimed at educating the populace on the benefits of modern biotechnology, use of GMO crops and biotech products; and the existence of strong regulatory framework to ensure safe application of modern biotechnology. This brings biotechnology to the front burner in the diversification of Nigeria’s economy under a sound bio-safety regulatory framework, creates Biotechnology champions that could effectively play advocacy role on biotechnologically related matters. It also equip stakeholders, including researchers, farmers, mass media practitioners, etc with the requisite skills on effective biotechnology communication to encourage the “pro science” group to be more proactive; among others.

Nigeria as a nation is expected to take advantage of biotechnology to increase the choice of farmers for improved seeds, provide solution to malnutrition; combat issues of food insecurity enhance their financial status, make farming attractive to the young folks, address various environmental degradation related issues and ensure improved bio-diversity. The recent establishment of bio-safety law in Nigeria should allay the fears of the public with regard to modern biotechnology and its products. Nigeria must not lean on Europe or the USA but should move boldly towards ensuring better future through deployment of modern Biotechnology. Having in recognition of the importance of Biotechnology established the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and adopted the National Biosafety Management Agency Act 2015 as an appropriate regulatory body, Nigeria cannot afford any longer to miss the benefits accruable from the current global biotechnology revolution especially as it concerns harnessing Biotechnology to enhance agricultural productivity and ensure economic diversification. It is therefore imperative for Nigerian government to fast-track the development of Agricultural Biotechnology by complementing the efforts of OFAB and other relevant stakeholders as well as showing full commitment to its financing’.

ABU Zaria Developed Drone Using Local Materials

 ABU Zaria Developed Drone Using Local Materials

https://leadership.ng/2019/03/15/updates-on-nigerian-born-inventors-abu-zaria-developed-drone-using-local-materials/ 

This is a corollary to my article of January 25^th 2019, titled ‘updates on Nigerian Born Inventors: Celebrating the Invention of Koniku Kore’. That article was a continuation to 5-series article published between the last quarter of 2016 and first quarter of 2017. The article was titled “Nigerian Born Investors, their Inventions, Challenges and Opportunities. My esteemed readers may recall my assertion in the article; “that the list of Nigerian inventors and their inventions are not exhaustive. A huge country like Nigeria with a deep-rooted diversity and exponential increase in population, invention to survive daily challenges of life is the order of the day. Necessity makes people to think deeply on how to address their problems, constraints and threats against their living condition. Necessity is the major factor making Nigeria to churn out inventors in multitude”. This necessity created unquantifiable inventors with unquantifiable opportunities to make Nigeria excel in several human endeavors. These opportunities have potential to make Nigeria great among the comity of nations. However, potential is like a large fertile farm with good soil and uninhibited water; without cultivation, weeds and dangerous reptiles will cover the farm and become dangerous to the owners of the farm.

The scenario of ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ plays excellently for Nigerians abroad as they doggedly fight odds to survive and outshine others.  It is within this framework that the invention of KONIKU KORE made by a USA based Nigerian came to limelight with delight two years ago. The technology is capable of making the seemingly ‘impossible’ possible in the global technological revolution. Koniku Kore is a giant invention of the 21^st century, it is a device, which can fuse live neurons from mice stem cells into a silicon chip invented by a USA based Nigerian, Oshi Agabi. The device is a next generation neuro computing platform that can provide uses in security, military and agriculture. An example would be that a single neuro-chip device could sniff out explosives without even seeing it. The creation of this seemingly synthetic brain is a breakthrough combination of robotics, neuro-biology, computing and bioengineering. Details of this piece can be accessed via https://breakthroughwithmkothman.blogspot.com/2019/03/updates-on-nigerian-born-inventors.html

Back home, ‘the necessity’ has created many inventors over the years. Private and public sectors recorded scores of successes in innovations and inventions of technologies to facilitate development. Among the public sectors are the universities and polytechnics that have labored to address national developmental challenges. Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria is famously striving in technological advancement despite system and environmental challenges. Recently, students of the university developed a drone using local materials.   

 A 3-man team of final year students of Ahmadu Bello University ABU, Zaria made a drone as their final year project and named it 'Hope For Chibok Girls'. The drone was tested at the ABU stadium complex and worked perfectly well to the surprise and delight of witnesses. ABU Zaria, as a citadel of learning and excellence is relentlessly working and bringing fames to Nigeria through scientific inventions.

 Unarguably, ABU Zaria is the largest university in sub-Saharan Africa, and the first university to be established in Northern Nigeria in 1962. The university has graduated over one million students from different academic programmes since establishment. ABU Zaria is indeed one of Nigeria’s finest in the aspect of research, human development and community service. Located in the heart of Zazzau Emirate, 70 km from Kaduna town, ABU Zaria is by all measures, a household name in intellectual production.

With two major campuses (Samaru and Kongo), over 100 academic departments, housed by 13 faculties and 12 research institutes, a student population of over 50,000 and staff strength of over 5,000, the intellectual dexterity and creativity of ABU Zaria products is never contested. The two campuses occupy over 7,000 hectares of land for teaching, research and other academic activities. While some universities may have diverted from their core mandates; but ABU has, over the years, been pushing hard to achieve her core mission aptly captured: ‘To advance the frontiers of learning and break new grounds, through teaching, research and the dissemination of knowledge of the highest quality.’ Additionally, the university is aimed at fostering national and international integration through the development and promotion of African traditions and cultures; to serve as a model and conscience of the society; and to produce high-level human power and enhance capacity-building through training and retraining, in order to meet the needs and challenges of the 21st century.

Today, ABU Zaria has certainly come a long way in Nigeria and beyond, the university has far become a pacesetter, a trailblazer and frontrunner, which other institutions emulate in knowledge production and advancement. The university has grown to become the most influential and diverse in the country. Current record indicates that almost all the 747 LGAs in the country have sons and daughters either as students or staff or both studying and working/living in ABU Zaria in addition to citizens of other countries. This diversity makes ABU unique among the tertiary institution of learning in Nigeria. In fact, the diversity has placed the university on a very strong footing, making it more robust in pursuing its mission while making effective contributions to all spheres of human endeavour.’

Over the years, the university has been assiduously working, despite challenges, to achieve this lofty mission. It has recorded many successes in different areas of human and national development. Time and space may not allow me to x-ray all the breakthroughs made by this giant university in the south of the Sahara however. The development of the drone by the university’s undergraduate student is one of modest achievements in the technological strides of the University in recent years.

Drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which includes autonomous drones and remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs). Drone is capable of controlled, sustained level flight and is powered by a jet, reciprocating, or electric engine. Drone differs from a cruise missile because it is intended to be recovered after its mission, while a cruise missile impacts its target, damage both the target and itself. A military drone may carry and fire munitions on board, while a cruise missile is simply ammunition for a target.

Drone technology has been in existence since 1849 when Austria attacked Venice using unmanned balloons stuffed with explosives. Over the last ten decades, drones have undergone a rapid transformation in consumer electronics with advances in technology and wide applications for military operations and the civilian utility. Today, in spite of advances in drone technology, drone manufacturing is limited to developed countries without much contribution from developing countries like Nigeria. However, this is changing as ABU conceived and successfully developed UAV with locally available materials and improvised equipment.

Three students of Physics Department of ABU Zaria undertook the task designing and construction of drone using readily available materials. One student was assigned the design and sourcing of the construction materials. Another student was assigned the design and testing of the aerodynamic system of the UAV. The third student took the responsibility of designing electrical system that provided the necessary power to overcome the forces of drag, lift and thrust as well as the ability to manipulate the control system from the surface while the drone is in flight. The combined efforts of the three students produced a most desired result – a perfectly flying done. The ABU drone was tested and worked excellently according to the design.

The drone technology may not be an original invention of ABU Zaria, nevertheless, the university has to be credited for developing the drone with locally available materials. With more support, equipment and infrastructure, the young scientists, the ABU students who transformed the mere concept of ‘Nigerian drone - Hope For Chibok Girls' to reality can do much better. The ball is in the court of the Nigerian society.

     

First Food Crop GMO in Nigeria: Commercial Release of Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea III

First Food Crop GMO in Nigeria: Commercial Release of Pod Borer Resistant Cowpea III

https://go.shr.lc/2TrfCBa this is the link for the online paper version

As a conclusion to the release of the fist food crop GMO in Nigeria, it is pertinent to enlighten the general public on the genetically modified product as one of the important feats achieved through scientific process. As mentioned in the first part of this article that GMO connotes dreadful fear to some people because of unscientific and unsubstantiated allegations that GMO is harmful to people. The contribution of Dr. Rose M. Gidado in the second part of this article adequately addressed safety of PBR cowpea for human consumption. Still, the question is ‘does Nigeria need the Genetic Modification (GM) Technology?’ This question is germane considering the results of the Fifth Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS5) that was discussed in the second part of this article.  Dr. Onyeka Nwosu, an Abuja based Scientist amply tackled the subject of GM technology and the Nigerian quest to achieve food security and diversify the economy through agriculture. Happy reading.

Does Nigeria Need The Genetic Modification (GM) Technology?  

Agriculture today accounts for about 25% of GDP in Nigeria and is the sector that offers the greatest potential for poverty reduction and job creation, particularly among vulnerable rural populations and urban dwellers with limited job opportunities. The growing population in Nigeria is expected to cause an exponential rise in the demand for food, a warming climate, water scarcity, and arable land shrinkage that will make the challenge more difficult. In recent years, Nigerian and non-Nigerian scientists and experts from different fields are increasingly focusing on the challenging and threatening projection that in the next 30 years, Nigeria will need to produce as much food as has been consumed over our entire human history. Growth generated by agriculture in Nigeria is believed to be effective in reducing poverty and mortality than GDP growth in other sectors because it is certain that increased GDP growth will bring food security and job opportunities to the country through a coordinated effort between the public and private sectors. However, the agricultural sector has suffered sustained neglect and as a result, Nigeria has gone from being an exporter of agricultural and food products to importers today.

Considering the increased level of poverty, malnutrition, hunger, unemployment and low level of agricultural productivity in Nigeria, Genetic modification (GM) technology has great potential to offer solutions.

Genetic modification technology, which is also known as genetic engineering, a method of modern biotechnology is the term given to the technology through which a gene from one organism is transferred to another. The inserted gene may be from the same species (transfer of a desirable gene from an organism of specie into another organism of same specie). This is called Cisgenics. The inserted gene can as well be from another species (transfer of a desirable gene from an organism of specie into another organism of different specie). This is called Transgenics. In some cases, an inserted gene may govern one particular trait, such as an organism’s resistance to disease or pest, while in other cases; many inserted genes may determine characteristics. It was the understanding of DNA that paved the way for the technology. The knowledge gained has allowed researchers to transfer genes between the cells of different organisms. In other words, agricultural modern biotechnology enables improvements that are not possible with traditional crossing of related plant species alone.

The modification in plant genes, through this genetic engineering, is of enormous advantage to all the stakeholders i.e. benefits the farmer, the consumer and the government. The genes are modified to introduce newer or improved desirable traits or even eliminate undesirable ones. Some of these traits include improved resistance to pest and diseases which eventually benefits the farmers through yield increase, improved adaptation to extreme environmental stress like drought and flooding conditions which promotes better crop protection and improved nutritive value which benefits the consumer through high nutritional enrichment. This success from farm to the consumer undoubtedly positively changes the economy of Nigeria through increased exportation, industrialization and food security.

The power of this modern breeding biotechnology is further augmented because biotechnologists can add a gene conveying useful characteristics from virtually any other organism, thus stressing the very real value of wild biodiversity and solidifying the arguments for its conservation. By contrast, conventional breeding can only use genes already existing in the crop variety of interest or in closely related, sexually compatible varieties. In other words, the truth about modern biotechnology in agriculture and its products is the opposite of what the public think. They are produced with methods that are more precise, predictable and controllable than historical methods long accepted as safe.

According to ISAAA 2016, planting of genetically modified crops has increased 100-fold from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 185.1 million hectares in 2016, planted by up to 17 to 18 million farmers making it the fastest adopted crop technology in recent times. This global adoption rate speaks for itself in terms of its sustainability, resilience and substantial benefits it delivers to both small and large-scale farmers as well as consumers. The most commercially available genetically modified crops in the world are Maize, Cotton, Soybean and Canola which are either engineered to be herbicide tolerant, insect resistant or both. Nigeria’s textile industry suffered a serious setback that affected the economy of Nigeria due to the severe attack of bollworm that reduces the yield of cotton production on the field. Today through genetic modification technology, genetically modified (GM) cotton that has an improved characteristic of resisting the attack of bollworm have been successfully developed and planted. This insect and pest attack is also likened to the low production of other cash crops that are used as both human and animal feed such as Maize and Soybean.  Commercialization of these crops in Nigeria will economically improve the GDP via improved textile using the GM cotton and the agricultural industry using GM maize, soybean etc. for food, feed and processing.

The Nigerian government has already taken care of the ill-fated public concerns of this technology like environmental concerns, human health concerns, socio-economic concerns, cultural issues, religious issues among others through the provision of a strong biosafety regulatory system. According to reports of Council on Science and Public health, there is no evidence to support the idea that the consumption of approved GM food has detrimental effect on human health. This is actually because of Biosafety regulation that comprehensively assesses the process and the products of the technology. This makes genetically modified products the most extensively regulated products all over the world. Biosafety regulation is intended to diminish or eradicate the possible harmful effects of modern biotechnology on the environment, biodiversity and human health using, policies, laws and guidelines. It also helps to determine in advance when hazards to human health and natural systems will result if any particular Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is released into the environment, anticipate when a given GMO or any of its product(s) will be harmful if it becomes part of human food, and detect whether a GMO will actually yield the benefits it was designed to provide.

Nigeria developed her biosafety system, which is consolidated legally through the assenting of the National Biosafety Management Agency Act, 2015 bill into law. This Act led to the establishment of the only competent Authority in Nigeria, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) that has the responsibility for providing regulatory framework for safety measures in the application of modern biotechnology and its products like GMOs with the view to preventing any adverse effects on human health, animals and the environment and as well as sustaining the biodiversity.

Indeed, considering the enormous economic importance of agricultural genetic modification technology in Nigeria and also bearing in mind the existence of a legally and technically equipped institution (National Biosafety Management Agency) that ensures the safety of the technology, Nigeria without doubt needs the full adoption of genetic modification technology.

This concludes my three series article on the release of the first food crop GMO developed in Nigeria for Nigerians and beyond.