The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SON

  • SON gives cement producers 60-day deadline on labelling

    SON gives cement producers 60-day deadline on labelling

    Determined to address the lingering issues in the cement industry, as well as check the incidence of building collapse, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) yesterday issued a 60-day ultimatum to cement manufacturers on product labelling and traceability requirements.

    Specifically, the manufacturers are expected within the timeline, to indicate on product bags, the date of manufacture, and best-before dates; product application information, as well as the batch numbers of the products.

    The cement manufacturers, including, Dangote Cement Plc, Lafarge Nigeria, Unicem, Ibeto Cement, Ashaka Cement and Sokoto Cement, agreed with SON to review the  30 days deadline earlier announced at the meeting to 60 days.

    The plea for extension was to enable the manufacturers to retool and procure necessary machine to effect the changes in their processes.

    The move, which is expected to enhance traceability in case of product default, also places a responsibility on cement manufacturers to ensure that their products meet required guidelines and health and safety requirements.

    In addition, cement manufactures are expected to submit their advertisements and commercials for pre-approval by the SON before they are sent to the media, while processes should be initiated to ensure that products are properly stored by distributors and retailers to avoid a compromise of the product’s integrity.

    At a briefing yesterday, SON Diector-General, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, noted that the agency in line with its mandate of protecting consumers from products that may harm them, has taken into consideration a lot of factors and has decided to address the growing concern.

    According to him, manufacturers have an ethical role to play in ensuring that products meet consumers’ expectation and are properly applied by users.

    “It is necessary to observe that none of the courts has so far made any declaration to suspend the implementation of the new standard NIS 444-1:2014. Moreover, the yawning communication gap of the last two months in the public domain regarding the sector, which is currently being exploited by the stakeholders, does not augur well for the same reasons we came up with the new standard.

    He stressed the need for all stakeholders to meet in a consultative forum to address the contending issues  and to expressly declare and reaffirm the mandate of SON to regulate the sector for public safety.

    Odumodu explained that it was equally needful to address issues of storage conditions and labeling which do not appear to be in contention at the courts; and as well address, respond and follow up the resolutions of the House of Representatives Special Committee on Cement and to clarify the differences between standards and technical  regulations in the context of the powers and responsibilities of the government to make regulations and to enforce them accordingly.

  • SON arraigns motorcycle dealer for selling ‘fake’ parts

    SON arraigns motorcycle dealer for selling ‘fake’ parts

    The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has arraigned a 34-year-old man, Ekepereka Ani, at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly selling counterfeit motorcycle spare parts.

    The agency said the accused person, his company, Ekepereka International Nigeria Limited and others at large “manufactured, sold and distributed” substandard motorcycle spare parts which resembled those that met SON and the Nigeria Industrial Standard requirements.

    The prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police Olakanmi Omisope, said Ani and the others committed the alleged offence at 167, Zone 14, Main Market, Anambra State and in Lagos between January 1 and June 12 this year.

    Among the”fake” motorcycle brands found on the accused are 198 cartons of substandard Ogbuawa Motorcycle Chain, 158 cartons of substandard Kotec Motorcycle chain and 166 cartons of E. Sunny Vespa Limited Spar Plugs.

    SON said the offences violated Section 517 of the Criminal Code, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and Section 15(1)(a)(b) and Section 20 of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Cap S9 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    Ani pleaded not guilty to two-count charges bothering on the offences.

    Following an oral bail application by his lawyer, Mr. Kingsley Ugu, Ani was granted bail in the sum of N5million with one surety in like sum.

    Justice Ibrahim Buba adjourned till September 27 for trial.

  • SON gives phone importers seven days ultimatum

    SON gives phone importers seven days ultimatum

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has given phone importers up to July 22 to register their brands with it,or they would be confiscated.

    The agency said the measure will significantly reduce the number of sub-standard phones, check economic saboteurs, as it seeks to review agreement with the Phone and Allied Product Dealers Association of Nigeria (PAPDAN).

    This was made known by the Head of Intelligence and Directorate Compliance, Bede Obayi,at a briefing yesterday in Lagos.

    Obayi said this became necessary in the face of the recent seizure of over N200m sub-standard phones imported to the country by Trinity Technologies and Communication, over the weekend in Lagos.

    He said,acting on a tip-off and despite the agreement it has with PAPDAN to monitor the influx of sub-standard phones, SON was surprised to see the fraudulent acts going on in the company and the area.

    “The company,whose owner is a wanted baron, imports large quantity of unbranded handsets into the country and was busy labelling them with popular brands in the market thereby deceiving the unsuspecting innocent buyers,”he said.

    He explained that the phones being cloned were ‘H Mobile and DSD brands, stating that an examination of the items, revealed that they have different names on the package and phones,which was why they were confiscated.

    He said the importers of the phone brands are economic saboteurs who are sabotaging the economy of the country,causing hardship on the citizenry.

    He said the agency will go across the country to ensure that standards are being met, adding that faulty products will be destroyed.

  • SON confiscates N200m substandard handsets

    SON confiscates N200m substandard handsets

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has raided the popular Lagos Computer Village,  Ikeja where it confiscated suspected substandard telephone handsets worth over N200 million.

    According to the its Head of Intelligence and Compliance Directorate, Bede Obayi, who spoke after the operations, the exercise was diligently carried as a result of its surveillance team reports which monitors products displayed for sale in all the markets across the country.

    He said a handset dealer at the market,Trinity Technologies and Communication Ltd came to SON and registered one H-Mobile phone in his name only for the standard setting agency to discover that the company had embarked on the importation of different brands of handset other than the H-Mobile he registered.

    Obayi said the company also imported large quantity of unbranded handsets into the country and kept its self busy labelling them with popular brands in the market thereby deceiving the unsuspecting innocent buyers.

    The managing director of the company who apparently got wind of SON’s presence in his shop ran awayand refused to come and witness the operation. However, two of his workers were apprehended and are  helping SON and the police in locating his warehouse where it was believed has stock of the fake handsets as he is a big time distributor of the product.

    However, Obayi expressed shock at the attitude of the market leaders who instigated their boys to fight SON officials and the police with dangerous weapons during which some of its vehicles were destroyed.

    He said: “Our operation in the market was very smooth as our target was only in Trinity Technologies and Communication Ltd shop and we requested other traders who converged around us to go and be doing their businesses. Nobody was molested or insulted by our men nor our police as we consulted with the police in charge of the market and they provided us with a place to park our vehicles. Even their market leaders were also informed about our operation in the market as SON and market associations in major markets across the country have been collaborating to rid markets of fake and substandard goods.

  • SON, Police raid Computer Village

    Business and economic activities were put in disarray yesterday morning when officials of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) invaded the popular Ikeja Computer Village, Lagos with a battalion of policemen numbering over 50.

    Sources said the SON officials stormed the market at about 9am just as business was taking off and immediately made for Trinity Communications, one of the phone retail outlets on Otigba Street in the market. The Nation on Sunday also learnt that the invaders refused to explain their motive to anyone even as they were inundated with questions from concerned traders who sought to know why the outlet was being invaded. In the process, the police team allegedly carted away all the goods in the shop including invoices, while also refusing to give inventory of goods taken.

    They also allegedly rough-handled other traders, while firing tear-gas canisters and shooting sporadically into the air to scare people. They also allegedly damaged vehicles windscreens and injured some of the traders in the process. One-year-old baby Chidera Ojike was also tear-gassed along with her mother Jessica Ojike.

    According to Mr. Godfrey Ike Nwosu, President of Phones and Allied Product Dealers Association (PAPDA), the traders’ umbrella organisation, over 200 traders in the market had to march to the Area F Police Command Ikeja to protest the invasion, which he said was now becoming rampant.  In the process, he said they discovered that the police officers who accompanied the SON officials had no authorisation from the Command.

    He also said his association has an MOU with Standard Organization of Nigeria and therefore wondered why they had to disrupt business in the market in the manner they did, even when the association has always cooperated with them and handed over errant traders to them in the past.

    “We have a committee and we have even apprehended people with fake products in the market and handed them over. We also gave our word that our executives will within the next seven months rid the market of all fake and substandard products. Our executive also travelled to China with SON officials, where we had meetings with over 65 manufacturers on the need to enforce standard in products coming to Nigeria.”

    He therefore said the SON action was a breach of trust and an attempt to intimidate traders who have done nothing but go about their lawful businesses.

    He concluded that there is no justification in invading the market with over 50 policemen, all in an attempt to seal one shop.

    To further register their displeasure, Nwosu said the traders have concluded plans to embark on a one-week sit-out to call the attention of the public and government to their plight.

    Attempts to get the Area F Police Command’s side of the story at the Oba Akinjobi office proved abortive as officials on duty refused to say a word concerning the incident.

    Attempt to also reach SON officials also fell through as phone calls to a certain Mr. Ado, who came with the team, went unanswered.

  • Cement grade: Lafarge WAPCO slams SON over unfair regulation

    Cement grade: Lafarge WAPCO slams SON over unfair regulation

    The Managing Director of Lafarge WAPCO Nigeria, Mr. Joe Hudson has expressed regrets that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has chosen to adopt an incorrect process in arriving at cement grades.

    Speaking at the pre-annual general meeting (AGM) of the firm in Lagos, he berated SON for reneging on agreement reached by all parties on cement grades, insiting that  for any change to take place, a process agreeable to all parties needed to be adopted and not taking a position meant to advance the interest  any of the concerned parties.

    While noting that there are three types of cement grades made for different purposes, Mr. Hudson took exception to a situation where people are compelled to buy a particular grade of cement for selfish reasons.He insisted that there are no substandard cement in the country.

    According to him, the much criticised 32.5 grade cement is the best suited for building construction and plastering especially with the reported 18 million housing deficit in the country.

    He said his firm actually first came up with the 42.5 grade with the introduction of power-mix used for heavy construction such as bridges and other specilaised constructions.

  • Police arrest son for killing SAN dad at Redemption Camp

    Police arrest son for killing SAN dad at Redemption Camp

    Why did a young man hack his father to death? This is s question the Ogun State Police are battling to resolve after arresting a 21-year old man, Tolani Ajayi, for allegedly killing his Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) father, Mr Charles Ajayi, at the Redemption Camp on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    He was killed last Thursday.

    Tolani is a 300-level student of the  Department of History and International Relations of Redeemer University (RUN), Ogun State.

    Police Public Relations Officer Mr Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the body was “recovered in a nearby bush at Canaan land Street within the RCCG Camp, in a box, after he had been hacked to death by his son”.

    Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), added: “The Divisional Police Officer, Redemption Camp,  Mr Olaiya Martins, led a team of detectives and some members of the community who noticed the strange attitude of the suspect while dropping a box to the point where the body of the SAN was dumped and, thereafter,  traced  the ground  marks of the dragged box from where  the suspect  dumped the dad’s body to the house of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, where they met the suspect in a relaxed mood  in the house.

    “Upon interrogation, the suspect earlier lied that his dad had gone on evangelism before he eventually confessed to the crime when he was taken to the Redemption Camp Divisional Headquarters. He stated further that the problem arose when his late father confronted him for not responding to all the prayer points he (the deceased) was calling and the late father slapped him.

    “He said he went mad and went straight  to the kitchen to pick up a knife to stab him and later a cutlass to cut his throat and killed him. The exhibits, including the knife and cutlass he used in killing his father, have been recovered by the police and the body of the SAN have been deposited at a morgue in Sagamu.”

  • Cement quality: Manufacturers back Reps

    Cement quality: Manufacturers back Reps

    •House slams SON for not following due process

    Major cement manufacturers have pledged their commitment to align with the House of Representatives position that the 42.5 cement grade should be the minimum standard of quality that should be produced in the country.

    They said all expired cement in the markets should be withdrawn forthwith.

    The cement manufacturing companies, amongst them,  Bua, Ibeto and Dangote, have alligned with the quality review by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), which pegged the 42.5 grade as being for general purpose use,pledging that they have no intention to produce lower quality cement.

    Meanwhile, the Lower House has slammed SON for not following due process before announcing the new cement grade. This was contained in the report of the Ad-hoc Committee on public investigative hearing on the composition and pigmentation of cement, as indicated in its (cement quality) in Nigeria, resolution no (HR 27/2014), which was presented to the general assembly, last week.

    The lawmakers pointed out that in the course of the public hearing, SON published in the national dailies, a new grading/categorisation of cement , either with a view  to pre-empt the outcome of the Committee’s assignment, or to demonstrate that it was on top of its responsibilities in the regulation of the sector.

    Hon Dogara’s ad-hoc Committee on Cement Composition and Pigmentation had, after a public hearing from stakeholders, submitted its report to the House of Representatives,  in which it asked SON to commence implementation of its cement standardisation, saying manufacturers should retool their machines for the production of the higher grade of cement.

    It’s recommendation, according to the report, was based on the fact that if offered producers the chance of choosing between 32.5 and 42.5 grades of cement, consumers would choose the 42.5 higher grade and that because those employed for building structures are mostly non-professionals, it would be in the national interest to adopt a cement grade that is less susceptible to wrong application.

    Chairman of Bua Cement, Abdulsamad Rabiu, said after a meeting in Lagos, declared  that what the House of Reps has done was a patriotic one that should be supported by all manufacturers with the safety and the well-being of the people at heart.

    According to him, Bua which operates the oldest cement plant in Nigeria, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), has been producing the higher grade of cement right from the time of importation till the era of local production, adding that   his company sees nothing wrong with the decision fo the  House of Representatives.

    “As a responsible corporate entity, with the interest of the nation and its people at heart, we value the lives of our people more than profit, and therefore supports our lawmakers,” he said,

    He said  what cement manufacturers and other stakeholders should do, is to cooperate with the SON as the regulating authority, so that the menace of structure failures, will become a thing of the past.

     

     

     

    . Rabiu stated that the BUA Cement brand is different from others because it is of 42.5 and 52.5 texture grade.

     

     

    “This is the highest quality texture, which mixes and dries easily. Most companies import lower quality. Our prices are also competitive within the industry and our delivery process is excellent,” he said.

    Dangote Cement said it was poised to giving all necessary support to government and its agencies to succeed in the bid to stem the spate of building collapse through production of quality cement that can stand the test of time. Its Group Managing Director, Devakumar Edwin said the firm has never produced a lower grade cement and that the quality review by SON, which was also affirmed by the lawmakers who investigated the disturbing menace of structure failures only confirmed its view that Nigerians deserve the best quality of cement.

     

     

    Edwin saidendorsing the 42.5 grade of cement as the minimum standard to be produced is the best for the country given that most builders are non-professionals who knew little or nothing about the right application of cement as a key component of construction.

    He said: “I say this because with the strength of the 42.5, it will be less susceptible to wrong application and therefore saves the people the hassles of how best to apply cement. Anything contrary to promotion of 42.5 as the better grade by any manufacturer could only be motivated by profit.

    According to the Committee members,  the action undertaken by SON is deemed a step in the right direction except that it was faulted on

    grounds that its Governing Council, whose responsibility is to look into cement quality was not properly constituted in line with Section

    3(2) of its Act, and it did not comply with the process laid down in Section 12 of its enabling Act.

    The lawmakers stated further in the report that “none of the cases of building collapse in Nigeria, which were  investigated  by  relevant independent   professional bodies was traced  to substandard  cement.”

    There   is   therefore,   no   scientific   study   that   has arrived at an empirical  conclusion  linking  any case of building  collapse

    in Nigeria to substandard  cement” they stressed.

    “The Governing Council of SON properly constituted in line with S.3 (2)   of  the  SON  Act  and  in  strict  compliance   with  S.12  of the SON  Act should  in the  immediate  require  all cement manufacturers   in Nigeria   to  retool   and  upgrade   theirproduction   lines  to  produce   the 42.5    cement     grade within    a   reasonable time    taking    into consideration  the cost of social dislocation  and Article  111.B .15 of the United Nations  Guidelines  on Consumer  Protection  1999, a Protocol  to which Nigeria  is a signatory.

    The House recommended that  cement  manufacturers    in  Nigeria   can reposition   their  plants within  a  reasonable   time  to  enable

    them  produce   the  42.Smpa   grade which  some  of them  are currently  producing   to meet  the  special  needs of their

    It added that  SON  and  Council    for   the   Regulation    of Engineering     in   Nigeria (COREN)   be  required   to  outsource

    the  monitoring   of cement    quality   to   reputable institutions    of   learning    in   all   the geopolitical   zones

    of the country  (with  SON  specifying  the methods  of sampling  and testing)  until  SON establishes  functional   laboratories   for its own use  in those geopolitical  zones.

     

     

  • Slain lawyer’s widow, son seek justice

    Slain lawyer’s widow, son seek justice

    •Recount how he was killed The widow of the human rights activist, Mr. Kunle Fadipe, who was murdered in his Harmony Estate, Ogba, Lagos home, last Thursday by an unknown attacker, pleaded yesterday  with the police to find his killer. “Please, my husband’s killing must not join the long list of unresolved murder cases, she said.” Mrs Kemi Fadipe and her injured son, Folahan, said justice is the only balm that could assuage the pains that the murder of their bread-winner has left in their hearts. “Only God knows when I will recover from this shock,” Folahan, 17, a student of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), told The Nation. Kemi, who said she would miss everything that her slain husband stood for, insisted that the incident must be investigated and the mastermind brought to justice. She described her husband as a straight-forward person who would not engage in any deal that could have warranted his killing. In agony, she said that although she initially thought her husband’s attacker was a robber when he demanded money immediately he entered the house, the way he stabbed her husband made her to realise that he could actually have been “a professional killer”. She said: “Upon reflection, I have come to the conclusion that my father’s killer is a professional. He stabbed my husband on the left side of his neck and the left armpit – all indicating that he knew the most fatal places to strike a human body. “I also realised that he was too much in a hurry. He was asking for too many things at the same time and threatening that somebody would die if all were not met. As he was asking for money, laptop and phones, he was not patient even when he saw that my husband and all of us were cooperating with him.” Mrs Fadipe said her husband had gone upstairs to get money for the assailant after demanding laptop, adding: “They were still on the staircase when he began to rain slaps on my husband. When my husband turned back to know the reason behind the assault, he was met with a terrible stab in the neck and that was when we knew he might have come for something else.” She added: “We hit the man with stool, wood, bottles and everything, but he just kept on stabbing my husband.” Folahan, who said he could not believe that his father would not survive the assault, recalled that he had gone out to switch off their generating set when the man suddenly stabbed him in the head with a knife. “When I looked up, he made to strike me again, but I blocked the knife and he cut my right hand. At that point, I ran inside and alerted my father, who ran out and upon seeing me in a pool of my blood, he accosted the man and asked him what he wanted. “The man demanded N500,000 and my father said he didn’t have that amount. He mentioned another amount and my father led him upstairs. They were still there when the man started demanding laptop and other things and just as my father was coming downstairs to hand those things over, he started slapping him and before we knew it, he was using the knife he brought with him on my father.” “We fought him, but he was too powerful for us. He must have been high on drugs because everything we hit him with had no effect on him. We attacked him with sticks, wood and bottles, but they had no effect on him. But we succeeded in blindfolding him with a curtain and that was how we prevented him from escaping,” he said. He urged the Inspector General of Police, Mr Muhammed Abubakar, to ensure that those behind the dastardly act are brought to book. Folahan, who praised the police for their investigations into the matter, urged them to ensure that his father’s killers are unmasked and the reason behind his killing exposed. Meanwhile, eminent Nigerians have been trooping into the Fadipes’ home to condole with the family and pay their last respects to the  departed human rights fighter. At his house on Saturday were: Mr. Femi Falana (SAN); founder of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders Mr. Debo Adeniran; Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan and his counterpart at the Ifako Ijaiye Local Government, Apostle Oloruntoba Oke.

  • Cement grade: House berate SON for flouting orders

    Cement grade: House berate SON for flouting orders

    The House of representative has slammed the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for not following due process before announcing new cement grade. This was contained in the report of the ad-hoc committee on public investigative hearing on the composition and pigmentation of cement (cement quality) in Nigeria, resolution no (HR 27/2014), which was presented to the general assembly.

    The lawmakers pointed out that in the course of the public hearing, SON published in the national dailies a new grading/categorization of cement and uses in the Nigerian market place either to pre-empt the outcome of the Committee’s assignment or to demonstrate that it was on top of its responsibilities in the regulation of the sector.

    According to the Committee members,  the action undertaken by SON is deemed a step in the right direction except that it was faulted on grounds that its Governing Council, whose responsibility is to look into cement quality is not properly constituted in line with S. 3(2) of its Act and process did not comply with the process laid down in S.12 Of its enabling Act.

    The lawmakers stated further in the report that none of the cases of building collapse in Nigeria which were investigated by relevant independent professional bodies was traced to substandard cement.” There  is  therefore    no  scientific  study  that  has  arrived  at an empirical  conclusion  linking  any case of building  collapse  in Nigeria  to substandard  cement” they stressed.

    “The Governing Council of SON properly constituted in line with S.3 (2)  of  the  SON  Act  and  in  strict  compliance  with  S.12  of  the SON  Act should  in the  immediate  require  all cement  manufacturers  in Nigeria  to  retool  and  upgrade  their  production  lines  to  produce  the 42.Smpa    cement    grade    within    a    reasonable    time    taking    into consideration  the  cost of social dislocation  and Article  111.B .15 of the United  Nations  Guidelines  on Consumer  Protection,  1999 a Protocol  to which Nigeria  is a signatory.

    “Cement  has  a  shelf  life  and can  also  expire  or  lose  its  essential qualities  due to poor  stacking  or exposure  to the elements. “At  the downstream  informal  construction  sector  is not controlled  or regulated  and relevant  standards  on concrete  and related  issues  are not enforced  in the  country”.

    The House recommended that  cement  manufacturers    in  Nigeria  can  reposition  their  plants within  a  reasonable  time  to  enable  them  produce  the  42.Smpa  grade which  some  of them  are  currently  producing  to meet  the  special  needs of their customers.

    It added that  SON  and  Council    for  the  Regulation    of  Engineering    in  Nigeria (COREN)  be  required  to  outsource  the  monitoring  of cement    quality    to  reputable    institutions    of  learning    in  all  the geopolitical  zones  of the country  (with  SON  specifying  the methods  of sampling  and  testing)  until  SON  establishes  functional  laboratories  for its own use  in those geopolitical  zones.