By Franklin Alli
The Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Dr. Joseph Ikem Odumodu, said he will unfold his action plans for the Organisation in the next one month.

He is currently studying document and visiting zonal offices of the organisation spread across the country.

“I have assured the SON Council, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, and President Goodluck Jonathan, that we shall in the next one month, give them our detailed plan of actions and define exactly what milestones we would achieve in the first three months, six months one year, two year, and four years,”he said.

“We would also define the funding that we would require for us to be able to do a good job.  We need adequate resources to build capacity because we are anxious that SON will become a living standard in Africa within the next four years.”

“I am pleased to be part of this new family that I have just joined. I am very pleased and excited that I have a very good team that I can work with. I am going to work in concert with the experts within the system.“I have had interactions with the directors and deputy directors including some of the assistants directors, and I believe that working together as a team, we would be able to take the Agency to the next level.

I am going to make SON the place all of us will be proud of.  Within two years, Nigerians will cite SON as the best government agency in the country.”

“Our job is to ensure that Nigerians are protected from products that are substandard, and
“Talking seriously, I believe we have a lot of work to do in SON. I believe that the challenges we have in SON, are the same challenges we have as Nigerians.-challenges of buying defective products being brought in by suppliers and manufacturers, despite our knowledge of standards, Nigerians don’t do the right thing.

My coming to this place is to address some of these challenges,” he said.

He commended the untiring efforts of his predecessor, Dr John Akanya, saying “He had been very supportive since I took over.  I speak to him on a daily basis because anything I don’t understand, I asks him, and he also calls me and brief me.

Most of SON achievements in the past 8-10 years, are credited to his administration and he has pledged that we shall work together, and he will support us actively.  And that is what we are going to do.”

Meanwhile, Odumodu recently took over the mantle of leadership following his appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan a few weeks back.

Dr. Odumodu holds a first class degree in Pharmacy from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife), a Master of Science degree in Pharmacology, Master of Business Administration in Marketing and Doctor of Business Administration.  A highly esteemed administrator and business executive, Dr. Odumodu has contributed a lot to the development of the pharmaceutical industry in Nigeria.

He is the chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN) as well as the Chairman of the Chemical and Pharmaceuticals Sector of MAN.

The new Director General of SON is a serving Council Member, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and represents the Association on the Governing Council of NAFDAC.

Prior to his new appointment, Dr. Odumodu was the Managing Director/Chief Executive of May and Baker Plc since 1997. He held many positions of responsibility in the company including Deputy Managing Director, General Manager (Sales & Marketing) Pharmaceuticals and General Manager (Medical) Marketing.

He is a Fellow, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists; Member, Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association; Institute of Pharmacy Management International and Institute of Directors, Nigeria.