Nigeria Won’t Compromise On Biological Arms Ban, Says Akume

Federal government has reaffirmed its commitment to implement the tenets of the Biological Weapons Convention by not developing, producing, acquiring or retaining biological weapons in line with the international community’s efforts to address the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The secretary to the government of the federation, George Akume, disclosed this at the Stakeholders Forum on „Implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention in Nigeria,“ organised by the National Authority on Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions (NAC&BWC) in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in Abuja.

Akume, who was represented at the event by the Senior Technical Assistant to the SGF, Prof Bolaji Babatunde, said in a statement that Nigeria, being a signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention on 10 July 1972, is committed to abide by the Convention, which stipulates that no states parties should develop, produce, acquire, or retain biological weapons.

In furtherance to its commitment to implement the dictates of the Convention, he stated that the Federal Government through the National Authority on Chemical & Biological Weapons Convention (NAC&BWC) has set up an Inter-Ministerial Council (IMC) which comprised over 42 members drawn from relevant Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Organised Private Sectors and the Academia charged with the responsibility for providing requisite policy guidance and direction on issues relating to Biological Weapon Convention implementation through collaboration and cross-fertilisation of ideas.

Speaking earlier, Daniel Feakes, Chief of the Biological Weapon Convention Implementation Support Unit in Geneva, expressed satisfaction with the federal government’s commitment to the comprehensive implementation of the Biological Weapon Convention, which has helped reduce the proliferation of small arms and other dangerous weapons that may pose threats to citizens.

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In her goodwill message, the director-general/CEO of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Agnes Yemisi Asagbra, thanked the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for his immense support in the discharge of the agency‘s statutory obligations, assuring its determination to ensure the nation‘s biosecurity.