By Olawale sanusi , PORT HARCOURT
Concerns over food safety and public health are growing in Nigeria following warnings from agricultural leaders about the continued use and circulation of banned toxic chemicals in the country’s food production system.
The concerns followed recent comments by former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who disclosed that packaged orange juice purchased by his wife was found to contain dangerous contaminants.
Reacting to the development, President of the Niger Delta Integrated Farmers Association of Nigeria, Julius Openha-Wodah, told Today FM’s Olawale Sanusi that the concerns highlight a wider crisis within Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Openha-Wodah alleged that Nigeria had become a dumping ground for highly toxic agrochemicals that have been prohibited in other parts of the world.
He said weak regulatory controls had allowed chemicals such as Paraquat and Glyphosate to remain widely available in local markets, adding that many smallholder farmers were unaware of the potential dangers associated with some agricultural inputs.
The farmers’ association president called on federal and state regulatory agencies to strengthen border controls and enforce stricter monitoring of the agricultural distribution chain.
He also urged authorities to protect consumers by ensuring that unsafe chemicals do not enter the food production system, while identifying some toxic chemicals that farmers should avoid using to preserve their crops.
