By Sylvester Thompson
Dr Olalekan Akinbo, Head Supervisor at Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI), South Africa said Nigeria has created enabling environment for genome editing technology to thrive.
Akinbo, an official of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), stated this in an interview with newsmen at the workshop to develop a Genome Editing National Communication Strategy for Nigeria on Thursday in Lagos.
He said that the workshop consisted of two parts, the first was to develop a genome editing national communication strategy for Nigeria which lasted from December 12 till 14.
The second part was a Policy-Science-Practice CoP Dialogue to Enhance the Domestication and Use of Genome Editing Science, from December 15 till 16.
He said that on the second part of the workshop, Nigeria was playing host to five other African countries of the African Union.
Akinbo said: “ Nigeria is playing host critically because of the role the country has played about the technology.
“Nigeria has created the enabling environment for genome editing to thrive, they have the policy, the regulation and they have the scientists that are working in this space.
“I will mention precisely, the National Root Crop Research Institute(NRCRI) Umudike who are presently working on a genome editing product, to be specific on cassava crop.’’
Akinbo stated that cassava was called an orphaned crop because it was yet to get the attention of multinationals to improve on its productivity.
He said cassava was a crop of interest in Africa and when indigenous scientists focus on traditional crops of interest, adding, ”it gives the leverage that there was no competition with the industry.”
According to Akinbo, an improved cassava crop would be beneficial to the livelihood of the people.
According to him, Scientists at the NRCRI have the expertise, saying,” because they are well trained and they also have the capacity, laboratory as well as the institutional environment.”
Aknibo explained that genome editing technology was not about introducing foreign information into the plant.
He said rather, the technology took advantage of the original information stored in the plant’s DNA which was not useful to the plant, to help the plant maximize its actual yield.
Explaining further, the AU official said fertilisers and insecticides were applied to plants due to the condition of their health in order to help them grow.
”But as a result of the advancement of knowledge, genome editing can be used to mitigate poor health of plants by using the characteristics found in its DNA to improve on its health.
“When the plant’s health is improved, its actual productivity would be maximised.
“Simply put, that is how this technology helps the plant to reduce on the stress of its health and productivity,’’ Akinbo said.
The AU official disclosed that the AUDA-NEPAD facilitated the workshop and had always taken decisions to enhance the well-being of the continent.
He said NEPAD was initially formed as a Secretariat of the African Union which was the coming together of 55 Presidents of the African Continent.
Akinbo said that with the coming of more responsibilities, it became transformed to become a technical arm of the AU.
He said: ”NEPAD was changed into the African Union Development Agency, but still kept the NEPAD as an identity,” adding that NEPAD as a brand was popularly known.
“When you expand responsibility, it becomes necessary to create enabling environment to deliver on such the responsibilities.
“That was why a decision was made to create five centres of excellence for regional representations as the AU is grouped into five regions namely the north, west ,east, central and the south’’, he said.
Akinbo listed them to include: Rural Resource and Food System Centre of Excellence, Climate and Energy Resilience Centre of Excellence, and Supply Chain and logistics Centre of Excellence.
Others are: Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as well as Human Capital and Institutional Development Centre of Excellence.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)