The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SON

  • BATN, SON, others seek stiffer penalties against illicit trade

    BATN, SON, others seek stiffer penalties against illicit trade

    British American Tobacco, Nigeria (BATN), in a concerted effort with other stakeholders from the public and organised private sectors, has advocated for a new regime of stiffer penalties and sanctions as a panacea that will address the ills and menace of illicit trade in the country.

    BATN, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Manufacturers association of Nigeria (MAN) and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) all agreed that this was the way out for the country in a forum organised by the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN), to x-ray the impact of illicit trade on Nigeria’s economy and also proffer viable solutions to the menace.

    Sola Dosunmu, Head of Regulatory Affairs British American Tobacco (West Africa), stated that the major reason illicit trade thrives is the economic opportunity it offers for the smuggler and illicit vendor to make money and also for the consumer to save money.

    He disclosed that the company’s collaboration with enforcement authorities such as the SON, Customs and the CPC has yielded considerable results in reducing illicit trade; increased revenue to the government through taxes; seizure and destruction of approximately $10m worth of illicit cigarettes between 2008 and 2013.

    In his remarks, the Director General of SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, noted that if importers and exporters do the right thing that is by complying with all the relevant laws, there would be no nuisance of smuggling.

    “The challenge is on the doorstep of all importers, if we are able to curb the menace of unscrupulous importers then we would have solved about 70 per cent of the menace of smuggling in Nigeria. We need stiffer and heavier forms of sanctions across the value chain starting from the importers which is better than just destroying these smuggled goods,” he said.

    In his address, the acting DG of MAN, Rasheed Adegbenro, also recommended the impositions of relevant sanctions across the value chain such as on dealers and shipping/air freighting companies to discourage trade malpractices.

    According to,, Dr. John Isemede, the Director General of NACCIMA, trade was the basis to consider the menace of smuggling as it borders on both import and export activities. However, he stressed that the Nigerian customs service has the bulk of responsibility as the country’s gatekeepers in curbing smuggling.

    The DG of LCCI, in his presentation noted stressed that only a holistic approach can be used to address the menace of smuggling through the creation of enforceable policies within the environment that we find ourselves; addressing the current weak infrastructure which increases cost of production and increasing local content addition in the production of goods.

    Assistant controller of Customs, Edema Albert, who represented the Comptroller General of Customs, noted that besides statutory collection of revenue, they were using technology to checkmate smuggling through a unified single window process that strives to minimize human contact to the barest minimum in order to eliminate incidences of document falsification and under-invoicing.

    Earlier, the chairman of CICAN, Toba Agboola, stated that the negative effects of smuggling were felt in the economic, environmental and social settings of a nation.

  • ‘Nigeria has no accredited laboratory’

    ‘Nigeria has no accredited laboratory’

    The Director-General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr Joseph Odumodu, has said there is no internationally accredited laboratory in Nigeria.

    This challenge, he said, makes it mandatory for products to be taken abroad for tests and certification before being accepted by the international community.

    Odumodu spoke in Abuja at the presentation of an overview on quality infrastructure.

    He noted that an accredited laboratory would reposition the country in the global market place.

  • SON to encourage local producers

    SON to encourage local producers

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is ready to en courage local manufacturers to conform to approved standards in production.

    Presenting the National Industrial Standards and International Organisation of Standards 9001:2008 Certificate to Juhel Nigeria Limited, a pharmaceutical company in Awka, the Anambra State capital SON director-General, Dr. Joseph Odumodu said indigenous firm could save huge foreign exchange and also create job if encouraged.

    He praised Juhel and other indigenous companies that were manufacturing products locally to stop importation of such goods.

    Odumodu said Juhel had joined the few pharmaceutical firms in the country participating in international tenders being facilitated by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and UNITAID.

    Odumodu, who earlier toured facilities at Dozzy Oil and Gas Limited in Onitsha, said SON had set up laboratory at the company’s premises to test and certify products according to international standards.

    He said that such laboratories would save Nigerian manufacturers the cost and inconvenience of going abroad for product certification.

    ”What we have done now is to set up laboratories so that when we test these products in Nigeria, they don’t need to be tested anywhere else in the world because they will be accepted,” he said.

    Odumodu expressed regret that some raw goods exported from Nigeria were being repackaged and returned to the country at 10 times the price they were exported.” If you take cashew nuts for instance, a kilo of cashew nuts is exported at five dollars, but when it is repackaged and sent back, we buy it at 25 dollars per kilo,” he said.

    He said Nigeria did not only need to export finished goods, but also have its professionals exporting their services.

    The agency has sealed 20 shops at the Building Materials International Market, Ogidi and Bridgehead area in Onitsha, over substandard goods.

    Anambra Coordinator of SON, Mr Albert Wilberforce, said the closed shops mainly deal on zinc and aluminium roofing sheets that fell short of international standards.

    The closure of the shops came few days after Odumodu held an interactive session with building materials, electrical, electronics and tyre traders in the markets.

    “Some goods in all the shops we have locked up fell below the standards we are enforcing,” he said noting that a lot of other products were fake versions of originals that had been certified by SON. He said the goods would be confiscated and destroyed.

    Wilberforce, said SON would prosecute those arrested for faking and adulterating products and follow up to tackle the manufacturers, both local and foreign.

    “The people that we have caught with these products are the people who will tell us who their manufacturers and importers are,” he stressed.

    He warned the shop owners and market leaders against tampering with shops that had been sealed because that would lead to further offences, he added.

  • Customs, NAFDAC, SON involved in ports corruption, says maritime chief

    All stakeholders, including importers, agents, Customs and other government agencies, such as National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) are involved in corruption at the ports, according to Managing Director, Shibab Services, a freight forwarding firm, Mr Babatunde Shittu.

    When it comes to corruption, he said, agents were at the receiving end as they are seen to be driving graft at the ports.

    He said: “They (stakeholders) are all partners in business because the agents cannot do it alone. The importers cannot do it alone. Also, the agents cannot do it alone because they have to support or consult the Customs who have the power of final release of the consignment from the ports. Looking well at it, it is a joint effort of every one of them; they are in business together.”

    He noted that agents cannot be said to be dubious because the agent is working for someone. He said: “Agents alone cannot be said to be dubious because the agent is working for someone. Most of the importers are more dubious than the agents because the agents dance to the tune of the importer.

    “Some importers bring in consignments, devalue the invoice and want the agent to work with that invoice. The importer already wants to cheat the government in duty and at the end of the da, the agent is only a tool in the hands of the importer. Nobody will see the importer, they only see the middleman that is running around, that is the agent.

    “For instance, an importer gives an agent a job worth N100,000, but says he can only pay N50,000 knowing well that N50,000 cannot cover the job, but some agents jump at it and collect the money, but after sometime, they will come back for more money. “The importer would be forced to give the agent the money because you do not want your cargo to remain there.”

    Shittu pointed out that some importers who have done the valuation already and only want to use the agents to bribe the Customs and to bribe their way to get their consignments out of the ports adding that the agents and importers should be blamed in this case.

    He called on the relevant government agencies to collaborate with all the sectors in the industry to make ongoing port reforms successful. He also charged leaders of the various associations and agenciess to work with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to change the fortune of agents.

  • Foundation, firm endorse Power Oil

    The Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) and the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) have endorsed Power Oil vegetable oil as suitable for the heart because it is cholesterol-free. Likewise, NSN endorsed Power Oil because laboratory tests also revealed the product contains other nutrients that would improve consumers’ health.

    Speaking during an event in Lagos, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, Executive Director (NHF) said due to its cholesterol-free components, Power Oil was indeed ideal for the heart and would go a long way towards ensuring cardiovascular health in the country. “Our plan is to meet the World Health Organisation’s target to reduce the number of cardiovascular deaths by 25 percent before 2025. Products like Power Oil will help us achieve that goal,” he declared.

    During the media launch of Power Oil in Lagos, the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) have also given Power Oil their backing.

    Engineer Fred Akingbesote, Head, MANCAP, SON, said the vegetable oil brand had scaled a very demanding tripartite test for standards and could be reckoned with in the market.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Dufil Prima Foods Plc, makers of Power Oil, Mr. Deepak Singhal, said of the certification: “This certification and the huge patronage that Power Oil enjoys in the market prove it is the ideal vegetable oil brand for the health-conscious.”

    He also assured that the heart-friendly vegetable oil would go a long way to check the consumption of adulterated oil which many Nigerians had been patronising when quality oil was still unaffordable.

  • Tastee Fried Chicken boss loses only son

    Tastee Fried Chicken boss loses only son

    Olubunmi Adedayo’s death is more than calamity. His family, especially his mother, the owner of Tastee Fried Chicken, Mrs Olayinka Adedayo, was down with the news of his demise. Olubunmi, who until his death, was the Executive Director of TFC, died on Wednesday, September 25, 2013.

    According to a very reliable source, he fell ill few weeks ago and was flown to the US for treatment where he died. He’s survived by his parents and two kids.

  • SON declares war on substandard bulbs, lamps

    SON declares war on substandard bulbs, lamps

    THE Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has started enforcement and seizure of substandard electrical bulbs and lamps in the markets.

    Speaking during a meeting with dealers of electrical bulbs and lamps at SON’s Lekki office in Lagos, its Director-General, Dr Joseph Odumodu said the agency will henceforth go to the various markets and seize any sub-standard bulbs or lamps found in the markets, adding that any product found below standard will be seize and destroy immediately.

    He directed that the lamps and bulbs sold in the marked must be registered with immediate effect.

    He added that the electrical and electronics market in Nigeria has been a source of serious concern to the organisation due to the high rate of importation of substandard and counterfeited products, which must be checked to give citizens value for their money.

    According to him, the electric light market in Nigeria today is filled with more of substandard products especially lamps of different types.

    He said a normal incandescent lamp was expected to have a minimum life of 1000 hours but stressed that according to lab results, the measured life of these lamps averages between 200 to 480 hours.

    He pointed out that 80 per cent of the energy saving lamps had failed the life performance test, saying that the cap of some of the lamps break off from the shell after the burn out time, making it difficult to remove such lamp holder.

    Odumodu said tests carried out on 72 lamps of 34 brands revealed that 44 out of 72 failed efficacy test, while three out of 72 failed initial torson test

    ”Nigerians are losing a lot of money replacing burnt out lamps too often than necessary.

    “Over 80 per cent of lamp tested did not declare he power factor of the lamp. Consumers are being short changed through the sales of substandard lamp thereby denying them value for money.”

    The need o sanitise the electric lamp market cannot be over emphasised considering the cost of replacing substandard lamp and the need to ensure that consumers are not expose o danger of exposure to intolerable level of mercury after use and disposal , this measure you will agree with me also is in your interest as a consumer of he product, I solicit your support o achieve SON policy on zero tolerance for substandard product in Nigeria,” he said.

  • Fed Govt, SON others launch ‘zero tolerance for substandard products’

    Fed Govt, SON others launch ‘zero tolerance for substandard products’

    The Federal Government has drawn the attention of the public to the implications of substandard products on the economy.

    The Minister of State for Industry, Trade & Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, said the loss in human and material form should be of great concern to all.

    He spoke at a forum organised by Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON)  in collaboration with the Lagos State Government, and others in Lagos on Sandcrete Block.

    He regretted that in spite of improvement in technology advances, the nation in recent times, has witnessed building failures.

    He said: “Worthy of note is that most of the collapsed buildings are either recently built, or still under construction which underscores the fact that the nation has a lot to do in quality assurance, both in production processes and the application of relevant specifications in applicable standards.”

    He said the Ministry launched the campaign to sanitise the building sector from the stage of material manufacturing to its application in building production.

    He confirmed programmes put in place by SON to promote the manufacturure and distribution of quality products in Nigeria, such as the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) for all local goods.

    Ortom said operators in the Sandcrete Block moulding  sector, will not be allowed to operate in all the states unless they adhere to the provisions of MANCAP programme and certification.

  • ‘My husband killed our son to hurt me’

    A Chief Magistrate’s Court 3, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, has heard how a fight over a pot of soup made a man, Cosmos Itoro, kill his two-year-old son.

    Itoro, 27, was arraigned in the court presided over by Mrs. Felicia Amanze for allegedly hitting his little son with a plank and killing him.

    He told the court: “I came back from where I went to and came back hungry. I noticed that they had eaten; so, I asked my wife to dish some soup so I can eat.

    “She refused, complaining that the quantity of soup in the pot was small and would not be enough for the children in the afternoon. I pleaded to her to assist me that I was very hungry. When she bluntly refused, I went to the pot to dish the soup myself; she came after me.

    “Her mother and younger brother who came to the house that morning supported her. While I was struggling with the pot of soup with her, her brother came and hit me on my eye. In the pains I rushed for a piece of plank around the house to hit back at my in-law. I did not know that my son Miracle was around. The plank landed on his head; he slumped and fainted. Before we could get to the hospital, he had died.”

    Mrs. Dorothy Itoro told the court her husband deliberately killed their baby, alleging that he had earlier threatened to kill him to hurt her.

    She said: “My husband is very lazy. He does not want to do anything for a living. I am shouldering the responsibilities in the house alone; pay house rent and take care of our three children.

    “That morning, he went out and came back to complain of hunger, and requested to be served his food. I told him that the quantity of soup that was remaining was small and should be left for the children but he insisted and went to take the soup. I went to stop him. Then we began to struggle over the pot of soup. At a point, he left it to me and said he was going to kill Miracle to hurt me. He rushed after the plank and hit the boy, he slumped and later died.

    “My brother did not fight him; he was the person who was struggling with him over the pot of soup.”

  • How can I tame my stubborn 5-year-old son?

    Please ma, how best can one tame stubborn children, my boy of five plus is too stubborn but brilliant.

    -Uche IB.

    Dear Uche, children are a handful but they are very special gifts we all desire from God. Yes, at certain ages – ages which I like to describe as ‘the discovery stage’ – kids are aware of what they want and what they don’t want. You may want to serve them custard for instance and they tell you they want corn-flakes. You call that stubbornness but they call it self-assertion. From the period they begin to crawl and move on their own, they start enjoying freedom of movement and trying to stop them will elicit some kind of protests. Then by ages 4 through 5 to 8, they  know by instinct that you cannot wield the stick and they still have some kind of immunity, so, they use their stubbornness to great advantage over you. Do you see 10 year olds arguing with their parents and being really stubborn? Below, I have helped you get some tips on how to deal with this young man trying his remote control on your superiority and trying to see how far he can get with you:

    Story-telling: Try story-time to help them wind down. This works especially well with strong-willed kids, who may have a hard time relaxing enough on their own especially at bed time.

    Play the “yes” game. Ask your child questions that will prompt him to answer “yes” at least three times in a row, such as “Wow, you’re having a great time playing with those toys, aren’t you?” (Yep!) “What eating this now and eating that other one next time? Would that be fun? “Do you have strength to move that bag from the floor? Can you show me?” The “yeses” help break down your child’s resistance, and he also feels like he’s been heard and understood.

    Offer options. Gently guide him toward the next step with two choices, such as “Do you want to dry yourself off with the towel or should I help you?” Don’t announce that bathtime is over; simply start the process. Move seamlessly through the getting-ready-for-bed routine, offering two options at a time along the way, such as “Which book should we read before bed—X or Y?” If your child balks at the choices—”Neither! I’m not going to bed!”—respond calmly, “That wasn’t one of the choices. Did you want this book or that one?” Repeat calmly as needed. Stubborn kids hate hearing parents sound like broken records, and they usually give in. If they don’t, simply say “Okay, I guess you’ve chosen not to have a book tonight. Good night, sweetie! We’ll try again tomorrow night!” Lights-out. And don’t give in, even if your kid puts up a fuss. Sticking to your word practically guarantees you won’t have a repeat episode tomorrow night.

    Establish a connection.  Before actually moving your kids toward the direction you want, use a technique psychotherapist Susan Stiffelman calls “Connect Before You Direct.” Take a few minutes to sit beside your child and show interest in the game he’s playing or TV show he’s watching. Ask a few well-placed questions or say something supportive like “I can see why you like this show—it’s really funny!” When kids feel connected to you, they’re much more likely to do what you ask next.