The Federal Government on Tuesday in Abuja inaugurated the National Bioethics Committee (NBC) to safeguard the dignity, rights, safety, and well-being of citizens.
The rationale for the establishment of a National Bioethics Committee is hinged on the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and human rights.
The Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Dr Adeleke Mamora said that science and technology now included arts, education, and social sciences in all nexus that required ancient use of the sector for its development.
He said aid that with the advancement in science and technology, countries became confronted with several challenges concerning the diversity of values at different places and times.
Mamora said capacities on ethical aspects in both human and environmental aspects became necessary to ensure the building of ethical grounds for policies for the smooth running of society.
“It is therefore important to note that no matter the level of development of a country, there is a need to establish the NBC, and strengthen it to deliver informed, acceptable, and adaptable policies,’’ he said.
The minister said the committee would advise the government, parliaments, and other governmental bodies on bioethical challenges and issues raised by the progress in healthcare, biology, and biomedical sciences among others.
The Director-General of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha said that the quest to establish the NBC began 14 years ago.
He said this was when the first Bioethics Stakeholders meeting was organised in collaboration with UNESCO in Abuja, at the expression of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Mustapha said the objective of the meeting was for UNESCO to provide the government with the required information for the establishment of the NBC.
“In May 2022, the National Bioethics Framework and Policy Documents were approved by the Federal Executive Council with the directive that NABDA should commence the implementation of the policy, hence the establishment of the NBC.
“Prior to the approval of the policy documents by FEC, Nigeria has been a member state of UNESCO since 1960 and a signatory to the 2005 UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and human rights”, he said.
Mustapha said that Nigeria was experiencing numerous moral problems, which became imperative to establish ethical standards to guide policy decision-making geared towards the attainment of the SDGs.
He said the NBC would promote ethical values of discipline, integrity, the dignity of labour, social justice, religious tolerance, self-reliance, patriotism, good clinical and ethical research practices.
NABDA’s Deputy Director and Head of Bioethics Unit, Dr Chitu Princewill said with the inauguration of the NBC, the expectation was for things to be done right.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, Princewill said: “If there are things Nigerians or the society were doing as a result of ignorance or absence of a watchdog, but with the NBC in place, people would have a rethink on wrong acts”.
She cited the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as an example that made people cautious about public spending and other forms of corruption.
Princewill said that the NBC looks holistically at Bioethics as applied to sectors such as agriculture, health, environment, security, and education among others.
The Secretary General of Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO to the NBC, Dr Olagunju Idowu spoke on “Role of the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO to the NBC”.’
The inauguration was organised by NABDA in collaboration with the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO.
