By Henry Umoru
THE Director_General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria(SON), Dr. John Ndanusa Akanya has called on the Federal government to set up a regulatory agency that will be saddled with among others the responsibility of regulating the electrical and electronics appliances that are being sold and used in the country. According to him, if established, it will go a long way in ensuring that consumers get the best for the money they spend as well as Nigeria getting the best.

He  disclosed that the activities of Staff of SON were more risky and tedious than that of the Economic and Financial Crime Commissions(EFCC).

Speaking in Abuja when he received the executive members of the Abuja Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in his Office led by by its Chairman Jacob Edi, Akanya disclosed that  SON was working on approving Nigerian Industrial Standards(NIS) for Armoured cars entering the country to enable them operate in Nigeria in line with our specifications, stressing  that bringing in Armoured cars into the country was a very serious issues that requires a combination of all security agencies like the Inspector General Of  Police, the Director-General of the SSS, the National Security Adviser to the President among others.

According to him, “No Standard Organisation of Nigeria officer can release an armoured car. It is a security issue, Armoured cars cannot be released without the intervention of all security agencies, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector General of Police, the Director_General of the SSS, everyone must all be involved. We are working on standards for armoured cars; a memo is with the Security Adviser to look at especially the one that was produced recently in Nigeria”.

The SON boss who explained that in carrying out the job with passion, also have pains, even as he urged the media to carry out serious investigative journalism before going to presto avoid polarising the society as all hands must be on deck in ensuring that standards were maintained in the country.

According to him, if there must be proper standardization, there was the need for the country to engage in manufacturing against the backdrop that if you don’t manufacture, it will be difficult to check quality, adding, “if you don’t build something, you cannot build quality into something you did not manufacture. If we begin to manufacture, we will be able to check quality”.

It would be recalled that recently, SON imposed more hurdles for local manufacturers across the country by ensuring that they go through the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programmme, adding that it has approved 133 Nigerian Industrial Standards(NIS) for Chemical Technology Standards with 37 products, Food Technology Standards 26, Leather Technology Standards 11; Mechanical Engineering Standards 51 and Textile Technology Standards 08.

It also set new standards for  the processing of Suya, Kulikuli, Sesame Seeds, Analysis of Caramel, Liquid Malt Extract, Baker’s Yeast, safety foot wear; Citrus Marmalade, Dodo, among others.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman, Abuja chapter, Jacob Edi noted that there was the need for collaboration and synergy between SON and the NUJ against the backdrop that the job of the latter was very challenging whose action could make or mar the nation.