Members of the West Agro Input Dealers Association (WAIDA), Oyo State, have received certificate from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NAFDAC), to further validate their operations.
WAIDA is a not-for-profit trade organisation comprising dealers/marketers of agro inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, agrochemicals, farm equipment, and Fumigation pesticides they have been registered under Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) since 2008.
It was originally registered as a state-based Agric Input Dealers Association of Oyo State (OYSAIDA) before it was expanded to become WAIDA covering the entire six states of the South-West region and Kwara State.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune shortly after the presentation of certificates to WAIDA members in Oyo State at an event held at the Federal Secretariat, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Director, NAFDAC, South-West Zone, Mrs Roseline Ajayi, noted that the issue of chemical use has become a global concern because of the tendency to divert them or misuse them.
She stated further that: ”This sector makes agro-chemicals available to farmers and in order to be able to control and monitor them effectively, we need to bring them together under an umbrella where we also recognise them by issuing them certificates, we have verified that they are competent to handle agro-chemicals, they will not mislead the farmers on how to apply chemicals.
“They have been trained to know the different categories of chemicals and the application such that at the end of the farming season when harvesting we do not have residual quantity of some chemicals that will be dangerous for human consumption.
“Also, another concdern is that when many of these agricultural produce are processed and exported, we discovered that in recent time, we have rejections because of the content, probably they have used some chemicals to preserve or to cultivate, maybe they have used the chemicals in excess or used banned chemicals.
“When we get them listed, they are now under our umbrella, we know them, so we can engage them from time to time just the way we are engaging people in the drug sector and the food sector, we can also engage people in the agro input sector so that we can tell them if as a result of research, some chemicals have been banned, we let them know that they must not distribute such chemicals to farmers.
“During interactions, we enlighten them and they will now be NAFDAC’s foot soldiers to the farmers because we cannot come in contact with all the farmers. So, this is the essence of what we are doing today.
“We have inspected their warehouses to determine the storage and dispensing practices, we also interracted with their personnel to be sure they have the right knowledge to handle the category of chemicals they are engaged with before we issue the certificates.
“In South-West zone, this set of people from Oyo State are the first to get this listing status.
Also speaking during the event, Oyo State Chairman of WAIDA, Elder Solomon Adenitan, said:”Today’s presentation is a great relief to Oyo State and Ibadan members of WAIDA, who have hitherto been branded as fakers.
“I am sure that this will spur our other members to expedite action to get listed in order to recover our lost glory as the hub of quality agro inputs in Nigeria. I would therefore, like to urge all unregistered and untrained marketers of agrochemicals in Oyo State to do the needful if they wish to remain in the business.
“Members of the public are also hereby enjoined to patronise only registered members of WAIDA in the region where they can be assured of getting not only quality products but the right advice and information.”
In his address, Regional President, WAIDA, Alhaji Sulaiman Adekola, noted that: ”Today’s occasion is a pointer to the fact that Nigeria is on the right path to safe and responsible handling and use of agrochemicals.
“For me, this is a landmark achievement for both the association and NAFDAC after several years of expending our efforts to sanitise the agro input sector in Nigeria, which has been infiltrated by untrained and unregisteted members of the public thereby endangering the health and lives of the populace as well as the environment.”
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