By Godfrey AKON
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, has disclosed plans to launch the reviewed Nigerian National Standardisation Strategy, NNSS, to enhance the development of standards for emerging goods and services.
SON’s Director of Standards Development, Engr. Ahmed Bukar, disclosed this during a One-day Sensitisation Workshop for Commerce and Industry Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria, CICAN, on Friday in Abuja.
Bukar, who stated that SON develops standards for the purpose of enhancing consumer protection and confidence, said 191 Technical Committees, made up of professionals from different backgrounds, were established for the development of various standards.
“The Nigerian National Standardization Strategy is a compendium of the standard that we intend to develop over a period of four years, so it will be the proposals of what we want to develop that will meet the aspirations of Nigerians,” he said.
The director emphasized that standards enable products to be exported to other countries, adding that the bedrock of any trade facilitation is standards.
On his part, the Director General of SON, Dr. Ifeanyi Okeke, said the recent 2nd place rating of the organization by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC, in its 2024 Half Year Transparency and Efficiency Compliant Report for January 2024 to June 2024, was the product of hard work by its staff.
Represented by SON’s Director of Public Relations, Mrs Foluso Bolaji, he said “The Organization came second with 78.2%, among twenty (20) Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for transparency in service delivery.
“This did not come easy as the Organisation has provided the enabling tools to upgrade our services to an enviable spot through digitalization.
“The Staff are also part of the success story as they worked tirelessly all through challenges to ensure the Country is does not become a dumping ground for substandard products as well as supporting local productions.
He expressed the commitment of the organization to improve on its communication with stakeholders at all levels to get greater buy-in into its programmes and activities that will be targeted at their satisfaction, protection, welfare and positive growth of the nation’s economy.
“Permit me to make an assertion at this moment: as clearly spelt out, where our mandates stop, other agencies’ duties and responsibilities begin.
“As the nation’s standards body, we provide standards, we regulate, we ensure quality and (to an extent) we enforce violations within the provisions of the Act that established us,” he said.
He therefore urged, participants at the training to take advantage of the exercise to take a good reading at the law that established the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON Act 2015, and digest the organization’s mandate for a better understanding, reportage.
