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Tag: Osita Aboloma

  • Osinbajo commends SON on ease of doing business

    Osinbajo commends SON on ease of doing business

    The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo has commended the efforts of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for promoting the Federal Government’s initiative on the “Ease of doing Business”.

    Osinbajo gave the commendation in a statement issued by Mr Bola Fashina, the Head of Public Relations of SON in Abuja on Saturday.

    The acting president spoke at the recent Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinic held in Calabar on Friday.

    Osinbajo said: “I know this is a new SON ready to go, a business facilitator and not one that hinders business”.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari recently established the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PBEC.

    The aim is to review and address all encumbrances in the “Ease of Doing Business’’ which includes movement of people and goods in and out of the country, transparency in government, regulations, and registering business among others.

    Fashina said the Director-General of SON, Mr Osita Aboloma, who also spoke at the event, said the organisation was saddled with the responsibility of providing  relevant Nigerian Industrial standards as benchmark for quality of products and services offered in Nigeria.

    Aboloma, represented by Mr Don Pedro, the Coordinator of SON in Cross River, said that other mandates include the promotion of quality assurance, accurate testing and measurement regimes for trade and commerce to thrive in Nigeria.

    “Great emphasis is placed on the grooming of budding Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, using the instrument of standardisation.

    “This is to support the industrialisation efforts of the government as well as promote consumer safety,’’ Aboloma said.

  • Metrology institute vital for economic diversification – SON

    Metrology institute vital for economic diversification – SON

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says functional metrology institute is vital for economic diversification needed to improve the nation’s economy.

    The Director-General of SON, Mr. Osita Aboloma, said this at the 2017 World Metrology Day in Enugu on Tuesday.

    The event, which was organised by the Weights and Measures Department of Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and SON had the theme: “Measurements for Transport”.

    Aboloma said that functional metrology would support the accreditation of all products, especially export destined goods and services.

    “At present, metrology is still one of the fundamental factors enabling a successful modern and economic viability and a prosperous society.

    “This is what we do must depend in order to check disagreement in businesses, human activities as well as standard of life in general,” Aboloma, represented by Mrs. Oluremi Ayeni, a Director in the agency, said.

    On the theme, Aboloma said that every type of transport from bicycle to ship, from car to spacecraft, required to meet appropriate standards as the basis for domestic and international regulation.

    He said that such policies could specify essentials for every aspect of performance like safety, economy and emissions.

    “As demands for accessible and efficient transport increase so also for measurements and standards to underpin them.

    “Ultimately, some of the demands are met by new technologies like driverless cars and zero-emission vehicles – consecutively generating new measurement challenges,” Aboloma said.

    Delivering a lecture on “Measurements for Transport”, the Director of National Metrology Institute (NMI), Enugu, Mr. Obiora Manafa, said that transport remained a vital determinant in business as well as production.

    Manafa stressed on measurement in road, water, air, railway and pipeline modes of transportation.

    “Both the Holy Bible and Quran said that God is concerned about appropriate weights and measures.

    “The Holy books want people to applying appropriate weights and measures to avoid misunderstanding and cheating in business or human affairs,” he said.

    The director said that NMI conference coming up later this year would ensure that Nigerians products meet all standards; while the issue of rejection of any product from the country would be a thing of the past.

    A representative of the Weights and Measures Department of Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Okechukwu Ejiofor, advised Nigerians to seek standard measures in all their doings to establish integrity for their products or services.

    Ejiofor, however, called for the re-introduction of road weighing bridges as part of revenue generation for the Federal Government meant to fix or repair the roads at intervals.

    Highlights of the event was the inspection of the ongoing construction at the National Metrology Institute (NMI) being facilitated by the Federal Government with support funding from UNIDO and the European Union.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Metrology Day is an annual celebration since the Meter Convention was signed by countries on May 20, 1875.

    Nigeria chose to celebrate the Day on May 23 because the actual date fell on a Saturday.

  • SON, NAFDAC reiterate commitment to ease of doing business

    The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Osita Aboloma, has reiterated his agency’s commitment to promoting the ease of doing business among local industries in the food and beverages sector by exempting them from payment of some service charges among other concessions.

    Aboloma, who stated this during the visit of the Acting Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mrs. Yetunde Oni to his office earlier in the week, insisted that the agency is supporting the growth of local industries in the various sectors of the nation’s economy through the diligent application of standards and quality assurance programs.

    According to him, once the industries show evidence of registration with NAFDAC, they get concessions ranging from exemption from service charges, product registration fees to waivers in importation of raw materials and machinery.

    Aboloma added that the SON has a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) detailing concessions to bonafide members of the Association.

    He stressed that the document is currently undergoing review by a joint committee of the two organizations to reflect current realities of the nation’s economy.

    He emphasized the need for SON and NAFDAC to improve on the synergy between the two agencies in order to actualize Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s directive for them to certify Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSEs) throughout the country within two months of receiving applications from them.

    Speaking earlier, the NAFDAC chief commended the enormous collaboration between the two agencies and appealed for proper handling of areas of overlap in functions in the interest of the nation’s economy.

     

     

  • SON wants Nigerians to buy certified products

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Friday advised Nigerians to patronise only its certified products to enable them get value for their money.
    The organisation also promised to continue to flush out substandard products.
    Its Director-General, Dr Osita Aboloma, made the call at the SON Special Day at the ongoing 2017 Enugu International Trade Fair.
    “While we warn the public of the consequences of using substandard products, we equally call on them to patronise mainly SON certified products as products that give value for money,’’ he said.
    Aboloma appealed to entrepreneurs to subscribe to the SON mandatory conformity assessment scheme for the growth of their enterprise as well as their market share.
    On export drive, the SON boss said that the agency had been working hard to ensure that all local products and farm produce met prescribed international standard and calibration.
    “The issue of rejection of our products and produce anywhere in the world is gradually becoming a thing of the past as SON is poised to make Nigerian products and farm produce the number one preferred in terms of quality and quantity specification,’’ he said.
    Rev. Ugochukwu Chime, the President, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), thanked SON for participating in the trade fair and for stimulating economic growth in the country.
    The Enugu International Trade Fair, which is being supported by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, is organised to showcase Nigeria’s non-oil products.
    The exhibition is also providing opportunity for local and foreign businesses to explore and access commercially viable markets in the South-East.
    The theme of the 28th edition of the fair, which will end on Monday, is: “Promoting Nigeria’s Industrial Sector and SMEs for Inclusive and Robust Economy”.