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Tag: SON

  • SON: Consider safety before buying products

    The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has advised the public to always consider safety when buying any product.

    The Director General of SON, Mr. Osita Anthony Aboloma said this at a three-day workshop for engineers and scientists on Non-Destructive Testing.

    Represented by Mr. William Okpeh of the Nigerian Institute of Metrology, the SON boss urged the participants to make the most of the training in ensuring reliability with integrity not thrown out to the dustbin in manufacturing, fabrication and service inspection for products as much as control for manufacturing processes, lower production cost and maintenance of uniformity in quality levels is ensured.

    The lead resource person Prof. Terfa Gundu of the Mechanical Engineering Dept of University of Agriculture, Makurdi, stressed that the importance of Non Destructive Testing cannot be wished away as the training would help participants to have an overview of the concept of Non –Destructive testing, the nature of defect and flaws in materials and products and the importance and application of Non Destructive Testing.

    The development, he said will impact the society positively on safety, efficiency and the economy.

    Earlier, the Managing Director of SKB consult, Mr. Olusegun Onidare, reiterated that SKB consults, evolved the training program to equip SON staff for proficient perfomance in Non Destructive Testing methods, to get Nigeria as a people, out of the woods of a never- do-well state as far as safety and economic efficiency for Nigeria remains sacrosanct.

  • SON, AFBTE reaffirm collaboration in promoting quality

    SON, AFBTE reaffirm collaboration in promoting quality

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Association of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employers Association (AFBTE) have reaffirmed the collaboration between the two organisations with a commitment to promote the quality of products manufactured by the latter.
    This collaboration was expressed at a forum in Lagos where the chief executives of organisations under the umbrella of AFBTE hosted the Director-General of SON, Osita Aboloma and members of his management.
    Welcoming the SON director- general, the President of AFBTE, Mr. Paul Gbededo, who is also the group managing director of Flour Mills of Nigeria, enumerated the benefits of the long standing collaboration between the two organisations in the areas of standardisation and quality assurance.
    He congratulated the SON DG on his appointment and praised the agency’s role in clarifying the specifications in the Nigeria Industrial Standard in relation to standards in other climes in the recent soft drinks saga.
    The AFBTE president pledged the commitment of the association and its member bodies to promoting continual improvement in the food, beverages and tobacco sector, in furtherance of the government’s economic diversification agenda.
    Aboloma acknowledged the support his agency had been getting from the AFBTE member-bodies, particularly in the hosting of technical committee meetings for standard development and review, as well as their active and relevant contributions to the processes.
    He said SON only played its statutory role in the soft drinks saga by providing documented facts as agreed by stakeholders and approved by the Standards Council of Nigeria.

  • Couple seeks N2m to keep only son alive

    Couple seeks N2m to keep only son alive

    After three years of marriage, a teacher, Mr Babatope Okunola and his wife, Folashade, gave birth to their first and only child, Ireoluwa, two and half years ago.

    The joy Ireoluwa’s birth brought to his parents is gradually turning to apprehension, following the discovery last February that their child has a hole in his heart.

    Folashade, a nanny, said the diagnosis was made at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

    She noted that as a result of the ailment, he can no longer attend kindergarten classes.

    Folashade said: “Early last year, I noticed that my son pants often and became dull. I took him to the hospital and was told he would outgrow the stage. Late last year, his palms and tongue started turning blue and he also became prone to squatting. By January this year his breathing rate increased and he sometimes loses his breath.  Last February, I took him to Ikorodu General Hospital, which referred us to LASUTH where various tests were run on him and the hole in the heart was confirmed.

    “We are to do the operation at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile Ife, Osun State. We should have done it last month but we don’t have the money. Our hope is to enrol him for next month’s session, but, we are to make payment this month.

    “So far, we have spent over N300,000 on his health, including a CT Scan Test  at a trauma centre in Ondo State, which cost N150,000. An X-Ray of the brain cost us N45,000 at University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Oyo State and an Echo Test at a private clinic cost us N25,000. We did another X-tray at N3000 and a TG Test at N8000, among others,” she said.

    Her husband, Okunola, said the amount his wife quoted did not include feeding, transportation and accommodation to other states.

    Okunola said the N2million required for the surgery is fixed, adding that they would spend about two weeks in Ife, because they had to be there at least a week before the operation date till a week after.

    More money, he noted, would thus be required to pay for their stay in the town as well as other miscellaneous expenses.

    Okunola added: “We would be asked to buy blood and some materials which we do not know yet. We would also need money for post-surgery care.”

    He urged kind-hearted Nigerians to help save their son’s life.

    He added: “For donations, an account has been opened for him with Heritage Bank. The account name is Ireoluwa Okunola and account number is 1400117478. His mother can be reached on 08038256009 and I can be reached on 07032202472.”

    Founder of His Marvellous Grace Support Foundation, Mrs Oluwadamisi Ladega, said she was aware of Ireoluwa’s condition and had spoken with the Ranodu of Imota, Oba Ajibade Bakare about it.

    She said she and the Oba had written letters seeking assistance for Ireoluwa’s operation from the Lagos State Governor’s Office and the state’s Ministry of Health.

    Mrs Ladega said her foundation focuses on helping the less privileged, especially children and women.

  • SON intercepts goods worth over N100m, to prosecute offenders

    The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is  to prosecute importers of falsely declared imported goods into the country.

    The regulatory agency said it discovered that some unscrupulous business men with their foreign collaborators falsely declare their goods at the point of entry in order to surreptitiously bring in fake and substandard goods into the country and evade duties and also bring counterfeit and fake goods into the country.

    SON, Head of Monitoring &Compliance, Mr. Bede Obayi who gave this hint at the weekend, revealed that Golden Ring Mega Biz Ventures had been in their monitoring radar for months and traced how the company had severally and falsely imported brake linings, soldering iron as well as refrigerators.

    He said the refrigerators were unbranded but with provision to brand them with popular names when cleared from the ports. Other things found inside the 40 feet container refrigerators were LED products and television hangers valued at over N100million.

    He regretted that some fraudulent importers are set to frustrate government’s  programme on ‘Ease of Doing Business’, by importing just about anything even at the detriment of  lives of the citizenry as clearing and other documentation times are shortened at the ports.

    He warned importers of counterfeit goods into the country to abide by the laws of the land and warned that they will not hesitate to invoke SON Act 14,2015 to prosecute any importer who contravene the laws of the land.

    Obayi said the agency also intercepted a counterfeit trailer load of cables imported by a Chinese lady and vowed that she will be prosecuted according to the laws of the land.

  • Film industry: SON advises stakeholders on quality culture

    Film industry: SON advises stakeholders on quality culture

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has urged film producers to adhere to standards to drive the industry.

    ItsDirector-General,Osita Aboloma, made the call at a stakeholders’ meeting with the legends of Nollywood industry, in Lagos, during the week.

    The theme of the meeting was: “Empowering the Nigerian film Industry-issues and prospects.”

    Aboloma, who was represented by the Head, Customer Feedback and Collaboration Unit, SON, Mrs. Mosunmola Samuel, said adherence to quality products and services would ensure inclusive growth.

    Noting that everything in the world is about standards, Abaloma maintained that the agency would continue to work tirelessly in educating Nigerians to be abreast of global trends.

    He noted that the agency was throwing its weight behind the  film industry to ensure that whatever instruments used conformed to the Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS).

    “We are poised to use every opportunity to educate Nigerians on quality issues,’’ he said, adding that consumer protection could only be achieved through standards hence, the film industry needed to combat faking and counterfeiting through standards.

    “We are here to throw our support to the film industry to support their legends. We are also here to educate them and the physically challenged that are legends. They have contributed one way or the other to the success story of Nigeria.

    “We want to assure them that when they buy made-in-Nigeria certified products, they are buying safety. We want to also educate them on how to identify certified and quality products. If you look at the film industry today, all the products they use are brought into the country and we have a SONCAP scheme that ensures that these products conform to standards,” Abaloma said.

    He added that the SON moved to educate them to look beyond the aesthetic beauty and watch out for the specifications.

    “We are here to support them that through quality the film industry will remain sustainable,” he declared, assuring that SON will continue to use every medium to educate and sensitize the Nigerian consumers.

    In every forum, we discuss standards the safety aspect is taken care of using standards. We talk about every day to day activity. Everything in the world is about standards and we will continue to educate them about the importance of standards”.

    The convener, Mr. Paul Obazele, commended the agency for its fight against fake and substandard goods in the country.

    “SON has helped the film industry by ensuring that only instruments that meet global best standards are used in film production.

    “We are highly grateful for the support and encouragement of the SON. The agency has continued to fight relentlessly to safeguard every sector of the economy against the influx of fake and substandard goods in the country. This is the way to protect the local industries from unfair competition,” Obazele said.

  • SON, product counterfeiters in battle of wits

    SON, product counterfeiters in battle of wits

    The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is not resting on its oars in its quest to rid the nation of substandard products judging by its relentless drive against fakers, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

    There is no doubt that the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has recorded some modest successes in its fight against product counterfeiters. Despite some of its successes, it is not resting on its oars just yet. Little wonder, it has continued to take the battle to the doorstep of fakers.

    A case in point is the recent clampdown on eight blocks of flats in the Kirikiri area of Apapa, Lagos filled with expired products.

    The SON Director of Monitoring and Compliance, Bede Obayi, an engineer who led the operation and who later took journalists round the vicinity, said the agency swooped on the place based on intelligence report.

    “You can see the volume of expired products here and imagine the implication for our society in terms of health issues,” said Obayi, with an unmistaken apprehension in his voice.

    Raising some posers, he said: “When somebody buys expired cream, what does it show? You are applying cream that the active ingredient has gone and that may cause reactions on the skin. SON has discovered eight flats where expired products are repacked for sale.

    “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.”

    Obayi further observed the four-storey building of eight flats with the toilets, bathrooms and all available spaces were filled with expired products.

    “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,” the SON official lamented.

    Following a recent intelligence report the SON stormed a warehouse in Badagry Lagos, where substandard tyres valued at over N5b were stocked. Two Chinese nationals, Taolung Shen and Xu Jing Yau were arrested in the process.

    The suspects churned out the substandard tyres into the Nigerian market under brand names such as Powertrac, Aptany, Harmony, Duraturn, Bearway, City Tour, Winda, Glory, Chachland, City Grand, Grandsonte and Sunny.

    According to the SON, the suspects brought the substandard tyres into the country by stuffing them into one another.

    “Sometimes as many as five tyres were stuffed into one and the tyres have bent and ruptured in several places, thereby looking weak and slack.

    “But the Chinese adorned the tyres with new labels and shinny linings to create the impression of being new and healthy,” SON said.

    Some of the tyres found in the warehouse had post-dated manufacturing dates.

    For years, the country has been battling the spectre of substandard products, with many counterfeit and expired products finding their way into the nation’s market.

    This is even as report revealed that more than N5billion is lost annually to the substandard goods as the country is regarded as one of the biggest markets for fake goods.

    “The effect of these products on the country is devastating. Buildings have collapsed, so many lives have been lost due to consumption of fake and substandard products,” a visibly angry Obayi submitted.

    Between 2015 and 2016, states like Lagos recorded multiple incidences of building collapse, a development, many buildings and construction engineers blamed on the usage of substandard materials.

    While the challenge facing the SON is enormous, the recent mantra of the agency to consolidate on the gains made so far through effective engagement, monitoring and enforcement of the SON Amended Act 2015 seems to be yielding results judging by recent breakthroughs in the campaign against dangerous and unsafe products.

    Thankfully, since resumption of office as the Director General of SON, Osita Aboloma had said he would try to consolidate on the gains so far made by the agency.

    He had insisted that “when you adhere to standards, your products will be trusted and your businesses will grow.”

    SON, he said, would continue to propagate national and international standards through adoption and diligent implementation in both the public and private sectors.

    “To this end, we have over the years developed competencies in various international management system and standards. These include quality, environmental, food safety management, among others. All are aimed at national capacity development and certification of systems for continual improvement,” he said.

    The new vigour to enforce the SON mandate has indeed started yielding results.

    He said by stuffing the tyres into one another and conveying them through the sea from China to Lagos, the quality of the tyres had already been compromised.

    “The SON Directorate of Compliance intercepted one of their trucks on the highway, tracked and then confiscated it. “You can see the amount of danger that these people are posing to our people and our economy just because they want to make huge profits at the expense of the lives of Nigerians.

    “It is a clear case of investing millions in illicit business in order to destroy the lives of millions of Nigerians. If we allow something like this, it will amount to killing Nigerians,” Aboloma maintained.

    He said there would be no hiding place for people who deal in adulterated products in the country.

    Aboloma advised users of automobile tyres nationwide on the need to be extra-cautious when making purchases of such products. It is in the light of all these that the SON faces a herculean task although some analysts claim that it is to their credit that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

    Like an assiduous worker who has his hands on the plough, the SON DG has since constituted a steel monitoring task force to rid the market of substandard iron and steel materials.

    The agency believes that sanitising the iron and steel industry in Nigeria is key just it hopes that the rampant building collapse in the country which is as a result of substandard building materials will be a thing of the past.

    Aboloma noted that the agency while creating a conducive operating environment for steel production must also ensure that companies comply with the set standards.

     

  • Stella Monye’s only son is dying!

    Stella Monye’s only son is dying!

    •Veteran singer cries for help

    For 17 years, music artiste, Stella Monye has carried the cross of her only son, Ibrahim, who has been in and out of hospital.

    With little or no headway, Stella is afraid that if his condition lingers, it will be double-tragedy. “When I grow old and infirm,” she told Ripples, “how can Ibrahim take care of me, when he has lived most of his life, moving from one hospital to another?”

    Time indeed is running out for Ibrahim who would need US $50, 000 for a life-saving surgery, according to the Urology Centre, in Indiana USA, where Dr. Ayo Gomih is medical director.

    Ibrahim had an accident when he was 11. His mother was said to be out serving her country, as part of a musical group producing the Nigeria ’99 theme song, en route to hosting the FIFA U-21 World Cup.

    Recalling the ordeal, the singer disclosed how the phone call about her son’s accident came when she and her colleagues were presenting the Nigeria ’99 theme song to Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. She said she went on tour to promote that theme song, thinking the accident was minor.

    Ibrahim’s butt had landed pat on spikes, as he fell from a raised water tank, piercing vital organs, and tragically altering his young life into a relay of heart-rending medical emergencies.

    His condition has gone from bad to worse, especially as the surgeries have failed over the years, particularly the 2014 one in India, for which Stella, with other artistes like K1, Daddy Showkey, Orits Wiliki, Onyeka Onwenu, Lagbaja and Pasuma staged a roadshow to appeal for funds. The failed surgeries, she said, had further damaged more of Ibrahim’s internal organs such as the left kidney, the bladder and the uretha.

    Crying for help, Stella who seeks urgent remedy for her son’s condition can be contacted on +2348037305052. Her account details are: Stella Monye, First Bank account number 2021451638.

  • SON seals off factory over substandard fans

    SON seals off factory over substandard fans

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has clamped down on a company at Abule Oshun, Lagos, for manufacturing substandard fans.

    SON Director of Compliance & Enforcement Mr. Bede Obayi, told The Nation that the agency acted based on surveillance. He said HangFair International Company Limited, which claimed to have imported the fans from China actually manufacture them in their warehouse without conformity to standard practice.

    He said the company was involved in counterfeiting and faking, using a SON registration number given to another manufacturer who went through the agency’s standards procedures.

    Obayi regretted that the genuine manufacturer is somewhere believing he has done something right by registering his product with SON, but unknown to him somebody in Abule Oshun was reaping his benefit.

    The SON director said: “This man is doing nothing but simply reaping where he did not sow. We have the mandate to close the factory, which we have done and until his product goes through our mandatory assessment programme (MANCAP), we will ensure he does not go back to his illicit business, we insist that the procedure is right.”

    Obayi accused the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Uchenna Ugah, of depriving people the benefit of enjoying the cash they spend on his products.

    He further accused him of using ISO 9002, which SON has discontinued since 1987, stressing that it shows the ignorance of the manufacturer on the need to adhere to quality standards.

    Obayi said SON insists that manufacturers do the right thing, especially as the Federal Government is diversifying the economy and encouraging Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME).

  • Couple, son found dead at home

    Couple, son found dead at home

    Who killed a couple and their only son in their Iyanu Ibeshe, Ikorodu, Lagos home on Tuesday? This is the puzzle the community is trying to unravel following the discovery of their bodies hours after they were killed.

    The bodies of the  Ebhodaghes were found by their son’s schoolmates and teacher who came to look for him on Tuesday.

    Mr and Mrs Lucky Ebhodaghe and Jonathan are believed to have been killed by a ritual gang known as Badoo.

    Their heads were said to have been smashed with a big stone.

    The woman was also alleged to have been raped, as her pant was torn and covered in blood.

    According to residents, the attack occurred in the wee hours of Tuesday but no one knew till around 3pm when two of Jonathan’s classmates and a teacher came to find out why he did not come for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) senior certificate examination.

    Although the doors to their home were opened, the visitors became worried after knocking for several minutes without response.

    The teacher, it was gathered, went to the opposite compound and invited the landlord who attends the same church (Deeper Life) with the Ebhodaghes.

    When our reporter visited the community yesterday evening, elderly men were discussing the issue.

    The men, who were later introduced as landlords, said the community had been robbed of its peace.

    According to one of them, the killers gained access into the apartment through the late Jonathan’s room’s window.

    “They removed the glass window and then tore the net. From there, they entered into the house. It looks like they moved the boy from his room into his parent’s room where they killed them. They used a big stone to scatter their heads and left them in their pool of blood. The blood stains are still in the room. The man was very quiet and easy going. He has never quarrelled with anyone in this neighbourhood. He has just one child. He worked with an oil servicing firm. He’s the owner of the house and only lived there with his wife and child.

    “No one knew what had happened to them. We did not even hear any noise in the night.  It was two young boys and a teacher that came to look for Jonathan, after they did not see him for the exams they had that made us to know there was a problem. The door was opened but they knocked and no one answered. When they were tired of knocking, their teacher called one of the landlords and he came to the compound.

    “He was the one who led them in. When they pointed torchlight in his parent’s room, they saw their dead bodies. So, we had to call the Community Development Association (CDA) chairman, who called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO). “The police came and evacuated the bodies. The boy was on the floor, while his parents were on the bed. When we saw the woman, naked, we called another woman to go in first and cover her before anybody can enter. It looks like she was raped,” a resident said.

    A landlord, who refused to be named said the Ebhodaghes would be buried tomorrow, adding that their relatives have agreed that they be buried in their home.

    He said the suspected killers usually went after non-indigenes, wondering why the police were yet to get their sponsors.

    According to him, some of the survivors of previous attacks had named the perpetrators and those sponsoring them but the police have not gone after them.

    He said: “This is pure ritual killing. Those behind it are being paid by some highly – placed persons, including traditional rulers, and their names have been given to the police.

    “The police have been told by some people who narrowly escaped being killed by the boys. Besides, what have the police done to those previously arrested? Why are they after non-indigenes?

    “Already, two people packed out of the area yesterday after discovering that they have killed this Edo man and his family. People are scared. We can’t continue like this. Let homicide detectives take this matter up and apprehend the culprits. I am sure that our police can arrest them if they stop covering for their sponsors.

    “The woman whose seven-month-old pregnant daughter was killed last year, gave names of those behind the attacks to the police. What have they done about that?”

    Lagos command spokeman Olarinde Famous-Cole, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the Ibeshe Division received a phone call from one Funso Akintimeyin that three bodies were found in an apartment.

    He said the bodies had been deposited at Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary.

  • SON to shut sub-standard LPG storage tanks

    SON to shut sub-standard LPG storage tanks

    The Standards Organiastion of Nigeria (SON) has warned owners of uncertified Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage tanks across the country to get the standardisation and certification of the facilities or have them shut down.

    SON has in view of the warning, given a two-week ultimatum to all owners of such LPG storage tanks nationwide to begin the process of SON certification or have the tanks dismantled.

    A statement from the office of SON Director-General, Mr. Osita Aboloma in Abuja, stated that the organisation has since observed and is worried by the sharp rise in the installation of LPG storage tanks in petrol filling stations across the country, many of which could not provide evidence of SON certifications of the vessels.

    The SON chief has, therefore, directed all officers of the organisation to intensify the surveillance of all installed LPG storage tanks in their areas of coverage to ascertain those that have undergone SON certifications before installation as required by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) regulation.

    Aboloma stated that all imported and locally fabricated LPG storage tanks are required to undergo SON certification to assure conformity to the requirements of Nigeria Industrial Standards (NIS) 419:2000, specification and testing of unfired pressure vessels for the storage of liquefied petroleum gas. These according to him, include safety and performance requirements.

    According to the SON chief, locally manufactured vessels are required to undergo certification under the SON Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP), while imported vessels are required to undergo the offshore Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) certification.

    He appealed to the public to be vigilant and report any installation of LPG storage tanks in their vicinity to the nearest SON office for verification of compliance to standards requirement in the interest of public safety.