Business and Economy
Salim Tasks SMEs on Standardisation to Boost Product Quality
By Iyojo Ameh
Director-General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON,Mr Farouk Salim, has urged Small Businesses Owners to embrace standardisation in the production of their products to build confidence of Nigerians.
Salim, who made the call in a statement issued in Abuja, also urges industries and people in the state to be quality conscious and embrace standardisation.
He stated this at a one-day sensitisation organised for industry stakeholders in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
He said,“This is our aim.
“We also have the interest of the people in the state to support stakeholders to enable them to export their products,” Salim said.
He further said that standardisation of industries and products would bring employment and reduce insecurity in the country.
The Director, National Meteorology Institute, SON Enugu, advised participants and the public to deploy their expertise to do the right thing in order to promote growth.
The State Coordinator of the agency, Mrs Maryrose Ugwueche, expressed SON’s readiness to grow the economy of the state.
Ugwueche also urged the participants and public to embrace the agency’s services, including elaboration of standards for various products and factory inspection for production process guidance.
Others, according to her, include product certification and registration, market surveillance and supermarket inspections and provision of standards, among others, to enhance growth.
“Nigerians deserve the best.
“Our mission in the state is to facilitate trade, no matter how small.
“We also want to ensure products are standardised so that they can be sold within the state and also
exported,” Ugwueche said.
In a remark, the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr Steven Odoh, thanked SON for organising the programme.
Odoh called for more public enlightement to promote economic development and growth in the state.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Solid Minerals, Mr Elijah Ituma, said that all the solid mineral products would be standardised to attract international and local markets.
The Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Mr Uchenna Orji, who was represented by his Permanent Secretary, Mr Kama Egwu, said that SON had made remarkable impact in the state by product certfication.
Mrs Sylvia Ogbuinya, President of Women in Mining, Ebonyi chapter, promised that women from the sector participating in the event would carry the message for product standardisation to the grassroot level.
Ogbuinya, represented by a member of the group, Mrs Christian Nwokoro, also urged manufacturers to embrace product standardisation and registration of products to ensure safety.
“The 21 women will go to the grassroot to enlighten people on the need to support standardisation,” Ogbuinya said.
A participant and Traditional Ruler, Eze Joseph Onyezebe, who received a certified product, thanked SON for the recognition
The theme of the event is the “Roles of Standardisation and Quality Assurance in Economic Growth: SON as Panacea.”
Salim, represented by the Director, South-East Regional Operations of the organisation, Mr Fred Akingbesote, said the agency is in the state to ensure that industries, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises meet the expected standards.
“We want Ebonyi products to be exported beyond the shores of the country and ensure they meet international competitiveness.