The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SON

  • ‘Harmonised standard can boost African trade’

    ‘Harmonised standard can boost African trade’

    THE only way the people and continent of Africa can maximise the benefits of trade relations is for there to be an harmonised standard across the board, the Director General, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr Joseph Odumodu, has said.

    According to Odumodu who emerged the new President of African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO), an organisation established some 36 years ago by 11 African countries, a combination of factors including low awareness, dearth of research, foreign dominance of trade by other continent are to blame for the poor trade relations among Africans.

    Going down memory lane, Odumodu recalled that “The idea of a continental standardisation body had received considerable impetus from the buoyant and optimistic mood that characterised the post-independence period in most of Africa. The mood then, under the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), was one of pan-African solidarity and collective self-reliance born of a shared destiny with standardisation viewed as a guidepost of the destiny and bedrock of African Economic Integration Agenda and a route to linking up of the fresh Africa’s economy with the rest of the world and to deliver the African Common Market for economic prosperity of the continent.”

    As to what his agenda is as the new helmsman at ARSO, he answered self-assuredly: “We will need to mobilise stakeholders and government officials to ensure political backing. It is common belief that African solutions serve best since they are home-grown and for this reason we will clearly see the need to have and develop our own standards and use them as a strategic resource.”

    Besides, he said: “Creating this awareness among us will not only re-affirm the work that ARSO does but will also ensure it reflects on all the importance and relevance to our respective National Standards bodies ARSO will offer the Standardisation Stakeholders the opportunity to focus more and more on a comprehensive African approach to standardisation as a strategic resource to Africa’s economic integration and an asset for improving Africa’s trade volume.

    “We should endeavour to sensitize and inculcate the concept of standards more firmly at our home governments, relevant agencies as well as national standards bodies (NSBs). It’s because of this that we will be able to fully realize the need to have an African Standards Day where we shall deliberate on ideas. These deliberations should enable us to look back and appreciate the work done by ARSO and how we can support it for the greater good.”

    In his assessment of the trade relations among African countries, he said it leaves nothing to cheer about.

    “Trade among African countries is abysmally low and we need to facilitate more trade among African countries. We are saying Africa can stop buying substandard goods coming into the continent from Asian countries by harmonising the issues of standard, conformity assessment that are in place and making them more useful to their countries. And there is need to severe bilateral ties with countries that bring those goods by not accepting to do business with them. We ought to be doing business with countries that are friendlier in trade agreement.

    “Africans are not trading with each other. I can tell you, if Africans are trading with each other, it is cheaper and more efficient. We need to build the African continent in terms of our capacity; we need to reach out and build ourselves to the level of other continents of the world, and the only way we can do this is trading with each other.”

    On the adverse effect of dumping of products in African countries, he said such practice was inimical to the continent and its people.

    “Africa has enemies who dump products on them at prices that make it impossible for Africa to compete; enemies who dump radioactive products on us without our knowledge because we do not have sophisticated infrastructure to test and detect these things, enemies who prevent us from developing on our own. If we fight these enemies as individual countries, we may not have enough capacity or capability to do so. But if we fight these enemies as a continent, it will be a lot more effective because the smaller countries will take advantage of the presence of the larger countries and vice versa and that is where we are going.

  • SON reads riot act to importers

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), has warned importers of fake and substandard goods that the agency is determined to push them out of their illegal business.

     Director General of SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, gave this warning over the weekend while supervising the destruction of fake and substandard goods that include cables, tyres, electronics (decoders), house hold consumables, cigarettes, matches, super glue and other goods. He warned that the agency will not fail to deal with people who bring in fake and substandard goods into the country causing harm to the economy.

    The Director General who was represented by the Head of Enforcement and Compliance, Mr. Bede Obayi, said the goods were seized from unauthorised routes.

    Odumodu warned Nigerians and their foreign collaborators to desist from making the country a dumping ground for all manner of goods.

    He stressed that the zero tolerance campaign on substandard products in the country  is  the agency’s line of duty and conviction to clean up the country of substandard products.

    This is on the heels of the earlier warning by the agency on defaulters of its electronic registration policy for products which elapsed on July 1st that warned that electronic product in the market without electronic registration will be removed.”

    “We will not accept any product that has no product liability. From this year, once offenders are caught, we will make them face the camera and make them apologise to Nigerians. This exercise is to ensure product traceability and achieve standards, which will enhance productivity,” the SON Director-General, Dr. Joseph Ikem Odumodu, had said.

    Odumodu said that the essence of the exercise was to build a database of details on all the products in the market. “We need to have a link with the products by having all the details.”

    He stressed that following several months of the registration process, any product that failed to comply with the e-registration policy would be removed from the market, irrespective of its status or whether it had SON Conformity Assessment Programme certification or not.

    “We are setting up an electronic security system with electronic registration in connection with other agencies to alert us when products arrive. At present, we have improved collaborations with relevant authorities in order to achieve this objective,” he added.

  • SON destroys N2b fake products

    The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) at the weekend destroyed contraband goods worth over N2 billion.

    Some of the unwholesome products include several packs of cigarettes, consumable products, household equipment and assorted tyres.

    Briefing reporters at the dumpsite in Sagamu, Ogun State, where the goods loaded in 15 trucks were destroyed, SON’s Head of Enforcement and Compliance Bede Obayi said the substandard products were intercepted and impounded by the agency at border posts, markets as well as warehouses in and outside Lagos State.

    He said the agency has obtained court orders to destroy the goods, noting that the destruction was the first this year.

    Obayi noted that the fake products are injurious to human health. “We are not taking the issue of contraband very lightly. We must fight against this scourge and will never tolerate importation of substandard products. “Our zero tolerance to substandard products is still in force and we are not joking about this.”

    Obayi urged Nigerians to patronise local products, especially locally-made tyres, describing Nigerian tyres as the best in the world.

  • Help my son to live, mother cries to Nigerians

    The disease which threatens the life of two-year-old Oluwafeyijimi Benson began when he was just two months old. Unlike any other newly born babies, Oluwafeyijimi would open his mouth for a long time, appearing as if he was breathing through the mouth. Sometimes, he would gasp for breath and unable to explain what ailed him, he would express himself through frequent crying. Also unlike his peers, he falls sick frequently.

    His mother Mrs Toyin Benson, a petty trader did not think much of it until the sickness became more pronounced. “He was always opening his mouth as if gasping for breath. In fact, he was breathing from the mouth. He was also falling sick repeatedly. It appeared his immune system was low. This became a source of worry for everybody,” Mrs Benson said.

    However, nothing could have prepared Mrs Benson or his father, who is a brick-layer for the result of a test carried out on their son which revealed that he had been living with Tetralogy of fallot or hole-in-the -heart.

    “When it became too persistent, I took him to a private hospital in Lagos. It was at the hospital that he was referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). There he had an echocardiogram (ECG) which revealed that he has been living with a hole-in-the-heart.”

    Their world has since been shattered by that diagnosis. None of the parents or the extended family could afford the N2 million required for a corrective surgery in India. “There is no way we could afford it; the job of the father could hardly put food on our table. I take him to the hospital every fortnight because I can’t afford to get a bed in the ward,” Mrs Benson said when The Nation visited the family on 6, Irapada street, Agbado Crossing, Ogun State.

    The family had sought the help of the Lagos State Government.

    “It was a consultant at LASUTH, Dr Barakat Animashaun that assisted me by applying on my son’s behalf to the state’s Medical Board. This was when he was just eight months old. So, Dr Animashaun advised that we take him to India for surgery,” she said.

    She called on well-meaning individuals, corporate bodies and the government to come to the aid of her son. Do you have a heart to help Oluwafeyijimi live? A First Bank account with the name Oluwafeyijimi Benson: 3071772551 has been opened to receive donations.

  • Dealers task SON on substandard products

    Dealers task SON on substandard products

    DESPITE claims by the Standard Organization of Nigeria to have stamped out substandard products in the markets by 40%, marketers have expressed their anger at the agency for looking at the wrong direction instead of the Nigerian manufacturers of these products.

    Mr. Chukwuemeka Ebuke, a trader disclosed this during an enforcement exercise by SON in Abuja stating that the government should be blamed for the recurring problem of substandard product in the country.

    According to Ebuke, “Substandard product problem is from foreigners who have manufacturing companies in Nigeria. These foreigners use Nigeria as dumping ground, these are things they cannot try in their own country but because with the Nigeria government anything goes they just come in and dump whatever they want on us.

    “Government know where these manufacturers are, they should go and look for them instead of harassing innocent traders that are going about doing their business,” he said.

    The Director of Enforcement, SON, Mr. Nelson Adebiyi , who led the team to the monitoring raid at the Abuja metropolis said the exercise will be a continuous one.

  • Body of granny found in son’s room, 10 years after

    Body of granny found in son’s room, 10 years after

    It was a shock find in Oguta, Imo State, yesterday. The embalmed body of a 78-year-old grandmother, who was declared missing 10 years ago, was discovered inside her son’s home.

    The sleepy Ejemekwuru community in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State has been thrown into turmoil over the strange discovery in the home of Dr. Chimezie Osigweh, a retired school principal.

    The police threw open the wardrobe to reveal the body of Madam Lucy Osigweh.

    The lid was blown off the scandal by a 22-year-old boy who was searching for his credentials in his father’s closet.

    As he opened a wardrobe, he was confronted with the grim sight – the stiff and embalmed body – of her grandmother, who was thought to have been missing.

    He tipped off the police, who arrested his dad after confirming the claim.

    Imo State Police Commissioner Musa Katsina said Madam Osigweh was declared missing in 2003.

    Katsina, speaking at the house in Ejemekuru, said the embalmed body had been kept in that condition since 2003.

    “The corpse of Mrs Lucy Osigweh, who was declared missing in 2003, was found in a large cupboard inside a shrine in a private room in a circumstance depicting ritual practice.

    “The embalmed body, which was kept in that condition for about 10 years is believed to have been placed in the wardrobe by her son, Dr Chimezie Osigweh, a devotee of the Guru Maharaji sect.

    “Preliminary assessment of the scene of crime revealed that the woman must have been murdered by the son for ritual purposes,” he said.

    The commissioner said the police were on the trail of other members of the sect who visited Osigweh’s shrine.

    He said the body would be handed over to the forensic team of the command to determine the cause of death.

    Katsina also said the suspect would be held for first degree murder until the cause of death is established.

    The retired teacher confessed that the body of his late mother was embalmed by an employee of one of the General Hospitals in the state who had died.

    Narrating how his mother died, Osigweh said: “That evening, sometime in 2003, I was meditating in my temple when my mother came in to ease herself. Suddenly, I heard a big noise. I went in and found her groaning, I took her to her room and laid her on the bed before she passed on.

    “But you see, she is still here but I can’t tell you why she is here 10 years, after, because the enemies of Guru Maharaji are all over here, I will talk to you people in camera.”

    The leader of the Guru Maharaji sect could not be reached last night.

    The suspect, who fielded questions in impeccable English, said he had been a member of the sect for 24 years and had attained high spiritual level to the extent that he could travel to see God at will.

    The police chief said the bizarre scene was uncovered by the Ambush Squad attached to the Command after a tip-off.

    He said the house serves as a meeting point for ritualists who, according to him, converge to perpetrate atrocities.

    “We have information about the large number of devotees that patronise the shrine, which will help us identify those behind the heinous act,” Katsina added.

  • SON to regulate tokunbo vehicles’ import

    The Standards Organisation Of Nigeria (SON) is set to regulate the importation of second hand vehicles (popularly known as tokunbo).

    During an interview with The Nation, its Director-General,Dr Joseph Odumodu, said this became necessary because of the compliants from consumers on the condition of these vehicles.

    According to him, SON will now, henceforth, look beyond the age of these vehicles and inspect features, such as the condition of the engine, emission and the mechanical function.

    He said the condition of such vehicles was worrisome, adding that they could contribute to the depletion of ozone layer through the emission of carbon monoxide from the vehicles.

    “In order to checkmate this ugly development and stop the country from being used as a dumping ground for all manners of used vehicles by some unscrupulous business men, SON will soon fix a date to meet with the major stakeholders to take the challenge.

    “We may commence the regulation of these used imported vehicles in the next three months,” he said.

    He also said some measures would be put in place in the interest of Nigerians as well as its eco system.

    Odumodu urged car dealers, especially those into manufacturing and importation business, to adhere to importsation guidelines.

    He called for their collaboration with SON, adding that such synergy would enable his agency to sensitise the sector.

    According to the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA), Nigeria imports 10,736 vehicles monthly. Of this, about 8,270 are used vehicles and othes brand new.

     

     

     

     

  • SON won’t extend deadline for e-registration

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has ruled out the extension of the June 30 deadline for the electronic registration of products.

    Speaking with The Nation, SON Director-General, Dr Joseph Odumodu, said the deadline had earlier been shifted from May.

    In February, the agency launched electronic registration to check the influx of fake and substandard products into the country.

    Odumodu said under the exercise, products would have an electronic registration code for easy identification of both manufacturers and importers.

    Any product that does not carry SON electronic code by June, he said would be seized and destroyed.

    The aim of the exercise he said, was to ensure a stress-free registration by operators, adding that it would mark another important step in the effort to rid the country of substandard products.

    He said: “Any product that does not carry the SON electronic code by June 2013, will be removed from the market and destroyed by the agency.”

    Odumodu said the agency would set up an electronic security system with the electronic registration with other agencies to give an alert on the arrival of products.

    “At present, we have improved collaborations with relevant authorities in order to achieve this objective. The essence of this is to build a database on details of all the products in the market.

    “We need to have a link with the products by having all the details; we will not accept any product that has no product liability.

    “One point I would like to stress in talking about is that we need to change our strategy and we would do most of the things we did last year, but some additional things would be included and I will explain why we have to do them. We have to do them for sustainability, to also connect to the world.

    “When I started this job, we all focused on the prevalence of substandard products in Nigeria and the challenge of standardisation is that it is measured in terms of the prevalence of substandard product. It is an outcome of a failed system or a non-existed system that leads us to what is currently happening now,’’ he said.

    Odumodu said the organisation would focus on promoting certified indigenous products.

    He said the agency had started a regime aimed at ensuring that any product was traceable.

    “You must be able to tell its characteristics, such as who made it and who brought it into Nigeria, among others,’’ he added.

  • SON to review LPG cylinders standard

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has pledged to ensure that Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders meet the required standard.

    Director-General, SON, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, said it has become imperative to address the problem of LPG cylinders.

    According to him, apart from enhancing safety of lives and property in the industry, revalidation of cylinders will also boost the LPG business as well as create more confidence in the minds of users on safety.

    Odumodu said part of the SON’s mandate is to protect lives and property through standards.

    He said the requalification would also eliminate most of the sub-standard cylinders from circulation and also lead to the scrapping of old cylinders.

    He said: “We have be meeting with key sectors of the economy and the operators in the LPG sector especially for industrial safety by ensuring that imported LPG cylinders and those produced in Nigeria meet the requirements of NIS 69: 2006. We seek collaboration of the stakeholders’ to ensure quality gas is also dispensed to the consumers”.

    According to him, a situation whereby cylinders were imported or produced in Nigeria and sold to users without any programme for requalification and none for maintenance is no longer acceptable.

    He said SON would soon flag up a campaign to remove old cylinder from circulation.

    “Cylinders above 15 years, which is the agreed period for their revalidation, would be affected,” he said.

    He said all the stakeholders need to join hands with the SON to safeguard the sector.

    According to him, some of the things SON would be seeking to do, going forward, are to ensure that all importers of LPG cylinders have a defined programme for the maintenance of cylinders, adding that operator would have trained personnel on how to inspect and re-qualify LPG cylinders.

    His words:“Other prequalification condition is that the expiry dates of cylinders shall be engraved or embossed on all cylinders. There is need to start setting the right standards in the sector.

    “A Technical Committee comprising members from all sectors ought to have met to develop a framework for the workability of the scheme.’’

    Odumodu noted that the exercise was a core of the organisation’s campaign of zero tolerance to substandard products in the country.

  • SON’s N950m lab ready in Dec.

    The N950million new Standards Organisation of Nigeria’s (SON’s) laboratory complex being built in Ogba, Lagos, is expected to be ready in December, its Director-General, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, has said.

    He spoke during the the Nigerian Standard Council’s (NSC’s) inspection of projects being undertaken by SON, in Lagos.

    The Chairman of the Council who led the delegates, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, said the Council is ready to back SON to implement its various initiatives aimed at ridding Nigeria of substandard and fake products.

    He commended the council’s management for what he described as the huge capability displayed and the determination to rid the country of substandard goods and services.

    He said the Council was committed to ensuring the training and retraining of the agency’s staff.

    He said going by what the team had seen, he believed Nigerians would soon start witnessing a new era, where imported goods would meet the standards required.

    Odumodu said the various initiatives embarked upon by the management since he became its helmsman, have resulted in the sharp reduction in the volume of substandard products in the country, adding that the pursuit of the agency’s zero tolerance for substandard products importation and distribution underlined the building of the various testing laboratories.

    He said much cooperation and support would be needed from the Council, if SON was to achieve the programmes highlighted.

    The Vice-Chairman of the Council and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Investment, Dauda Kigbu, said the team would pay similar visits to the agency’s zonal offices in other parts of the country, including Enugu,Kaduna and Port Harcourt.

    He assured the public that SON will not compromise on standards, stressing that whatever was needed to be done to ensure that the agency carried out its assignments diligently, would be done by the Council.

    At the Lagos office of SON, the Head of Operations in the state and Assistant Director, Mrs. Elsie Ofili, listed inadequate staff and logistics, as among other challenges, where assistance was expected.

    The new Council, saddled with ensuring that the agency’s activities are on track, was inaugurated in March, last year.