The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SON

  • SON, society sign MoU to strengthen standards

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International in Switzerland, to promote standards.

    SON Director General Mr Osita Aboloma made this known when he led a Nigerian delegation to the 2018 General Assembly of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

    Aboloma said the MoU would promote greater SON input and content through active participation in the ASTM International standards development process and also promote SON acceptance and use of ASTM International standards.

    ASTM Vice President, Global Cooperation, Teresa Cendrowska, representing the President, Katharine F. Morgan, stated that the organisation entered into the MoU to enhance the development of Nigerian national standards for health, safety and the environment.

    The  MoU, she said, is aimed at promoting communication between the two organisations, avoiding duplication of work efforts where possible, promoting knowledge of standard development activities of both organisations and utilising the resources of ASTM International to strengthen SON standards development system.

    SON and ASTM International have had over a decade of cooperation in standards exchange and use as part of international collaboration, in line with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) guidelines.

     

  • SON ‘won’t compromise standards’

    The Standards Organisation       of Nigeria (SON) is committed to the diligent prosecution of two Chinese nationals under trial for alleged import of a huge consignment of substandard and stuffed tyres into Nigeria last year.

    This became apparent at the resumed hearing of the matter at the Federal High Court Ikoyi, Lagos before Justice C.M. A. Olatoregun, when a Counsel from Festus Keyamo Chambers, Oluwafemi Olabisi, appeared on behalf of SON to take over the prosecution of the trial.

    Also, in court for the trial of Taolung Shen and Xu Jimg Yao and their accomplices accused of importing thousands of substandard and life-endangering tyres into Nigeria were, Umaru Kawu and J. O. Olofindare, Director, Legal Services and Senior State Counsel from SON.

  • Drama: Mother, son jostle for Yobe federal constituency seat

    Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hajiya Khadija Ibrahim has defeated her step son, Mohammed Ibrahim to clinch the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for Damaturu/Gulani/Gujba/Tarmuwa, Yobe Federal Constituency.

    Hajia Ibrahim is the wife of former Yobe State governor, Senator Abba Bukar Ibrahim. She was a House of Representatives member before her appointment as a minister by President Ibrahim Buhari.

    Prof Abba Gambo, the returning officer, announced Hajia Ibrahim 1,295 votes to defeat Mohammed who scored only 15 votes.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that in spite of pressures mounted on Mohammed to step down for his father’s wife, he insisted on the contest.

    Two other contenders, House of Representatives member Abdullahi Kukuwa and Alhaji Ahmed Buba, stepped down for the minister while Mohammed refused.

    The minister commended Abdullahi and Ahmed for withdrawing from the race to support her.

    Senator Bukar Ibrahim, who stepped down his re-election bid against Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, did not attend any of the aspirants’ elections including the one contested by his wife and son.

  • Speed Devices: ASLON signs MoU with Highway Digital

    As part of its resolve to ensure harmonization and reduction of a unit cost of fitment of speed limiting devices (SLD) across the country, the Association of Speed Limiter Vendors of Nigeria (ASLON) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Highway Digital Nigeria Limited – a local manufacturer of SLD.

    The MoU was signed by Mr Adekunle Alani, Chairman of ASLON, and Mr Habib Shatri, General Manager, Highway Digital Nig. Ltd on Friday in Abuja.

    The event had an impressive array and representation by relevant stakeholders: Ministry of Transportation, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), fleet operators, transport and drivers unions etc.

    According to Mr. Oyegoke Adekunle Alani, “Before now, some of us have been (and still) import SLDs abroad (China, India, South Africa and even from our neighbour, Kenya), in which exchange rate has been a serious challenge.

    “This has kept the cost of fitment hovering between N35,000 to N45,000 from inception of the full enforcement, from February 1, 2017.

    “Consequent upon the foregoing, we decided to engage one of us (Highway Digital Nig. Ltd), who has gotten the approval from the technical committee on the implementation of speed limiting device, which comprises; Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) to be an indigenous manufacturer of speed limiting device, with a product name ITMS-NANO.”

    The price for the fitment of a unit speed limiter which comprises of the cost of device, installation, certificate of fitment and technical fee now stands at N25,000, consequent upon the signing of the MoU.

    Mr. Alani also urged end-users (commercial vehicle operators, fleet operators and other class of operators) to ensure their yearly renewal of fitment certificate because it is as important as the first installation.

    The Corps Marshal of the FRSC in his address explained that ‘speed’ has been identified as a key risk factor in road traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of a road crash as well as the severity of the injuries that result from crashes.

    Represented by ACM Efosa P. Osawe, he said: “A speed limiting device interacts with a vehicle engine to permit the attainment of a pre-programmed maximum speed. Speed limiters help you stay within the driving speed limit that is recommended by law.

    “The FRSC in collaboration with all the relevant stakeholders, came up with Standards and Code of Practice developed by the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and other Technical Committee members comprising of National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) to ensure that only accredited vendors that meet the predetermined standards are certified to procure and install speed limiting devices in motor vehicles.

    “The Corps is pleased with the efforts of ASLON in ensuring a crash free society by evolving strategies for enhanced speed limit enforcement and compliance in Nigeria.”

    He further added that: “Some research institutions such as SHEDA Science and Technology Complex and some Nigerian Universities like University of Ilorin and Covenant University have developed different versions of speed limiter and more are still coming.

    “The Corps will not spare any vendor who indulges in any form of sharp practice. Those vendors whose companies were associated with cases of road traffic crashes on speed matters nationwide are being investigated and the Technical Committee on speed limiter will take appropriate disciplinary action in due course.

    “A speed limiter web monitoring portal has been developed for monitoring the activities of all FRSC accredited speed limiter vendors online and archive same information in her central database, creating secured server channels, enhancing security and management of data.

    “The portal (speedlimiter.frsc.gov.ng) allows vendors to upload vehicle information after installation. Vehicles installed by accredited vendors and uploaded to the portal can easily be verified with the following short code “confirmsld SPACE vehicle registration number” to 33811 by the public.

    “It is expected that the progress will continue as enforcement is being intensified nationwide to ensure that all commercial vehicles are fitted with speed limiter. When fully complied with, the speed limiter initiative would make Nigeria join the league of other countries where the equipment has substantially reduced road traffic crashes. Significantly for Nigeria, the speed limiter initiative could translate to a wholesome reduction of road traffic crashes nationwide by at least 35%.”

  • SON develops international standard for staple food

    The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has developed international standard for most of the nation’s staple food such as garri, dry beans, soya beans, rice and the like.

    The Director-General, Osita Aboloma, said the move was to end rejection faced by Nigeria’s produce at international markets.

    He said: “For instance, as far as agriculture is concerned, the standard we develop is to ensure that the produce meets the global benchmark, thereby forestalling a repeat of the rejection of our produce, as it happened recently at the international market.

    “We have developed standard for many agricultural produce such as shea butter, dry beans, smoked fish, yam flour, plantain chips, sesame seeds, oil, rice, cocoa, cocoa butter and garri. It will interest you to know that the standard we developed for garri is accepted globally and adopted by countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).”

    Aboloma said of the 800 standards it had produced in one year, 339 standards had been developed for the produce.

    “Some of the standards include the anti-bribery and corporate governance standard, the African traditional medicine, human resource management, hotel management, to mention a few. The standards for agricultural produce were developed to end the rejection of exportable farm produce at the global market. So far, the agency has developed standards for dry beans, smoked fish, yam flour, cocoa, plantain chips, rice, garri, sesame seeds, oil and many more,” he added.

    The director-general said the standards would act as a code of conduct for the nation’s agricultural value chain, ranging from planting to processing, harvesting, packaging and transporting produce within and outside the country.

  • SON, NESP collaborate to streamline standards for air conditioners, refrigerators

    Saddled with the responsibility of uniform standards in trade within West African States, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) have partnered to match standards for air conditioners and refrigerators.

    The agencies outlined the need for a uniform standards as it will help address technical barriers to trade in the continent, pointing out that generally acceptable standard would go a long way to boosting intra-African trade.

    The Director General, SON, Osita Aboloma, who was represented by the Director, Corporate offices, Electronic Department, Engineer Richard Adewunmi at technical meeting in Lagos, recently noted that the revised standard would set the minimum requirements for energy performance standards of power consuming appliances in all the member nations that forms the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

    According to him, acceptable standards is one of the ways to checkmate the influx of substandard goods, explaining that the certificate issued by the technical harmonisation committee will be acceptable anywhere.

    “If you leave Nigeria to other countries in West Africa, they will demand that you comply to their own national standards, but the ECOWAS in its wisdom has directed by its Heads of States. We started the Eco Stamp five years ago. We are picking some electro technical standards and harmonising them to boost intra-African trade and would also stand as some critical standard for products going in and out of the market,” he said.

    The representative of NESP, Ene Marcham, stated that there is a need to come up with a message that gets to end users, manufactures and importers of air conditioners and refrigerators, saying that if the message is passed across in the right way there would a high level of sustainability in the long run.

    The Chairman, Nigeria National Committee, Ayodele Afolabi, said that with the move, Nigeria would be achieving a regional standard that will be adapted in a local market and from the trade point of view, products from Nigeria can easily be marketed outside the shores of the country.

    The vice president, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Tadil Gadari, said the society is in the forefront of supporting the creation and adoption of the nation’s standards to make sure that energy is efficiently used all around the country.

    The Nation recalls that SON recently harmonised the standards for honey to boost its production and marketability, which mandated honey producers to adhere strictly to standards that meet expectations of consumers at the global market, while also producing quality products for the domestic market.

  • No Pure Water in Niger is SON Certified

    The Standard Organization of Nigeria ( SON ) has disclosed that none of the sachet Water popularly called ‘pure water’ consumed in Niger state is certified safe by the organization.

    A Senior Standard Officer in the Niger state Office in Minna, Mallam Zararudeen Abubakar told The Nation that majority of the bottled water in the state have also not met up with SON standard.

    He explained that SON had suspended the certification of sachet water because investigations have revealed that the chemicals used in the packaging materials can be harmful.

    Read Also: SON to schools: China made materials cause cancer

    “To this end, the organization have been able to elaborate a standard for the packaging material of sachet water which mandates manufacturers of sachet water to collect certificate of analysis from the manufacturer of their packaging material before the organization can certify them.

    “That is why in Niger state, none of the sachet water is certified. None have been able to present these certificates and without that, we cannot certify them. ”

    Zararudeen further said that SON is stepping up its monitoring and compliance mechanism to ensure that manufactures of sachet and bottles water meet up to the safety standard in order not to ‘present poison for people to drink. “

  • Asian Games: Son claims Golden service exemption

    Son Heung-min secured exemption from military service after helping South Korea to the Asian Games title with a 2-1 victory over Japan on Saturday.

    The Tottenham forward was given permission by the Premier League club to play in the Under-23 tournament in Indonesia knowing a gold medal would seal his release from mandatory service for his country.

    Round by round the pressure has increased for Son and his team-mates and it showed in the final as they took their time to break down Japan.

    South Korea dominated the opening half and saw Hwang Ui-jo waste a glorious chance to break the deadlock, and their profligacy continued after the restart.

    Son was guilty of failing to take clear-cut chances, and when he turned provider Ui-jo, the tournament’s top scorer, was again unable to convert.

    An extra 30 minutes was needed to separate the two sides and fittingly Son was at the heart of securing South Korea’s triumph.

    The 26-year-old embarked on a mazy dribble three minutes into extra time before a heavy touch ran to Seung Woo-lee, the winger lashing home from inside the box.

    Another Son delivery helped wrap things up, Hwang Hee-chan heading home to secure the gold medal – despite Ayase Ueda’s late consolation – and all-important exemption from national service.

     

     

     

  • ‘Witness Box’ to be screened at NBA conference

    AMCVA nominated movie, ‘Witness Box’ will be showing exclusively at this year’s edition of the Nigerian Bar Association Conference taking place at the International Conference Center, Abuja on August 27.

    The movie which has a legal touch and style will be thrilling over 6,000 lawyers alongside other reputable dignitaries and movie-goers.

    ‘Witness Box’ features Nollywood heavyweights including Wale Ojo, Sola Sobowale, Chiwetalu Agu, Femi Branch, Tunji Sotimirin, Keira Hewatch, Soni and Betty Irabor, ex -Big Brother Naija house mate, Ahneeka and a host of others.

    The producer,  Wole Ojomo,  takes you on a self examining session with her scenes and acts which illustrate the everyday life and challenges of balancing life and work. The story is of a defined appeal and a

    different touch leading you in your own thought direction only to take you on a different turn.

    The all stars movie kicks off with an insight into a life of a couple who were faced with a desire to balance work and family life. Wale Ojo played Ben Arinze, a man saddled with the challenge of managing  a young wife, two daughters and a banking career.

    Keira Hewatch took the role of Bolanle Arinze, a young wife who sacrifices it all for her marriage and family with the hope and thought it will all fall in place for her home and make things right

    while enduring loneliness served to her. She finds sanity in social media. Virtual friends are increasingly filling gaps everywhere. A deficit in marital devotion becomes inevitable.

  • Son held for alleged attempted murder of mum

    The police have arrested a 29-year-old man, who allegedly attempted to kill his mother, Mrs Alice Akinola, for money ritual.

    The woman was saved by the timely arrival of her 14-year-old grandson, Faruq, who met her in a pool of her blood and quickly raised the alarm.

    The boy had been sent on an errand by his uncle, Taiwo Akinola, to enable him carry out the act.

    Taiwo allegedly smashed a plank on his mother’s head, with an iron and a UPS charger on Sunday around 8.30am at their 2, Raji Ajanaku Street, Alaja Road, Ayobo, Lagos home.

    Following Faruq’s alarm, neighbours rushed Mrs Akinola to hospital and apprehended Taiwo.

    In a statement yesterday, police spokesman Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent (CSP), said the woman was lying unconscious in hospital.

    The statement read: “In a carefully thought out plan to kill his mother, Taiwo, said to be a staunch member of the notorious Aiye Confraternity, went to the victim’s provision store in front of their apartment. There, he told his mother to meet him inside the house for an important discussion.

    “At the same time, he sent his nephew, Faruk, to go and buy him white handkerchief and a stick of cigarette.

    “But as soon as his mother entered the house, the suspect attacked her, smashing a plank on her head with, pressing iron and a UPS charger to ensure she did not survive the ferocious attack.

    “When Faruk returned, he did not see his grandmother in the shop so he went into the house only to see the poor woman lying in a pool of blood.

    “Shocked by what he saw, the boy raised the alarm which attracted neighbours to the scene. They called the police from Ayobo Division, who arrested the suspect.

    “They also secured the scene for further investigation by the police forensic experts attached to the Homicide Section at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba.”

    According to him, the Commissioner of Police (CP) Imohimi Edgal, paid the initial hospital bill before doctors could attend to her.

    Oti alleged that the suspect had confessed that he was asked to kill his mother to advance his cyber fraud business (yahoo.com) to the bloody or ritual level (yahoo plus).

    “When his room was searched, the following exhibits were recovered – two calabashes with one containing human skull and the other, a mixture of dark concoction, a plank perforated with nails and stained with blood; a pressing iron stained with blood; a white handkerchief with which he wanted to scoop the victim’s blood and a bottle containing oil and labelled Back To Sender,” he said.