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Tag: SON

  • NPA sacks SON, NAFDAC, others from ports

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has sacked Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and other agencies from the sea ports.

    They are no longer allowed to operate at the ports as the NPA plans to begin the 24-hour operation.

    Managing Director of the NPA MsHadizaBalaUsman, said the eviction of the agencies is to ensure a smooth operation of the ease of doing business as directed by the Federal government.

    Addressing over 600 stakeholders at a forum in Lagos, yesterday, Ms Usman said the eviction of the officials of all agencies operating at the ports illegally became imperative based on the Executive Order issued by Acting President YemiOsinbajo to enhance the ease of doing business, boost efficiency and security in the nation’s sea ports.

    Apart from the NPA which is the landlord, Ms Usman said the agencies allowed by the federal government to operate in the ports are the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS), the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), the Police, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Port Health Authority.

    The agencies not allowed under the Executive Order, according to her are: The  StandardsOrganisation of Nigeria (SON), the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Directorate of Naval Intelligence (DNI), the  Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), the Plant Quarantine and Animal Quarantine (PQAQ) and  the National Environmental Regulatory and Standards Agency (NESREA)

    Ms Usman, who served the immediate quite notice, warned against touting and extortion by official or unofficial persons at the ports.

    She said the NPA had been empowered to enforce the order and ensure efficiency at the ports.

    She restated the determination of the Buhari administration to reduce the time and cost of goods clearance from the ports.

    According to her, the Acting President had directed that the Apapa Ports must embark on 24-hour operation from June 18.

    She said: “I want to recognise seven approved agencies of government that operate at the port. In 2011, an approval was granted to streamline activities of government agencies at the ports.

    “The NDLEA is required to come in and function as at when required. The need to bring all agencies of government at the ports to this forum is demonstrate to stakeholders how the Executive Orders can be achieved.

    “All agencies that are not mentioned are to vacate the port or anywhere they are operating from the ports.

    Customs Comptroller General Col. Hameed Ali, described the action as key to the operations of the service.

    “I want to say we have embarked on a change process. “It is going to stay because we believe all of us should be committed to this. The ease of doing business is to reduce time and processes and cost.

    “I will enjoin all of you to join hands with all of us and to ensure that we implement this to the letter

    Apart from Ali, senior Customs officers, representatives of  government agencies, Terminal operators, shipping companies, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents ( ANLCA), freight forwarders, truck owners and truck drivers, and other stakeholders in the maritime industry, attended the parley.

  • SON facilitates businesses, says DG

    SON facilitates businesses, says DG

    Standards  Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Director General Mr. Osita Aboloma has said the agency is committed towards business and trade facilitation in the country.

    He said this was in line with the Federal Government’s resolve to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

    The SON boss spoke on the occasion of the relocation of the agency’s Rivers State office in Port Harcourt from Aba Road to Freight House, Kilometre 1, off Eleme Junction, Eleme/Onne Wharf Road, Port Harcourt.

    He stressed that the move by the agency was aimed at reaching and covering a wider spectrum of businesses in the state and also to ensure efficient and effective service delivery.

    He added that the new office was also to reiterate the commitment of SON to facilitating businesses with a view to improving life through standards.

    According to him, the new office would give stakeholders first-hand information and business support services to facilitate their businesses in the most convenient manner.

    The agency has commenced operations in Delta State to bring the fruits of standardisation and quality assurance to bear on industry and commerce. The SON Director General, at the opening of the Delta SON office provided by the Delta State in Asaba, expressed appreciation to the government and people of the state and promised that technical and support workers will be deployed to ensure that the office commences operations in earnest.

  • Senate moves against telecoms over dropped calls

    Senate moves against telecoms over dropped calls

    Worried by the growing cases of mobile telephone dropped calls, the Senate has ordered investigation into causes of the problem, even as it chided the GSM service providers for inefficiency and poor service delivery.

    The Senate also warned the service providers against unsolicited calls and SMS that flood subscribers’ telephone lines on a daily basis, even as it kicked against illegal deductions of airtime for frivolous product subscriptions without the subscribers’ consent.

    At its plenary on Tuesday, the upper legislative chamber mandated its standing committees on Communications and Trade and Investment to investigate the matter.

    It also urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria, (SON) and other regulatory agencies to invoke the appropriate sanctions against the service providers.

    Urging the agencies to protect the millions of mobile telephone subscribers in the country, the Senate said the telecom firms must not be allowed flout extant agreements and regulations on consumer protection.

    The lawmakers further urged the relevant regulatory agencies to ensure refund to subscribers for disrupted calls and unsolicited airtime deductions.

    According to the senators, the regulatory agencies should exercise more control regarding the usage of data bundles to ensure regulatory and operational efficiency in service delivery.

    The resolutions were made following a motion sponsored by Senator Andy Uba (Anambra South).

    Presenting the motion, Uba protested the loss of billions of Naira by millions of Nigerian subscribers on a daily basis, as a result of what he described as unwholesome practices by the telecom firms.

    Uba said subscribers not only experience disturbing rate of dropped calls but also get incomprehensible speech and voice quality “that sounds like speaking from the bottom of a fish tank”.

    The lawmaker also expressed worry over congestion on the various networks leading to poor audio reception and poor delivery on the various data bundles.

    The Senate specifically fingered the major network providers like MTN, Airtel, Etisalat and Globacom for expanding their network coverage beyond what their existing infrastructure could conveniently accommodate.
     

  • Osinbajo commends SON for ‘promoting’ FG’s business initiative

    Osinbajo commends SON for ‘promoting’ FG’s business initiative

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has commended the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for promoting Federal Government’s initiative on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

    Osinbajo, who spoke at SON exhibition stand during the just concluded Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Clinic held in Calabar, Cross Rivers State, said, “ I know this is a new SON that is ready to go. A business facilitator and not one that hinders business.”

    The acting President was accompanied to the SON stand by the state Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade and other dignitaries that attended the Clinic.

    They were received by SON officials led by the Regional Coordinator for South South, Mr. Papaye Don-Pedro, who represented the agency Director-General, Mr. Osita Aboloma.

    Addressing the participants on behalf of the SON director- general, Don- Pedro said the mandate of SON include the provision of relevant Nigerian industrial standards as benchmark for products’ quality.

    “Others are promotion of quality assurance, accurate testing and measurement regimes for trade and commerce to thrive in Nigeria,” Don-Pedro added.

    He added that great emphasis is placed on grooming of budding MSMEs using the instrument of standardisation.

    This, he said supports federal government’s industrialization efforts as well as promoting consumer safety.

    He reaffirmed SON’s commitment to improving life through standards.

    He enjoined stakeholders to join hands with the agency in the fight against substandard products in the interest of the nation’s economy and well- being of Nigerians.

     

  • Stakeholders hail SON on border operations

    Stakeholders hail SON on border operations

    Stakeholders have hailed the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for successfully waging the war against importation of sub-standard products through land borders.

    They congratulated SON Director-General, Osita Aboloma, a lawyer, on the opening of an ultra-modern office complex in Seme Border, saying it would scale up operations and enable its men operate in a conducive environment.

    The stakeholders, under the aegis of Lawful Patriots Organisation of Nigeria (LPON), pledged to support SON in its bid to rid the country of substandard and harmful products.

    Its President, Mr. Chinedu Bielonwu, praised the SON D-G for the innovations he brought to their operations since his appointment.

    Bielonwu urged SON zonal heads at Seme and Idiroko borders not to be intimidated by powerful and rich importers, but to key into President Mohammed Buhari’s vision to rid the country of all corrupt elements, including importers of dangerous products.

    He said: “Since we had been operating at the borders and sea ports as independent undercover anti- smuggling agents, it is now the agency has woken up to its responsibilities.

    “We have seen them impound several substandard goods too often in large quantities unlike before, even sealing up warehouses owned by these importers.

    “Seme and Idiroko borders are now no-go areas for importers of fake aluminum profiles, cables, wires or electric cables, phone accessories etc. Gone are the days consideration is given to goods without SONCAP.”

     

  • SON discovers warehouses for repackaging expired products

    SON discovers warehouses for repackaging expired products

    The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has discovered  three multi-storey  structures in Alakija and Kirikiri areas in Lagos, where an importer repackaged expired products and those with short lifespans.

    Its Director of Monitoring & Compliance, Mr. Bede Obayi, an engineer, said the agency acted on an intelligence it received from sister regulatory agency and law enforcement agencies, including  well-meaning Nigerians.

    He alerted the public to the health implication of the huge volume of expired products circulating in the country.

    He lamented the length at which some businessmen would go to deceive the public by securing dubious warehouses and hideouts, where expired products are churned out for unsuspecting citizens.

    Obayi confirmed that most of the products being repackaged were popular brands imported into the country.

    “Perhaps they went overseas to buy these products that are close to their expiry dates and shipped them down here, because they have ready markets where people can buy.

    “More importantly, you are dealing with products that children use.

    “Look at baby diapers that expired in 2015. Imagine what a product that expired in 2015 will do to a baby, if used in 2017.

    “These buildings with the toilets, bathrooms and all available spaces filled with expired products. That tells you the enormity of the crime these people are committing, besides the fact that some of the buildings have poor ventilation.

    “Even if the products are not expired,  the conditions the importer  store the products  have the capacity to make them unwholesome.

    “Look at this wrapper for disinfectant. What they do is to pick the expired ones and use this wrapper with new expiry dates to wrap it. When you have the old products inside this wrap that carries 2018 as expiry date, you will not know you are buying cloned products. The products have lost their active ingredients and efficacy and are high security products because their best before dates has been tampered with.”

    Saying the agency raided one of the buildings in March, Obayi added that the same man owned the three buildings, which he didn’t declare to the agency.

    He said the agency’s offices nationwide are “on red alert and are after any of the products” to safeguard the lives of the public.

    Obayi lauded Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for rising to the occasion by sealing the building.

    Director of Investigation & Enforcement of National Agency for Food Administration Drug and Control (NAFDAC) Mr. Kingsley Ejiofor, who was part of the enforcement team, blamed the nation’ s porous borders for the high incidence of importation of fake and substandard products.

  • SON tasks Nigerians on environmental risk awareness

    SON tasks Nigerians on environmental risk awareness

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has called on Nigerians to raise the level of their environmental consciousness as a way of forestalling disasters associated with environmental abuse.

    The agency gave the advice in Lagos at a one-day stakeholders’ senistisation workshop on the ISO 14001.

    SON Head of Training, Mr. Abner Timothy, said the workshop had become imperative given the increasing level of environmental abuse, which he observed is more prevalent in the urban centres.

    He said the ideal of ISO 14001 was to provide a framework for a holistic, strategic approach to an organisation’s environmental policy, plans and actions, adding that its advantages included increased optimisation of energy resources as well as reduction in wastes.

    He said this is part of the message that the SON, as an affiliate of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has been trying to pass across.

    Highlighting the negative impacts of natural resource depletion like fossil fuel consumption which was resulting to Green House Gas and waste disposal, he described nuclear waste as the most dangerous of the wastes.

    According to him: “Perhaps, the solution to all the issues pertaining to pollution, resources degradation and effects on the environment could have been eliminated or at least minimized if a sound environmental management system were in place in the areas where these events occurred.”

  • Generator fumes kill father, son

    Generator fumes have killed a 53-year-old businessman, Ayodele Megbuwawon and his son, Tobi, 14.

    They were killed at 5, Saint Francis’ Compound in Iwaya, Yaba, Lagos Mainland on Tuesday.

    It was gathered that the diseased put on their generator in the lobby of their house, shut the doors and windows and went to bed on Monday night.

    Tobi was found dead on Tuesday morning, his father died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) in Idi-Araba.

    According to Monday Okey, the house smelt of fumes (carbon monoxide) when they entered.

    He said: “I was in my room when Segun came and knocked. He said something was wrong with Ijaloba. That it’s like he fell down.

    “We looked through the door and saw him on the ground. So, we quickly broke the window and entered inside. He was breathing slowly. We also ran to check on Tobi but his body was already stiffened.

    “We rushed him to LUTH and were asked to pay N250,000. They were attending to him when we left to look for the money. We went round the community appealing to people for donations, which they did. But by the time we returned to the hospital with the money, he was dead.”

    The residents accused the man’s relatives of struggling to seize his properties from his wife and daughter.

    Megbuwawon’s widow, Faith Ayodele and her 16-year-old daughter, Bose said they came from Ajah, on hearing about their patriarch’s death.

    The woman confirmed that there were battles over the man’s properties.

    According to her, they have been fighting over properties since 2010, a development that forced the deceased to leave the family house with his family.

  • SON destroys N450m substandard cables, others

    SON destroys N450m substandard cables, others

    THE Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has destroyed fake and substandard products, including bulbs, cables, tyres and aluminum coils, valued at over N500 million.

    It noted that the move was part of its efforts to ensure that unwholesome products did not find their way into the Nigerian markets.

    The destruction, it added, was also to demonstrate the agency’s  zero-tolerance for substandard goods.

    Its Director General, Mr. Osita Aboloma, explained that SON would not relent on its fight against fake and substandard goods.

    He added that the products were intercepted and impounded by its compliance and enforcement team at various points across the country, particularly in Lagos.

    Aboloma, during the destruction exercise which took place at the agency’s dumpsite in Epe, Lagos State, said substandard goods are dangerous to lives, property and the nation’s economic health.

    He called on stakeholders, including the media, to join in the campaign to get rid of such products wherever they exist in the country.

    “We are destroying these substandard products worth over N450 million.  These products have been labelled substandard after we carried out due diligence and conformity assessment to requisite standards on them,” he said.

    He said: “The substandard products we are destroying today ranges from bulbs, cables, tyres and aluminum coils among others. We decided to perform the destruction exercise on two sites-Ogba and Epe. We are destroying especially the expired tyres and bad aluminum coils at our Ogba warehouse. The tyres and coils require specialised mechanical equipment as well as special handling for their destruction as their particles could be recycled and useful for other industrial purposes,” the SON Director-General added.

    He noted that the destruction is a clear signal to all and sundry, particularly purveyors, importers and dealers in fake and substandard products that Nigeria is no longer a dumping ground for substandard products.

    “SON is ever ready to clean the markets and the Nigerian environment of substandard products. We will continue to impound and destroy such products and go after their importers, manufacturers and dealers in accordance with the provisions of SON Act 14 of 2015,” he assured.

  • Father, son charged with incest

    A 56-year-old man, Sunday Adimagwu, and his son, Kenneth, 21, were yesterday arraigned before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on a charge of incest.
    Adimagwu, a driver, was accused of having sexual intercourse with his 12-year-old daughter while Kenneth, the girl’s half-brother, also allegedly defiled her.
    The defendants live at No. 4, Ilogbo Street, Ajangbadi, Okokomaiko.
    Prosecuting Inspector Clifford Ogu said the alleged offences were committed between last September and April this year at the defendants’ residence.
    Ogu said the girl, following a separation between her mother and the father, lived with her father and stepmother.
    He said: “Both sexually assaulted the girl on different occasions; father and son took turns to defile her. When the girl had the opportunity, she ran to her mother‘s house and told her what she had been going through — persistent sexual assault.”
    Outraged, her mother reported the matter at the police station and the man was apprehended, Ogu added.
    According to him, the offence contravened Section 259 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The defendants pleaded not guilty.
    Chief Magistrate Taiwo Akanni granted each defendant N250,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum.
    The case was adjourned till June 19.