The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has urged Nigerian manufacturers to standardise their products to promote economic growth in the country.
Its Director General, Mallam Farouk Salim, made the call during a one-day sensitisation workshop for stakeholders in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State with the theme ‘Promoting Export and Economic Growth Via Standardisation and Quality Assurance’, on Monday.
Salim, who was represented by the Director of the South-South region, Mr. Usman Mohammed, said Nigeria must move away from being an import dependence and embrace export promotion.
The DG stressed that for products from manufacturers in the country to be accepted in international markets manufacturers must ensure that the quality and standard of the products meet global standards.
“The essence of this sensitisation today is to create awareness among our manufacturers and exporters on the importance of standardisation of products.
“The major problem we are having is depending on imported goods. If you ask people why they are not buying Nigerian products, they will say it is not of standard.
“So, if our manufacturers do not gear up to do their products using the required standard and also carrying out necessary quality assurance procedures the quality of our products will not improve.
“That is why we are carrying out this sensitisation to enlighten our manufacturers and educate them on an important factor, which is standardisation.
“There is no magic on earth you will do to improve the value of your currency if you do not improve your export drive. That is why we are going out to carry out this sensitisation to educate the general public”, Salim said.
He said that SON is not just a regulatory body but also a trade facilitation agency responsible for ensuring that both locally and imported products meet the minimum requirements of the standards.
“Our major concern is not to close down companies but to advise them, give them the necessary information on how to improve the quality of their products’’, he added.
Earlier, the Akwa Ibom Coordinator of SON, Mr. Ismaila Lawal, said that SON developed the standards to remove technical barriers to trade at National and international levels.
