By Ebere Agozie
Elder Emeka Ogazi, the Executive Director, Transparency and Economic Development Initiatives (TEDI), has warned Nigerians on the dangers of chemical fertilizers, saying they must take steps to avoid chemical farming for their health and environment.
Ogazi gave the warning while delivering an online lecture, organised by Journalists Go Organic, an NGO that is at the vanguard of a healthy life and environment.
He said the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are destroying the ecosystem and human health by throwing up different kinds of strange illnesses.
“Our health and environments are fast deteriorating because of the toxins we consume daily through the food we eat.
“God has given us beautiful food and herbs to eat and even natural fertilizers to grow them, but these beautiful works of natural fertilizers are destroyed by man via the use of chemical fertilizers.
“These chemicals harm us, poison us, bomb our ecosystem, so we must see what we can do to save ourselves from the toxic world of chemical farming’’.
He said that Nigerians can avoid the toxic food that is spread all over the country by farming at least what we eat.
According to Ogazi, “that way we can have bumper yields through dependence on organic manures and fertilizers.
“Take responsibility for your own lives through dependence on beneficial critters to help you clean up the soil and in turn have a chemicals-free foods on your tables.
“Critters are living organism in and on the soil that helps organic matters break down and decompose and ready for use in your farm.
“We now have toxic foods on our table, toxic soil, toxic air, toxic room; everything about us is toxic and the world is filled with strange painful illnesses.
“You can help yourself by planting at least the vegetables that you and your family will eat, using any small space in your compound.
“You can plant in bags, buckets, used tires or any discarded tins that you can lay your hands on as this will help reduce these strange illnesses flying around.”
According to him, “our exported agricultural produce are returned back to Nigeria because we using toxic chemicals sold to us by these same countries rejecting our produce.
“Why won’t those countries who flood our markets with chemicals accept the produce that result from their chemicals?
“They sell the chemicals full of toxins to the public but secretly buy organic- and chemicals-free foods for themselves.
“We must be wise and start saving ourselves if the government cannot stop the importation of these killer chemicals,’’ he said.