Freedom of choice is as old as human existence. The Christian doctrine of human creation has it that when the first man was created; he was given the “free-will” to choose and eat from the varied available options. Freedom of choice is important because it is only then that we achieve our fulfillment as human beings. The human being stands apart from other animals not because of emotions or reasoning alone; but more importantly because of a superior capacity of making decisions. Freedom of choice describes an individual’s opportunity and autonomy to perform an action selected from at least two available options, unconstrained by external parties/factors.
According to Chairman Mao –Tse-Tung in his book “On Contradiction”, for any change to occur the internal basis will give room for the external factor to be operative; and change has to be relative in order to be meaningful. External factors are the conditions for change while internal causes are the basis of change & external causes become operative through internal causes. In a suitable temperature; an egg changes into a chicken; but no temperature can change a stone into a chicken because each has a different basis.
According to Uhuru Kenyatta, in response to a question asked on Gay right on July 25th, 2015 during the visit of then President of the United States, Barrack Obama; he stated; “…But there are things that we must admit we don’t share-our culture, our societies don’t accept. It is very difficult for us to be able to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept. This is why I repeated say that; for Kenyans today; the issue of gay rights is really a non-issue’’. Meaning internal causes should be instrumental to developments and changes both in humans and animals.
The introduction of GM foods into Nigeria should be a phenomenon that will originate from the Nigerian people/culture and not in any way an attempt to impose on the people. The compulsion and need should arise from the people themselves and the people should not be deprived of their fundamental universal right of freedom of choice. And this is imperative for the sustenance of such development in any country of the world. GM foods should not be imposed on the people of Nigeria but rather should allow the people’s developmental stages demand for such. Even in the event of trying to go ahead with such imposition; the people deserve the right to know, the right to choose, and it’s the duty of the government to enforce labeling of such GM foods in order to protect the citizens right.
