The Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, Dr Joseph Odumodu has called on regulatory agencies in the country to always insist on international standards. They should also have zero tolerance for non-compliance with approved standards.

Dr Odumodu who made the call in Lagos when he delivered the state of standards address at a press briefing to mark the 2014 World Standards Day, also enjoined consumers to demand quality and insist on improving quality.

He explained that the falling price of oil should awaken Nigerians to the reality that standardisation is “Nigeria’s last ditch effort to avoid becoming a failed economy”. Said he: “There are areas where we cannot compete with Japan but the industries in which we have comparative advantage, we must weigh in with all powers of standards.

By so doing, we create global confidence in Nigeria’s products and services, grow richer, expand our spheres on influence, grow even richer by leveraging our boosted productivity and export trade and have a victory to celebrate”.

Odumodu who said he has succeeded in reducing fake and substandard products in the country from 80 percent to 40 percent, called on Nigerians not to play politics with the issue of standardisation.

“It cannot be business as usual to no end. Each of us needs to make the commitment to help in reinventing Nigeria and take her one step to where the rest of the world stands. No nation, however powerful can go it alone or play its own standards that is not in tune with the global community,” he said

The SON DG who stated that standards are universal, noted that there is nothing like Nigerian standard. “Anything that falls short of the global setting is substandard,” he said, adding that made in Nigeria for the world means thinking global, even if you are playing local.

He maintained that foreign investors in Nigeria are not likely to drive Nigeria to the global market. “Indian and Chinese ventures in particular are welcome. They are good friends and our partners in progress but the future of Nigerian trade vis-a-vis the global market lies in the hands of indigenous players.