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SPECIAL: Many Nigerians at risk as NAFDAC stays silent on cyanide testing in garri with 24 million battling vision loss
About 4.5 per cent of Nigerian children and students live with visual impairments, with one in 10 students (around 1.8 million children) needing corrective glasses. Joshua Oladepo, an undergraduate at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, is one of them. For many students and households, garri is often considered the only meal they can still afford, especially when the chips are down.
According to the World Bank, 141 million Nigerians, or about 63 per cent of the population, are estimated to be living in poverty in 2026. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that 133 million Nigerians experience multi-dimensional poverty (lacking access to health, education, and basic infrastructure).
While it is praised for its hunger-holding and thirst-quenching versatility, many Nigerians blame drinking garri for eye problems.
“Unless I’m at my lowest, I won’t drink garri,” says Mr Oladepo when in “survival mode”.
Beyond the temporary relief of the affordable meal lies an experience he has to contend with. Whenever he drinks garri—dried cassava flakes—his eyes begin to itch. The LAUTECH student’s experience reflects a wider concern among students and poor households who link the staple with eye problems, as several studies point to cyanide in cassava.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint FAO and WHO food standards body, said in its 2013 food standards programme report that cyanide may be toxic to humans and animals, adding that the severity of toxicity, however, depends on the quantity consumed. To reduce cyanide content, it advocated proper processing and “reasonable” application of technological measures such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). However, it noted that high levels of HCN—the chemical formula for hydrogen cyanide—may remain in garri due to inadequate processing during famine, periods of stress, or when processors rush products to market.