Whereas Nigerians are still divided on why Chief Audu Ogbeh is still seating as the Minister of Agriculture instead of resigning for not being able to effect the needed institutional corrections in the way and manner beans and related agricultural products are preserved before export to limit over use of pesticides so as to meet the standards needed by the European Union (EU) to lift its ban, from Nigeria to its member countries, the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) says plans are on to unban the items.
Eu banned Nigerian beans due to it tested and confirmed that much of Nigerian beans are overstuffed with pesticides capable of killing humans who consume them.
Coordinating Director of the agency, Dr. Vincent Isegbe who spoke at the opening of a two- day training workshop on Plant Health Inspection and Certification of Vegetables for exporters and farmers, said all hands are on deck to ensure that the EU lifts the ban before 2019.
He expressed worry that prevailing ban on Nigerian beans has severely affected the economy, saying there was a need to avoid future rejection of Nigeria’s agricultural commodities even as he pointed out that the agency is doing its best to revert the situation.
Though the EU had promised to reverse the ban if necessary measures were put in place before 2019, it was not clear if the measures to be put in place are even in the mind of the Minister.
Isegbe said “We have had issues in the past concerning beans where the European
Union suspended Nigeria for three years from beans export. That is not good for us because it means that all the farmers who are producing beans can no longer export the quantity that they used to export.
“All the traders in between, the warehouse people, the transporters and we, who are involved in the inspection and certification, that aspect has been broken down because they cannot generate any revenue along the value chain anymore.
“The good news is that the EU said if we can put the process in place earlier than 2019, they will reverse their decision. So that is where we are,” he said.
