NIGERIA – The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has during its 50th anniversary noted that the agency has adopted 213 Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS) to check the proliferation of fake products in the country.
Mallam Farouk Salim, SON’s Director General highlighted that the organization had gone through a lot of transformation and evolved to become a standards regulatory body of global recognition.
As a result, he added that the agency received approval for more than 168 new standards in 2020 for a two-year term.
He claimed that the establishment of SON came at a time when the nation needed a regulatory agency to oversee the institutionalization of standardization as a quantifiable procedure for evaluating quality.
He added that SON is now set up to oversee all activities associated with developing standards for things like goods, measures, materials, and processes, among others, and promoting them at the national, regional, and global levels.
“It is important to emphasize that SON today has evolved into one of the world’s most reputable standards regulatory bodies due to good leadership demonstrated by the successive chief executives.
“This is seen in the various innovations, championed by the past and present leaders of the organisation. Some of the notable innovations over time in the organisation are Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) for local manufacturing and Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Progamme (SONCAP) for offshore assessment of cargoes,” said Salim.
The Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Maryam Katagum noted that SON is a useful tool in the delivery of the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investments mandate of facilitating trade and the growth of the Nigerian industrial sector.
She noted that 50 years was a long time in the life of an organisation in Nigeria especially given the fact that the country’s existence as an independent country was only 12 years.
“SON must therefore be one of the oldest government institutions in Nigeria. This anniversary is undoubtedly a milestone worth celebrating. In addition, the steady growth of the Organisation from its humble beginnings to becoming the Apex Standards Body in Nigeria, with constitutional responsibilities, is also remarkable and worth celebrating,” she said.
While congratulating the organisation, Ambassador Katagum said “in acknowledgment of its consistent implementation of reforms aimed at making its services more easily accessible to the public, SON has been ranked first in the Ease of Doing Business by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).”
Mallam Farouk Salim, the Director General of SON, noted that the organization is collaborating with the National Assembly to ensure the revision of the agency’s Act and made a request for prompt facilitation of the procedure.
Although this aim is attainable, the SON helmsman noted that the Organization would have to overcome several obstacles to do so.
SON’s efforts to ensure the eradication of substandard products have been commended by representatives of the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).
The SON Compendium’s launch and awards ceremonies for meritorious staff members and SON State Offices were the event’s high points.
The “Director General’s Award for Special Contribution” went to Engr. Pheabean O. S. Arumemi, Head of the SMEs Desk, and the “Outstanding Staff” award went to Mrs. Amina Haliru, Assistant Chief Standards Officer and Head of the Halal Desk.
