The Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim has said that the country was too big for the organisation to have less than 5,000 staff.
Salim, represented by SON Director of South-South Region, Mr Usman Mohammed, made the disclosure on Thursday in Calabar during a one-day stakeholders’ workshop organised by the agency.
The workshop with the theme: “SON: Partner In Progressive For Business Boom Via Standardisation”, had in attendance manufacturers from Cross River State, including Lafarge, Flour Mill (Niger Mills), the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Calabar Chambers of Commerce, Nigeria Customs Service, Cross River State Government and several others.
Salim said that like every other state, Cross River has a short fall of staff, adding that the organisation required approval from the government to employ more personnel.
“Nigeria is very big and even though we have offices in almost all the states, we don’t have enough manpower.
“In the whole country, we have less than 5,000 staff, which is a far cry from what we actually need.
“In Cross River, for instance, the number of staff we have here are not up to 20. We need a minimum of 50 personnel in Cross River State so that we will be able to go to every nook and cranny of the state.
“When you look at the geographical spread of the state; the northern part is a very wide area and to travel from Calabar down there is very far, so, we are in talks with the government to provide more satellite offices because it is not easy to take off from here to go and work and come back that same day. We can not employ until we get approval from the government to employ”, he said.
He maintained that the essence of the workshop was to enlighten manufacturers on the need to adhere to the requirements of standards, adding that SON is creating awareness among manufacturers across the nation.
“We have locally manufactured and imported products. The locally manufactured products are what we use what we call MANCAP (Mandatory Confirmatory Assessment Programme) to assess the factories.
We go round the factories, pick samples, test and give them the necessary corrective measures. Internally, we monitor the locally manufactured products very well but the imported ones are where we have a problem”, he said.
He pleaded with the government to allow SON back to the seaports and entry points to properly check substandard products.
“One of the major issues is that most of these substandard goods come in either through the port or the border and the Government in its own wisdom some years back decided to take SON out of the seaports end entry points.
“If you are not there at the entry point where all these substandard goods come in, how would you be able to control it? Meaning, you will start running after them in town, which makes it very difficult but, if we are at the entry points, it makes it easier to nib it at the bud”.
He said the government was considering taking SON back to the ports, looking at the level of substandard products entering the country.
“I promise you that a large percentage of substandard products will be prevented from coming into the country”, he added.
Earlier, SON’s National Coordinator of Sensitisation Programmes, Chief Emeka Duru assured the stakeholders that all their complaints will be treated as soon as possible.
He said: “To interface and bring to bear what SON has to offer to make the economy of the nation move forward, the DG/CEO has taken the pain to ensure I move round the states to meet and educate stakeholders because, without them, SON will not exist. I want to assure you that all questions will be treated”.
SON’s Cross River State Coordinator, Engr. Nimma Apim said: “This event is timely as the nation has signed with the continent to ensure Africa maintains a standard. SON in collaboration with other stakeholders, is to ensure that we are in line with the government’s standards”.
