DG of SON, Osita Anthony Aboloma
The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has charged members of the business community, trade groups and associations to be vanguards of standards in order to stamp out substandard goods in the country, noting that self regulation is one of the best ways to tackle the menace headlong.
As stated by the Director-General of SON, Osita Aboloma during a sensitization visit of the agency to Electrical Dealers Association of Nigeria (EDAN) in Lagos, trade groups and associations should be able to monitor themselves by establishing standards ambassadors to preach the gospel of standardisation everywhere they go.
In his words: “We need your assistance and full cooperation to achieve this. Standards are dynamic and change. We are here to enlighten you about what is expected of you, the latest approach to standardisation, quality assurance and self regulation. We are here to take our collaboration to the next level. We want people to monitor themselves. We want you to be standard vanguards so that other associations can do the right thing and emulate you.”
He also implored the association to register their products to raise consumer confidence and distinguish their products from counterfeited goods.
As stated by him, the standards body has been empowered and equipped with its new SON Act 2015 to carry out its mandate and ensure there is zero tolerance for substandard goods.
He also inaugurated a six-man committee to act as standards ambassadors of SON within the association. “EDAN is one of our technical partners and we are here to sustain that relationship. We believe our standards and activities must be self regulated. Self regulation is the theme of our visit,” he also stated.
Earlier, the Executive chairman of the association, Fabian Ezeorjika, stated EDAN has been collaborating with SON and other similar agencies to check mate infiltration of substandard electrical products into the markets, stressing that it has introduced a SON market desk in 2011, encouraged importers to register their products and constituted an Adhoc committee vested with the responsibilities of standardising and regulating the quality of all products imported and sold in the electrical section.